Maria Escobedo
"This is an important step for Latina women, so we don't have to rely on the whole glamour actress thing. My film cost $500,000, and with the small budget and level of control, I didn't have to let anyone tell me how to portray my own culture."
-Maria Escobedo
Maria Escobedo was born in 1964 and was raised in New York City. She earned a BFA in film at the School of Visual Arts and studied advanced screenwriting at NYU. This is about the extent of background information that I was able to find on her.
She and her partner/husband established Rain Forest Films, where Maria wrote and directed
Rum and Coke (Synopsis courtesy of imdb.com)
Linda (Diana Marquis) is a bright, confident and independent daughter of Cuban immigrants who has vowed to stay away from all Latino men. She has a safe, comfortable relationship with her average, self-absorbed boyfriend, Steve (Christopher Marazzo). Her passionless life is all planned until she meets Jose (Juan Carlos Hernandez), a handsome, aggressive and charming firefighter, who woos her back to her roots and proves love is a risk... and so is learning to dance Salsa!
Rum and Coke won praise at film festivals worldwide, aired on Starz/Encore and was released on video and DVD. As a Disney·ABC Writing Fellow, Maria was staffed on Grey’s Anatomy.
I think that Rum and Coke looks very professional (on the trailer) and seems very put together for a beginning filmmaker and writer. I like that Escobedo seems to be connecting herself with the film, demonstrated in the quote at the top of this blog.
This is the trailer I found of Rum and Coke:
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/193573/Rum-and-Coke/trailers
I was browsing through several online issues of Movie Maker magazine. In the archive I came across an article pertaining to Latin Cinema and as I read further I discovered Maria Escobedo’s work. There were also several other female directors being quoted within the article. It was difficult to find personal information on Escobedo, but the popularity of Rum and Coke seemed to have put her on the radar.