Alma Leiva

I've been in the filmmaking and writing world for about 7 years, and what inspired me to get into this field was healing from my personal story and wanting to inspire others. I wear many hats in my work. I wrote a book called Grace Through the Shadows, which is available on Amazon - it's an immigrant story about being born in Honduras and brought to the United States by my mother at a young age. I grew up half my life in California and half in Texas, so I got a very broad perspective of the U.S. The book talks about coming of age, learning how to navigate toxic relationships, and overcoming a domestic violence relationship. My ultimate goal is to turn it into a TV show because I feel we need more women writers and creators, especially Latinas. As a Latina from Honduras, I would be the first filmmaker, director, and writer opening up that opportunity to a third world country, which I think is so powerful. I also work as a production assistant for feature films and TV shows, and I wrote a feature that was produced and is being sold as a franchise. I was able to work on One Battle After Another with Warner Brothers, working directly with the second assistant director, which was amazing. I'm also acting in front of the camera and had some background scenes. The knowledge you get from being around those types of productions really shows you what is possible.