When people think of a director they think of an “auteur.” While I do direct, write, and produce, I don’t really relate to that title. Especially because, oftentimes I direct what I haven’t written, write what I’m not directing, and produce what I’m not writing. While those skills can and do overlap per project, it’s more common (and fun) to share the creative seat with other writers, producers and actors I admire. We get to collaborate together in service of the story. That’s a workflow and connection I absolutely love. But before I fell in love with the craft, I fell in love with the stories.

I decided I wanted to direct films at the age of fifteen by watching City of God. It showed me such a new perspective on my city of Rio de Janeiro – fully blowing. my. mind. Since then, all I wanted to do was to direct stories that make us feel things. My work pulls from the stylized genre and colorful campiness of the Brazilian telenovelas I grew up watching, whilst also pulling from the grounded emotions of the indie films that shaped me. My life experiences in Brazil, immigrating to the U.S. and surviving stage 4 endometriosis in our misogynistic world have irrevocably shaped my voice and aesthetic (which are nontraditional, to say the least). It’s made my directing choices irreverent, bold, stylized, fun, and filled with honest emotion.

So I direct drama, dramedies, and comedies. I love the versatility of playing in different sandboxes of genre and tone, but with similar topics and themes. Unfortunately, that makes me a little harder to put in a box, or categorize. Which in turn, I feel made it hard for me to see my own path towards TV directing, which was something I’ve always wanted.

But I’m Brazilian, so, of course, I persist.

By persisting, I was fortunate enough to be selected for Film Independent’s Episodic Directing Intensive. What an incredible experience it was and still is, as over a year later the intensive continues to prove itself very fruitful and result-yielding. Keep in mind, I did the program the year after the 2023 SAG and WGAA strikes. In spite of industry hardships, the Film Independent team worked hard to find ways in which we could succeed in this dream of directing for TV. Hardships or not, this program was spectacular.

My favorite moment was Daniel Willis’ masterclass in TV directing and how generous he was with his time and knowledge. It was invaluable to shot list for an episode Daniel had directed, followed by meeting him and comparing his actual shot list with ours. We then got to watch the final product together. He also allowed us to learn from his prep workflow and through his many different TV directing experiences. It’s given me a know-how I’ve carried into my indie work and every television set I go to.

The meetings with numerous showrunners, directors, actors, and executives were invaluable. Getting to see the television landscape, in all its complexity and glory, from different perspectives was so enlightening. Especially during a time when television was (and still is) finding new ways to regrow. Not to mention, we’re being promoted by Film Independent to a group of executives who are or will recruit directors for upcoming shadowing programs, directing programs and TV shows. This is a business of relationships, so getting to know them and being a director in their top of mind is an invaluable gift.

Learning from so many different, honest, and generous directors was such an indescribable experience. They all had such different paths into directing, going on to have unbelievable careers that went into varied directions. Some broke into TV early, some later. Many got a start through features, some not at all and are open a feature one day. It’s validating, inspiring, and fueling to hear all of this. It proves that we can all forge our own unique career paths.

If you know me, you also know I’m a mush of a person. Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite elements of the program was the connection we built within our cohort. We met quite a bit amongst ourselves, for the Film Independent team was determined to make us life long friends and colleagues. Thankfully, they succeeded. While we’re trying to get a TV door to open up, we’re all also pushing the indie feature train, trying to direct however we can. I have my feature What Ever Happened to Rosa Elena? which is currently casting and my fellow cohort of John and Kelsey just released two features of their own. Getting to celebrate and uplift their success has truly been a fuel that helps keep me going. This program builds community, support, and a hive-mind — the latter of which we lean on for questions, hard times, and also fun times. I wish for all filmmakers to find the support of a program such as this and fellow directors, writers, actors, producers, or whoever it may be to share this wild filmmaking experience with.

I’ll catch you at the movies and the TV watch parties.

Lorena Lourenço is an award winning director and writer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s passionate about telling stories from marginalized perspectives that highlight cultural identity, the immigrant experience, queer joy, and women’s strength. The USC School of Cinematic Arts alumna is a fellow of the Film Independent Episodic Directing Intensive, SeriesFest x Shondaland Women Directing Mentorship (finalist,) Alliance of Women Directors MLD, Inside Out’s Film Finance Forum, NALIP’s Media Market and The Orchard Project Episodic Lab.