StormMiguel Florez on the Winding Road to Filmmaking: A Film Fatales Fellowship Profile
Interview by Marian D. Cook
Artists may disagree on style and form, but one thing is unanimous: the path to becoming an artist is windy, unexpected, and unconventional—like how Director George Miller originally planned to be a doctor, Author Kurt Vonnegut was a car salesman, and Actress Tilda Swinton was a social and political science major. Thousands of artists throughout history have proven the path is a long and winding road.
Trans, queer Chicane filmmaker, Stowe Alum, and 2023 Film Fatales Fellow StormMiguel Florez at the 2023 Stowe Story Labs Sidewalk Narrative Lab in Birmingham, Alabama.
StormMiguel Florez—a trans, queer Chicane filmmaker, Stowe Alum, and 2023 Film Fatales Fellow—is no exception. Filmmaking wasn’t a deliberate choice, but rather an evolution of a passion for music. Originally a singer-songwriter, StormMiguel explains, “I never planned on being a screenwriter…I never planned to do any of this. But my whole life I've been making art in some way or another, and every project I do is just because something hits me and I have to do it.”
The journey began when he decided to shoot and edit a music video for one of his songs in 2012.
“We filmed it in a couple days and it was community-based—there's a lot of queer and trans, BIPOC San Francisco Bay Area artists and friends in the music video, and some of my white friends as well—and it was really special and fun. I realized I really loved it and that I wanted to pursue editing, and that was the plan: editing. I had no desire or plan to do anything else.” But that rarely ends up being the case in the film community.
StormMiguel then delved into the world of documentary filmmaking, focusing on narratives often overlooked by mainstream media. He joined his partner's feature documentary team for the film MAJOR! (2015), centered around the life of a Black trans elder and community organizer Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. StormMiguel worked as editor and co-producer, which then inspired him to create his own documentary: The Whistle (2019). The film examined the lesbian youth culture of the ‘70s and ‘80s in Albuquerque, New Mexico—a subject tied to his own personal history.
Initially hesitant to direct, StormMiguel took the plunge after some convincing by his friends and a realization of its significance. “My friends were like, ‘You have to make this movie. It's so important.’ Because there's not enough history being told about New Mexico, or even, Southwest queers,” StormMiguel recalled.
And in doing that, StormMiguel got the idea for his latest project, Welcome To Roswell, a mockumentary feature that he wrote and won him the 2023 Stowe Story Labs/Film Fatales Fellowship. Welcome to Roswell is about “a middle aged transgender filmmaker [who] returns to his father’s conservative birthplace of Roswell, New Mexico, to document coming out to his family—but his partner’s obsession with the infamous 1947 UFO crash near Roswell takes him and his film crew in a very different direction.”
It’s a new take on the coming-out narrative. Through comedy, it reimagines the often anxiety-inducing process of coming out and instead explores the absurdity of what happens when a family's reaction is the opposite of what's expected: a non-issue. It’s a refreshing take amidst the tragic—and often trauma-porn—queer narratives prevalent in mainstream media.
“There are jokes that only people from New Mexico are probably going to get. There are jokes that only trans people are probably going to get. And I'm okay with that. There's enough there for everybody, but also it's by and for my community. I think it's really important for us to undo the damage,” StormMiguel explained.
He continued, “So much damage has been done to trans people through film and the ways we've been portrayed. And it's important for us to tell our own stories because we're really the ones that know how to do that best… But then we're expected to write about trauma. It's not that the trauma isn’t real, but when we're only seen through that lens, it makes us very two-dimensional. We have our joys, quirks; we can be villains, heroes; we can be all of these things. Our stories should get to be comedy, horror, romance, or sci-fi.”
It’s this exact passion that caught the attention of the Stowe Story Labs team and Film Fatales team when doing the project reviews to select the 2023 Stowe Story Labs/Film Fatales Fellow.
Film Fatales’ Executive Director Leah Meyerhoff stated, “The Film Fatales Fellowship is focused on amplifying feature film directors of diverse genders. The marginalization of trans filmmakers actively contributes to the erasure and misrepresentation that lead directly to real world violence. Authentic authorship is imperative to accurate representation and inclusion. StormMiguel Florez is a multi-faceted creative talent whose work creates new pathways of understanding. His hybrid queer-comedy Welcome to Roswell has immense potential to redefine the language of cinema, connect with new audiences, and help build a more empathetic world.”
Welcome to Roswell, much like his previous works, once again transcends mere storytelling: it’s a testament to StormMiguel’s passion for community, identity, authenticity, and resilience.
Through the Film Fatales Fellowship, StormMiguel was able to take Welcome to Roswell to the Stowe Story Labs Sidewalk Narrative Lab in Birmingham, Alabama—a four-day, intensive lab for screenwriters to workshop their projects amidst a community of peers and top industry mentors.
StormMiguel Florez (second from left in the back) at the 2023 Stowe Story Labs Sidewalk Narrative Lab in Birmingham, Alabama.
“The peer groups were really special, getting to be so familiar with other people’s work. And for them to be familiar with mine, that’s kind of vulnerable but really exciting. I loved meeting with them every day, it was such a nice way to get people connected...I also loved the writing exercises. I was calling them sorcery because I unlocked a huge element of my script through them that has been driving me bonkers...And I love that it was happening at the same time as the film festival. We automatically had a place to go and still be immersed in film, but in a different environment with each other to be more social and continue to be inspired,” StormMiguel recalled.
StormMiguel plans to continue to ride that wave of inspiration and creativity and apply it to his upcoming live, improv version of Welcome to Roswell. Set for this month in San Francisco, it blends standard improv with mockumentary to introduce the feature’s characters, relationships, and world.
StormMiguel’s project has even garnered the attention of renowned Director Lilly Wachowski, who has agreed to executive produce the film. “It's just been really wonderful getting her support and enthusiasm about it. She just gets it. Because it's not a super conventional project, industry people have been like, ‘Well, what is it that you're trying to do here? I don't quite get it, are you this? Are you that?’ And Lilly's just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love it. You have a little bit of this, you have a little bit of that. And the question is, is this real?’ I didn't have to explain anything to her and she was actually excited about it.”
With a thrill for the horizon, StormMiguel reflected on his path here: “I just think you should do as much of everything as you can because you may end up loving something else and want to move in that direction. And all those experiences are going to help you when you do the next thing.”
But most importantly: create from the heart, for oneself, and in that authenticity, you’ll find artistry, community, and your story.
Interview by Marian D. Cook
Marian D. Cook is a former journalist and a 2023 graduate of USC's MFA program in film and TV production. She graduated from Spring Hill College in 2019, Summa Cum Laude and with honors, with a BA in Journalism.
She's currently focused her talents on producing and editing strong, female-led stories and those that uplift her Latinx community. Her latest projects include Bad Hombrewood, a short documentary she produced and was directed by Guillermo Casarin, about Latinx representation in Hollywood, starring Phil Lord, Guillermo Del Toro, Lee Unkrich, Melissa Fumero, and a range of Latinx talent that demonstrate the beauty and diversity of the Latinx community, that won Best Student Documentary at the American Pavilion at the 2022 Cannes International Film Festival, was nominated for the 42nd College Television Awards, and has been selected for over 40 official film festivals across the globe including Santa Barbara and the Cleveland International Film Festival. She also produced Backlog, directed by Jacqueline E. Rosenthal and based on a true story, about one woman's story to end the national rape kit backlog, which was a Best Student Short Audience Award Winner at the Cleveland International Film Festival and was also an official selection of the American Pavilion's Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Marian also just finished editing Renacer, directed by Jenniffer Gonzalez, about a Latina's journey post-abortion, which was a recipient of the The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's AI2 Reproductive Rights Accelerator Award. Currently, she is editing Ximena Davis' Eclipse Chasers, which is set to premiere in December 2023. You can learn more here. Marian assists with all aspects of operations, writes for the newsletter, and assists with research and writing to support fundraising and communications about programs.