Ashton Avila directing on the set of "Tip Your Fucking Bartender".
Photo by @KPstills |
Ashton Avila (she/her) is a queer Mexican American writer-director who grew up in Los Angeles, California. After falling in love with filmmaking, she went on to receive her BA in Film Media and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Rhode Island and her MFA in Directing at Chapman University. Since graduating, Ashton has shadowed directors David O. Russell, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum and Martha Coolidge. She has been mentored by David S. Ward, Anne Beatts, Colleen Camp, Tom McLoughlin, Carl Ellsworth and many others. Her background includes work in production, casting, development and education. She is also a certified consent forward artist and is working towards her certification as an Intimacy Coordinator through IDC. Ashton most recently directed season 2 of LGBTQIA+ series Guys Like You now streaming on HereTV. Previously, she directed original pilot Two Roads (JJ Hawkins, Madison Bailey, Jennifer Bareilles) for Sony PlayStation and many independent award winning short films that have screened in festivals all over the world. In addition, she has second unit directed for AwesomenessTV, BratTV and Shadow Lion. Ashton is a NALIP Emerging Creator, has placed as a quarterfinalist for NBC's Emerging Director Program, Final Draft's Big Break Competition, The Script Lab's Screenwriting Competition, Stage 32's Television Writing Contest, ScreenCraft's Pilot Launch and Feature Film Competition, was selected as a screenwriter for the NHMC's Latinx Stream Showcase and was welcomed into Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Impact Screenwriting Community. Her feature screenplay All Your'n spent a month trending on The Black List after scoring multiple 8s and she currently has scripts in development with Bold Soul Studios and Roth Kirschenbaum Films. In her spare time she enjoys teaching, watching sappy rom coms, greeting pit bulls during their walks, autumn in New England, listening to Taylor Swift break up songs, Halloween, musicals and making tamales with her family at Christmas. |
Intimacy Directors & Coordinators:
Consent Forward Artist Certification |
American Red Cross:
Adult & Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certification |