ABOUT

My name is Ashton Avila. I'm a Mexican American female filmmaker looking to bring a unique and diverse perspective to your next production. I grew up in southern California where I discovered filmmaking at age 9 and truly fell in love with it at age 15. If you've got a minute, I'll tell you the story. (I hear I'm pretty good at that whole story telling thing).

I received my BA from the University of Rhode Island in 2013 where I majored in Film Media with a minor in Gender & Women Studies. Yes, I did leave Los Angeles to pursue a career in film starting in Kingston, Rhode Island. You wanted a well rounded and life experienced director, right?

After graduation, I spent a year working in the industry. I worked as a production assistant on low budget features before landing a full time production assistant job at NBC's Access Hollywood. About a year later, with a better understanding of the business, I decided to pursue my creative passions and applied to graduate school.

I was accepted into Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts where I received my MFA in Film Production with an Emphasis in Directing under the mentorship of Academy Award winning writer David S. Ward, former DGA President and director Martha Coolidge, Producer Rob Cohen, and many others.

While at Chapman, I directed the Student Emmy nominated musical comedy "Trying to Fuck: A Modern Day Romance". During the 3 year program, I also wrote and directed two award winning films: teen sex comedy "Have a Little Faith" and 1960s period drama "I Got You Babe".

After graduation, I jumped back into the industry starting with an internship at J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot. Following my internship with Bad Robot, I became Academy Award nominated writer/director David O. Russell's assistant. So to sum that up, I got to witness, first hand, some cool magic from some of my favorite magicians.

At the end of 2017, I was hired to direct Sony PlayStation pilot "Two Roads" in Atlanta, Georgia. "Two Roads" was released in August 2018 and is currently available for free on the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Vue on Demand, and the PlayStation Official Blog.

Now that you've heard where I came from, let me tell you where I am! I am back in Los Angeles currently directing the short film "Undone" and have teamed up with award winning writer Tina Ferraro to adapt her Random House published YA Book "Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress" amongst other writing/directing projects.

What's next? You tell me.

ASHTON AVILA