Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Rodriquez.
Hi stephanie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The journey to becoming a filmmaker for me has been a roller coaster! Plenty of ups and downs….. and I mean pretty low downs! I can’t recall a time where I had it all together from the start through the finish line. Hiccups occur because I’m mostly human, but that’s also part of the process. I once read that a good producer can make a movie when everything goes right, but a great producer can make a movie when everything goes wrong. If the game is about weathering the storm, consider me your meteorologist. I’ve come a long way from shooting unorganized music videos in empty parking lots. These days I’ve narrowed down most of my work to filming movies and tv shows. Since the start of 2024 to April 2025, I’ve worked with so many indie filmmakers to create 2 pilots, 1 short film, season 1 for a mini-series sitcom, and a 10 episode webseries. I did a lot of studying and shooting to see what fits my directing style and still staying inside my budget. I sat down with friends and other directors to get perpsectives different from my own. I also looked back at my previous projects and made sure I corrected the mistakes for the new ones. There is still so much more creating to come this year. The goal is to release at least 3 more short films, season 1 of my comedy series, and 1 feature horror film. And please hold me accountable for these projects.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The short answer, no. The long answer, Hell NO! Every day, a new challenger was ready to ruin my production. If it wasn’t a rainy day for an outside shoot, it was a dead battery during the recording. Creating a schedule to work with everybody is always rough when you don’t have thousands of dollars to pay each person. When free food is no longer good enough, you have to get creative. I started to shorten my shoot days to ease the tension and make it better to work around conflicts.
But those are the simple things. A new issue I experienced was trying to do on-set VFX without a VFX artist. BIG MISTAKE.
Not having any contracts for work for months also makes it hard to create, since productions cost money, but unfortunately, so do bills. Sometimes you have to make the grown-up decisions; Do I get the new lights or pay my light bill? Hmmm it’s kinda tough answer when you’re in creator mode. My mind wants to prioritize my movies but the water company thinks my money is theirs. So I put my creative nature on hold to pay for a very accessible renewable resource, but just inside my house. I am a producer, I don’t have a choice but to push through adversity and produce.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have plenty of films and shows under my belt and am constantly adding more. In the indie film world, it’s pretty common to wear many hats. I wear them all if I have to. My main focuses are directing, producing, and writing. I love to be in control of the overall outcome of the film, I want to tell the story, visualize it, and most importantly, fund it. Nobody can control the overall narrative if I have the power on the three biggest fronts.
I work as a Director of Photography or Cinematographer when needed. Again, many hats.
Instead of listing those hats, let me list some of the delegations instead.
Write the script, Cast, Location scouting, Script revisions, create the schedules, host table reads, gather funds, Revise the script, gather equipment, direct, edit, color, and the script…. sometimes it gets revisions, I do that.
My most popular work right now is House of Hope: proof of concept pilot. I’m sure a link will be provided somewhere in this article.
My next big project is Aspect’s Day off. It has magic, monsters, and relaxation. It will release this summer, but make sure you keep up with the campaign. A link for that will be here too!
Studies show that only 35% of directors actually stay in the field. Most “filmmakers” never make it past their first film. That’s if they ever put it out. Everything I put out isn’t exactly gold, but it’s out, and that’s what matters. I have taste and tenacity. I will never stop creating no matter how hard times get, this is what it means to walk in my life’s purpose.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Lawrence Truman: So you want to be a producer,
Blake Synder: Save the cat (original book)
These two reads helped me earlier on in my journey! But the thing is to go out and do it. I looked at movies I like and movies I don’t like to see how they were shot, what techniques were used to achieve certain looks, how the sounds were captured, everything.
YouTube became my best friend; all my questions had answers there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.womackproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quesrhymebooks/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBiA72EShH6ecfwy4cWG4uQ
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kICwrAbgf_g
