Laura Medeiros didn’t grow up near a film set. She grew up in Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil better known for cattle farming and steel manufacturing than for Hollywood dreams. And yet, from an early age, she was the kind of kid who watched movies meant for adults and paid attention to every detail, not just the story unfolding on screen, but how it was made, how it moved, and why it stayed with her long after the credits rolled.
That early obsession eventually became a plan. Laura packed up her life in Brazil and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film, earning an MFA in Producing from the New York Film Academy and slowly, steadily, making her place in an industry that doesn’t make it easy for outsiders. “After nearly five years in Los Angeles, I still catch myself having small, surreal moments,” she says, “like passing a studio lot and thinking, wow, I actually made it here.”
For Laura, founder of her own production work and a rising name in the independent film world, that sense of earned arrival shapes everything about how she approaches her career. Coming from a place where working in entertainment wasn’t a given, she’s never taken her seat at the table for granted.
Her path into producing wasn’t about falling back on a practical choice. It was the role that made the most sense for who she is, someone who loves every part of the process and didn’t want to be limited to just one corner of it. Writing, directing, budgeting, logistics, she’s done all of it, and she’ll tell you that understanding each piece is what makes her better at the job. “A producer is often tasked with staying within budget,” she explains, “but a good producer knows how to make adjustments without compromising the story.”
That philosophy got its first real test with her short film Good Times / Bad Times, a project she wrote, directed, and produced on a budget of just under $1,000. With no investor track record and no crowdfunding history to lean on, she made a simple decision: she would make the film with exactly what she had. One location, one shoot day, a crew of fewer than ten people, and a script she adapted in real time to account for things like a noisy neighbor in the apartment where they were filming. Reduced dialogue wasn’t a creative limitation, it was a practical solution that became part of the film’s identity.
Good Times / Bad Times went on to screen at ten festivals worldwide and earn multiple award nominations. One of the selections that hit hardest was Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival, one of Latin America’s most respected genre festivals, which happens to take place in Porto Alegre. “It will always be the project I hold closest to my heart,” she says. “Seeing a project that started with such limited resources resonate on that level was incredibly rewarding.”
Since then, her work has grown in scope. She joined the producing team on A Halloween Feast, a film that completed a strong international festival run and is now available on Blu-ray. She’s also been part of high-profile AAA video game production work (that she can’t fully detail due to strict NDAs!) but describes as genuinely eye-opening. The cyclical, iterative nature of game production, so different from the linear arc of a traditional film, pushed her to think differently about storytelling and process in ways she hadn’t anticipated.
Now, Laura is heading into pre-production on a new film alongside two other Brazilian, Los Angeles-based filmmakers. The project centers on minority representation in media and the pressures of the beauty pageant industry, a story she believes has the reach to connect with a wide audience. Her most recent short, Hit-Woman, is currently making its way through the festival circuit, picking up selections and nominations across the United States.
For someone who once thought Hollywood felt distant and almost impossible, the view from here looks pretty different.
Be First to Comment