Meet Ana Farré Moutinho | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ana Farré Moutinho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ana, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I’ve had to reassess how I view work-life balance after leaving the corporate world to pursue film. Work and life aren’t all that easy to separate when you are pursuing a passion. Working late or working weekends, missing social events – these are sacrifices that come with this field.

I do however try to set boundaries around my work – in production almost every deadline is simply ASAP, but depending on my role in the production, I try to consider how to really prioritize tasks. Taking the time to really think about how much energy I want to put into different projects and how they affect my personal goals helps me to feel more in control of my own time and well being.

It can be tempting to say yes to everything, be it for the paycheck or for the opportunity. I have found quite often that people will try, not necessarily intentionally, to put the onus on you to ‘make it work’ – but you can simply communicate if you have commitments or needs that need to be factored into the work you are being asked to do. And more often than not, it works out. While I am at a point in my life where work is a top priority, I feel fortunate that I am have seen enough to know what is worth my time and what actually isn’t.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My goal with my art is to move an audience. I think my films will always have something to say about the world and the society we live in, but the more I create the more I realise that my biggest ‘success’ criteria is if I made someone feel something when they watch my work.

I recently graduated with an MFA from Chapman University following the completion of my thesis film MOVE. It was by far the biggest project in scope that I have worked on – ambitious for me and many incredible members of my team. It was also the most difficult edit I’ve had to get through, because it wasn’t a straightforward process. Issues as well as new ideas came up in post production that forced me to re-think a lot of my choices. I am very glad to have had my editor Michaela Thomas work with me in that process – she was a fantastic collaborator who was willing to put so much work into making the best possible version of the story.

As tough as it was, I truly feel it validated me as an artist. It was the type of moment where you decide whether you give up or work twice as hard to make something worthwhile. I found it incredibly difficult but equally empowering as I proved to myself that I can show up for myself, for the story and for my team when challenges arise. My biggest takeaway was that I have to keep doing just that. As my classmate and good friend Roger Torres says, ‘If you stop now, you’ve wasted your time.’

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s so much to do and I love hosting people here and showing them around. I love a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains or toward Griffith Observatory followed by a big lunch in Koreatown. For people interested in the Hollywood side of things, I love taking them to the Academy Museum and having a meal at the Sunset Tower Hotel or Musso and Frank’s (the best martini I have had to date).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my husband, Michael Crenna. He has been nothing but supportive of what I am pursuing. His support expands my comfort zone exponentially – there are so many risks I may not have taken without him by my side.

Website: https://www.peliculana.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peliculana/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anafm1/

Image Credits
Antonio Zamarripa
Zach Goodwin
Irma Production Team