Meet Marisa Ray | Writer & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marisa Ray and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marisa, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I grew up in a multi ethnic household— my father’s Indian and American, and my mother’s first-generation Japanese. It wasn’t something I thought about much growing up, but as I got older, I began to introspect about which cultures I felt bonded to and why, and which ones I felt a little disconnected from. It got me very interested in what families have the ability to pass down, and the question of what’s created when disparate things collide.

My writing has always reflected that– not necessarily in the subject matter, but in style. There’s a lot of duality and nuance in the things I create. I love combining different genres together into one coherent piece. I find myself telling stories about those who straddle the boundaries between different worlds. I often incorporate both tragedy and comedy into my work, because I believe one can’t exist without the other. I rarely write without a heavy dash of surrealism or magical realism to explore the themes I’m interested in. So I don’t necessarily write directly about my background, but you can see it in a lot of the creative choices I make.

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.
I have no memory of this, but I’ve been told that as a kid, I once spun an elaborate and fantastical story about my stuffed animals standing guard for me against the monster in my closet, all to avoid cleaning my room. That’s obviously not my motivation anymore– but storytelling has always been my solution to any problem. And the problems only get bigger with every year. In first grade, I was given the assignment to write a fictional storybook, and was so proud of my work that I fantasized about my teacher asking me whether I wanted to be a writer. She didn’t ask me that, I was devastated, and then years later I decided that that probably meant something and I should try to give that whole writing thing a try.

My most recent work, a play called AMEN produced in the 2024 Hollywood Fringe, was about a man whose town disappears and decides to complain about it directly to God, who responds and tells him that They’d misplaced it somewhere. Before that, I wrote and directed a short film called “Exquisite Corpse,” which was about a Frankenstein’s monster ambling the world, murdering people to replace his decaying body parts, to ultimately be taken down by an art student and a skull. I love absurd premises, and I love grounding them in understandable character motivations, because I think that has the capacity to reflect life and the human experience best. In a postmodern society especially, I’ve found that it’s always worth taking in everything around you and collaging it together.

I can’t say whether it’s easy or difficult to write– it’s just necessary. That’s the main reason why I do it, and why I’m here.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite way to experience LA is to drive to a neighborhood, park the car, and just walk around. No itinerary will cover all the tiny little shops and minute interactions that make the city magical. That being said… I find myself hitting the below spots more than once, in no particular order.

Little Tokyo – Walk through the village plaza just to experience it, sure, but make sure to hit the shops on 1st street (Fugetsu-do, Bunkado, the tiny gift shop next door) and go to the 3rd floor of Little Tokyo Galleria to eat.

Fashion District – If you’re in the mood for busy crowds and excellent merchandise, hit Santee Alley and Smorgasburg (on Sundays).

Koreatown – Get there hungry. BCD Tofu House for lunch, Jjan for dinner, and the Normandie Club for a drink after. And whenever my family come to visit they always spend a day at Wi Spa when I’m too busy to entertain.

Fairfax – Everyone knows this one, but the Original Farmers Market does deserve its flowers. Hit Blue Collar for bespoke cocktails after 7pm.

West Adams – No shortage of excellent restaurants here, but La Cabañita Restaurant Y Pupuseria is a place I will go out of my way to visit every now and then– and I’ve never seen it pop up on the lists online. Plus, Exposition Park Rose Garden, and every art gallery that’s open.

A little outside of the city, but the food court at the Wat Thai temple on weekends is unreal.

Little Ethiopia – Literally any of the restaurants on this street. Can’t go wrong. Just get there on the earlier side for dinner and have fun in the mini markets.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I credit the book The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster for the way my brain works. I read it in third grade, again at the end of high school, and again when I graduated college, and each time found new pieces of the world, and eventually pieces of myself that I’d scavenged within those words. I think everyone should read it, especially now.

As far as people in my life— my partner is naturally supportive of me, but beyond just providing moral support, she’s started to become my co-collaborator in a number of ways. She directed and produced my play, has been my sounding board for everything I’ve written since we’ve met, and provides a perspective that I need in life and art. We have a few projects in the pipeline that we’re excited about, and I can honestly say that none of the things I make would come to fruition without her. Check her out at @rachael_maye on IG.

I’m also lucky to have an amazing network of creative and accomplished friends. Brainstorming and collaborating with people who I respect, and who have different perspectives than my own, is where I get a lot of creative energy, and I’m beyond grateful to them for always widening my worldview.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisa-ray-b0228b1b5