Meet Aline Andrade | Producer/Writer/Director

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

Hi Aline, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
On January 1 2024, I attended a new year’s party and had an unexpectedly deep conversation with a wonderful woman who turned out to be a Rabbi and Palm Reader. She read my palm and, among other things, told me my career line had a clear strong curve that drives my meaning in life. I have to admit that statements like that bring clarity and context to what my life’s work has become through my core belief: growth is inevitable if you don’t quit.

I think it’s similar for a lot of us in the industry: You get a Film degree and go out into the world wondering how you’re going to write and direct your movies. Then you get a job as a producer if you’re lucky and learn how Hollywood works and that there are hundreds of jobs that you never knew existed until you needed to pay rent in LA. I have been lucky to work with high caliber people that taught me how to be a producer through their example. Getting hired by fantastically kind people is all a new transplant in LA can hope for.

I have worked on all phases of a film or TV show production from development to post production. You could say I have a very eclectic resume and though I prefer some jobs over others, I have been uncompromising on one aspect: regardless of position, I will continue to work in the film and TV industry. This is my calling and my career and I will keep pushing.

Around 2021 I began looking into the missing pieces of my producing experience and I moved to my next frontier: how to distribute independent films and shows. As a producer, I create the safe space where creative work happens. I take that responsibility very seriously and, as a creative person myself, I find the courage to knock on doors, show up at offices with a pitch and a smile because I think of the team that I can put together once a financier says “yes”. What I needed next to come full circle was to learn and build the relationships to sell the final product.

As I tread new ground, my goal is to remember the inevitability of my success and bring others with me.

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.
There is a duality in my efforts with Fine Frenzy Films. I set days to be a writer and artist and days to be a producer that strategizes and gets “the work” out into the world. It’s like having at least two very distinct personalities.

Fine Frenzy Films came from my necessity to make room for the creative work I was doing and not sharing consistently. It was about building my own platform to find out what’s in my head and how it relates to the world around me: you.

My preferred format is screenplays but I have a few ongoing novel and short story projects. With those projects I get to expand my vision to visual marketing materials for the films- the kind that are used to pitch the movie to other producers mainly, and I also work with other artists. It is a trial and error journey and I am learning to trust my instincts.

My areas of interest have been religion and how ingrained faith can be, dictating from the biggest to the most banal choices in life, psychological patterns and beliefs, family relationships and generational trauma that seems to dictate fate, and how music translates eras and defines generations. As an immigrant who has been an outsider in many situations, I am driven to champion the saga of the stranger in a strange place.
Brazilian Mormons in Florida, polygamist teenagers on the run, or a queer person looking for a place to call home.

I think most people see themselves as an outsider at some point, regardless of immigration status, so even though I am bringing fresh topics to light, the core remains very familiar. They are looking to undo the knots of their past and build a good life.

I have two short films in the festival circuit now that I hope to make available to the public this year sometime. You can find their trailers and story lines on www.finefrenzyfilms.com under “IN FESTIVALS”. Look for “Aureo & Mirele” and “Macumba: A Family Folklore”.

In festivals

My development plans are pretty ambitious for 2024 and they include:

The Radio: A docu series that explores the rise and fall of the first hip-hop venue in LA.

The Regent: a period feature film that tells the real story of Princess Isabel of Brazil as she navigates the complexities of Court life and political intrigue in Rio in the 1800s.

Lucy is going to Hell: a coming of age road trip movie that follows a teenager running away from her polygamous family and using 1990’s music as her compass.

Coming to Jesus: a prodigal daughter story about a late bloomer that comes home to her Brazilian family in Florida when her life falls apart.

You can see our slate on the website under ”IN DEVELOPMENT”, and of course, I would love to hear your thoughts.

In development

If you feel curious, excited, healthily enraged, or confused by any of these projects and would like to reach out to me, I would be happy to hear your thoughts. It’s one of my goals this year to expand my understanding of what my work means to others. So, I will be happy to get your message.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Los Angeles is a very exciting place. I mean, have you seen LA LA Land? It’s all true! I’m going to have to quote Sebastian there “ it’s conflict, it’s compromise, and it’s just NEW, everytime! VERY VERY EXCITING”.

I think it’s the contrast of the fear of flying and falling on your face on a daily basis with the high of the wins and I can appreciate that some days. And when I need a break from the commotion here are some of my favorite spots that don’t require social currency or much real currency for that matter:
Go for a hike at Griffith Park and grab a coffee at The Trails Cafe afterwards. That fixes my mood almost every time.
It’s Pho Hollywood is my favorite: real simple honest pho.
Brunch, but really anything is good at Millie’s Cafe, in Silver Lake.
Then go for a drive all the way down Sunset Boulevard, or Mulholand drive. They’re classics after all. Then go towards Santa Monica and drive up the PCH until you pass Malibu. It’s very therapeutic.
I often find myself at Black Canvas Coffee, in Hollywood, doing a couple hours of work. I suspect it’s because it’s around the corner from one of my first places in LA, and I think I feel the ghost of who I used to be walking by sometimes and I like to tell her we’re doing alright.
Of course, my “favorite places” only confirm what the Rabbi Palm Reader said: my career line has a strong curve. The stresses and joys that come with it are at the core of my decisions, and these places are my way of grounding myself again in the midst of the noise and excitement of my work.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There is no way to give shoutouts to “all” the people that have supported me directly or indirectly since I decided Fine Frenzy Films was “a thing”. But let me try because I do see their presence in my life on a daily basis. First my husband Ernesto Pastura: he has no idea what I am working on most of the time, but he has been the one person who believes in me unconditionally. Look, I know it’s important to believe in yourself, but an artist is a fragile thing and the minute we start seeing the fruits of our efforts, our first reaction is to doubt our work is any good. I have learned the past 2-3 years that a kind and confident partner is an absolute necessity as an artist, and I finally feel grounded and very lucky in that area.

Then, the work itself placed amazing people in my path that contribute and share their wisdom and time with me, and sometimes even stick around to build some things. These are a few of them these past years: Gabriela Lima, Riley Pond, Danubia Farias, Sarah Castro, Leticia Bombo, Jim Holt, the Tutela Film team for “Aureo & Mirele” and the whole Florianopolis production team of “Macumba: A Family Folklore”. My sincere gratitude to you.

Website: www.finefrenzyfilms.com

Instagram: @finefrenzyfilms

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aline-andrade/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/finefrenzyfilms/