Meet Stephanie Terrero | Multi-Hyphenate Filmmaker and Artist

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

Hi Stephanie, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
The end goal for me is just to be fully involved in this business. I want to be a full time working actor, producer, director and screenwriter, working across television and film. It takes years to reach that level and I’m headed there slowly, but I’d like to have tons of industry contacts who can vouch for me. People who will say yes to my diverse ideas and will be excited to make those projects happen. I want my production company, Last Laugh Productions NYC, to be known worldwide for our original projects and large collaborations with known studios.

By the end of my career, I want to be able to look back and say “wow”, look at all these accomplishments made not only in my professional career but my personal as well. I want to know that I gave it my all and worked on a wide variety of projects, worked with my favorite creatives and made filmmaking magic happen. I want to know that I played a small part in making Hollywood more comfortable with minorities being at the helm of huge projects.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My name is Stephanie Terrero, I’m a Dominican actress, producer, director, screenwriter and graphic/ui designer who splits her time between Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York. What sets me apart from others is my drive and dedication, I’ve been acting professionally since 2015 and see tremendous career growth year after year. I’m not afraid to change things up when I don’t see results, and am constantly seeking improvement. Recently, I decided to change markets and noticed an uptick in my auditions, and that is something I’m really proud of. I’m incredibly grateful to be seen for a wide variety of roles for casting offices all over the country not only because of moving but because I made sure my materials (headshots, resume, demo reel) were tight and in order.

I got to where I am today as a professional creative by evolving and never settling for less. It hasn’t been easy, I’ve overcome my challenges by keeping my head high and controlling only what I can control, and letting go of what is out of my hands. One of my favorite lessons that I’ve learned along the way is, what is for you will never miss you. I’ve received bookings for projects that were meant for me no matter what, and not booked larger projects that weren’t ultimately right for me! I want the world to know that I’m tenacious, maybe it comes from being Latina but I’m definitely stubborn and won’t stop until I’ve achieved my goals.

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?
I only have a few favorite spots in Los Angeles, because I’m a creature of habit. I’ve listed some of my favorite restaurants and favorite coffee shop:

Restaurants:

Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen
Home Restaurant
The Guest House
JOEY Woodland Hills
Rumi Cafe & Restaurant

Coffee Shop:

Black Canvas Coffee

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have a few people I’d like to shoutout.

First, I’d like to shoutout my acting teacher and coach Frank Krueger. I met him in 2020 during the height of the pandemic when I took Zoom classes at his acting school, The Annex Acting Studio. I hadn’t been in class in a while and he helped ease my nerves, and get right back into the swing of things. I studied with him for well over a year, about a year and a half, and really learned how to break a scene down. We covered everything from scene study to script analysis to meisner, he’s coached me on many large auditions that I’ve had and helped me see the scenes in a different light. He taught me to just have the conversation and not make the audition or the work, harder than it needs to be. I’m incredibly grateful to have learned so much about acting from him and it helped boost my confidence, which has shown in my work the last few years.

Second, I’d like to shoutout Jessica Health. She is the director at The Annex and our co-producer in our all female collective, Annex Productions. She keeps the production group well organized, on track and on schedule! I flew to LA back in 2020 to work on a tv pilot that we all co-produced and co-directed together. We wouldn’t have had such a flawlessly executed shoot if it wasn’t for her! Jessica also, graciously, wrote the script to one of my award winning shorts and I am forever grateful for that. Her talents are endless and I’d like to thank her for being a phenomenal collaborator and friend.

Third, I’d like to shoutout one of my fellow Annex Acting Studio Alums, and close friend, Alexis Marie West. Meeting someone over Zoom can be weird but we connected right away! We performed in scenes together during class, and whenever I’m in Los Angeles, she shows me around (and lets me crash on her couch) and we get to bond over similar life experiences. She’s definitely like a sister to me, and I recently had the pleasure of being one of her bridesmaids at her wedding in Texas. She’s someone I will always shoutout for being a great friend, someone I can lean on, and someone who gives great life advice! She also turned me into a matcha addict so there is that as well.

Fourth, but certainly not least, I’d like to shoutout another one of my close friends, Iris Liu. We met in 2021 while taking the same acting marketing class over Zoom, we connected online and started being each others self tape readers. Through that we bonded and grew close, so by the time I had flown to LA again, this time because I had been pinned for a new highly anticipated limited series, we got the chance to meet in person and hang out. It was like we hadn’t missed a beat and knew each other for years. A bulk of our relationship is online as I spend my time between multiple cities, but we’re always connecting via self tapes and catching up. I’d like to shout her out not only for being a great friend but a solid working actor who has hustled for years, and I admire her strength! She also taught me to take tracking my auditions seriously, and I’ve seen pretty satisfying data because of it.

Website: https://stephanieterrero.com/

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/indepthsteph

Facebook: https://facebook.com/slickysteph

Other: https://dribbble.com/stephanieterrerodesigns

Image Credits
Heidi Holmwood, Kate Stone, Evan Reed, Andrew Steinman, Justin Clynes