Alyssa Katalyna

Alyssa is a Latina filmmaker who specializes in "the weird". She's originally from Roachdale, Indiana where she grew up on her family's farm. Her spark for storytelling was ignited after being introduced to Star Wars where she fell in love with fantasy, sci-fi, horror, anything that screams genre or aka weird. Alyssa was admitted to Purdue University to be a veterinarian and had to take an acting class as an elective. While making the final video project, Alyssa found her calling in filmmaking and performance and made the choice to focus on a dual B.A. in Film and Video Studies and Theatre Acting. Alyssa has won several awards including the prestigious George Lucas Scholarship at USC awarded to exceptional underrepresented student filmmakers. She is also a National Hispanic Foundation of the Arts Scholar and was chosen to speak for the inductee class at 2019's Noche de Gala event in Washington D.C. This year marks her first year attending NALIP as an Emerging Content Creator scholar. Alyssa was also a finalist for Paxeros' inaugural Women of Color Commercial Directing Program for 2020. She's also an active member of NALIP and the Chicana Director's Initiative in the Los Angeles community. Alyssa can be found in preproduction on projects in both film and television. She is also releasing shorts in the festival circuit and loving every moment of it. When she isn't directing, Alyssa can usually be found exploring in the woods, rock climbing, or rewatching either Star Wars or The Haunting of Hill House.