Set Life: Latinas in Media Atlanta co-founder Denise Santos created a community for Atlanta filmmakers

ArtsATL’s Set Life series focuses on local creatives who work in Atlanta’s film and television industry. We’ll talk to those who work on both sides of the camera and explore their struggles and successes in navigating Georgia’s volatile film and TV scene.

::

Wherever creativity and expression emerge in the Atlanta film scene, Denise Santos works to encourage these forces and propel them into motion.

She honors these passions within herself as well and feels a tight connection to others with aspirations in the arts. Because she knows firsthand what it’s like to hold back passion — or try to pursue it as a solo traveler.

Born and raised in Miami, Santos found her own connection to film arts as a teenager.

“My mom put me in modeling schools, and I naturally gravitated toward film,” she says. “I wanted to jump right in and start auditioning for indie projects, like the 48-Hour Film Project films.”

The film world wasn’t a move Santos’ mother had foreseen — or encouraged — for her daughter.

“When my mom found out that I was thoroughly enjoying acting, she didn’t appreciate that too much. I think it was more her protecting me … to make sure I wasn’t going to struggle in the creative life, you know,” Santos says.

To deal with the underlying pressure to pursue a more traditional career, as a special education teacher in Santos’ case, the teen followed her film passion and acting dreams in quiet.

“I would take acting classes as electives behind her back,” she says. While on the outside, she would hit all the traditional life beats expected of her.

“Then, in 2009, my husband and I moved to Atlanta. I didn’t know what the film industry was like here when we moved,” Santos recalls.

Ever since she found other like-minded, passionate filmmakers in Atlanta, acting and helping create film projects have remained her focus and outlet of expression.

Only one thing was missing from the picture: community. And specifically, a collection of Latine filmmakers.

“I would run into the same people in the audition rooms,” Santos recalls. “But the culture is, of course, so intertwined in Miami, a real melting pot, whereas in Atlanta, there weren’t really pockets of that. Latinos and others were from this place or from that place.”

So Santos approached another actress she kept running across, Viviana Chavez, and approached her this way: “I see you’re also Latina. Would you be interested in getting together to see if we can do film readings and practice?”

Chavez’s answer was an enthusiastic yes.

So the two began working to create a space where others could bond and collectively pursue the craft of filmmaking. Their mission began with a Facebook group in 2017, and, by 2018, Santos and Chavez met a third actress to help promote the group. Along with Gabriela Ortiz, they started Latinas in Media Atlanta (LIMA).

“We put on showcases and did live readings and lunches, and we were inspired by the Latinas of Hollywood — Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Rita Moreno,” Santos says. “We would see these actresses pictured in groups, all these Latinas in one room.”

Santos, Chavez and Ortiz began to share pictures of their own, which served to pull in still more Latinas in the Atlanta film scene, which was thriving pre-pandemic and pre-strikes.

Some of Santos’ favorite projects followed, one of them recently — a short film, Chasm, with seasoned local director Phil Stevens. And true to the collaborative nature of the Atlanta film scene at large, Stevens brought on Santos not only as an actress but as co-director.

Shooting the film, she says, was a beyond-rewarding experience.

“I got to collaborate with a filmmaker from beginning to end, from the conception of the script to what my character would do, what she would wear and how she would react to specific situations. It was so collaborative,” Santos says.

She adds, “I’d never experienced anything like that as an actor.”

Another favorite film project since she moved to Atlanta is A Merry Switchmas alongside actress Terri J. Vaughn. “She’s one of the women I grew up watching, and so when I found out she was directing, it was the same kind of experience,” Santos says.

And to Santos’ delight, she found Vaughn willing to honor Latin culture, which was a part of the story line.

Alongside film projects like these, Santos relishes high points in her career, such as LIMA mixers, resulting community connection, and intense collaboration where the community connects with industry professionals.

“It has been great seeing how people gained agents, created films together and have continued to collaborate on other projects outside of our mixers,” Santos says.

Now, 16 years since she moved to Atlanta, Santos has experienced the same glue that kept her following her passion as a teenager, secretly taking film electives at school.

“Some people stay, some people don’t, which is OK,” she notes. “Everybody’s got their path.”

For Santos, that path has been to stay with the craft she loves.

She notes, “I have a strong family support system and a professional community where, no matter how the industry ebbs and flows, we’re still creating and working together.”

She adds, “I recognize how lucky I am to have a support system, which makes connecting with the community outside that much more important to anyone who still doesn’t feel supported by their families. I totally understand how that feels.”

Out of necessity — and like so many actors historically — Santos has a day job that helps support her family and her passion for film.

She also balances both these blessings by focusing on personal mental health and encouraging this kind of focus in other creatives.

“So [I focus on] my emotional health outside of acting on enriching my life and continuing to build community,” she describes. “Really, the community has kept me together and kept me sane, both my family community and the community here in Atlanta.”

Through her own journey of seeking optimal health and balance in life, Santos has found that creatives and actors, in particular, need support in the process of constantly exploring life and behavior, and observing, as part of creating their art, how other people in the world journey through life.

“That’s our job,” Santos emphasizes.

She adds, “That’s really been something so special that has truly filled my cup … balancing the mom life and the day job and the creative life. And I want my children to see that it’s OK to pursue a passion. Nothing should stop what you want to pursue.”

And yet, Santos realizes that creatives need more than drive to succeed.

“I think this community really yearns for connection, and it really, really helps balance things out,” Santos notes. “It’s realizing you’re rowing the same boat and knowing you’re not doing it alone.”

Right now, a key part of Santos’ collective journey is watching her most recent film project, Truant, navigate the festival circuit around the country.

Santos is also gearing up for the 50th Atlanta Film Festival, April 23 through May 5, where she will host a panel titled “The Productions Process, Paso a Paso” (Step by Step) at 11:30 a.m. on April 30 at Tara Atlanta’s Jack Auditorium.

LIMA will also hold a filmmaker mixer on the same day at 3:30 p.m. at El Ponce Mexican Restaurant, 939 Ponce De Leon Ave NE.

“Everyone that’s a creative, supporting a creative or is an ally, we want [you] to show up and support,” Santos closes.

::

Carol Badaracco Padgett is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who focuses on film and television, the automotive industry, architectural design and collaborative storytelling projects.