On November 10, the Latino Committee’s meeting featured a conversation with Director, Producer, Writer Joe Menendez.
Moderated by Latino Committee Director Category Representative Regina Ainsworth (Sharp by Design), Menendez discussed the path of his professional progression from episodic Director, to Producer-Director.
During the conversation, Menendez spoke about the advantages of working on an episodic series long-term and becoming part of creating the overall world of the show. He also discussed maintaining communication throughout the departments without going into specific scene work pertaining to the guest directors and helping them integrate their different perspectives. In his process, being the Producer-Director means supporting other Directors to succeed and making sure they have all the tools they need.
A multi-genre veteran of drama, action, horror, sci-fi, comedy, family and rom-coms, Menendez has directed over 115 hours of television including episodes of Star Trek: Picard, Fast Layne, Andi Mack, 12 Monkeys, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series and East Los High. He has also served as the Producer-Director on series including, Kung Fu, Siren, and Imagination Movers.
Menendez joined the DGA in 2000.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Latino Committee was created as a networking group to advance career and job opportunities for Latino DGA members by improving craft skills, networking, and making Latinos better known to the Hollywood creative community. The current Committee Co-Chairs are Directors Edward Ornelas and Jay Torres and Second Assistant Director Alicia Zaragoza.
See video from this event in the gallery below.