NYWIFT Blog

By Lily Hutcheson

Welcome to NYWIFT, Cassie Rubio!

Cassie Rubio is a Brooklyn-based screenwriter, educator, and community organizer. Whether it’s running free art labs for QTBIPOC youth or teaching guerrilla filmmaking workshops aimed at documenting climate change, Cassie believes in the transformative power each of our creative voices have.

A recent graduate of Stony Brook’s MFA in Television Writing program and a 2024 Television Academy Drama Writing Fellowship Finalist, they use their voice to author stories about the harm and healing found in collective spaces.

In our interview, Cassie discusses the intersections between activism and filmmaking, their writing inspiration, and an upcoming project!

NYWIFT Member Cassie Rubio

Welcome to NYWIFT! Please introduce yourself briefly to our readers.

Hi there! I’m Cassie Rubio and I’m a screenwriter, community organizer and recent graduate of Stony Brook Manhattan’s MFA in Television Writing Program. I’m passionate about using storytelling to transform how we relate to ourselves and the world around us.

When I’m not breaking a new story or facilitating a political education training, you can find me taking a nature walk around Prospect Park or cooking up a new recipe in the kitchen.

Cassie Rubio at Outfest for the premiere of their short film Hex Your Ex

What brings you to NYWIFT?

As a new graduate, I want to explore more of the local creative scene here outside of my campus. I also believe filmmaking is a team sport, so any chance to build community and support another person’s work, I’m there!

Cassie Rubio on set directing

In your work with filmmaking and community organizing, do you ever feel that these two roles intersect or can benefit one another?

These two worlds intersect more than I could have ever imagined. Much of my early years in undergrad were spent learning how to host large scale gatherings – teach-ins, protests, conferences, and more. We had little time or resources and were just young, passionate people building towards a shared dream. Sound familiar?

Once I graduated, I joined film fellowships that had an activist bent. Spaces that were by and for queer people, survivors of sexual violence, and feminists of color. It was quite the education! The programs required that we not only write our scripts, but produce and shoot them too. Same thing with my graduate program.

Now I can clearly see how filmmaking and organizing are two sides of the same coin. Both are adrenaline-fueled environments that demand communication, collaboration, adaptability, and decisiveness. By the end of either experience, I’m always completely exhausted but full of awe and gratitude. Working with others to bring something to life is magical.

Cassie Rubio advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment on Capitol Hill

Can you share a bit about the process of making your short film, Tienes Hambre?

Absolutely. It was the first script I ever wrote and came from a deeply personal place. It tells the story of an English-speaking granddaughter and a Spanish-speaking grandmother. Although they can’t communicate conventionally, they use food to connect.

I loved getting to write and direct something that could honor my abuelita’s memory and all that she has given me despite us never having had the chance to have a “normal” conversation in her lifetime.

Cassie Rubio at their MFA in Television Writing graduation ceremony

When writing a script, where do you seek inspiration and ideas for stories from?

My communities! I’m particularly interested in writing about the struggle between personal agency and collective interdependence. That tension exists in every type of relationship, biological or not. Those contradictions can lead us down some very interesting, morally gray paths which I find to be very fertile ground for dramatic writing.

Are there any filmmakers or pieces of media that your work has been influenced by?

Moonlight will always be one of my favorite movies. Not only is it a visually stunning work, but the writing is incredibly restrained. It’s about what is not said with words but expressed through a touch, a look.

As a fellow queer person of color with a tumultuous coming out experience, that quietness felt so familiar. The film’s tenderness and raw edges are something I strive to emulate in my own work.

Do you have any current or upcoming projects you’re excited about?

I’m currently writing a feature about a female athlete who returns to running after a sexual assault threatens to break up her friendship circle. I get to explore the messiness of female friendships, bodily autonomy, memory, and shame through a sports lens.