BIO:
Ms. Agui Carter immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador, grew up an undocumented Dreamer, and graduated from Harvard University. She is passionate about using media storytelling to inspire social change and specializes in visually arresting and complex storytelling, working in both English and Spanish language films and transmedia. She is an advocate for diversity in media, and believes in the power of media to effect social justice. She is a trustee of NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers) and on the Advisory Board of the Filmmakers Collaborative.
Over a dozen of her films (written, produced, directed by credit) have shown on PBS, on Cable and in film festivals. Her film on censorship of Jazz and Hip Hop, The Devils Music was hailed by the New York Times as a documentary that addressing the complex interaction of race and class engages viewers in a conversation as vigorous as the art it chronicles.
Her most recent works aired on national PBS are: No Job For a Woman (producer), about the first American women journalists accredited to report on War during WWII, and REBEL (writer, director, producer), about a Cuban immigrant woman who fought as a Confederate soldier then became a Union Spy during the American Civil War. REBEL has been awarded the 2014 Erik Barnouw Honorable Mention for best historical film in America, and the Gutsy Gals film award for best feature film/documentary of the Americas. REBEL has been touring the US in film festivals, theaters, museums, and universities, and opened in over 30 national historic sites through the National Park Service.
Ms. Agui Carters work begins with her writing. She has been a working member of the Writers Guild since 1999. Her new play 14 Freight Trains, about the first American to die in Iraq, Jose Gutierrez who received American citizenship posthumously, opened to excellent reviews at Arena Stage in Washington, DC fall of 2014. Her new script about an undocumented teen codewriter enamored of the Monarch butterfly called The Secret Life of La Mariposa, dealing with issues of immigration, womens rights, violence against women and girls, and ecological devastation, is a Sundance Screenwriters Lab finalist. She is currently developing a documentary on immigration called Mother Land.

Ms. Agui Carter is one of El Planeta newspapers 2014 PowerMeter100 list of the most influential figures for Latinos. She has won a George Peabody Gardner, a Warren, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS fellowship, and a Rockefeller Fellowship, among others, and has served as a visiting scholar/artist at Harvard, Tulane and Brandeis universities. Ms. Agui Carter has been a featured speaker at the White House Latino Heritage Forum, and the Smithsonian Museums as well as at annual national conferences such as the National Association of Theater Owners, the National Council of La Raza, Latinos In Social Media, and Hispanicize, among many others. She been a grantee of, and has served as a panelist and juror for institutions including film festivals and organizations such as the Independent Television Services (ITVS), the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.


RESUME MARIA AGUI CARTER
maria@iguanafilms.com facebook.com/iguanafilm www.youtube.com/user/IguanaFilmsChannel
617 4291258 twitter handle @iguanafilm

Media Maker, Scholar, Entrepeneur Founder of film and new media company producing English and Spanish language content for PBS, cable and new media. Media advocate, serving as strategist and development consultant for media organizations (Filmmakers Collaborative and National Association of Latino Independent Producers). Panelist, judge, and speaker at film festivals and industry conferences. Screenwriter, director, producer, production and story structure consultant, university lecturer, workshop leader, mentor. Panelist for NEA, NEH, ITVS, LPB and film funds. Featured speaker at national conferences including NCLR, Smithsonian Young Ambassadors Program, White House Latino Heritage Forum, and at Producer labs such as Firelight Media, NALIP Producers Academy, among others. Founder of ARC NALIP, an arts residency for women filmmakers and writers of color in North Troy, Vermont. Production, Story Structure Professor @ Mass. College of Art.

EDUCATION

Harvard University, B.A. with Honors
Visual & Environmental Studies, Magna Cum Laude, concentration in Film, minor in Social Anthropology

EXPERIENCE

President, Iguana Films, Boston, MA 1999 to present
As President of this independent production company, responsible for strategic development, fundraising, and production of documentary and dramatic projects, working with teams of 5 to 50 people. Provide consulting and management services to outside productions from strategy to execution. Additionally, teach workshops and courses on film production, editing, storytelling and distribution. (Selected film credits on next page.)

Trustee, Board Chair Emeritus, National Association of Latino Independent Producers 2010 to present
The nations largest Latino organization of Hollywood, network, cable, public, web, and independent media professionals. During tenure as Chair, NALIP undertook a strategic planning initiative, increased membership, expanded ties across the industry, created new and strengthened partnerships with institutional and corporate players from Comcast to Disney to AMC theaters to Univision. NALIP added a paid mentorship program and a series of networking events for high level creatives in the industry, and increased advocacy through such efforts as newspaper editorials, endorsements, advocacy on Capitol Hill, and campaign partnerships with Civil Rights organizations. Newsletter surpassed 10,000 subscribers, social media surpassed 25,000 followers. Completed 2014 Chair term and began Trustee term for NALIP. www.nalip.org

Board Chair, Filmmakers Collaborative 2007 to 2010
During my tenure as Chair of New Englands largest group of independent producers of social issue media, Filmmakers Collaborative underwent strategic planning initiatives and expanded to a national organization, as well as created a yearly conference called Making Media Now. www.filmmakerscollab.org

Visiting Scholar, Womens Studies Research Center, Brandeis University 2006 to 2009

Rockefeller Humanities Fellow, Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Tulane University 2003 to 2004

Warren Fellow, Warren Center for Studies in American History, Harvard University 2002 to 2003

Producer/Director, WGBH, Boston, MA 1989 to 2000
Produced and directed over a dozen documentaries for national and local broadcast for the flagship Boston public television station, WGBH

Researched, developed, produced, wrote, directed for national series, CULTURE SHOCK

Wrote, produced, and directed for regional series LA PLAZA