Valeria Contreras(IV)

Valeria Contreras is a producer, writer, and director that pursues to champion global, underrepresented narratives, in hopes of using the power of story to advance and elevate social change. Her work is inspired by her binational upbringing along the U.S.-Mexico Border, as well as the experience she gained leading projects and programs in the social and public sector.

Valeria is a Producers Guild of America Create Fellow and Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow. She has produced a slate of short films including "Not My Name," filmed in Colombia, which won the Focus Features Award for Social and Cultural Impact. Other works include "Side Roads" and "Wolf at the Door" which won Best Short at the Iberoamerican Film Festival in Miami. Also a writer/director, Valeria's first short film, "Homesick," was selected for various festivals, including the Oscar-Qualifying Atlanta Film Festival. She has served on the Young Mezcal Jury for the Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara.

Valeria is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University, where she received her Master's in Fine Arts in Film & Creative Producing and was recognized with the Michael Hausman/Buffalo Mike Filmhaus Foundation Award as well as the 3Pas Studios Award for Underrepresented Filmmakers. At Columbia University, she was also the University Senator for the School of the Arts and the first Senator from the School of the Arts to lead the Student Affairs Committee as Co-Chair. She served as Co-Chair for two consecutive terms and was recognized as a Columbia Alumni Association Scholar for her advocacy work.