A Script Is an Invitation: A Conversation with Screenwriter Lore V. Olivera

For some, it's sheer luck, and being at the right place at the right time, but for most, it's long grueling hours of hard work with an unwavering flame of dedicated passion. And as for Lore V. Olivera, a storyteller through and through, put in the hard work. At the ripe age of 18, she moved away from her home and family in Mexico City to the U.S. to pursue her screenwriting career aspirations. At 22, as a screenwriter, Lore was one of the youngest women and Latinas to be signed by WME, and optioned her first screenplay to Blumouse and Atomic Monster at 23 years old. 

When speaking with her, you can tell that she's still in shock with all that has happened in her short, yet budding screenwriting career. What was most intriguing, other than the stories she's drawn toward telling, was her steadfast assuredness nestled up against unflappable humility. She leaped on each opportunity that came her way and has nurtured every relationship along her journey, which has led to lifelong mentorships and friendships in the industry.  

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: Let’s start with your writing journey, what led you to wanting to become a writer?

Lore V. Olivera: I grew up in Mexico City, and I grew up in my grandmother's house, which is located in this really artistic neighborhood in the city. And my grandma was kind of crazy. She would hold seances in the living room, and she'd read the tarot for clients at the kitchen table while I did my homework next to her. I feel like I was always surrounded by stories and more specifically by supernatural stories. And here in Mexico, the tone we use when we talk about the supernatural is very different from the Western tradition, I guess, in the sense that it's never like, ‘Oh, this is a legend,’ or ‘This was a scary story.’ It's always like, ‘Oh, this totally happened.’

I always knew I was drawn to storytelling, but I didn't actually start writing seriously until high school. I've always been like a drama queen, so I was like, ‘I am going to be a writer, so I need to go to England,’ to literally lock myself away in this boarding school in Scotland actually, and write, because that's what you do. [laughs] I did not know what I was getting myself into.

I love dark stories. I love like writing...I found that as my way to unwind and disconnect, and just kind of fantasize. So, I started writing short stories…and then I decided I just wanted to be a writer, like one of those writers who just does short stories and novels. So, I ended up going to Stanford thinking I would major in English literature. But my sophomore year, I came across screenwriting, and I loved how collaborative it was. I love that a script is an invitation, as opposed to like, the whole experience, it's like, ‘Hey, here's an idea I have, and it's gonna need a director and actors and set designers and a whole team of people to bring it to life.’ And I love that. I loved just how much of an invitation it was for it to collaborate with cool people. 

So, I started screenwriting, and then almost at that time, [the] pandemic hit. I got sent back to Mexico. And I was here for almost a year, during COVID. I wrote my first two screenplays during that time, and I didn't really know what to do with them. It was this situation where I thought they were ‘OK.’ And I was doing this internship back then. And one of the development execs read one of them, and she was like, ‘Hey, this is pretty cool. If you want to send me a shopping agreement, I can take it out.’

Sadie: Were you interning in the States?

Lore: No, it was a Mexican production house. It shut down already. At the same time, I was doing competitions, because I didn't really know what else to do. So, I was on Coverfly…I don't know if they still do [this], but back then they had a pitch week where they paired you up with reps and you would pitch yourself to them. So that's how I found my first manager. When I signed, I was still a sophomore…honestly, ever since, it's been kind of like juggling two lives; I was a student and I was writing for class, but the stuff I wrote for class I would go ahead and pitch it and I would take it out.

I met through trying to package one of my scripts, I met with reps at WME, because we were trying to reach out to one of their directors, so they read it. They asked to meet me, and they were like, ‘Let's sign.’ and I was like, ‘Fuck, yeah!’ [laughs] I signed as a junior, and then my whole senior year, it was just insane. It was pitching and going on generals and doing school and just feeling like a total fraud. Because I was like, ‘I have no idea what I'm doing here.’ I knew nothing about the industry. I had never worked the industry. I had no clue. I would hop on Zooms, and I'd just be like, ‘Hi, I want to be a writer.’ [laughs]

And my senior year I won the Diverso Minority Report Fellowship, which is pretty cool actually. It's for college students and they pair you up with mentors and they coach you on how to pitch and how to not embarrass yourself. [laughs] I was paired up with a writer-director for Encanto. And she is a queen. She's literally the best person in the world. She read my script, she met with me, and at first, it was just like a mentoring relationship. But then she helped me out like when I moved to LA because also when I graduated school, I literally moved to LA the next day because I'm an international, I had two months to find a job or I would get kicked out of the country.

So, I called her, ‘Yo, I'm in LA, what do I do?’ I was obviously applying, doing interviews -everything. She sent me to Tanya Saracho's company Ojalá, she was like, ‘They're looking for an assistant there. Give it a shot.’ I met their Development Exec, and she was like, ‘We love you. But we literally hired someone today but stay in touch.’ By this point, I had weeks to find a job or I was back in Mexico, I ended up interviewing for things and because they liked me, they had found someone, a friend at Anonymous Content...she was looking for an assistant. And I met this woman who's crazy and nuts, and during the interview, I find out she's Mexican. And she's like, ‘Where did you go to school in Mexico?’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, you probably don't know. It's this tiny high school, middle of nowhere called the Irish Institute.’ And she's like, ‘I also went there.’ I never met any Mexican in Hollywood. And the first one I met went to my high school.

Sadie: Did you feel like your grandma was pulling strings in the background?

Lore: [laughs] Literally. Lowkey, I had made a ritual like a week before, ‘Please help me not be deported.’ It was Kismet. I started working at Anonymous. And honestly, I feel like the only reason I've accomplished anything at all in my short-lived career so far, is because I've come across just incredible mentors and incredible women on my way. So, she is literally my LA mother. I started meeting people, I started networking.

During this period the Encanto writer was like, ‘Hey, I met with 21 Laps, and they're looking for a female-driven horror story.’ That’s what I had on the show that she had read. So, I pitched to 21 Laps, and they loved it and they picked it up. And they were like, we obviously need a showrunner. And so, we called [her], and she's so gracious that she hopped on. I was still an assistant and all these meetings took place during my lunch hour. So, I started doing note calls with 21 Laps over lunch, while I was also bringing coffees and doing meetings. I was also working with WME networking. 

I met an exec at Atomic Monster, and she's a freaking queen. She read Cursed Lands because my reps had sent it to them, and I had another script that was new. And it was a horror Latina family drama. I started pitching it, took it to them, they loved it. They were like, ‘There's a scenario where we can develop this. And we can get Blumhouse to pay for it.’ And I was like, ‘Great!’ because mind you at this point, I hadn't made a penny. So, I pitched to Blumhouse…they had a lot of questions. But in the end, they picked it up, and they optioned it. And we signed on May 1st. So literally, we signed on May 1st at 8 pm, strike hits that day at midnight. So, it was like Happy, happy, happy, happy. And then absolute silence.

Over a month ago came to Mexico. And I was like, OK, I'm just gonna write new stuff.’ I started writing new stuff. But then I had this feature, which is the first one I ever wrote. Then I had it set up with a producer - I also broke up with my manager before coming to Mexico because I wasn't working…I had been bugging [him] since we signed which is two years ago. And I was like, ‘I want this director on the project.’ She's an incredibly influential Mexican director. She did Daughters of Witches on Hulu. She's like, royalty. And then when I came to Mexico, I was like, ‘I'm going to meet her.’ The industry is really small here, so I just met her, we went on this four-hour coffee, and by the end of it, I called John and I was like, ‘We have a director.’

Sadie: That's incredible. When did you realize you found your voice as a writer?

Lore: I'm gonna sound so entitled, but I feel like I never really struggled a lot with finding a voice. Since I was really young, people would be like, ‘You have a very loud voice on the page.’ And that's something I always got, like from my creative writing courses when I was 16, but also my English teachers when I was 12 would be like, ‘You're a really good writer, you have a voice.’ So, I feel like for me, it wasn't about finding it. It was about identifying it. You need to make it conscious. You need to actually understand what that means. And what that looks like.

I have this theory, I might be wrong, but I feel like everybody has a voice. It's not about finding it, as much as it is about making it conscious and identifying it. And I feel like for me, something that helps is that I always wrote pretty personal stuff. I was always writing about my grandmother, and women in my family and my experiences - I mean, I'm Capricorn, my ascending is Pisces, so I'm very emotional. [laughs] And I was always writing very emotional stuff. I feel like if you're writing something that's personal and something that you resonate with, and you're not afraid to give your point of view on it, then that's your voice, you know what I mean?

So, it's about finding those common themes that usually come up in your writing and playing to your strengths when you're writing it. It takes practice. I've come to the point now where I know with this script, for example, that I'm working on right now, it's my first screenplay. And when I read it, it's been three years, but I've grown. So just reading it, I was like, ‘Wow,’ you can identify a lot better like, ‘OK, this scene, for example, I can rewrite it in a louder voice.’

Sadie: What genres and themes are you drawn to?

Lore: I'm very drawn towards female-centered Latinx stories that explore dark themes, and that have an element of darkness to them. And by that darkness, I usually mean like the past, or trauma, or generational burdens. So that usually comes out as horror, for me, at least. I love horror, because it's such a fun medium that kind of just allows you to give trauma or your past or your fears, a face, aka monster, and then like playing with that. And I love that interaction.

Most of my stories so far have been horror. But I do love a good thriller, a dark drama, something that kind of just dives deep into what the female, Latinx experience, which is relative, because it's so diverse, but at least from my perspective. It allows me to explore those worlds and those wounds. So that's kind of my style, it's obviously always shifting and evolving. And I really want to write more thrillers and more drama. But horror is fun. It's a special place in my heart.

Sadie: Any advice for screenwriters in terms of pitching or even marketing themselves?

Lore: I guess two parts. First of all, it sucks, but I feel like from what I've learned, which isn't a lot, because I've been here a short time, but from what I've learned, you really do need a brand. It sucks. But we're in Hollywood, and it's capitalism, and you're a product. So, it sucks. And I hate it because it's art and what you're making is art. But you kind of have to play the game, if you want to be in this space to make your art.

One of the first competitions I won was the Roadmap Writers Diversity Award, which I really recommend because if you win, they give you this free pitching masterclass, and they teach you how to pitch yourself and how to pitch a project. Which I think were two things that supremely helped my early career because they helped me talk about my writing, talk about myself, and do that five-minute spiel you do when in general meetings, so that was really cool. And it's important. I have a website; I have my short films up on my website, which embarrass the hell out of me, but they're part of what I've done. Think about the colors of the website. I know, it's stupid, but think about the colors when people think of you. What colors are they going to have in their brain, and if you get them to even have a color then that's great, because you’re branding properly. That's why I keep the purples and the pinks. And I think that's important.

And it's also important to, which brings me to part two, I learned so much from my assistant job in the industry. I think it taught me way more than any grad school program would have, and they paid me instead of the other way around. It's grueling. It's painful. It's a very difficult job. But in the end, I'm no longer nervous when I go into a room because I know all the behind-the-scenes – I know what's happening. I know the conversations they have before meeting me and the conversations they have after meeting me. I know the factors that will influence whether or not they pick up a project, whether or not they meet with me again, or hear a pitch. 

So I feel like that really helped me just having that very visceral understanding of the industry. So if you have a chance to work as an assistant or get an industry job, I would absolutely take it just because you network and you meet people and you just stop being nervous because you learn that they're people just like you. I just feel like that just really humanized the execs for me.

And don't hunt for reps. [laughs] After my assistant job, that's like the third thing, I know people tell you to do it. Just don't send out unsolicited material. We delete it the second we get it, and it makes you look bad. Just don't do it. Make them come to you. Because when they come to you, it takes more time, it takes more work, but it's gonna be such a different experience. You'll feel like you have a choice to make like right now, for example, I have a choice. I'm no longer like, 'Pick me!' The reps will come because that's their job and they’re little sharks.

Stay up to date with Lore's writing journey by visiting her website lorevolivera.com and following her on social media: Instagram: lore.v.o | Twitter: @LoreVOlivera