Gary Alvarez is an independent filmmaker based in Southeast Los Angeles. He graduated from Chapman University's Dodge College of Film with an M.F.A. in Film Production (Directing) in 2012. Since then he has been working professionally as a writer/producer/director.
Born the youngest of three sons to working-class Mexican immigrants in Monterey Park, Gary was raised in the barrios of Bell. At 18 he enrolled in UC Berkeley’s Chicano Studies Program and studied abroad at UNAM in Mexico City before graduating in 2002, after which he returned to Los Angeles and taught for 10 years.
In 2004 Gary embarked on a journey that changed his career path and ultimately his life: he traveled across Mexico from Tijuana to Cozumel, penning a manuscript that was later adapted into a screenplay. Numerous screenwriting workshops and indie film sets later, he decided to transition into a career as a writer/director.
Gary’s passion is writing and directing films, creating TV shows and producing documentaries. Currently he is developing a new series, writing his next full-length screenplay and producing/directing a feature documentary based on the Bell political corruption scandal of 2010.
When not writing or on set, Gary teaches screenwriting and film production to high schoolers in Downey.
But what gets him out of bed these days is learning to be a first-time dad with his toddler son, Sol Guadalupe.