Award-winning filmmaker, actress, screenwriter, producer, and creator, Felise Garcia, is creating opportunities for women in the film and television industry.
Garcia has penned many stories since the age of seven. She earned an associate’s degree in English from San Antonio College and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She pursued acting ten years ago, which led her to an interest in screenwriting.
“When I started acting and got curious about the scripts and the different things that were involved in bringing the characters to life, I decided to start learning how to screenwrite,” said Garcia.
Garcia quickly learned how competitive the acting industry was and how limited the roles for television and film were in Texas. Garcia was tired of waiting around for an opportunity to come to her, so she utilized her writing, acting, and management skills to create her web series, “The Honey Trapper.” The show dives into deceit and dares to ask the question: If your significant other were presented with the temptation to cheat, would they choose to stray or stay?
The show is about a woman who decides to start a professional honey trapping business and soon realizes that nothing is as black and white as it seems. It leaves the audience with the question: It begs the question, people can research cars, schools, and houses, so why not research the person you plan to spend the rest of your life with? This addictive show proved to be the best idea for Garcia as it has won multiple awards, especially for season two.
Garcia is the vice-president of the non-profit organization Women in Film and Television in San Antonio. WIFT San Antonio is one of many chapters in Texas and is part of the national organization WIFT United States. There are WIFT chapters in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. San Antonio is the latest Texas chapter to be added to the organization. Garcia got involved in WIFT when she and the current president of WIFT, Michelle Faires, met during a filmmaker happy hour. Garcia and Faires connected, and shortly after, they began developing WIFT San Antonio. Garcia wanted to create WIFT San Antonio to help other women learn about it. She didn’t want anyone else to have experience the difficulty she had when she first entered the film industry. Garcia had to educate herself on the ins and outs of film and she wants to prevent women from going through their film careers with the same issues.
“What WIFT is providing is all this education that goes into filmmaking for people,” said Garcia. “WIFT is a really great place for education and networking for women.”
There are four levels for those interested in joining WIFT: professional, associate, friend, and student. You can email WIFT at wiftsanantonio@gmail.com for membership information.
Garcia also established a new production company, Stigma Strikes Production. Some of the common themes in the stories she has written involve characters that break the traditional stigmas, and that’s why she chose the name Stigma Strikes.
“I want to give voices to those people that normally get judged,” said Garcia. “
On top of all of the other hats that Garcia wears, she is also an executive assistant to the Hollywood-based acting coach, Coach Dock. Garcia is assisting Dock in building his acting classes. Garcia credits Dock in changing her life for the better. Coach Dock has been teaching in Houston, Texas for a couple of years. Garcia’s agent, who is based in Austin, set up a Zoom meeting with Coach Dock to convince him to teach classes in Austin. Garcia was finally able to meet Dock in Austin during one of his trips there. Garcia noticed that Dock didn’t have marketing materials for any of the classes he offered. Garcia offered to help Coach Dock market his acting classes on social media.
“That’s how I got promoted to executive assistant, so now I’m working on the marketing materials, handling socials,” said Garcia. “I don’t know how he handled all the Texas stuff before I was doing it for him.”
Felise Garcia is definitely not limiting herself to one avenue. She still has goals that she wants to fulfill. One of her hopes for the future is that aspiring actors, screenwriters, and producers take those dreams seriously and create their own content, especially now that Hollywood seems to be changing in terms of diversity.
“The most change I strongly feel is gonna be when we have more diverse people behind the camera and writing the stories,” said Garcia.
For more information on Felise Garcia, please visit the website: https://www.felisegarcia.com/ or https://www.instagram.com/electra5785/
WIFT: FB: https://www.facebook.com/wiftsanantonio
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/wift_sanantonio/
The Honey Trapper Web Series: FB https://www.facebook.com/thehoneytrapperwebseries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehoneytrapperseries/
