Maria Isabel Espino

Born in Caracas, Venezuela Maria immigrated to the United States, born a citizen through her parents who had been naturalized before the time of her birth, at 6 years old to South Florida. Her family planted roots in the city of Plantation, FL after suffering the devastating loss of both her brothers. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at just 3 weeks, her parents decided to keep that information a secret for fear that their daughter would be treated differently. At the time of her diagnosis, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) was a terminal illness as most children did not survive into adulthood. They feared their daughter would be forever deemed too delicate to enjoy much of what other normal children would be involved in. Her childhood was filled with the influence of her mother Reina's cultural origin, who hailed from the Central American country of Panama. Dancing, music, and the arts were predominant in Maria's young life. With Miami's influential South Beach only 45 minutes south of their home, she was exposed to many of the world's best in dance, music, and film. Her sister is a prominent singer-songwriter and she learned so much about music and the entertainment industry through her sister's successes and failures. From her mother and sister she gets her appreciation of dance and music. Maria's father, Flavio, was a fan of the Star Wars films even in her country, Venezuela. But the first time Maria ever stepped into a movie theatre, it was with her father to see Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The influence of those films has stayed strong with Maria and for her it's very much tied to her father. Flavio was a financial genius and brought his business prowess from great successes in the chemical manufacturing, dairy processing, and oil drilling industries to the United States. From her father she takes her business acumen and love of films and storytelling. Now, after years of being involved in the video game development and community industries she endeavors to create films that are made by the fans for the fans and to start to develop her own intellectual properties and stories so that she can leave behind a legacy of great storytelling.