Photo provided Alessandra Dobrin-Deluxe
Director, editor and writer Alessandra Dobrin-Deluxe has amassed over 100 credits during her 25 years of film work and storytelling. Born in New York City, raised in Amsterdam and now based out of Santa Fe, Dobrin-Deluxe works alongside Anna Darrah and Jilann Spitzmiller to run her all-female owned production company Film Nest Studios. Most recently, she won a Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmy for her directing work in the Education/Schools Content category for the Early Show with Alax, a curious alien puppet—played by Devon Ludlow—full of questions related to early childhood education and care. We caught up with Dobrin-Deluxe following her win to discuss the award winning show, her inspirations and her background. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. (Evan Chandler)
Why did you decide to take on this project?
At Film Nest Studios, we love to do projects that impact our community in a positive and heartfelt way, so this was right up our alley. A lot of people don’t reach out for needed support because they don’t understand what’s going to happen or they are afraid…and being a mom is hard, and as a parent, it can be difficult to ask for help. The state’s ask was, ‘how can we highlight these programs and also highlight questions and issues that come up for parents?’ …And the show is funny and weird and quirky and information can be delivered through a joyful, innocent presence, as opposed to just listing facts or something like that. We were thrilled because we got to have a lot of fun developing this. The whole team was absolutely amazing, and it was a real New Mexico effort. Winning the Emmy was just such a thrill because of how this blossomed and because we were able to see that it did affect people.
With all the credits you have, what really differentiates a project like this from work that came before it?
I think the initial intention behind it is a huge aspect of it. I love to read deep into the ways that—especially within childhood or early teen years—things can expand your mind…I think when stories come about with the goal of uplifting others and developing insights, that’s where it is not just about making money. For example, I worked for BET for a long time on those Top 25 countdown shows, and those are pretty fun, but it never felt like I was saving the world. I think when a project comes like this and you can feel the ‘why’ behind it—wanting to connect or shine a light or touch people and also evoke thought. You don’t want to just be telling someone, ‘This is how you should think,’ but it just expands people’s minds to at least question or consider or, you know, search from within for the answers, as opposed to society’s expectations.
How do your background and environment influence the work you do today?
Your environment really does influence you greatly, and I think influences your internal environment. A lot of the stories that I write deal with the processing of the outer environment into the internal environment. I myself am a big mix of many different backgrounds, and so that’s always been a part of me…I think that helped me kind of feel more like a citizen of the world, as opposed to choosing one specific thing to be loyal to. That is something that I think will help our society be more inclusive and embracing of each other. I would say in Holland, I really was raised in a society that was very safe at the time, and that really helped me to have a very open mind. New York was really great because it’s a wonderful place to be a young student and young professional breaking into the film world. I didn’t know what I was necessarily going to come across film wise in Santa Fe, but what’s wonderful about the film community here and my company is it is built on this foundation of trying to actually have a human life. I once did a 27-hour day in New York, and if you didn’t do it, someone else was going to do it. I think Santa Fe has really opened up that ability to not feel like just one of hundreds of people in a line, but kind of being able to work in a more self-respecting way
