José Fresán

Since I was a little boy growing up in Mexico City, movies sparked a special kind of excitement in me—but I never went to film school. Unsure of what made film so special to me, I pursued a successful and fulfilling career in Design and Visual Arts, keeping my passion for film confined to the movie theater.

When I moved to New York for my master’s, I finally began exploring what truly drew me to film. I realized that storytelling was at the heart of it all. For me, the screenplay is the foundation of everything that makes a movie special—it shapes and inspires all the art forms that come together in a great film.

For a long time, I kept hearing writers and filmmakers say, “Follow your gut feeling,” but I never quite got it. Then Of Water and Dust came to me, and suddenly, my gut was yelling at me with a certainty I’d never felt before. It gave me the push I needed to dive into screenwriting—learning all the rules and tricks to make sure I could tell the story as best as I could.

Structure helped me map out the rational stuff, like where my characters needed to go. But letting them react and go off-script as I wrote? That’s where the magic happened. It felt like setting up a game and then just letting it play out on its own.

Of Water and Dust has been a really special and personal project for me. As my first feature screenplay, I was constantly worrying about whether I could capture the images and emotions I felt inside and turn them into something real on the page. And yes, “following my gut feeling” definitely helped along the way. It wasn’t easy, but learning how to silence that critical voice in my head was the key to actually getting the story out.

For me, it’s all about honest emotion. I know it sounds obvious, but the movies that really stick with you are the ones that connect with you on a deeper level, tapping into your own life experience. And I don’t mean every film has to be huge or profound, but if it’s got a genuine human emotion at its core—something people can actually relate to—that’s where the heart of a great story begins.

These are exciting times! Sure, there are challenges—especially with how fast the industry is evolving—but with every challenge comes a chance to shake things up with fresh ideas and new forms. The stories we’re telling are getting deeper and more complex, revealing truths about who we are and asking all the right questions. It’s thrilling to see how creativity pushes us to question both the world around us and the one inside. The form might change, but one thing’s for sure: storytelling is here to stay.

Many writers and filmmakers say, “Write the movie you want to see,” and honestly, I couldn’t agree more. Write the movie you want to see, and hey, even if it doesn’t go anywhere, at least you got to experience it yourself.

An actor friend once told me that he shows up on set, gives his best, and then it’s out of his hands. And I feel the same way about screenwriting—we do our best to tell the stories we believe in, and once they’re out there, they’re no longer ours. They take on their own life, and some people will connect with them, while others won’t. I always remind myself: “Take feedback, learn, improve, but remember, not everyone will connect with your story—and that’s okay. You’ll survive.”

I’m excited to see where Of Water and Dust goes, but I also can’t shake the urge to dive back into the writing board. So, we’ll see—just following the signs and seeing where the road takes me.

As I mentioned before, the form will keep changing, just like it always has. But at the end of the day, storytelling will always be one of our most powerful ways to explore who we are. We’ll always need stories to help us make sense of the world and ourselves.

Write that story you’ve been obsessing over—honestly, for yourself. Think of it as therapy, but with better plot twists. I promise, it’ll boost your confidence and help you realize just how valuable your work truly is. Each of us has a unique point of view, and no one else will tell the story quite like you, so you might as well be the one to tell it.