Bio

is a Los Angeles native whose distinctive writing and filmmaking voice she attributes to her Mexican and Midwest heritage, in addition to being on the spectrum.

Michelle's first 16MM film, Silence, won at the New York Dore Schary Festival. It was featured in two screenings at the Director's Guild Theater, in Los Angeles, at the Los Feliz theater, the L.A. Film Forum, and at Laemmle’s Royal theater. Silence was also featured at the Benefit for the Foundation for Art Resources at the Pacific Design Center.

As a directing Fellow of The American Film Institute, Michelle earned her Master of Science. The American Film Institute describes her as a "...gifted, original talent and ... true storyteller" and featured her in an AFI Lifetime Achievement red carpet event and broadcast on CBS.

Michelle was a Mary Pickford and Remy Martin Foundations' Grants recipient. She was interviewed by the American Film Magazine and the New York Times, who described her 16MM narrative short, Pinfeathers, as being the least like the typical L.A. product and having a “Salammbô-like decadence around the edges ...”. Scarecrow Video (described by Italian film director, Bernardo Bertolucci, as being the best video store in the world) called Pinfeathers "Disturbing and dreamlike" and added it to their permanent viewing archive. Pinfeathers went on to win at the Chicago Film Festival. It was also picked up for distribution by Dark’s Art Parlour and offered for sale on their website and at horror/fantasy conventions around the United States. When the Tribeca's MacArthur Foundation granted, 1-million dollar Reframe project asked AFI for a selection of short films to feature and offer for sale, Pinfeathers, by then almost twenty years old, was one of thirteen films AFI selected to represent their entire catalog of shorts that spanned decades.

Michelle is the author of When Rent is Due, a play which premiered at The New City Theater in Seattle, where she produced and directed its production.

She authored All the Leaving, a novel that has been translated into Spanish and published in Mexico. All the Leaving is available in paperback (Amazon, Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, and Homeboy Industries, in Los Angeles) and in a Kindle ebook edition. A Spanish-language translation was also sold in bookstores throughout Mexico City and at the Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City.

In addition to an MS in directing film from AFI, Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science in digital filmmaking from the Los Angeles Film School and is closing in on receiving her bachelor's in Entertainment Business.

She is currently at work on a documentary series about mass incarceration.

Service as a spiritual practice

As a Buddhist practitioner, Michelle believes that being a volunteer is the practice of employing one's compassion for a high purpose. Ms. Espinosa spent three days a month in prisons for fifteen years facilitating the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) for inmates. AVP is a process by which inmates and community members learn communication, coping skills, and deeper self-awareness as alternatives to violence.

For three years, Michelle was a volunteer responder and on-call manager for the Los Angeles City Mayor's Crisis Response Team. CRT is called on the scene of fatalities or multi-casualty incidents by L.A. Fire and Police Departments–to assist witnesses and families–until the Coroner leaves.

While a practicing mediator and facilitator with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office for twenty years, Michelle was invited to coach students at U.C.L.A. Law School and peer-to-peer mediators in L.A. middle schools.

Michelle was recommended by Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, for the President's Volunteer Service Award and bronze medal, which was awarded to her by President Barack Obama.

Michelle Espinosa

Service as a spiritual practice