CHERYL QUINTANA LEADER Creatrixx, INDIVISION2000 Productions
Cheryl Quintana Leader, award winning writer, director and producer, is Founder and President of INDIVISION2000 Productions – Creating Educational Media in English/Spanish for the Latina/o/x, Hispanic Community via casting/crewing diverse women in front of and behind the camera for over 25 years (several decades before the #MeToo/#TimesUp movements).
Having won Universal’s Hispanic 35mm Film Project with “Tanto Tiempo,” Cheryl was the first Latina ever chosen in its 10 year history with her very first script [written in 3 days, prepped in 5 weeks, shot in 5 days with 12 cast, 20 extras and 12 locations] which went on to receive 5 National Awards, along with an induction into the Museum of Modern Art/NY’s Xicano Retrospective Archives.
As well, and to date, Cheryl is the first and only one to have ever produced a nationally syndicated hour-long TV special in 85% of the U.S. market (NBC-4 in L.A.) – The Hispanic Heritage Film Project: An American Experience hosted by Edward James Olmos & Amanda Avila – sponsored by AT&T, Kodak, Women Make Movies & Very Special Arts showcasing Americans of Latina/o descent filmmakers and their bicultural stories.
With ancestral roots of her 3x Apache (Chiricahua Chihenne) noted Great Grands and Aunt Chief/Chieftess Martinez’s Victorio, Isa & Lozen (first warrioress/prophet known to “read the minds of the enemy”) who fought bravely alongside Geronimo to protect their families/land, Cheryl has been committed to creating positive multi-racial/ethnic educational projects helping to heal diverse women & youth.
Her work has garnered AV/Video Multimedia’s Top 100 Producers Award, Women’s History Month Award from Comision Feminil/Los Angeles, a Gold Apple at the National Educational Film & Video Festival, two CINE Golden Eagles from Washington D.C., two National Best Short Film titles, as well as having been inducted into the Xicano Retrospective Archives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Additional projects Cheryl is proud to have created are: DOVE’S CAMPAIGN FOR REAL BEAUTY EMPOWERMENT, a 16 wk. on-line series educating women in Financial Literacy, Negotiation, Public Speaking, Advocacy & Authentic Voice (aligned with Naomi Wolf’s Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership in New York); HEALTHY BABIES, educating diverse women (14-45) about the importance of prenatal healthcare (City of Long Beach/Health & Human Services); HEALTHY HOMES, educating diverse 5th graders on Asthma Triggers & Environmental Health Safety (City of Long Beach/Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma), hosted by Christine Devine (Fox11 News) & Daryl Sabara (Juni Cortez/Spy Kids); THE PUREPECHA: POOREST OF THE POOR, documenting the issues surrounding the lives of our migrant farm working families in the Coachella Valley (cited by former First Lady Michelle Obama & Oprah Winfrey. Airing on TimeWarner Cable for a year) and assisted in getting 52 homes built for our farm working families, among others.
Her current project, CREO.8 (in post-prod) is a sci-fi project cast/crewed with 40+ diverse women high-lighting diverse Latina Super Heroines who rid DTLA 2025 of Shadow Invaders destroying Mother Earth as part of Panavision’s “New Filmmaker’s Program” which donated $100K Arri-Alexa pkg., and was given comp shooting locations at L.A. Center Studios (on previous Mad Men set, The Relativity School & Sky Bridge) along with discounted L.A. Film Permits for several DTLA roof-tops.
As well, since 2015, Cheryl has orchestrated over 20 Educational Conferences /Performance Storytelling Events: LATINAS IN HOLLYWOOD: OUR STORIES & HER STORIES for Latina middle/HS students/college/ recent grads (via L.A. City Hall-Tom Bradley Tower, CBS Studios, 72andSunny, Google (11x), YouTube Space L.A. & Sony Pictures Entertainment) partnered with Girls Build L.A./L.A. Promise Fund (initially with ListoAmerica/ Intel); UCLA’s Alumnae Conference, “DARE TO SOAR,” and 5 #ALL WOMEN EQUALLY conferences for 500 diverse women leaders at L.A. City Hall (2023-2025) in celebration of Women’s HerStory Month, Intl. Women’s Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Indigenous People’s Day, and Natl. Equal Pay Day with Mayor Karen Bass (Video Msgs), California Women Lead, CA Equity Initiative, Intl. Society of Black Latina/os, AMPAS/ L.A.Sparks former President, Deputy Mayor of Economic Opportunity, Deputy Chief of Staff, Genl. Mgr./Exec. Dir., L.A. Civil & Human Rights & Equity Dept., L.A. County Commission for Women, Women & Girl’s Initiative, The California Endowment, NAWBO Past President, NAACP-L.A. President, Employ CA, Wells Fargo Foundation, Former Googler Board President; United American Indian Involvement, Korean Family Services, Asian Pacific Community Fund, among many others.
Profiled in Hispanic Stars Vol I (Library of Congress), and awarded grants from both U.S. Artists Relief Org., and The Documentary Impact Producer Relief Fund, Cheryl was an active cameo participant of the award-winning photography book BLENDED NATION (featured on “The Today Show” w/Anne Curry & NPR); and interviewed for #FAIRROYALTIES on behalf of Independent Filmmakers.
In addition, after having been selected via scholarships from The Gas Company, State Farm Insurance, PG&E, and others, Cheryl is most honored to be a graduate alumna of Leadership America, Leadership California, The Nancy Walton Laurie Leadership Institute (Chi Omega/Memphis, TN), The Center for Creative Leadership, UCLA Alumni Leadership Institute (first Latina on the UCLA Women’s Gymnastics Team and producer of 2 Bruin Women’s Sports first videos), Hispanas Organized for Political Equality’s (HOPE) Leadership Institute & PAC, and Southwest Voter’s Registration Educational Program (SVREP).
Recently, Cheryl was awarded “UCLA Alumna of the Year” (via Panhellenic for her community service of over 20 years); as well as being Social Media celebrated as “Bruin of the Day,” along with having proudly served on several Boards supporting diverse women, research competitions, scholarships, governmental relations, athletic career days, and her Latina/o/x, Hispanic community over three decades.
UCLA Los Bruins Social Media Tribute 🙂
On ISLA MUJERES [0:47] in Cancun, Mexico with my UCLA 8-Clap cheering on my Alma Mater after winning Ellen’s 12 Days of Christmas free trip!
UCLA Greek Alumna of the Year
UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame
UCLA Letterwoman
UCLA Women’s Gymnastics · 1978–1982
On the beam · UCLA Women’s Gymnastics
At the Big Ten Network
My alma mater is UCLA · #1 public university
On campus with Ollie & Savvy
Bruin of the Day · UCLA Alumni
Go Bruins · with Joe Bruin
Go Bruins · Bruin spirit abroad
Bruin Bash
Currently, Cheryl is in development on several television and film projects, such as “3 Amigas,” “The Mayan Metaverse: Into Her Vision,” “Young Heart Diaries,” originally a children’s programming pilot commissioned by ABC focusing on young Latina girls, as well as a sitcom, “Rita & Lucy,” and short doc, Bellatrix exploring the healthcare system for women vets, a docuseries UCLA Women’s Gymnastics: Title IX 1979-2019,” “Navaratna” (Nine Stones) exploring mixed marriage in South Asian culture, and “Goddesses” (Our Mothers & Daughters) reconnecting women with the true power of women throughout time.
CREO.8 : In the dark underworld of elite Hispennials (Hispanic Millennials) nesting in Aventine Hill (Los Angeles MMXXIX), the CREO.8 Agency trains its best Latina XX Agents to identify and eliminate the Shadow Invaders and their destructive actions upon Mother Earth.
This innovative sci-fi superheroine project takes place in DTLA in 2029. Written in 2014/shot in 2015 (years before the making of both Wonder Woman & Black Panther). Cast/crew with over 48+ diverse women, CREO8 was selected as part of Panavision’s New Filmmaker’s Program, and supported with donations of an Arri-Alexa XT camera package (worth $100k+), shooting locations from L.A. Center Studios (MadMen, SkyBridge & The Relativity School) along with the support of the L.A. City Mayor’s Film Permit office. Proud to have teamed up with ListoAmerica, a non-profit dedicated to educating youth to pursue STEAM-related careers, funded by Intel.
Within her community, Cheryl is serving or has served as a CINE Jury Advisory Council Member in Washington D.C., assisting the Women Legionnaires at the American Legion Post #283, as an Advisory Board Member of the Mar Vista Family Center, as a member of UCLA’s Governmental Relations & Advocacy Outreach program, Research Week Judging Committee, as a Jury Committee Member of UCLA’s Alumni & Dr. Ralph J. Bunche Freshman Scholarship, Eastman Kodak’s Student Scholarship, and Nestle’s Very Best in Youth Awards. Prior to that, she was a duly committed Board of Director’s/Trustee Member of the National Association of Multi-Ethnic Americans (AMEA), the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW), and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality-Political Action Committee (HOPE-PAC).
A Phoenix, Arizona native, Cheryl’s adventures began when her family moved to California in the late 7os where she attended South Torrance High School and was its First Spartan Mascot, a Women’s Gymnastics Team member (Most Inspirational/3x MVP), selected to give the Graduation Speech, and MVP of the Watts Summer Games. As a proud First Gen, AAP student, Cheryl graduated a UCLA Chancellor’s Marshall with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a Women’s Studies Specialization. As the first Latina on the Bruin’s Women’s Gymnastics Team (4-yr Letterwoman), a Bruin Belle Spirit Coordinator and Chi Omega-Gamma Beta, Cheryl happily resides in Los Angeles with her two dogs, Savvy and Ollie.