Stefan Perez is a Coast Miwok, Latino filmmaker based in Sonoma County, California. His small videography business keeps him busy while his filmmaking collective, Flat Quack Films, keeps him busier. The original plan of becoming an actor ended when Stefan discovered the power of filmmaking during an acting class assignment in high school. The class reception to his first short film about an action-hero homeless man teaming up with a prostitute to take down the mafia was overwhelmingly positive. The school administration was less than enthusiastic about the film and banned it from playing in the annual film festival. However, the experience did not deter Stefan from exploring a whole new world outside of acting. Stefan’s fascination with comedy writing and filmmaking was enough to start a life of endless toil in editing rooms and sleepless nights on set for years to come. He went on to graduate from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema and later attended Sonoma State University, becoming the first Native American to graduate from SSU’s master’s program in Film Studies. Stefan’s style of comedy writing is influenced by the farcical wit of Mel Brooks and the campy extremism of John Waters, all wrapped together in a proudly low-budget style. The indigenous history of storytelling is something Stefan takes great pride in. For a people whose history is tinged with tragedy, Stefan believes the only way to grow as a culture is to also expand into humor. The current project Stefan is working on is producing an Indigenous noir-comedy. It’s about Native American private detective, Dick Redwood who gets hired to investigate the theft of a priceless relic from shady billionaire Roman Banks’s private collection of stolen indigenous artifacts. The investigation soon turns into a case of murder where everyone and their mother is a suspect. While uncovering everyone’s dark secrets, Redwood comes to terms with his own tragic past that has shaped his cynical worldview. Stefan was a selected fellow in Native American Media Alliance’s 2nd annual Native American Writing Seminar. He is excited to continue growing as a professional with NAMA’s 8th annual TV Writer’s Lab.