Marcella Ochoa is a filmmaker who started her production company, 8A Entertainment, to increase underrepresented voices in front of and behind the camera. The Alliance of Women Directors picked Ochoa to be in the inaugural Mentor Latina Directors Fellowship for 2024.
She recently wrote and directed the Western Horror short film Hour of Blood. She also wrote and directed a short film on Americanization, My Name is Maria de Jesus, based on her childhood growing up in Texas. The short premiered on HBO Latino and she did a national university speaking tour where she screened her film and spoke to the students on campus. LUZ Films is currently developing the feature version of this short film that she’s attached to direct. She wrote and directed the award-winning psychological thriller short film, Worry Dolls. It premiered on Crypt TV and was nominated for an IMAGEN Foundation award for Best Short Film. She was the 2nd unit director and co-wrote the thriller, Discarnate.
She also co-wrote the social justice horror film, Madres, produced by Blumhouse and premiered on Amazon as part of their ‘Welcome to the Blumhouse' series. She received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in a TV Movie for the film.
She started off her career in the International Publicity department for Sony Pictures where she was instrumental in the studio’s marketing campaigns. She eventually left to be the Head of Development for producer Harald Kloser’s (Independence Day: Resurgence, White House Down, 2012) production company. She also worked closely with his producing partner, world-renowned director Roland Emmerich on TV and film projects.
She’s written films for Paramount and is currently writing films for Universal and New Line.
She’s repped by CAA and Inclusion Management.
