An award-winning filmmaker, Mary Evangelista was born in Manila, Philippines and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the arts for Writing and Directing, where she was the recipient of a Tisch Graduate Fellowship for Cinematography. In her last year at school, she produced Fish Bones - a feature film which premiered at Slamdance 2018. Her short film, Fran This Summer, an LGBTQ summer love story, has screened in over 20 festivals, including the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She is the co-creator of Water Melts, a Tribeca Film Institute and Google Daydream supported VR rom-com about people who will lose their loved ones. It premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. With all her work, she pursues distinct and transformative stories full of bullish heart and levity. She is currently a Directing Fellow in Film Independent’s Project Involve.