By Melanie Escalante
Liliana Huantes. Photo courtesy of Liliana Huantes.
Liliana Huantes remembers sitting down with her family to watch home videos as a child and being mesmerized by the camera and what it created.
The Texas Tech alum from San Antonio, Texas who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in creative media industries in May 2021, said when she would go to the movie theater with her family, her parents always made her and her siblings watch the ending credits.
“I always was upset when we did it but I think now that I’m older it was really a valuable experience of being able to see how many people it takes to create a film and different things,” Huantes said. “I think these small little nuggets really led me to be like, ‘I want to do this.'”
Prior to her current position as a TV post-production assistant for Lionsgate, Huantes was an intern for Lionsgate last summer.
“I was applying to literally everything under the sun and there was a TV post-production intern position available at Lionsgate and I just applied,” Huantes said. “It was kind of just one of those things like I knew I wanted to do post-production and it was just looking for somewhere because as college students we are clay; we are easy to mold and I was like, ‘somebody mold me, please.’”
Taylor Du Pont, manager of TV post-production at Lionsgate, said during Huantes’ time as an intern, what she enjoyed most about working with Huantes was her effortless ability to collaborate.
“She also has really great intuition and instincts when it comes to decisions on the job. We obviously taught her how to do certain things and led her towards certain tasks but then we gave her a lot of freedom to put her own spin on things, find better systems, and she was really great at that,” Du Pont said. “She was very independent but also knew how to ask for help when she needed it.”
Du Pont said Huantes taught fellow colleagues about work ethic and specifically, taught Du Pont the ins and outs of editing.
“I think one of the things I admire about her the most is the fact that she can look at a learning experience and find the positives in it or help uplift the people around her with her positivity,” Du Pont said. “I think it’s infectious when someone has that type of attitude so I think that’s something that sets her apart from a lot of people.”
Huantes said a defining moment in her journey as a creative was participating in her first campus film festival at Tech.
“I really didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself as a story writer and trying to do everything because I saw myself as an editor,” Huantes said. “I think being able to force myself into an uncomfortable situation that I wasn’t too confident in was really valuable because what would’ve happened if I didn’t do that?”
TJ Martinez, creative media industries professor, said as a student Huantes displayed focus, drive, and a desire to work in the industry.
“I am willing to help anybody in any way that I can who really wants to go for it and wants to try to accomplish stuff and takes themselves seriously and takes the work seriously — that’s what I really respect a lot,” Martinez said. “There’s many that don’t and anyone who doesn’t is doing themselves a disservice and Liliana is a student who did a great service by taking herself seriously and having an ambition.”
Martinez said Huantes makes a perfect fit for her current position at Lionsgate, and any other position she seeks, because she genuinely cares about the work.
“She loves film and she loves the art and the craft of film and she loves working as an editor,” Martinez said. “She’s a student who didn’t just do the course work but went above and beyond and learned a lot on her own — studied editors, watched a lot of stuff about editing, practiced a lot of film editing and stuff.”
Huantes said she learned not to compare herself to others but seeing her peers do the things she wanted to do really lit a fire beneath her and pushed her to explore her possibilities. Huantes said when she landed her first job in Hollywood not only did it impact her career, but who she was as a person.
“I know that others looking in can see, ‘Oh, you’ve done all these things like of course you got into the place that you are at,’ but I definitely still struggled with imposter syndrome and feeling confident with what I was doing,” Huantes said. “I think landing this job — which also enabled me to move to California — really allowed me to feel that footing and being like, ‘okay I can stand, I can stand and look over this little edge and see where I’m going.’”
The TV post-production assistant for Lionsgate said although going into the industry feels like starting from the bottom again, it is exciting to be able to move up the ladder. With one baby step at a time, she plans on becoming a film editor on the creative end of production.
Huantes said her goal as a Latina in the industry is to show families that even though it’s hard to let go, their daughters can do the same thing and will be successful.
“I think that’s kind of the exciting part is that I get to represent a lot of different types of people being here,” Huantes said. “I get to represent Texas Tech, I get to represent San Antonio, I get to represent myself, my family, the struggles that they’ve gone through and I’m honored that I get to do this for everybody.”
Huantes will be one of four Tech alumni serving as guest judges for JCMI Fest on May 3, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse.
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