My Life After CSUMB: Grad earns prestigious film award

By Mark Muckenfuss

Winning a high-profile award just as you are completing graduate school seems a good strategy for success. That’s what Paloma Ronquillo is hoping, anyway. 

The Cal State Monterey Bay alumna was recently honored by the Women in Media Altitude Awards with the Emerging Filmmaker Award for her cinematography. Ronquillo graduated from CSUMB in 2022 and completed her master’s degree at UCLA just a couple of weeks after receiving her recent award.

The award recognized her work on several films, one of which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year. 

“I would probably not be at the place I am without CSUMB,” Ronquillo said from her Los Angeles home. “Many doors opened from there.”

In addition to the projects she’s already worked on, she said she has several others lined up. Receiving the award, she said, adds to the momentum.

“It’s like being able to enter the world already shooting some projects,” she said. “The beautiful thing about this award is it promotes women in their careers. It helps elevate their projects.”

So far, Ronquillo has worked on short films and documentaries. She was director of photography and colorist on “Dancing in Tomorrowland,” which screened as part of the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes.

“My goal is to shoot my first feature this year,” she said. 

That’s a long way from where she was when she arrived at CSUMB as a freshman psychology major. 

“The summer before I started, I saw the Cinematic Arts and Technology program page,” she said, noting she had been creating videos from an early age. “I thought, ‘I’ll try this.’ I accidentally became a director of photography on someone’s project, and I became obsessed.”

She not only found a creative avenue, but she also found a supportive community of mentors willing to motivate and guide her and fellow students ready to collaborate.

“I loved everybody because you built this small family,” she said. “I feel they shaped where I’m at now. CSUMB gave me the confidence to enter the world of the film industry, and it was an alum who helped me get on my first project.”

Having experienced a big university program at UCLA as a graduate student, Ronquillo said she isn’t sure she would have received so much personal attention as an undergrad at a larger school. 

She also might not have enjoyed the freedom to explore a subject the way she likes. 

“I naturally get obsessed with projects,” she said. “I’m consistently thinking of the stories and characters and how I can make the audience feel a certain way, make them feel an emotional connection.

“The world-building and storytelling is what I love to do,” she added. “I’ll ask people character questions: What kind of music does this character listen to? What kind of hobbies do they have?” 

She then tries to frame that story with her camera. 

While trying to live the Hollywood dream, Ronquillo says she does have fond memories of her time in the Monterey Bay area. 

“I do miss surfing in the coldest water of all time, because it was so clean,” she said. “The beach was my go-to place, especially if I was stressed. Now, I just walk my dog around the block.”