Expanding the Creative Landscape
Defense attorney Cristina L. Vazquez is turning her attention from the courtroom to creating an environment that nurtures local creatives throughout the state.
The skillsets required to be a successful lawyer and running a production company would not be obviously connected by most people, but for Cristina L. Vazquez, her two-decade role as a criminal defense attorney prepared her well for her new venture into filmmaking.
Vazquez says that both the technical behind-the-scenes elements of contract complexities and the creative elements of filmmaking and writing have been influenced and strengthened by her time in the legal profession.
“You have to understand the legal parameters when you’re entering into contracts for people. … Law also helps you with storytelling. I’ve had criminal jury trials, and those have helped me. When you have to make a presentation to a jury, you have to think about your point of view. What do you want them to see about the case to help you win? So it’s storytelling at its core,” Vazquez explains.
While she still maintains her full-time practice as a criminal attorney, she is a published novelist who also runs Apex Cultural Films, which is set to begin filming an adaptation of her first novel The Mansion of Cervantes this month. The suspense-driven narrative centers around a paranormal investigator looking into an alleged haunting in the 1930s.
Vazquez has always been drawn to creativity, engaging in different forms of performance and creative expression since childhood. Though she strayed slightly from these passions during law school, she reconnected with her creative side when she authored her book.
“I’ve always been a creative person. When I was a kid, I was one of those theater kids. I was always either acting in productions, dancing or playing the piano,” says Vazquez.
Vazquez now aims to have Apex Cultural Films focus on developing and producing media that highlights New Jersey.
“The goal of the company is to help showcase serious filmmaking with New Jersey as more than a backdrop. New Jersey has become increasingly attractive for film production. So we are excited to be a part of that momentum, by creating projects that are both creatively driven and rooted in the state,” says Vazquez.
Apex Cultural Films is working to foster an environment that builds up the work of burgeoning artists and creators across the Garden State.
“My company wants to support emerging voices who are contributing to the creative ecosystem in New Jersey. … Our long-term goal is to keep producing projects that are shot in New Jersey that showcase not only the creative talent, but also the historical aspect of these towns,” says Vaquez.
As part of the production company’s mission to create these opportunities for creatives throughout the state, Vazquez has recently partnered with The 108 Effect Podcast, which launched its first episode on March 17.
The podcast is hosted by four women working to create a judgement-free space to discuss unexplainable events and psychic abilities.
One of the four hosts is Tina Fleming, Vazquez’s neighbor and friend who first connected when their sons began playing together as children. After some time, the women began sharing their similar experiences of unexplained phenomena occurring throughout their lives.
“We had both encountered unexplainable phenomena, experiences typically shared only with close confidants. That common ground led to Cristina accompanying me on a trip to Florida, where she had a significant experience that later became the inspiration for her written work. When she returned, she began writing about those encounters in her books. Our friendship has continued over the years, and it was Cristina who encouraged me to start the podcast, which is ultimately how it came to be,” says Fleming.
While the film and the podcast are two of the projects in the works for Vazquez and her company, Apex Cultural Films plans to continue expanding and enriching the creative landscape of New Jersey.
“There’s a lot of local creatives that have that desire to develop these projects, but just haven’t been doing it. What we started to find is that there’s a lot of people that we can collaborate with—whether it’s local actors, filmmakers, artists—that can come together and I give them a platform to be part of a meaningful production. There’s a lot of storytellers and local talent, you’d be surprised,” says Vaquez.
Cristina L. Vazquez
Apex Cultural Films
(856) 354-4795
Tina Fleming
The 108 Effect
