Laura Angélica Simón is a multifaceted creative force based in Los Angeles, with a rich cultural heritage shaped by her Mexican roots. Born to parents from Sinaloa and Sonora, Spanish is her native language, and she was raised in the United States after moving there at the tender age of six.
Growing up in East L.A., Simón's family opened a paletas business in El Mercado, where she began selling popsicles on the street corners at just ten years old to support her family. This entrepreneurial spirit would serve her well in the years to come.
With a scholarship to Claremont McKenna College in California, Simón became the first member of her family to attend college, paving the way for future generations. Her personal immigration odyssey would later inspire her first film, the documentary Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary, which received widespread acclaim and recognition, including the prestigious duPont-Columbia Award and the Freedom of Expression Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Simón's breakthrough in Hollywood came when she was selected as one of ten Disney Screenwriting Fellowship recipients from a pool of 3000 applicants. She made history as the first Mexican-born woman to write a produced Hollywood movie and earn an Emmy nomination.
Throughout her career, Simón has worked as a fiction and non-fiction storyteller with numerous major studios and networks, including 20th Century Fox, MGM Pictures, Discovery Channel, Walt Disney Motion Pictures, ABC Family, Vh1/MTV Films, New Line Pictures, PBS Independent Documentary Series, and Virgin/MTV's Rock the Vote campaigns. Her written articles have covered a range of topics, from the restitution of the Klimt paintings from Austria to the legal Jewish heirs to the power of storytelling in shaping our understanding of the world.
As the founder of Café de Nadie Productions, Simón develops film, television, documentary, and podcast content that showcases her unique perspective and creative vision. She is also a guest lecturer in Latine Studies at Claremont-McKenna College, inspiring the next generation of storytellers and thought leaders.
