Tamara Hernandez started her filmmaking career writing and directing two short films: THE SLAP and BABY FAT (starring Jim O'Heir from Parks and Recreation). Both shorts premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The Slap went on to play in Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival and was sold to Canal Plus for theatrical release in France and television release in eighteen other countries. Her feature debut, MEN CRY BULLETS (starring Jeri Ryan from Star Trek Voyager), turned traditional gender roles surrounding domestic violence on their heads. It won Best Narrative Feature at SXSW, Best American Film at the Avignon Film Festival, and the Audience Choice Award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, among other festival Best Film awards and was distributed in the US by Phaedra Cinema.

Hernandez directed two documentaries: DIAL "T" FOR TORMENT for Comedy Central (featuring Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Adam Carolla, and Kevin Nealon) and CHICANO COLLECTION for Cheech Marin. THE CHICANO COLLECTION played at LACMA and other museums and galleries in the U.S. and continues to screen annually in schools across the country during Latino Heritage Month. She directed the music video PRETTY SMILE for Sangie Davis, a Jamaican singer, and songwriter for Bob Marley. She also directed the behind-the-scenes music video BEDROCK TWIST for MCA Records, featuring The Violent Femmes.

As a writer, she wrote for THE ANDY MILONAKIS SHOW for Comedy Central. Her screenplay, PEPPERMINT CLOUDS, was selected for the Almanack Screenwriters Colony and was a finalist for the IFP Independent Filmmaker Narrative Screenplay competition. She also produced THE LAST MAN with Roger Avary, released by Lionsgate, and GERHARD REINKE'S WANDERLUST segment for The Jimmy Kimmel Show.

Recently, Tamara has made a series of short films with her new production company, LaLou Productions, which includes ADELAIDA and ALIENATED.

ENTREPRENEUR

While Tamara took a few years away from filmmaking to focus on raising her two children, she became fascinated by the world of children's educational content. She had the idea to create material that visually aligned with the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. She co-founded an educational production company, Productive Playhouse, where she wrote and directed the award-winning series of educational videos, YOUR CHILD CAN LEARN, which is distributed worldwide. What started as a small children's production company in 2009 has grown into a global language services company operating in more than 300 languages worldwide.

Tamara continued her journey into education by founding a small elementary school, Oasis Trilingual Community School, to allow her children and other students to become fluent in Mandarin and Spanish in a fun, creative, project-based environment. She served as the school's principal and film teacher for several years. Once the school grew and could sustain itself independently, she felt ready to return to her first love—filmmaking.