Kayla Marie Coates

Kayla Marie Coates is a non-binary Mexican-Croatian-American actor, filmmaker & activist. They have worked with prestigious companies such as SXSW, Universal Studios, Blackmagic Design, Sigma, and Blackmagic Collective, to name a few, as well as in likes of high profile celebrities such as Greg Daniels, Jason Sudeikis, Chelsea Clinton, Tommy Lee and many more. They also started a podcast at the beginning of 2022 called According to Captain Ron's Record with their grandfather, who was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease at the end of 2021, to learn more about their culture and heritage, his life stories and advice, and to document the progression of his illness till the very end, which can all be shown for generations to come.

As a queer, neurodivergent, polyamorous individual, Kayla formed their production company at the beginning of 2022 with the passion to create social impact projects centering around delicate, taboo topics to help discuss and destigmatize them. With these projects, Kayla is dedicated to casting up, crewing up and making characters for people of underrepresented communities to accurately reflect the world we live in, and to be able to give equal opportunities to actors and filmmakers of any and all backgrounds and lifestyles. Their mission is to create a more authentically Diverse, Inclusive industry through a Transformative and Innovative fashion, hence the name of their production company, DITI Pictures.

Underneath Kayla’s seemingly unwavering ambition and drive, actively pursuing several creative endeavors, there’s actually a mountain of struggle and pain that they wrestle with daily. From growing up with depression, anxiety, undiagnosed ADHD (until about a year ago), and PTSD stemming from a traumatic life event in 2020 (other than COVID), Kayla has had to continuously juggle how to navigate and adapt through the trenches of it all in an already non-stop chaotic work environment, but to also try to discover, acknowledge and utilize the superpowers that can come with these experiences and disabilities, both in their craft and in their everyday life.

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