A struggling actress maintains the image that she’s “CRUSHIN' IT” while her viral animated alter ego exposes the brutal, humiliating truth behind the grind.
Ever watch a montage of people slipping, falling, wiping out—over and over again?
They could be hurt. You laugh anyway. Then you share it.
That’s where we are.
We live in a culture that rewards public failure as entertainment.
Humiliation gets engagement. Vulnerability gets branded.
Success gets announced before it actually exists.
CRUSHIN' IT begins when Veronica Cruz—a barely working actress—hits a final, soul-crushing last straw. Instead of spiraling quietly like she always has, she takes control--the only way she hasn’t yet: by telling the truth. Protected behind an animated alter ego, Veronica finally shares the humiliations, near-misses, and quiet devastations of chasing success—without worrying how she’s perceived, who she’s offending, or whether she’ll still get called in tomorrow.
It’s funny because it’s specific.
It’s brutal because it’s honest.
And it performs better than success ever did.
Elaine is a native New York, Puerto Rican Director and multi-hyphenate Storyteller.Her awards include the HBO Latinx Director award, the LALIFF | LFI | Amazon-MGM works-in-progress independent feature post-production grant and from festivals including SXSW, Urbanworld, Seriesfest and more.
Elaine’s feature directorial debut is a genre dance-drama-thriller Tubi original, Midnight Hustle. Her second narrative feature, Brownsville Bred, which she wrote, produced and directed, is currently set to premiere in 2025. The YA drama is a gritty slice of Urban American Latina girlhood and Elaine's personal coming-of-age story. The story is adapted from Elaine's award-winning novel and Off-Broadway one-woman show. Elaine is a WarnerMedia 150 Artist, who has received funding from the NY Women in Media (NYFA) fund. She is a WGA Showrunner Academy alumna, Shondaland Director finalist and two-time Lynn Shelton and Imagen Impact award nominee.Her short films, Me 3.769 and Princess Cut, can be seen on Max.
As a Writer, across mediums, Elaine's original one-hour procedural drama pilot, The System, was bought by the CBS network; The New York Times hailed her off-Broadway stage play, "From Girlhood Trials to Onstage Triumph."
