‘Alien Romulus,’ ‘The Creator,’ ‘Strange Darling’ Helmers Among Variety’s 2024 Cinematographers to Watch

“I really connected to the art of storytelling through a lens. That magic of taking a script and making it into a physical medium,” says Bouza, the cinematographer behind projects like “Grassland,” “The Always Sunny Podcast” and the upcoming comedy film “The Gutter.”

The Los Angeles native studied film at DePaul University in Chicago before working in the camera and electrical departments for television series like “Jane the Virgin,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Chicago P.D.”

“I kind of hit that point where I really wanted to be creative again,” Bouza says of her decision to transition to a career in cinematography. “I just started slowly working my way up, shooting bigger and bigger projects, going back to the union level.”

Bouza describes cinematography as a career that is defined by one’s ability to adapt, particularly given the ever-evolving changes of camera and lighting technology. She says she hopes to keep shooting films of different genres, referencing Spike Lee and Ernest Dickerson, the Coen brothers and Roger Deakins, and Barry Jenkins and James Laxton as some of the director-cinematographer duos who inspire her.

“Each story is a new opportunity to challenge myself to bring a story to life authentically,” Bouza says. “This career is a snowball effect, with one job leading to another. It takes time, but I’ll get there.”

Bouza likens her latest feature “The Gutter,” which premiered at South By Southwest in 2024, as a combination of “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and “Kingpin.” “There is beauty in collaboration and in exploring how they adapt their visual language from project to project,” Bouza said. “Although ‘The Gutter’ is an absurd comedy, Paul Thomas Anderson [and] Robert Elswit’s dynamic work on ‘Boogie Nights’ was one of our primary visual references. Comedies can look good, too.” — A.B.

Reps: Agency: Worldwide Production Agency

Influences: Rodrigo Prieto, Janusz Kaminski and Lawrence Sher