Kelly Cochran-Yzquierdo, a new English professor at OCCC, has earned recognition for her work as a screenwriter, including winning Best Drama Original Screenplay at the Richmond International Film Festival screenplay competition. Her films have also been featured at the Austin Film Festival.
Cochran-Yzquierdo has always considered herself a storyteller. She earned her first master’s degree in English and literature but discovered her passion for screenwriting while taking a class at the University of Central Oklahoma in the early 2000s.
“I love the way visual storytelling is,” she said. “That is what I decided to do.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Cochran-Yzquierdo decided to further her craft by pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting from Emerson College in Boston.
Last October, she followed up by attending a writers’ retreat in Ireland hosted by Stowe Story Labs, a nonprofit organization that supports emerging screenwriters. The retreat experience allowed her to develop her feature film “Love Loss,” which later earned her the Best Drama Original Screenplay award at the Richmond, Va., film festival.
“Getting into those programs is what I’m most proud of because it’s about building community, and film is about collaboration,” Cochran-Yzquierdo said. “We write as individuals, but it’s always good to have a community to help improve your writing.”
Cochran-Yzquierdo has written more than half a dozen screenplays, developing four of them in depth. Her TV series “Red Dirt Rainbow” explores life in Oklahoma City the year before the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, while her feature film “Love Loss” ultimately turned into a three-year project.
“There’s a process we have with any kind of writing where we think something is finished,” she said. “Then we take time away from it, come back and turn it into something else.”
Cochran-Yzquierdo draws inspiration from the people around her, often focusing on minority voices and experiences. Before writing, she spends about three months outlining her stories and six to eight hours scripting. Her creative philosophy is to “let the story tell itself.”
Of course, Cochran-Yzquierdo enjoys watching movies as well. Her favorite drama is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
“This is my favorite,” she explained, “because it deals with how we understand love and how memories are not about actually remembering, but about the emotion the memory holds – and how those emotions don’t go away, even if the memories do.”
Her favorite comedy is “Young Frankenstein,” and her favorite television shows are “Ozark” and “Dexter.”
As a longtime educator, Cochran-Yzquierdo also enjoys spending time in the classroom. While teaching community college in Virginia, she experienced a particularly memorable classroom moment during a discussion about gender. At a time of heightened public debate about transgender issues, two students with opposing views shared their perspectives. One of them, a transgender male in transition, opened up about his experiences.
“As professors, we hope that students learn from each other,” Cochran-Yzquierdo said. “It’s about creating a safe space in the classroom so students can have the freedom to express themselves and be authentic. Education is about being who you are and having your voice.”
She recalled that the heartfelt discussion left everyone in the class emotional.
When Cochran-Yzquierdo isn’t writing, she enjoys yard work, building things, watching films and TV shows, spending time with her wife, attending live theater and exploring new foods. She also has a long-haired West German Shepherd named Ashford.
“I have to be alone sometimes,” she said. “That’s where some of my ideas come from. My ideas can come from doing manual work.”
