{"id":326721,"date":"2026-03-12T23:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/326721\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T23:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:21:11","slug":"producer-victoria-alonso-on-her-marvel-exit-paramount-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/326721\/","title":{"rendered":"Producer Victoria Alonso on Her Marvel Exit, Paramount and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt\u2019s al<\/a>most three years to the day since Victoria Alonso\u2019s very public split from Marvel<\/a> in 2023 as the studio\u2019s former president of physical production.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s doing great. She\u2019s got a new book out, aptly titled \u201cPossibility Is Your Superpower: Unlock Your Endless Potential,\u201d and she is back producing: \u201cBaton,\u201d starring Danny Ramirez, will be out later this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book isn\u2019t a tell-all. It\u2019s a story of empowering oneself, and learning to use your voice. Throughout, Alonso provides polaroid moments from her life. She talks about living through Argentina\u2019s military dictatorship, protesting the government, and moving to America as a young 16-year-old, where she was protesting on the streets.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe talks about being a dreamer who chasing the American dream. Alonso took a job as an agent at Alaska Airlines and even took shifts at a steakhouse, but she wanted was determined to find her way into Hollywood, with zero connections.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlonso achieved it. <\/p>\n

\n\tShe found herself working as a page at Paramount Studios, learning the behind-the-scenes and working on \u201cThe Arsenio Hall Show.\u201d \u201cI would love to work there again,\u201d she tells Variety. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2006, Alonso joined Marvel Studios, working alongside Kevin Feige and Louis D\u2019Esposito. She was a Latina woman and a member of the LGBTQ community who got her foot in the door and found herself with a seat at the table.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe oversaw visual effects, earned an executive producer credit in 2012\u2019s \u201cThe Avengers\u201d and went on to become president of physical production, visual effects, and animation. It was a title she fought for. She writes, \u201cI had put it on the table to be considered a few times, but it hadn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d She adds, \u201cI began to seriously consider leaving but decided to bring it up with HR again. I was delighted to be a part of this group of people who made great movies that made a meaningful impact in many lives, but if this was to be the end of our road together, I was okay with that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlonso was elevated again in 2021. She wanted to inspire young Latinas and produced more than 35 films and 15 series. She shepherded projects including \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and \u201cEternals.\u201d The films collectively grossed more than $30 billion globally.<\/p>\n

\n\tTowards the end of \u201cPossibility Is Your Superpower: Unlock Your Endless Potential,\u201d Alonso finds herself
in the process of exploring the myriad questions that are planted throughout the Marvel movies. She writes, \u201cI found myself wondering about similar questions. Am I doing what I love? What would I do if I didn\u2019t have this job? Would my ego allow me to reinvent myself, or would it throw me into a state of depression, like Dr. Strange after his accident? And, despite the ever-increasing demands, the answers were always resounding: Yes, I was doing what I loved. And yes, if I lost it all, I knew I would find a way to reinvent myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tReinvention is exactly what Alonso is doing. Here, she talks about her exit, the women who supported her, what\u2019s next, promising \u201cwhat\u2019s coming is even better,\u201d and she shares her thoughts on AI.<\/p>\n

\t\tIt\u2019s coming up to three years since your exit at Marvel, how are you doing?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI actually feel very good. I have happy to say, we just finished shooting \u201cBaton,\u201d which is the movie that we\u2019re doing with Danny Ramirez. I\u2019m producing with Sir David Beckham, and we have a beautiful Latin cast. We have Eugenio Derbez, Edgar Ram\u00edrez, Rosario Dawson, Maia Reficco, Danny Ramirez, Diego Luna, Diego Calva and Becky G.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a beautiful group that can define a new generation of filmmakers and storytellers, and it\u2019s a story of perseverance, and of being lost when you are in the face of a great loss in your life. I thought that would be a good first outing after everything that went on in my life.<\/p>\n

\t\tSpeaking of loss, after the exit at Marvel, did anyone reach out to you after to offer you support?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI had some people. I wouldn\u2019t say that I had all the people that I wish I had. Amy Pascal and Kathleen Kennedy were pretty amazing. Pam Abdy and Donna Langley were great. Some of the women that were peers were very much in support and very present. I\u2019m assuming you\u2019re asking Hollywood support?<\/p>\n

\t\tIn Hollywood, that\u2019s when you learn who your real friends are.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI always knew I had very few friends, and that was by design and choice, and I confirmed that. I never believed in the title, or the freedoms that being at the top of the food chain of Hollywood success \u2014 because we had unprecedented success \u2014 to be a part of or be in charge of the most successful studio of all time until I left. It\u2019s a pretty big event. Being Latina, being gay, as far as the diversity of it all, no other woman had reached that level of success. I believe that, and I always was very keen on talking about this. People are like, \u201cWhat success to you?\u201d To me, success is being able to get out the door with a toddler that has clothes on. That\u2019s success. That kept it real for me for a very long time. Now that my kid is a teenager, the success is, leaving on time. Period. I never really thought that I was the title. So in that regard, the loss made it a little easier, because if you do believe the title, then you have to strip yourself of that belief. So I didn\u2019t have to strip myself from that belief. I do believe that you do find out who your friends are. And I wasn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n

\t\tBetween writing the book and working on \u2018Baton,\u2019 have either been healing for you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book was more of a cherishing exercise than a grieving exercise. I think my grieving was done on the tennis court, and that\u2019s where I left it, day in and day out. I play three to four times a week, and that was very helpful. The truth is, just because you don\u2019t have a job that represents what you did, doesn\u2019t mean that you didn\u2019t do what you did.<\/p>\n

\n\tI concentrated on cherishing the legacy I leave behind, which I\u2019m very proud of, and I\u2019m very grateful that Marvel and Disney allowed me to be there for 18 years. It was always in their control whether I was going to be there or not. I am very grateful that they allowed me a lot longer than I thought I\u2019d stay. The book, in a way, was a chance to do that. Disney\u2019s Hyperion is publishing the book.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been an exercise. I never qualified myself as a writer. To be able to say I wrote a book is like when I ran a marathon, I was 37 years old, and then one day I said, \u201cI want to run a marathon.\u201d I just got out and I ran it. It took me five hours, but I ran it. Am I a runner? Nope. Did you run a marathon? Yep. My friend Luz Maria Doria was the one person that pushed me, she\u2019s written five books, and she said, \u201cEvery time I hear you speak, I want to take your words with me. It would be great if you could actually put these down, write them in a book,\u201d and here we are.<\/p>\n

\t\tI play tennis too, and it\u2019s the most therapeutic thing to smash a ball. I haven\u2019t smashed a racquet but came close to it.\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI have broken my wrist. I fell backwards. It was right before the \u201cBlack Panther\u201d premiere in London. If you see me, I have my cast, I put a cover that was black because I had a black dress so that you thought that it was a part of the the outfit. I\u2019ve never broken anything, except for that time.<\/p>\n

\t\tSpeaking of \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d you talk about the hurdles of getting that made. Looking at Ryan Coogler now with the success of \u201cSinners,\u201d how does it feel to see how far he\u2019s come?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s looking at Ryan\u2019s career and Chloe\u2019s Zhao\u2019s career. When they came to us, they had done one or two small films and they took it upon themselves to write these big endeavors, which was making our movies. I see the growth, and I\u2019m so proud of them. I have been wowed, and I have cried, and I just cannot wait to see everything they continue to do, but more than anything, celebrate them now for having achieved what they have.<\/p>\n

\t\tIn the book, so much of what you share is about using the power of your voice. I feel that today, people fear using their voice for fear of repercussion. What would you say to people who fear repercussions of speaking up?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe bigger repercussion of not speaking up is losing yourself. That to me is illegal, immoral and unacceptable. What we see consistently is, what would I lose from the outside? What we don\u2019t look at is, what will this do to me inside? I can tell you, when I wake up, I know who I\u2019m looking at in the mirror. I recognize her. The fact that I can recognize me is worth every single thing. I don\u2019t think I have lost much, except for a job, if you would, or maybe one or two people that I knew that no longer are in my life. What I haven\u2019t lost is myself. I consistently say this every chance I get, and you know this because you are in Hollywood, if you don\u2019t know who you are, Hollywood will tell you who you are. You have to remind yourself first and then them of who you are. Sometimes who you are doesn\u2019t fit who they are, and that\u2019s okay. I mean, that\u2019s how you lose relationships, because you go in different paths.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou started at Paramount as a page, back when you were a dreamer, how does that feel looking back on your time there, especially given where the studio is today?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I remember those days is like I was wide eyed and this empty canvas of the dream. You walk in and you go, \u201cI\u2019m coming to Hollywood.\u201d I had gone to Hollywood Boulevard, and that was not the Hollywood that I thought I would see because in those days in the 1990s, Hollywood Boulevard was not a clean area. Paramount had so much history and beauty. I love that studio. I would love to work there again. It would be like going back to the stomping grounds. I\u2019m very grateful that eventually I got a page job and I was able to understand the behind the scenes. What I also loved is that there was a bunch of us that were there, all starting at the same time, and this is why I know that I\u2019m a team member, I enjoyed the team portion of that far more than the personal growth of Victoria. Through the years we saw each other grow and leave the industry and some stayed.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow do you feel about the merger, and what are your thougts on it?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIs it happening? When the merger is signed, maybe I\u2019ll have a feeling. I have a lot of feelings, and I am hoping that we can continue to create with freedom. I understand that companies absorb each other. Marvel was bought by Disney, and we had great success. Pixar was bought by Disney, and they had great success. Lucasfilm, the same. Disney was buying everything, and it was very successful for them. I am hoping that the merger happens and that it will be a restructure. In every company that absorbs another company, you have to restructure. I\u2019m hoping that, eventually, it creates new jobs for people. My heart goes like, ah, people are going to lose their jobs. And my dreamer mind goes but soon again, they\u2019ll get more.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou talk about growing up in a military dictatorship, and leaving Argentina. To be in America, seeing what\u2019s happening, what goes through your mind as someone who has live through that, and also to be a parent?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI never thought that we would be in this situation in this beautiful country of ours. That\u2019s why I live here. It is worrisome. There\u2019s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship. It is something to be incredibly alert and awake, and you can\u2019t take anything for granted. I never thought that I would be planning a march with my kid. If I was out of town and my kid was going to march, I would have conversations like, \u201cThis is your exit strategy. This is what you need to do when they start shooting. This is the way that you get out and hopefully you don\u2019t get hurt. This is what you do with tear gas.\u201d We had those conversations. As a parent, but I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way with my kid marching the way that I did. If there is one thing that I wish that I could leave as a legacy, is, always fight for your rights.<\/p>\n

\t\tIn the book, you talk about how Hollywood consistently suffers from imposter syndrome, and people who suffer from it. Was there any point, you felt you had imposter syndrome?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. Not one. I\u2019ll tell you, imposter syndrome has been created by people that think they know everything. I can tell you this, none of us do, so just cut the crap. Nobody knows it all. Those are things that people do to shame us. And you know what? Shame on you for shaming us. Do I have a lot to learn? Yes, indeed, did I know everything when I went in? No, in fact, I was very clear, \u201cI don\u2019t know. Will you teach me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tImposter syndrome is something, not to get too political, I think the patriarchy has put together this beautiful thing that we have to know it all in order to exercise our right to do and be. We\u2019re all learning, we\u2019re all students. I came to the plate saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know a lot,\u201d but I was very clear about it. So if you gave me the job, you knew that I didn\u2019t know, so I never had to pretend. That to me, gave me that freedom, and if you were keen on it, you already knew that I didn\u2019t know, but you also knew that I was resourceful, that I was present, I was honest, and I was a hard worker \u2013 still a hard worker.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat are your thoughts on AI?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s reckoning, a before and after, and we don\u2019t even know where it\u2019s going. There was a brand new AI actress that they did a short film on. The quality is insanely good, and it\u2019s a very worrisome capability that the technology has. When used for the good and to help to create visual effects, it\u2019s a good thing. When it starts replacing things that we do as humans, there is a robotic way of who we are and where we are going to encounter our own reckoning of who we are as a people. We don\u2019t even know. We are at the tip of the iceberg with this one.<\/p>\n

\t\tDo you still watch Marvel movies today?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI do, but there hasn\u2019t been a Marvel movie in a while, so when they come out, I\u2019ll go see it.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat do you want people to take from reading the book?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI want you to be able to read it and take from it what you need. Everyone is different, but if there is one thing, the only people that know our true potential about you is yourself. Listen to that inner voice that consistently reminds you of your inner potential and get on with it.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s next for you?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s plenty. Everything that we did up to now is great, and what\u2019s coming is even better.<\/p>\n

\n\tPossibility Is Your Superpower: Unlock Your Endless Potential is out now on Amazon and published by Hyperion Avenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s almost three years to the day since Victoria Alonso\u2019s very public split from Marvel in 2023 as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69,175964],"class_list":["post-326721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-victoria-alonso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}