Welcome to Rosa’s film world.

Rosa shares her inspiring story about how if you can’t find your place, you create one for yourself that fits like a glove.

Photographs: Lidia Morelli / James HW Ackroyd

Text: Michaela Medveďová

Meet Rosa Camero. Originally from Mexico, she decided to follow her heart and relocated first to Spain and then to Denmark.

Now living in Copenhagen, Rosa successfully continues to follow her passion for film production.

Reinventing yourself

“My hometown is called Torreón, and it’s in the north of Mexico. Normally, when people ask me where I’m from, and they’re not from Mexico, I always ask them: Do you know where Texas is? So next to Texas, that’s where I’m from,” laughs Rosa. She doesn’t consider her hometown, where around 1 million people live, to be a big city - well, for Mexico. Although it’s about the size of Copenhagen, it’s truly a small town compared to Mexico City or other major cities with millions of people.

Later on, Rosa moved to Mexico City. The biggest culture shock compared to her small hometown? Probably traffic. “It’s very normal to spend 40 minutes or one hour driving, and that’s still relatively close. Here in Copenhagen, 40 minutes is so far away.” Unfortunately, Mexico City is not very safe. “I never experienced anything, luckily, but it was very easy to get into a bad situation in Mexico. As a woman living there, you needed to be safe, need to be sure your friends accompanied you to your place if you went out late.”

After seven years in Mexico City, Rosa moved to Spain for a lovely reason - love. “I met my now-husband, who is a Dane, in Mexico City. When we decided we wanted to start a family, we weighed the pros and cons of living in Mexico or going to Europe. He found a job opportunity in Spain, so we decided to try Europe, where I then did my Master’s.”

They met when he was sharing a house in Mexico City with one of Rosa’s friends. Somehow, for the longest time, their paths never crossed - and then suddenly, he appeared in her life. “It was funny - when he invited me for a date, I just got a job as a Spanish teacher in Poland, and I said: I’m packing my bags,” remembers Rosa. But he tried - they were texting, having Skype dates. After three months of this, Rosa decided to come back to Mexico, and they started dating officially and moved to Spain after a year.

But Spain welcomed Rosa with a huge culture shock - which is something she did not expect in the slightest. “The way I saw it, they speak the same language - we were going to hit it off and have fun. But they’re not as open as Mexicans. Even though Spanish people are more open than the rest of the continent, they’re Europeans in the end. I couldn’t understand what they said, and I couldn’t use the right words and expressions.”

On top of the miscommunication problems, Rosa also struggled with finding the right job opportunity for her. In Mexico, she worked in the film industry and loved it. But in Spain, people told her it would be challenging to get into the same industry and that she should find other opportunities. “I worked for a PR company and a radio station, and it was a really cool job, but it wasn’t what I wanted. When you move away from your country where you had everything figured out already, then you have to rediscover yourself, reinvent yourself, and find your way. I think it’s a great way for you to grow as a person if you take advantage of the situation.”

And so that’s what she did.

A love affair with cinema

Rosa’s love for working with films started in 2008 when she moved from her hometown to Mexico City. Her sister was a big fan of the Twilight Saga and wanted to go to an event in the city as the leading actor was supposed to make an appearance there. “I said: Okay, I’ll go with you, and I can drop off some CVs. At the event, I saw a guy with a phone, looking very busy. I approached him and said: I’m looking for a job.” His response? He was looking for an assistant. Ultimately, he was the CEO of the distribution company Rosa worked for the seven years she lived in Mexico City.

By the time she moved to Spain, she was already a PR manager. “I thought: Of course, they will hire me in Spain; I’m so good at what I do! But nobody cares that you are super experienced. Yet, I wanted to go back to the film industry. So I created my own space, got a website, and started being a consultant.” For two years, she worked in film distribution, handling the theatrical releases with a partner.

When she moved to her new home in Denmark, she decided to go into marketing and created her own digital marketing agency. “We decided to move to Copenhagen because we had become parents. We had our first baby daughter in Spain, and we didn’t have anyone. It’s difficult when you don’t have your family around. So it was either going back to Mexico or moving to Copenhagen, where my husband got a job offer.” They chose the latter and moved in 2017.

"Rosa created the community last year while deep in her job-hunting experience, where networking was a must. “What better way to network and meet people than to create an industry network where they come to you, right?"

Carving out your own space

It wasn’t Rosa’s first time in the country - she and her husband were actually married in Denmark - but she had never really experienced the culture before. Luckily, Denmark was easier to adjust to than Spain had been. “I think it’s all about expectations. I had huge expectations moving to Spain, and when they didn’t happen, everything just crumbled. So I didn’t have any when I came to Denmark. But I was also a mom, and all my focus, time, and sleep were dedicated to my daughter.”

Seven years later, Denmark is undoubtedly home. “But sometimes, there are reminders that I am not Danish. So, living here has its share of pros and cons - but I’m very grateful for this country. Everything works. It’s a country with money - there’s no scarcity like you see in Mexico. You don’t have to worry about the daily things because your basic needs are met.”

But it hasn’t been easy for Rosa to integrate into Denmark. “I’m still trying to figure out how to be on the inside, especially since I don’t work in a company. I’m an entrepreneur, so it can be difficult for me to get acquainted with Danes. I don’t have that everyday communication and relationships to build. So last year, I decided to look for a job because I wanted to integrate, practice my Danish, and be with Danes.”

In Rosa’s words, the job search did not go very well. Overall, she’s experienced some struggles in her professional journey in Denmark. “I had my second daughter in 2021, and after she was born, I experienced bad post-partum depression. I was trying to figure out what to do. I left the marketing agency and decided I would be a marketing and business coach. And I am good at it - but my heart, my passion is not there. So, I decided to go back to the film industry and look for a job.” However, she did not receive a positive response, no matter how many CVs she sent out. It was just rejection emails and discouraging coffee meetings, telling her she would have to start from the bottom.

While still searching for a job, she started to rebrand her business and promote herself as a film producer with expertise in distribution and marketing - and a production company hired her to do just that.

Production puzzle pieces

So right now, Rosa is happily using all the knowledge she’s amassed at what she loves most - film production. It’s often a job invisible to the audience - but as Rosa says, if you don’t have a film producer, you don’t have a film. “They are the ones pulling together all the puzzle pieces - the film crew, the talent, the funding. Then you need to make sure that people watch the film - because if it does not have enough marketing, it will flop in the cinema. As a normal person, you otherwise wouldn’t know the film exists. So, all the pieces need to fit together in order for the audience to watch that film. And word of mouth is everything; it’s the most powerful marketing tool you have. Or you, like with major studios like Disney or Warner, invest half of the budget in marketing - and the film is everywhere, like now with the new Deadpool.”

At the moment, Rosa is working with an American production company, and most of her clients are from outside of Denmark. The Danish film industry, in her view, is primarily centred on Danish. “It’s also not the biggest industry. There are a lot of co-productions between Norway and Sweden. Films here are made with public funds - unlike in the US, where you have equity investors. So the films there are treated like a business, and here it’s more a part of the culture, with often the same people applying for the same funds, with not that much novelty.”

Rosa is also the founder of The International Film Network. In this community, internationals and Danes can find support, a network, and guidance on navigating the Danish film industry, getting together for in-person and online events. Rosa created the community last year while deep in her job-hunting experience, where networking was a must. “What better way to network and meet people than to create an industry network where they come to you, right? And they are joining and showing up to events,” smiles Rosa.

With so much passion for film in her professional life, it’s no surprise that Rosa loves movies as a hobby, too. “I am a bingewatcher. I mean, I should be ashamed of that, but I call it market research,” laughs Rosa.

She can’t always turn her professional mind off, though. “For example, the Deadpool marketing campaign has a really unique marketing strategy. I haven’t watched any of the other movies, but just seeing all the marketing actions is super interesting to me. And when it comes to watching other people’s films, it’s inspirational.”

She also has a strict no-piracy rule. Whenever she sees people saying: Oh, I can watch this film for free, she’s not happy. “Come on. We cannot do that because you’re not paying the people behind the film.” She loves going to the cinema, but her two young daughters very much shape her choice of movies. “If I go to the cinema, it’s to go and see children’s films. Once in a while, my husband and I take our date time and go. But I am a good client to streaming platforms because I have almost all of them,” she laughs.

Opportunity to follow your path

But Rosa’s life cannot be equated only with movies.

“I love Danish summer. I’m very spiritual, and I like to work on my mindset. I love dancing - and I need to find more time for doing that. I feel like my bike is my Ferrari. I never really rode a bike. I learned when I was a kid, and I never used one until I travelled to the Netherlands. I had an accident there where even the police were involved. I never thought I would ride one again. When we moved to Copenhagen, I got a bicycle, and my husband helped train me. So now, going on my bike is a huge thing, and I love it. And I love to travel with my family.”

Having such an international family can sometimes create confusion. “Well, my older daughter thinks she’s Spanish because she was born in Spain. Both my daughters speak three languages. We have some Mexican traditions, and we have some Danish. But in the end, if they live here long enough, they will feel more Danish than anything else. And if they decide to go to Mexico and spend time there, they’ll probably pick up the culture and language faster.”

When answering the question of whether Denmark is a forever home, Rosa thinks about her children and their development. “Some days, I love it, and some days, I don’t want to be here. But it’s a really good place to have and raise kids. Education, care, sports- I don’t want my daughters to miss those opportunities. I believe that here, it’s easier to have more opportunities to do whatever they want than any other place.”

If you would like to contact Rosa, you can visit her website, rosacamero. Also, make sure you check out her podcast and social media.