Born in Ecuador, Marcos Davalos grew up in Hollywood, Florida in the 90s, where he developed a passion for singing, acting, and dancing, especially to the music and choreography of his pop idols: Gloria, Janet, and Madonna.

The first in his family to attend college, Davalos graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa, where he founded and directed EMANATE!, a burlesque dance troupe. After Grinnell, Davalos spent seven years writing, producing, and directing news video and documentary films for Greenpeace USA in Washington, D.C., while also choreographing and directing a series of music videos titled Watch Me Burn that premiered at the Georgetown Film Festival.

Dreaming of making it big in the “real” Hollywood, Davalos moved to Los Angeles to study at the AFI Conservatory, where he received his MFA in Film as a Producing Fellow and Gary Winick Scholar, along with the opportunity to work as a Creative & Production Executive for independent film producer Chris Ranta (Wild Oats, Ender’s Game, Drive). While at AFI, Davalos developed and wrote his debut coming-of-age screenplay The Dance Crusader, a story inspired by his own experience growing up a gay, undocumented Latino immigrant teenager with a passion for dance and a fearless imagination. The screenplay most recently participated in the 2017 Outfest Screenwriting Lab.