Writer & Director

Ashlei Hardenburg-Cartagena

Ashlei Hardenburg-Cartagena is a queer Germa-Rican originally from Jersey City, New Jersey. Raised on cheerleading and Bon Jovi, she considers herself a karaoke princess with a passion for drama. After graduating from Vassar College with a B.F.A. in Film, she worked production in New York on shows like DAREDEVIL and JESSICA JONES. Her TV pilot script JERSEY RICAN was a quarterfinalist in the 2018 Final Draft Big Break Competition - Diversity Category, and a quarterfinalist in the WeScreenplay TV Pilot Contest in 2019. She was the Roadmap Writer's September 2019 Diversity Initiative winner. She also produced the student documentary PAPER STATE: UNDOCUMENTED, UNAFRAID, UNDETERRED which won Best Student Documentary at the American Pavilion in the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.