photo of River Gallo

River Gallo

Filmmaker
Gaptoof Entertainment Production Company

RIVER GALLO [pronouns they/them/their] is a GLAAD award-winning Salvadoran-American filmmaker, actor, writer, model and intersex advocate with interACT. Their work explores the dynamics of personal and confessionary storytelling, and media's healing abilities through re-envisioning minority narratives. They are a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Experimental Theatre Wing and the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts MFA program.
"Ponyboi," their USC thesis which they wrote, directed, and acted in, is the first narrative film created by and starring an out intersex person in cinema history. Produced by Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson, Ponyboi premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. This year River received the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards. They were named one of the “Most Exciting Queer People to Follow in 2019” by Out Magazine and made PAPER Magazine’s list of “100 People Taking Over 2019”. River is the CEO and co-founder of Gaptoof Entertainment, a multi-media production house in Los Angeles, which focuses on intersectionality and creating inclusive spaces for POC, LGBTQIA+, and womnxn narratives.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

Events featuring River Gallo
Events featuring River Gallo