They say youth is wasted on the young. Then again, 40 is the new 20. It's never too late to have your 'coming of age' moment. That's the message at the core of "Angeleno," written and directed by Jay Diaz. The film is an entry at the Dances with Films festival and is having its world premiere on June 20 as part of the event.

The film is inspired by events and experiences from Diaz's life and follows Angel, a first-generation Latino-American living in Los Angeles. Once upon a time, he was a promising young film student, but life got in the way following a family tragedy. Years later, he's working multiple dead-end jobs, taking care of his mother, and letting true love slip through his fingers. However, following a chance encounter with his old film school partner, Angel embarks on something of an odyssey through the city as he resolves to bet on himself and take control of his destiny before it falls out of reach for good.

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"Angeleno" marks the feature film directorial debut of Jay Diaz, but he has plenty of experience in the field, having helmed multiple short films, several of which went viral on YouTube. Remember "The 5 Stages After a Breakup" and "Situationship?" Yeah, he made those.

I had the opportunity to interview Jay Diaz about "Angeleno" and his journey through Hollywood. He talks about the long road to getting this movie off the ground, shooting in underrepresented corners of L.A. and shares some stories about chatting with big shot execs who tried to pigeonhole him into a specific type of "Latino-American" stereotype. Even when done with the best of intentions, it's stifling to a creative person to be forced into an old-fashioned storytelling cliche. He shares some of his influences and people he'd like to work with someday, and we even bond a bit over our shared Central American roots, which is always fun.

Check out our complete conversation below. "Angeleno" is playing as part of the Dances with Films festival in Los Angeles, the perfect place to debut such a distinctly L.A. story. If you're in the L.A. area and want to see it for yourself, buy tickets here.