Claudia Puig (born September 10, 1956) is an entertainment journalist and an American film critic. She was on staff at

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

as lead film critic and prior to that was a staff writer at the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

. She is currently a critic for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

’s Film Week, and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).

Early life

A native

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

speaker, Claudia is first generation American, her parents having been born in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. She grew up in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and went to Catholic school, then to study abroad at both

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

and

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University ( es, Universidad Iberoamericana), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'') is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican provi ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. She has a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Communications Studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differe ...

from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Communications from

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Career

Claudia began her journalism career in 1986 at the

, where she was a staff writer for 11 years covering local news. In 1997 she became an entertainment reporter at

, then promoted to

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

in 2001 and, chief film critic in 2005. While there, Puig also hosted the

’s video series The Screening Room. In 2015, Claudia announced she was leaving the

saying that she was "excited to embark on new adventures,” and thanked her readers for following her work. In 2015, Claudia started working as program director at various film festivals, including Napa Valley Film Festival, Mendocino Film Festival, FilmFest919 in Chapel Hill and most recently

AFI Film Festival The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

as Senior Programmer. Claudia teaches a college class on Diversity in the Media and has served as a speechwriter and diversity consultant for the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. Puig is currently a movie critic for NPR's Film Week and a contributor to NPR Morning Edition and

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

. She is also a contributor for

The Wrap ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and AARP magazine, and frequently appears as guest moderator for entertainment industry panels and Q&As across the country. Claudia was recently featured in a

article as one of 14 critics making media more inclusive and in

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

as one of 20 Latin-Americans making a difference in independent film.

Awards and honors

Puig was presented in 2020 with the Excellence in Entertainment Journalism by The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and in 2017, she was the recipient of the Roger Ebert Award from the African American Critics Association.

Personal life

Claudia lives in Glendale, California with her husband, two dogs and a cat.

References

External links

Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews by Claudia Puig

''Claudia Puig''
at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) {{DEFAULTSORT:Puig, Claudia 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Living people American film critics American women film critics American women podcasters American podcasters Writers from Los Angeles 1956 births American women journalists