Bravo was born in New York City, the daughter of Ana María Ford and Rafael Ángel Landers. Her parents, who are tailors, are both from Colón, Panama. Her mother enlisted in the U.S. military when Bravo was an infant. From the time she was three months old to a teenager, she grew up between Colón and an Army base in Panama City, Panama, until her family moved back to the United States. She spent time going back and forth between the United States and Panama throughout her childhood. When she was 12, her family moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Bravo attended the Playwrights Horizons Theater School of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where she majored in directing and design for theater, which included costume and set design.
Several years after college, she moved to Los Angeles, worked as a stylist and produced small theater productions before she was approached by a cinematographer who offered assistance with filmmaking.

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