PROGRAMS
2024-2025 LFI INCLUSION FELLOWSHIP
Colby Barrios
Colby Barrios is a Los Angeles based Venezuelan-American writer and director. He is a 2024 Directing graduate from the American Film Institute Conservatory. He began his career in comedy, producing over a hundred standup comedy specials. His short film “Where Is Cody From?” premiered at AFI Fest as part of the Conservatory Showcase as well as in Filmquest, where it received the Best Actress award. Barrios is developing a handful of feature films exploring deep-seated fears, horrifying comedy, and strange character relationships.
Title of Project: Love me Tender, Love me True
Gabriela Paciel
Gabriela Paciel is a Cuban writer and director currently based in Los Angeles. She began her career writing for the Mexican TV shows “El Rival Más Débil” and “Doble Cara.” She has written and directed numerous short films, including “El Viejo” which was selected by more than twenty festivals, such as the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Havana Film Festival), and the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias (FICCI); “To Play With Fire” which screened on DishLatino and Vix+ (formerly known as Pantaya); and more recently “The Cookbook”, which premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival. Paciel has participated in several film programs, such as the Torino Film Lab, Cine Qua Non Lab, Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today, Warner Media’s Initiative Access to Festivals: Sundance, and the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab.
Title of Project: I F*cking Hate You!
Imani Celeste
Imani Celeste is a multidisciplinary Afro-Dominican artist with a focus on filmmaking, acting, and movement. As a producer she has been nominated for Emmy and Imagen awards. Her debut short film, “City of Dreamz”, has been selected for prestigious festivals such as New York Latino Film Festival, Newfest, Hollyshorts, Palm Springs Shortfest, Blackstar, and more. Notably, her film was featured on the Gothamist as one of “7 must-see films at the 16th annual Bushwick Film Festival”. Her choreography and movement direction have been featured on MTV, Nowness, and Something Curated.
Title of Project: Tigueronas
Jorge G. Camarena
Jorge G. Camarena is a writer and director born in Mexico and based in Los Angeles. His short film “Spaceship” received the Sloan Foundation production grant and was acquired for distribution by Focus Features. It garnered a Student Emmy nomination, an ASC Student Nomination, and was an Official Selection at Outfest Film Festival and Camerimage. The film also won the grand prize at the DGA Student Awards, a Gotham Award, Best Short at Urbanworld and Best US Latino Short at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF). Camarena’s music videos have been nominated for Best Video at the Latin Grammy Awards and received four nominations for the MTV Video Awards. He has collaborated with artists like Leslie Grace, Becky G, and Snoop Dogg.
Title of Project: All the Windows are Closed
Kaila Gutierrez
Kaila Gutierrez is a Mexican-American director from the Coachella Valley, currently based in Los Angeles. She received her MFA in film directing from Chapman University, and her graduate thesis film “Touch,” premiered at the New York Latino Film Festival. “Touch” also earned her a spot among the five selected filmmakers for the 2024 Latino Filmmakers Network Hub at Sundance. She was selected for season 2 of the Mitú x Walmart Filmmaker Mentorship Program, where she developed her short film “Nana Carmen.” The film had special screenings at the 2024 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) and the Bentonville Film Festival.
Title of Project: High Beam
Loren Escandón
Loren Escandón is an award-winning Afro-Colombian filmmaker and actress. Her debut film, “Los Patines,” garnered multiple accolades including Best Short at the San Pedro International Film Festival and Best Director at the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. She participated in the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today program. Her second short, “The Last Store,” stars acclaimed actors Gina Torres, Jason George, and Melinna Bobadilla and is part of the award-winning anthology “Give Me An A”, which premiered at Fantastic Fest and earned her a Director’s Prize at FilmQuest. “Don’t Bring Empanadas” , a project she produced, secured a place in the Oscar-qualifying Santa Fe International Film Festival.
Title of Project: Gris
Matthew Gabriel Serrano
Matthew Gabriel Serrano is a first generation Salvadoran-American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Matthew started his career creating documentaries about theme parks and posting them on YouTube. He was a part of season 2 of the Mitú x Walmart Filmmaker Mentorship Program where he directed the short film “Pick One”. Matthew has garnered millions of views on TikTok and is a proud filmmaking mentor for the Youth Cinema Project where he teaches children of all grade levels across Los Angeles.
Title of Project: Xolo
Nicolas Jara
Nicolas Jara is a filmmaker from the Bay Area, now based in Los Angeles. He wrote, directed and produced his first short film “Guardian” which was selected by over a dozen film festivals. The film received a Barbara Hammer Award, garnered awards for Best Direction and Best LGBTQ+ Film, and has been watched over 130,000 times online. His two most recent shorts screened at festivals such as the San Diego Latino Film Festival, and Outfest Fusion. Nicolas has worn a number of different hats across several industries including as editor for Republic Records, tour videographer for Kiana Ledé, video producer at Eames Institute, and assistant director on commercial shoots for clients such as Google, Kia, and Youtube. He has also produced films that have screened at SCAD, Raindance, New Fest, and San Francisco Black Film Festival. He is a former 2021 Outset Fellow.
Title of Project: Turn Away
Sofía Garza-Barba
Sofía Garza-Barba is a multidisciplinary writer and director based in Los Angeles. Her films have been official selections at recognized festivals such as Fantasia International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Sitges Film Festival, Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFF) and the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF). She’s a Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative mentee, a Fellow Director of the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), a participant of Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today and an alumni of the Directing the Actor Lab, a program of the Alliance of Women Directors (AWD). In 2024, her fantasy queer short film “Peccadillo” was nominated for an Imagen Award for best short.
Title of Project: Efflorescence
Victor Velasco
Victor Velasco is a Venezuelan writer and director based in Los Angeles. His short films have screened at over 40 international film festivals, including the Oscar-qualifying Sitges Film Festival, Cleveland Film Festival and Interfilm Berlin. Velasco was a top 10 finalist in Adobe’s 2024 From Minutes to Movies ShortFest, won the 2022 Musicbed Challenge, and was part of the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today program. His work has been featured in Director’s Notes and CG Society. As a motion graphic designer and VFX artist, he has collaborated with companies like Netflix, Marvel, Apple, and Nike, as well as renowned artists such as Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Elton John, and Karol G.
Title of Project: I Have Wings but I Cannot Fly
