Jackson Wild and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance are proud to present the 2023 Latinx Film Lab, a week-long intensive program for mid-career Latinx filmmakers based in the Southern California and the Baja California, Mexico area. 
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The Latinx Film Lab will take place from June 2nd to June 9th, 2023, at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. During this time, 12 fellows will be selected to work in teams of four, creating short films that highlight some of the Zoo's unique stories. Fellows will work closely with Zoo staff to uncover narratives around various conservation efforts and the animals that reside at the zoo. The participants will learn from well-known natural history filmmakers about how their experience in a different genre can be adapted to tell engaging and intimate natural history and science stories.

Alejandro Ramírez Corona
Experienced filmmaker with 20+ years in directing, screenwriting, and cinematography. Worked on major projects for Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO, Fox, Sony, TV Chile mostly focused on science & conservation. Renowned for a unique style blending direct realism and compelling characters. Achievements include winning the prestigious Gold Alhambra at the Granada Film Festival, Best Frontera Feature at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, and receiving multiple nominations. Notably awarded Best Cinematography in a Fiction Series at the Pantalla de Cristal festival. Recently served as director of photography for the hit German reality show "Too Hot To Handle" on Netflix.

Andrea Sanchez Davidson
Andrea is an advocate and filmmaker whose work is inspired by social and environmental issues at the intersection of the natural world and health. As the Program Manager for Resource Legacy Fund’s Ocean, Coast, and Fisheries programs, she oversees projects that advance coastal conservation, climate resilience, and equitable coastal access. Andrea is also the co-founder of Surfgrass Productions, a film production company that highlights ocean projects, research, and people through film. She holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations from San Francisco State University and a Master’s in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

Andrew James Pittman
Andrew James Pittman is Cahuilla and Ipai-Kumeyaay from the region commonly known as San Diego, California. Andrew’s passion is storytelling. Through his camera, he is protecting and documenting history today in his Tribal Communities. Andrew spends much of his free time enjoying nature through hiking, gathering and caring for the land we all call home.

Araceli Gutierrez
Araceli Gutierrez is a creative executive from Reseda, California, with a Zapotec background. She is part of the Netflix Documentary Series creative team, having worked on titles such as Explained (Season 3), Our Universe, and Chimp Empire. Her previous experience includes Anonymous Content, Sundance Institute, Radical Media, and Participant Media. Araceli is a first-generation college graduate with a degree in Television/Film and a minor in Latin American Studies from Syracuse University. In her current role, she is a creative on a variety of upcoming documentary series in genres including nature, history, food, pop-culture, and crime.

Gabriela Massip Figueredo
Gabriela Massip Figueredo is a non-fiction producer who specializes in marine wildlife and ocean-themed documentaries. She has contributed to productions for National Geographic, PBS, History, Discovery, CuriosityStream, Okeanos Foundation, Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology and Netflix. As a field producer, her work has brought her to several oceans and continents to film various shark species. She was a panelist at the Sharks International Conference and guest lecturer at a Rutgers University and George Mason University class. In 2020, she led a media training for minority scientists and continues to support women, gender-minority and BIPOC filmmakers and scientists behind the scenes.

Gabriela Tejeda
Gabriela Tejeda is a storyteller, experience designer and National Geographic Young Explorer. A Boston College graduate, she moved to Florida to work in the non-profit conservation sector. Through her work in outreach and on social media, Tejeda creates powerful visuals and narrative to immerse audiences into the South Florida Everglades landscape. Her work has been featured in local and international publications. In 2022, she was named a Jackson Wild Summit Fellow. Inspired by the beauty and sense of belonging that the natural world provides, Tejeda is driven to explore, connect, and share the mysteries of our wild spaces.

Laura Núñez Lendo
I am a Nicaraguan and Spanish visual storyteller. I hold a Bachelor and a MBA in Economics, but my real passion is the stories so, later, I specialized in Audiovisual Postproduction and I have worked as video editor for Prime Video and HBO projects. Also, my working experience has taken me to amazing places like India, French Polynesia, Australia and Japan. I love capturing the essence of stories whether in video, photography, drawing or even in words, like at the Constructive Visions Book, an educative web book funded by the National Geographic Society where I collaborated as storyteller and illustrator.

Sergio Miranda
I’m an Editor/Producer from Los Angeles California with over a decade of experience. I have edited a wide slate of television shows, commercials, original content, and documentaries for major networks & production companies. Recently finished a documentary that made the Oscar shortlist in 2023 and won the BHIFF 2023. I consider myself a creative storyteller with a big passion for content that inspires.

Sofía Martinez Villalpando
Sofía Villalpando is a biologist, science communicator and digital producer. She is the founder and producer of The Biologist Apprentice, this website and YouTube channel features videos and photography in biology, from fun facts of peculiar animal species to the science behind your favorite movies. She is also the producer and host of the new science and storytelling podcast "animalitos & plantitas" where she tells stories about the origin of different animals and plants. Sofia’s work is well known across YouTube and social media, and she is considered the first female Mexican YouTuber dedicated to talk about science and biology. Combining her background as a professional biologist and experience as a science communicator she works every day to create strategies to reach and engage even more audience to create awareness about our environment and elevate science literacy across the world.

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