Producer/ Director/ Writer
Read some of Hugo's writing.
Hugo Perez is a filmmaker and writer whose work often focuses on his Cuban heritage. He has studied writing with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, collaborated with pulitzer prize-winning novelist William Kennedy, and served as a guest artist for acclaimed theater director and artist Robert Wilson. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Magazine and Salon, and his films have screened at venues such as MoMA and the Smithsonian. Perez is the founder of M30A Films, which has a number of narrative and documentary projects in development and production.
Currently, Perez is Producer and Director of “NEITHER MEMORY NOR MAGIC” a feature documentary that explores the life, work, and legacy of the Hungarian poet Miklos Radnoti who died in 1944 during the Holocaust. In addition, Perez is the Producer and Director of the ITVS funded documentary “SUMMER SUN WINTER MOON” that follows celebrated composer and conductor Rob Kapilow and Blackfeet poet Darrell Kipp through the process of creating a symphony about the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803 from the point of view of American Indians today. These documentaries have been selections, respectively, of the 2006 and 2007 IFP Markets, and Perez both years has been a nominee for the IFP/Fledgling Fund Emerging Latino Filmmaker Award. Perez short film BETTY LA FLACA was the winner of the 2006 HBO/NYILFF Short Film Award and is being broadcast on the HBO networks through 2008. Perez previous short film “JULIETA Y RAMON” was broadcast as part of the 2005 Showtime Latino Filmmaker Showcase, which spotlights the work of emerging Latino directors, and was recently re-broadcast on the PBS series REEL NEW YORK.
Perez was a co-producer and writer on “Dance Cuba: Dreams of Flight,” a feature documentary shot over the course of three years in Cuba on 24pHD which reflects on life in contemporary Cuba through the experiences of dancers and others involved in the Cuban dance world.
In conjunction with The New York State Writer’s Institute and Pulitzer prize-winning novelist William Kennedy, he produced and directed “The Writer” a half hour series of video portraits of contemporary writers and poets that aired regionally on PBS stations. Since creating “The Writer” in Spring of 1997, Perez has produced forty-eight episodes, spotlighting such writers as Frank McCourt, Jamaica Kincaid, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, David Sedaris, Ken Kesey, Studs Terkel, Chinua Achebe, Andrea Barrett, George Plimpton, and many others. Perez worked as the associate producer on “Classic American Cars of Cuba”, a national PBS production released in August 2002.
Perez has also produced and directed two short documentaries in Cuba: “The Ecstasy” and “The Old Man and Hemingway” the latter of which has received numerous awards at film festivals in 2004 and was selected as one of nine ‘Outstanding Short Films’ for 2004-2005 by the Museum of Modern Art.
ANDREAS WAGNER
Cinematographer
----Coming Soon
FRANCISCO BELLO
Editor
Francisco Bello has always been obsessed with how images can tell a story. From early years drawing simple comic strips, to his current efforts assembling pictures & sounds as a film editor, his creative development has been consistently centered on the narrative possibilities of visual assemblage.
While a student at the Cooper Union School of Art, Francisco began to exchange his pen & brush with cameras and editing equipment. Although his receiving Cooper Union’s Robert Breer Film Award helped increase confidence in his new medium of choice, it was his first job on working in the art department for a film by Francis Ford Coppola that crystallized his already strong inclinations to devote his energy to filmmaking. With practically free reign of equipment at his disposal, Francisco was allowed to experiment freely, slowly uncovering those themes that would progressively become the focus of his work. “(des)Orientaciones”
Upon finishing his studies, professional work on projects as varied in style, content, and form followed. Believing the cutting room was the best place to learn more about making movies, Francisco worked in the post-production of films from directors such as Kevin Smith (“Jersey Girl”), Michael Moore (“Fahrenheit 911), Barbara Kopple (“Dance Cuba”), and George Butler (“Going Upriver”). It was on the documentary “Dance Cuba”, that Francisco met Hugo Perez, leading to their friendship and subsequent collaborations.
Currently Francisco works at earth2mars, a commercial post-production boutique. His recent editorial credits include Perez’s “Julieta y Ramon”, and Caig MacNeill’s “The Grey Light.”, among other promotional pieces for Hugo Perez. For the past year he has been at work producing and shooting a documentary, which follows the struggles of a young parent trying to cope with substance abuse & other personal demons. As this story unfolds, he is seeking funding opportunities to fully realize this logistically & personally difficult project.
Francisco hopes to build his filmmaking career alternately as both an editor and a director, because among the many crafts involved in filmmaking, these are processes he believes inform one another most directly. He hopes to continue his involvement in the telling of stories, fiction and non-fiction, that uncover the remarkable in those seemingly ordinary moments in life.
ONEL MULET
Composer
Composer, artist and musician Onel Mulet has performed with a roster of legendary Latin greats including Santos Colon, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez and Celia Cruz as well as internationally renown artists Johnny Pacheco, Bobby Valentin, Ismael Miranda, Larry Harlow, Bobby Cruz, Jose Luis Rodriguez "El Puma", Melton Mustafa, Israel Sardiña of Los Van Van, Arturo Sandoval, Marquiños Moura from Brazil; and from Cuba, Luis Miranda, Malena Burke, Flor De Lotto, Mirta Medina as well as the notable Cuban Troubadour Pedro Luis Ferrer, and NY-based Grammy nominated artist, David Oquendo.
Born and reared in Miami, of Cuban heritage, Onelís musical environment was anchored by the music of his parents, Cuban masters, and richly influenced by the diversity of American music including Motown, funk, old school Rhythm & Blues, classical music and jazz greats, Charlie Bird, Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito DíRivera and John Coltrane. A graduate of the New World School of the Arts in Florida, he played in the award-winning Metro-Dade honors jazz band. This afforded him the opportunity to play live and in-studio with Count Basie trumpeter, Melton Mustafa, as well as Pete Minger from the Duke Ellington band. These early experiences led Onel to begin composing and arranging, as well as mastering the complex and rich horn sections of Cuban music. Today, Onel is a versatile and accomplished flutist, saxophonist, and percussionist.
After having worked for over a decade with successful and established artists, Onel is now adding his voice to the ever-evolving Cuban music scene with a catalog of original songs. Recently, he co-wrote and produced a new album with his Hotel Habana band mates, and scored an award-winning short film "The Old Man and Hemingway" which will be screened at the Smithsonian Institute (April, 2005) and later at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).His latest project, a tango score for the film ìJulieta y Ramonî recently premiered at the NYC international latino film festival. ìJulieta y Ramonî will be screened on Showtime in October of 2005
The Miami native, currently a resident of Brooklyn, New York, continues to tour and perform nationally and internationally at major venues and festivals with Latin mega-stars. In 2003, Onel completed a tour with Virgin recording artist, Albita Rodriguez and can be heard on her most current album "Hecho a Mano."
Onel has reached a pivotal stage in the development of his musical career; one where his mastery of intricate and diverse musical forms seamlessly converge form, line and layer to create an exciting singular talent to watch.