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| Director, Andrew J. Rodriguez. Courtesy Colectivo |
Tribeca Studios and the Miranda Family Fund Launch Colectivo to Support Emerging Latino Filmmakers
Launched in partnership with the Hispanic Federation, the initiative will debut three original short films at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.
To confront the ongoing lack of Latino representation in the film industry, including the vital but often overlooked voices of Afro-Latino artists, Tribeca Studios and the Miranda Family Fund have launched Colectivo: A Miranda Family Fellowship & Tribeca Studios Filmmaker Program. Created in partnership with the Hispanic Federation, the initiative will support three emerging Latino filmmakers with funding, mentorship, and the opportunity to premiere original short films at the 2025 Tribeca Festival this June.
Each filmmaking team receives hands-on support from Tribeca Studios, along with creative mentorship from Spirit Award-nominated producer Maria Altamirano and the artistic guidance of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Luis A. Miranda Jr., and their broader creative network. Joining each production are members of the Miranda Family Fellows—a cohort of emerging artists and arts administrators from underrepresented communities—who will serve as apprentices and gain critical on-the-ground experience.
“The Miranda Family Fund is tremendously proud to partner with Tribeca Studios to uplift Latino artists at a time when many are pulling opportunities from underrepresented individuals,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda. “These remarkable filmmakers are invaluable to the future of the industry, and we are thrilled to be supporting them and their work from the very beginning.”
“The only way you get better at making art is by making art,” Miranda told TIME magazine in a 2025 TIME100 profile. “It's not until you're there on the day, solving the challenges of that day, that creativity really kicks into that next gear.”
Miranda’s broader family-led philanthropy also includes RISE, a national directory of backstage theater workers from underrepresented groups, and the Flamboyan Arts Fund, which supports Puerto Rican arts organizations. These efforts are often carried out with the Hispanic Federation, founded by Luis A. Miranda, Jr. in 1990.
“At the end of the day, all of our philanthropy is rooted in giving underrepresented groups a chance to make art and get in the door without the barriers that so often leave us out,” Miranda told TIME.
The selected filmmaking teams for the 2025 Colectivo program include:
“Las Hijas de Rosalia”
Written and directed by Maria Mealla; produced by Edna Diaz
A lyrical, dreamlike exploration of sisterhood and legacy told through vignettes, as two young girls discover the power of their bond and their mother’s enduring love.
“Villa Encanto”
Directed by Joel Perez; written by Joel Perez and Sol Crespo; produced by Helena Sardinha
After her mother’s death, a teenage girl from 1960s Spanish Harlem is uprooted when her musician father accepts a summer gig at a Puerto Rican resort in upstate New York. Through music and community, she learns to redefine the meaning of home.
“El Tiguere”
Written and directed by Andrew J. Rodriguez; produced by Yuki Maekawa-Ledbetter. Executive produced by Elvis Nolasco, Matthew D’Amato, Amalia Bradstreet, Justine Sweetman, and Vincent Lin
Set in the Bronx, El Tiguere follows a Dominican immigrant navigating food insecurity and a punitive legal system while operating a mobile food garden and struggling to reconnect with his estranged son.
Rodriguez, a Bronx native, brings a distinct and resonant voice to this year’s Colectivo cohort.
According to his official biography on www.andrewjrodriguez.net:
Straight outta the Boogie Down Bronx, Andrew is a storyteller reppin’ the voices of working-class communities with heart and a sharp vision. His character-driven narratives go beyond survival—they breathe, dream, and push back. With nuance and curiosity, he captures the strength, resilience, and humanity of people too often defined by their struggles instead of their dreams.
Rooted deep in his community, Andrew weaves speculative fiction into everyday lives—like the coquito lady trekking through the summer heat, the African street braiders swapping lifetimes on folding chairs, and the kids water-bending under open hydrants.
His work has been showcased at Lincoln Center, Tribeca Film Festival, NewFest, and the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS. In 2019, his pilot PLUS earned the Tribeca Sloan Discovery Award, and he was named the 2020 Valentine and Clarke Filmmaker Fellow at the Jacob Burns Creative Culture Fellowship. He worked as a staff writer for the first season of Love in Gravity, a podcast series later adapted into a stage play and featured in Teen Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.*
Through layered, genre-bending stories, Andrew reimagines the worlds of underserved communities—not as tales of suffering, but as reflections on imagination, survival, and what it truly means to live.
“For nearly twenty-five years, Tribeca has championed underrepresented filmmakers, communities, and stories,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “Artist development programs like Colectivo are key to creating access, launching careers, and inspiring audiences.”
With Colectivo, the Miranda Family Fund, Tribeca Studios, and the Hispanic Federation are not simply supporting three films. They are investing in storytellers like Andrew J. Rodriguez, whose vision reminds us that imagination is a form of resistance—and that art, when nurtured, redefines who belongs on screen and who gets to dream out loud.
To purchase tickets for the Monday, June 9, 8:00 PM screening at Indeed Theater Spring Studios, 50 Varick Street (Between Laight and Beach Streets). See the link below:
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