MIGUEL CANTU is a special effects makeup artist based in San Antonio, Texas. Miguel owns and operates his own company, Altered Vision Studios, as a local independent filmmaker and producer. He hosts workshops teaching various makeup, costume, and prop making techniques which are applied to the film industry. Miguel is currently working on feature film and television projects and collaborates with other local artists.
Miguel will be doing a full makeup and prosthetics demo in the Filmmakers Area time TBA.
San Antonio Filmmakers will show their films and talk about their work. Schedule TBA.
ROBERT LAURENCE is a dedicated filmmaker with over five years of film experience. Growing up in poverty and facing family healthcare debt, he approaches filmmaking with both a theoretical understanding and a practical drive. Robert is passionate about telling the stories of common people who are often overlooked. He aims to build a thriving community of creators through Introducing Artists Actors & Musicians, a non-profit connecting and showcasing talented artists, actors, and musicians. With a background in training and event creation, Robert facilitates community involvement in creative work. In his free time, he enjoys dancing and reading about international relations and film history. He believes that storytelling and creating art is a practical necessity for building a better world.
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ALEX RAMIREZ is an award-winning Mexican-American filmmaker and educator based in San Antonio, Texas. He has received multiple grants for his film work and is the head of his own production company, Mala Bruja Pictures. His films have screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, South Texas International Film Festival, and the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience. He has been featured in publications such as Texas Monthly, KLRN's The Beat, Texas Public Radio, San Antonio Current Magazine, and the San Antonio Express-News. He is the current Media Arts Director of SAY Sí.
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CEDRIC THOMAS SMITH, multi-award winning, writer, director and producer, is a San Antonio native whose journey into film began in 2010 with a short film on LGBT domestic violence that he’d written, Unimaginable. Cedric began directing his own works with films that have won over 40 film festival awards including The Symphony of Silence and Melissa (both examine the epidemic of teen bullying), the feature film version of Unimaginable and Breaking Brokenness, which is about the pattern of abuse wrapped up in secrets and lies within a family. Cedric continues to write, direct, and produce films that entertain yet give voice to those that feel voiceless including his latest film, Losing Lalo which examines the loss of a veteran to suicide and the impact it has on his family and fellow veterans.
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