\u201cIt just creates this really beautiful dynamic of more established creators screening top-level stuff, and then more emerging creators testing things out and working through things and seeing their work screened with a big crowd,\u201d co-executive director Jared Corwin tells L.A. TACO.<\/p>\n
Corwin moved to L.A. in 2014 to pursue TV writing, subsidizing his aspirations with steady budtending. In 2020, he screened his short film at an earlier rendition of \u201cSilver Lake Shorts,\u201d which was started by Ben Sharp, current co-executive director and past El Cid manager.<\/p>\n
The duo spent the last few years developing Silver Lake Shorts into what it is now, a sponsored organization platforming artists and even funding a group of directing fellows. Every month they prove that there\u2019s a lively ecosystem of filmmakers, many of them on the brink of creating their own magnum opus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re into mindfuck sci-fi, grieving puppets, or heavy stories about identity, these are 10 L.A. filmmakers you need to be watching right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/E33E7E96-0DCB-4E35-ADFF-90717532B859-edited.png\")
Daniela Apodaca. If only able to watch two films for the rest of her life, Apodaca chose “Los Olvidados” and “But I\u2019m a Cheerleader.” Photo courtesy of Apodaca.DANIELA APODACA<\/p>\n
Originally from Harbor City, Daniela Apodaca<\/a> spent years in the restaurant industry before assisting her husband with videography. Together, the couple worked on filming corporate videos, interviews, and music videos.<\/p>\n After a monthslong content creation gig under Enkrypt Los Angeles<\/a>, Apodaca continued doing video work, mainly for clothing brands like Learn to Forget<\/a>, which was founded by artists from Death by Stereo, The Adolescents, and Night Verses.<\/p>\n Apodaca continued winding this connection between music and storytelling together in her official directorial debut, a music video<\/a> with themes of teen dating violence released in 2025.<\/p>\n Afterward, 818-native Natalie Garcia aka Chicana Nat<\/a> reached out to Apodaca to join her project, \u201cBrujitas<\/a>,\u201d an indie sci-fi series about young witches in the Valley. Apodaca is the show\u2019s director and co-producer, and the first concept episode was released on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI love speaking on resilience, a lot of identities, just because me being born in Mexico and being a DACA recipient, I felt like I was constantly trying to find my own identity as somebody who wasn’t born here, but lived the majority of my life [here],\u201d Apodaca tells L.A. TACO.<\/p>\n Apodaca is also a host, booker, and visual director for Bitter Radio<\/a>, a radio show featuring cumbia, house, and electronic sets. She tells L.A. TACO that she is working on building a site . . . and could use some help from any interested readers.<\/p>\n L.A.-native Christian Lee graduated from UCLA just last month but has already established himself as a professional photographer, accumulating credits in The New York Times, TIME, and L.A. Times.<\/p>\n Lee tells L.A. TACO that watching early L.A. Rebellion films \u201csort of radicalized\u201d him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was so different about those films, and why I really became a filmmaker was, I’d always yearned to tell stories about working-class communities of color that had a level of complexity and nuance to them that we hadn’t seen in cinema, and these filmmakers not only did that, but they were incredibly young when they accomplished it,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n Since he didn\u2019t have the resources for filmmaking, Lee says that he took up photography instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it trained my eyes as a cinematographer and as a director, but I also fell in love with it, because I mean, images have made such an impact on me,\u201d Lee says. His first photobook<\/a> was released by Kris Graves Projects this year.<\/p>\n Lee is a 2026 documentary fellow at The Gotham Film & Media Institute currently working on his first feature film, \u201cCome Sunday,\u201d which focuses on South Central\u2019s First AME Church. This hybrid docufiction drama explores relationships between Black and Korean communities in South Central, including experiences of anti-Blackness in Asian communities.<\/p>\n Originally from North Hollywood, Giselle Bonilla<\/a> entered the film industry as a child actor in films like \u201cFreedom Writers,\u201d guided by her father, who was also an actor.<\/p>\n Bonilla tells L.A. TACO that she loved acting at first but became \u201ctired\u201d of the gigs, given that most of her roles were built upon racist Mexican stereotypes. So, she quit acting to \u201cmake comedies,\u201d receiving her MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a filmmaker, I just promised myself I would never allow anyone to have agency over my career,\u201d Bonilla says. \u201cI’d rather be broke as shit and mean what I say when I have the privilege to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bonilla\u2019s films navigate complex topics such as white liberalism but remain grounded in comedy. She says this is because her neutral state is \u201crage,\u201d and people are more likely to listen to what she has to say if she makes them laugh first.<\/p>\n Her feature film \u201cThe Musical\u201d starring Will Brill, Rob Lowe, and Gillian Jacobs premiered at Sundance this year. The dark comedy centers on a middle school theater teacher who stages a musical rendition of 9\/11 to spite his nemesis, the school\u2019s principal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve been making super short films for like 15 years, and they’ve never got into any big festivals,\u201d Bonilla says. \u201cAnd then to make my first feature and have that get into Sundance, I felt like I was hallucinating. It was so absurd, and my whole family came. It felt like my wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Musical<\/a>\u201d will be distributed to theaters soon, according to Bonilla.<\/p>\n Luis Reyes<\/a> delved into the American cinema canon at a young age, marathoning silent film compilations and Popeye cartoons their father bought from the swap meet. They made their first short film at around five years old after watching \u201cThe Kid\u201d by Charlie Chaplin.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel that silent films, animation, early filmmaking in general has this certain tone to it that I’m trying to recapture with my stuff . . . I think it’s because, for me, those early films feel like the closest interpretation of, like, dreams,\u201d Reyes says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reyes doesn\u2019t create fantasy movies; instead, they incorporate elements of fantasy into their films, which are \u201call inspired by real-life people, scenarios, and locations\u201d they grew up around. Their work draws from their upbringing spent in the SGV and IE, grounded in drawing out the surreal moments that live within everyday experiences.<\/p>\n Shot on Super 16 mm film, Reyes\u2019 post-film school short, \u201cDalila\u2019s Salon,\u201d is an eerie and sentimental homage to the impact that neighborhood salons have on communities throughout South Central and East L.A.<\/p>\n Funded by Silver Lake Shorts and directed by Reyes, \u201cIt Came From La Familia\u201d introduces experimental imagery resembling their relatives\u2019 bedrooms, having spent much of their childhood at their \u201cabuelita\u2019s and tia\u2019s houses.\u201d<\/p>\n Recommended With a background in stand-up comedy, Chike Robinson<\/a> is a filmmaker from Flint, Michigan, with a mission to change how people view his hometown.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have such a negative outlook on [Flint], or they just think about the water,\u201d Robinson tells L.A. TACO.<\/p>\n He first got into comedy in Flint, performing during poetry shows\u2014the only one who did stand-up\u2014before branching out to Detroit and Ann Arbor. Robinson is now a South L.A. resident and Silver Lake Shorts fellow, creating short films and specializing in animation.<\/p>\n \u201cI do want to talk about stuff that can empower people or translate an anxiety in a surreal, yet realistic way,\u201d Robinson says.<\/p>\n Self-taught on the free and open source platform Blender, Robinson\u2019s character designs are jarring yet approachable. The plump 3D renderings look as if globs of clay came to life and had to pay taxes. Some of his works include horror elements, but there is always humor.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve always been the person that thought the side character and some of the background characters should be the main character,\u201d Robinson says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Robinson says that \u201cTax Day<\/a>,\u201d his short tackling the hassle of paying one\u2019s taxes and working in customer service, \u201copened his whole world.\u201d Even the creator behind \u201cCourage the Cowardly Dog\u201d praised his work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI do all these on an old laptop . . . I also want to motivate kids and other people who can’t afford to go to an animation school like CalArts,\u201d Robinson says.<\/p>\n Stop motion filmmaker Jenny Nirgends split her childhood between L.A. and Guadalajara, where she made her first film at 10 years old. While attending an all-girls school, Nirgends directed and recorded her classmates\u2019 adaptation of \u201cCyrano de Bergerac.\u201d She even made costumes.<\/p>\n That natural craftiness manifests today through Nirgends\u2019 creation of puppets and prop pieces. Sometimes she even produces music for her films.<\/p>\n Acclaimed by multiple short film festivals, Nirgends\u2019 \u201cThe Last Wild Bird in Heaven<\/a>,\u201d a six-minute stop motion short, speaks to childhood grief, religious uncertainty, and our relationship to the earth.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that’s really cool to have the feeling that you’re giving life to something that is dead, whether it’s a puppet that you made, or clay, or beads, or anything,\u201d Nirgends tells us. \u201cYou can animate it through photography.\u201d<\/p>\n The autonomy of stop motion appeals to Nirgends, no matter how time-consuming, since it doesn\u2019t require an entire set and crew.<\/p>\n \u201cThings change so much from when you have the first idea until you’re finishing the pieces, and then you’re there filming it, and then you’re editing it,\u201d Nirgends says. \u201cSo, I think, for me, the most difficult part is deciding when to change things and when to keep things.\u201d<\/p>\n Recommended Originally from Altadena and now living in Eagle Rock, Alix Bloom, aka ms.hotdog<\/a>, is a director, writer, and occasional voice actor.<\/p>\n Bloom tells L.A. TACO that her \u201cmom tried to make her a child actor,\u201d spending her childhood auditioning for kids shows like \u201ciCarly\u201d and \u201cThe Suite Life of Zack & Cody\u201d and attending weekend acting classes.<\/p>\n At about 21 years old, Bloom dropped out of college to work on the satirical comedy \u201cNathan for You.\u201d While writing for Amazon\u2019s \u201cThe Pradeeps of Pittsburgh,\u201d the SAG-AFTRA strikes started. Right after the strike, Bloom signed onto two seasons of \u201cHaunted Hotel,\u201d an animated Netflix series.<\/p>\n Her short film, \u201cMy Wacky Life,\u201d features charming, clever puppetry as inflatable tube men (made from felt) navigate love, family, and substance abuse. She is currently a Silver Lake Shorts fellow.<\/p>\n Bloom says that grief plays a large part in her writing and directing, namely from her father\u2019s death by suicide during her childhood and the loss of her family\u2019s home due to last year\u2019s fires.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a writing perspective, I love to attach grief because there’s so much comedy in it, too, like you do so many weird things when you’re grieving, or you’re just in a nonlinear pattern, and I think that’s very interesting,\u201d Bloom says.<\/p>\n Originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, Juan Jose Rodriguez Drescher<\/a> attended The Los Angeles Film School during the pandemic. He started filmmaking as a kid when his best friend got a camera in fifth grade; the duo made skits and sketches together, alternating who filmed and who starred in their projects.<\/p>\n As a student, Rodriguez Drescher created a mindfucky, award-winning short called \u201cWho the Hell Is Michael?\u201d which follows a sitcom character as he realizes that the production studio he awakes in is run by AI. Filmed in 2023 and released in 2024, the film feels more relevant than ever.<\/p>\n Another bleak, timely film by Rodriguez Drescher, \u201c(don\u2019t) Shop Local<\/a>,\u201d uses horror elements to demonstrate the grip Amazon has on consumerism.<\/p>\n Ironically, Rodriguez Drescher says that hope drives his work. He says comic books are a big inspiration for him, reading them every day and buying new ones every week from Collector’s Paradise in NoHo.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone needs to live, and we’re all trying to live off of filmmaking in whatever way that [we can]. In modern times, it’s verticals and YouTube, and kind of doing whatever you can, but if everyone were making low-budget movies and able to pay for it, it’d be a nice change to the industry,\u201d Rodriguez Drescher says.<\/p>\n His first feature film, \u201cIn Dreams,\u201d is currently in production.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite part of the whole thing? Just getting to revel in creation with your closest friends,\u201d Rodriguez Drescher says.<\/p>\n (Editor’s note: This article\u2019s author, Julianne Le, is friends with Rodriguez Drescher\u2019s girlfriend.)<\/p>\n Filmmaker and video journalist Francis Agyapong, Jr., aka Free Man Agyapong<\/a>, grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, as the son of Ghanaian immigrants. Agyapong tells L.A. TACO that he has always been \u201csensitive\u201d to movies, genuinely torn apart when characters died onscreen.<\/p>\n During the summer before his senior year, he entered his first true venture into filmmaking when he took a media production class.<\/p>\n Agyapong\u2019s short films are witty while presenting audiences with social commentary and flashes of humor, subverting expectations throughout. In 2024\u2019s \u201cZIP<\/a>,\u201d Agyapong wrote and directed a narrative about misplaced workplace diversity efforts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI make surreal comedies with emphasis on the \u2018real,\u2019 and I’m currently making financial horror stories,\u201d Agyapong says.<\/p>\n He moved to L.A. in 2020 and has produced both creative and journalistic content. You can find one of his works made with LA Local, an L.A. TACO partner outlet, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked how he incorporates his stylistic voice into various formats, Agyapong says, \u201cThere are these particular frameworks. You learn a lot of different things, and you realize that there’s a throughline between all of these things, right? Like we said, journalism, filmmaking, whatever have you\u2014it’s all storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Experimental animator and filmmaker Danski Tang<\/a> is originally from Zhuhai, a coastal city in China west of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n Her love for film swelled as an undergrad, renting DVDs every time she came home during school breaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just always find myself be[ing] interested in things that are kind of niche,\u201d Tang tells L.A. TACO. \u201cEven when I started in undergrad . . . I learned it in a traditional way, like character design and everything. But I still would make work that’s kind of more experimental and more weird.\u201d<\/p>\n Tang\u2019s work mainly deals in \u201cdreams, memories, and subconscious,\u201d utilizing striking hand-drawn imagery to demonstrate emotions and concepts scarcely captured aptly onscreen.<\/p>\n In her 2019 documentary short \u201cUmbilical,\u201d Tang animates a conversation between herself and her mother, allowing the two to unpack a history of domestic abuse within their home and Tang\u2019s queer adolescence. The short was screened internationally and has been recognized by organizations like Slamdance<\/a> and San Diego Asian Film Festival<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first theater is in my head before I create,\u201d Tang says.<\/p>\n Having lived in L.A. for the past decade, Tang has taught animation at her alma mater, the internationally acclaimed California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and now mainly teaches at Cal State L.A. She also tattoos<\/a> on the side.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BRUJITAS_Selects7747.png\")
Behind the scenes of “Brujitas,” an indie series directed by Daniela Apodaca. Photo by G\u00ed Tenam\u00e1, courtesy of Apodaca.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lee_Christian_Artist_Portrait-edited.png\")
Christian Lee. If only able to watch two films for the rest of his life, Lee chose “Killer of Sheep” and “Better Luck Tomorrow.” Photo courtesy of Lee.CHRISTIAN LEE<\/p>\n![\"inside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Image-5-26-26-at-6.01-PM.png\")
A shot from “Come Sunday,” a film by Christian Lee. Photo courtesy of Lee.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bonilla-edited-1.png\")
Giselle Bonilla. If only able to watch two films for the rest of her life, Bonilla chose “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Nacho Libre.” Photo courtesy of Bonilla.GISELLE BONILLA<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/THE-MUSICAL_APPROVED-STILL-1.png\")
A shot from “The Musical” directed by Giselle Bonilla and screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Bonilla.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784856765461-03cba453-9f42-49c5-a224-ecf6bba15cd5_-32-edited.png\")
Luis Reyes. If only able to watch two films for the rest of their life, Reyes chose “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” and “Repo Man.” Photo courtesy of Reyes.LUIS REYES<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DalilasSalon_ColorFinalStills_1.1.55.png\")
A still from “Dalila’s Salon” directed by Luis Reyes. Photo courtesy of Reyes.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC05111_VSCO-edited.png\")
Chike Robinson. If only able to watch two films for the rest of his life, Robinson chose “Toy Story” and “The Medium.” Photo courtesy of Robinson.CHIKE ROBINSON<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0880.png\")
“Tax Day,” a short animated by Chike Robinson. Photo courtesy of Robinson.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/jennypic2-edited.png\")
Jenny Nirgends. If only able to watch two films for the rest of her life, Nirgends chose “Santa Sangre” and “The Decay of Fiction.” Photo courtesy of Nirgends.JENNY NIRGENDS<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/last-wild-bird-in-heaven-1.png\")
A still from “The Last Wild Bird in Heaven” directed by Jenny Nirgends. Photo courtesy of Nirgends.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9E1EBC2D-E093-41C6-AF3D-40A0C391F73A-edited.png\")
Alix Bloom. If only able to watch two films for the rest of her life, Bloom chose “The Taste of Tea” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Photo courtesy of Bloom.ALIX BLOOM<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-09-at-6.52.04-PM.png\")
A still from “My Wacky Life” directed by Alix Bloom. Photo courtesy of Bloom.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Juan-on-wthim-.JPEG-edited.png\")
Juan Jose Rodriguez Drescher on the “Who the Hell is Michael?” set. If only able to watch two films for the rest of his life, Rodriguez Drescher chose “Blue Velvet” and “Spirited Away.” Photo courtesy of Rodriguez Drescher.JUAN JOSE RODRIGUEZ DRESCHER<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Time-Still-1.png\")
A still of Andrea Harhoff from “Time,” a short directed by Juan Jose Rodriguez Drescher and written by Nick Ewing.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0215-e1784914826660.png\")
Free Man Agyapong in Obuasi, Ghana. If only able to watch two films for the rest of his life, Agyapong chose “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” and “Bicycle Thief.” Photo by Emmanuel Addai Amponsem.FREE MAN AGYAPONG<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/mobile-money-still-9.png\")
A still from “Uncle Alhaji: Mobile Money,” directed by Free Man Agyapong. Photo courtesy of Agyapong.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Artist-pic-01-edited.png\")
Danski Tang. If only able to watch two films for the rest of her life, Tang chose “The Overcoat” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Photo courtesy of Tang.DANSKI TANG<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/screen-shot.png\")
A still from “Bow to Your Wilderness,” a music video animated by Danski Tang. Photo courtesy of Tang.<\/p>\n