{"id":129190,"date":"2026-02-10T20:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/129190\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T20:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:15:31","slug":"bronx-filmmaker-spotlights-jamaican-diaspora-stories-caribbean-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/129190\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx filmmaker spotlights Jamaican Diaspora stories \u2013 Caribbean Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Bronx-born\t\t<\/a>\t<\/p>\n

Bronx-born filmmaker Dante Hillmedo.\n<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Team Elite Production\/ Dante Hillmedo<\/p>\n

\t\t Search our comprehensive guide to caribbean events in NYC<\/a> for more local events \u2014 or submit your own<\/a>!<\/p>\n

For Bronx-born filmmaker Dante Hillmedo, storytelling has always been rooted in home \u2014 specifically the lived experiences of Caribbean immigrant families navigating life in New York City.<\/p>\n

Raised by Jamaican parents, Hillmedo\u2019s work reflects \u201cthe rhythm, resilience and emotional complexity of the Black Diaspora, bringing stories often overlooked into sharp cinematic focus,\u201d according to Marie Driven, a Brooklyn-based Haitian-American entertainment publicist and managing director of PlaybookMG.<\/p>\n

\u201cHillmedo\u2019s journey into filmmaking was not traditional, but it was intentional,\u201d she told Caribbean Life on Monday, Feb. 9,
After enrolling at the School of Visual Arts with dreams of becoming an animator, Driven said financial challenges forced Hillmedo\u2019s leave after his first year.<\/p>\n

But rather than walk away from his creative calling, Driven said he pivoted \u2014 teaching himself videography and landing his first paid job through a Craigslist post filming Caribbean DJ, and DJ Mad Out.
\u201cThat opportunity introduced him to New York\u2019s Caribbean music scene, where he went on to work with artists such as Shaggy, Ding Dong and Kranium,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose early experiences sharpened Hillmedo\u2019s eye for authenticity, capturing Caribbean culture not as spectacle, but as lived reality,\u201d she added.
Hillmedo also told Caribbean Life that his goal is \u201cto create films that people feel.
\u201cBlack and Caribbean stories are layered,\u201d he said. \u201cThey deserve care, truth, and emotional honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Hillmedo is the founder of Team Elite Productions, a visual production company known for its polished execution and cultural integrity.
He said his work behind the camera has earned him trust in high-profile environments, including documenting private and public events for Michael Rubin and spaces connected to Jay-Z\u2019s Shawn Carter Foundation.<\/p>\n

Hillmedo said he has also collaborated with platforms such as Essence Magazine, further expanding his reach while maintaining a grounded, community-centered approach.
He recently reached a major milestone with his debut feature film, Butterfly, which won Best Feature Film at the Big Apple Film Festival in Spring 2025.<\/p>\n

The filmaker said the coming-of-age drama follows a teenage girl growing up in a single-parent immigrant household in New York City, who uses dance to navigate identity, peer pressure, and instability.
Hillmedo said the story draws directly from his own upbringing, raised by a single immigrant mother, reflecting a reality familiar to many Caribbean-American families.<\/p>\n

Rather than relying on dramatics, he said Butterfly resonates through its quiet moments, highlighting the \u201cemotional strength, sacrifice, and resilience that define immigrant households across the Diaspora.\u201d
In addition to filmmaking, Hillmedo said he has expanded into entrepreneurship with the launch of Lunessence, a luxury fragrance brand \u201cinspired by memory, mood, and cultural expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillmedo said he is also deeply committed to mentorship, having spent six years teaching film and music production at a Riverdale high school, exposing students from underrepresented communities to creative industries often inaccessible to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Butterfly prepares for wider distribution and Hillmedo continues to grow his creative ventures, he stands as a powerful example of Caribbean-American excellence using storytelling to honor heritage, uplift community, and redefine what success looks like on his own terms,\u201d Driven said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bronx-born filmmaker Dante Hillmedo. Photo courtesy Team Elite Production\/ Dante Hillmedo Search our comprehensive guide to caribbean events…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-129190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}