MEET THE PEOPLE
Founder / Director (she/her/ella)
Melissa Beatriz
Team
Melissa Beatriz is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, cultural producer, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of social justice, media arts/culture, and policy. She is a co-founder of ¡Presente! Media, a Philadelphia-based collective that produces bilingual journalistic articles and documentaries. She is a 2019 Leeway Transformation Awardee and a 2020 Fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Leadership Institute.
Director@activatestories.org
Associate Producer
Erika Ramirez-Lorenzo
Erika is a Philadelphia native and recent Temple University graduate. She uses different mediums to tell stories, such as photography, video, and writing. Her dream is to be a screenwriter and director. However, she wants to perfect her craft by being part of all aspects of production and is willing to learn from different departments and perspectives.
Featured Collaborators & Industry Partners
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TIMBALONA Collective is a percussion ensemble in its core, with a focus on folklore and popular music from the Caribbean and Latin America. The focus of the TIMBALONA Collective is to bring spectators a musical experience of rhythm sections, storytelling, and dance.
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Shannon Sun-Higginson is a documentary producer and director whose work has premiered at Sundance and SXSW, and aired on PBS, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, CNN, and HBO. She is a two time Sundance Producing Fellow and is currently story producing for ABC and Hulu.
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Shoes Off Media is led by three Asian women who aim to support and co-conspire with communities of color to uplift their stories with intention and authenticity.