Joey Medina born and raised in The Bronx, New York was distain to become a Writer, Producer & Director. In third grade his School Principle placed Joey in a creative writing class after reading Joey’s version of “Goldie Locks and the Three Bears” with an urban theme.
Then in fifth grade, after watching a three-minute super 8 film made by a teacher and his class, Joey got the urge to make his own film.
And in seventh grade, Joey purchased a super 8 film camera, projector and screen from his woodshop teacher for $50.00. All the equipment was stamped “Property of the Board of Education.”
After buying the stolen film equipment, Joey casted family members and directed his first film, a remake of “King Kong.” Joey bought a gorilla mask and rubber ape hands and borrowed his mother’s fake fur coat to complete the costume. He used miniature soldiers and army vehicles including his sister’s dollhouse to build the set in his basement. With everything in place Joey completed his 3 minute version of “King Kong.”

After graduating High School…

Joey enrolled into the Center for Media Arts in New York City to study Television Production. There he used his creativity while learning the skills he would later use.
In 2003, Joey was hired to be a segment producer for “Extreme Gong,” which aired on the Game Show Network.
In 2004, Joey Medina, wrote, produced and directed his first feature film on 16mm, called El Matador for $15,000. The film went on to win three awards at the “Los Angeles Chicano Film Festival,” including “Best Film,” Best Director” and “Best Actor.” The film was then picked up and distributed by Maverick Entertainment.
In 2005 Joey wrote, produced, directed and hosted Si TV’s first scripted television show, “Circumsized Cinema,” Executive produced by award-winning film producer, Moctesuma Esparza (“Selena”). The show re-edited campy Mexican movies into 30-minute “mini-movies” with totally new, scripted English audio tracks for a hilarious and utterly original half-hour television show. In addition, Joey was one of the hosts and producers of “Loco Comedy Jam,” a stand-up comedy show featuring some of the best Latino comedians in the country on Mun2 Television.

Then…

In 2006 Joey created and produced and hosted, “Latin Palooza,” a comedy special shot live in front of 1,300 people. The DVD was picked up and distributed by Image Entertainment.
Since then Joey has produced and directed five music videos for pop , rap and rock artists.
In 2009, Joey produced and directed another comedy special titled, “Cholo Comedy Slam,” this time adding a musical acts along with stand-up comedians. The event was shot in Los Angeles in front of 2000 people and was picked up and distributed by Latin Fusion Entertainment.
Joey also wrote, produced and directed his first short horror film, MISSING. As a professional comedian most of his filmmaking projects were comedies, so he wanted to produce a horror film that was as dark and disturbing as possible. He set out to make a film that would be hard to watch for the viewer. He wanted the viewer to experience what the victims in the film were going through.

Having almost zero budget, he built many props himself and designed many of the makeup effects as well. Joey spent about six weeks preparing for the shoot, including writing and casting. The shoot itself took three days with a partial crew for only half the time.
The film went on to win Best Director and Best screenplay in the 2015 International Horror Realm Film Festival and the Award of Excellence in the 2015 Ricon International Film Festival in Puerto Rico along with an Award of Merit in the 2015 Indie Fest Film Awards.
Joey Medina also wrote, produce, directed, edited as well as stared in his own single camera style sitcom called “Man of a Funny Age.”
Most recently Joey just wrote, produced and directed a powerful short film called, “The Lesson.’ Jon Kelly from “Access Hollywood” calls the film “Stone Cold Powerful.”
Joey is currently a content producer on a syndicated game show called, “Funny You Should Ask.” He continues to expand his knowledge and passion for filmmaking and production.

What is a quote that summarizes everything you’re about as a filmmaker?

Filmmaking is a battle field.

What inspired you to start creating films?

I watched a super 8 silent film my 5th grade teacher made and all I could think about was I wanted to do that too.

Who most inspires/influences your style and specific execution currently and why?

Hard to answer because I get inspired by different filmmakers for different reasons.

As a creator, what do you find to be the thing that most drives you to succeed? We like to use this portion for others to learn from you!

Creating a story and images that make individuals “feel” something is what drives me.

What is your overall dream in life?

To be happy. And win an Oscar

What is the film’s logline?

Life isn’t always Black & White

What inspired the way that you went about executing this project?

Covid. I had to scrap a larger project because of quarantine, and decided to produce a project with only two characters and one location.

What was the most difficult part in the process of creating this film? How did you overcome it?

Auditioning during quarantine was difficult and finding the right location.

What was the most fun part of this entire production?

Watching how uncomfortable the white actors were using the “N” word.

What is the single greatest lesson you learned along the creation of this particular project?

Lighting two different actors with opposite complexions in the same scene

Is there anything else you would like us to know? Or any final thoughts / things you’d like to share with our readers?

I’m a professional comedian and former professional boxer