Esperanza Hill (a.k.a Chuchie)

Founder / President

Esperanza Hill (a.k.a Chuchie) - Founder / President - In The Sea Productions
Esperanza Hill (a.k.a Chuchie) - Founder / President - In The Sea Productions

Chuchie Hill is a Spanish/British Director, Creative Director, and Producer born on the Island of Mallorca where she redirected her competitive sailing life passion to film and advertising. She obtained a degree in Film Directing and has since won a One Show Entertainment Award for directing the campaign that introduced Jambox to the Brazilian market, for which she was also shortlisted in Cannes, won a Human Interest Award in Monaco, a Streamy Award for Best Branded Entertainment Web Series for Lexus awarded by Ogilvy, and a nomination at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival and Miami Film Festival. She’s also known for her BBC commissioned video art installation "Laughing Portraits Pursuit of Happiness". Chuchie’s festival world began with her short film "Hola to the World", starring Jena Malone and Hugh Bonneville.

 

Chuchie´s documentary "In the Sea You´ll Find Me", about young Mexican surf champion Walter Caloca, led to her acceptance into the Ocean Artist Society and board of directors for UAPO (United Athletes of the Pacific Ocean).

 

Some of Chuchie´s latest directorial pursuits are, the ad campaign for Procter & Gamble´s Gain, in collaboration with La Voz Kids (The Voice Kids) which marked the first time in television history where viewers participated in a real-time commercial experience via Facebook, the ESPN & Disney campaign featuring sports anchor Sage Steele, Walmart for Hispanic market in the US, and Just Dance 4 for Ubisoft.

 

Most recently, Chuchie was a Jury at the Hollyshorts Film Festival and is a finalist at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab with her first feature film. Whilst her love for the Ocean and sailing come back around merging both her true passions, sailing and filmmaking, Chuchie was called to direct and produce a dream project about the mediterranean legendary trophy Princesa Sofía.

 

The desire for living surrounded by clean waters, the strong bond between Eduardo, Felipe and Chuchie, and the inspiration from Walter Caloca (the protagonist in their common documentary project), sparked a strong interest for joining forces and doing something for the cause; In The Sea Productions was born.

 

Languages: Fluent in Spanish and English.

Eduardo Manilla

Founder / Director

Eduardo Manilla - Founder / Director - In The Sea Productions
Eduardo Manilla - Founder / Director - In The Sea Productions

Born and raised in the tourist town of Ensenada, Mexico, in a bilingual environment, Architect & Producer Eduardo Manilla began his entertainment career as a radio host, and later his outstanding communication skills led him to be the official Venice Beach Tour Guide for the series "Clean Break", featured on the New York Times.

 

After his incredible experience as a foreign exchange student in Paola, Kansas during his Senior year in High School where he was voted Prom King, and upon licensing in Architecture at the University of Baja California, he moved to LA to work for the award-winning MINARC architecture firm as a designer, where he contributed to a shift in sustainable architecture through his design philosophy. One of his projects with the firm is, the development of the first sustainable town in Mexico, located on the coast of Baja California.

 

His design approach has always been directed towards a preservation of the natural environment and the optimal use of clean energies. Applying it at different firms like Amorphica in San Diego, CA., Guzmán Diseño in Mallorca, Spain, Minarc in Santa Monica, CA., and French-Angelino bi-coastal studio LAbtop, receiving an award from L.A Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for their winning entry at the Los Angeles Cleantech Corridor ¨Greenoplasty¨.

 

Once settled in Venice, Eduardo became part of the community by organizing a variety of awesome events and trips that eventually moved him to form a team to start the Genius Loci Festival in Baja Mexico. Eduardo has always been active in the communities he’s lived in, prompting him to run for the Venice Neighborhood Council, he´s now serving a second term as a Community Officer, and has great plans for the artistic community.

 

Music plays an important role in Eduardo’s life, having learned the art of DJing from his younger brother Alejandro, a young dj-producer from Mexico who is known as Massio. As a DJ, Eduardo calls himself LoboMan, which is a play on words of his 2 family names as is the tradition in latin countries. 

 

The future is looking quite bright for Eduardo. His first residential design project breaks ground next year in Baja’s Wine Country, he began voluteering for KCRW (public broadcasting), and he’s training to be a docent at the Getty Center where he will be giving Architecture Tours on the weekends.

 

His passion for surfing explains his interest in the preservation of the surf breaks around the world, which is the mission of IN THE SEA productions, the non-profit production company he launched with his partners, director Chuchie Hill and producer Felipe Dominguez, born from the interest in telling the heartwarming true story about the life of his friend, Mexican surfer Walter Caloca, which reflects the healing power of surfing. Eduardo has also been accepted into the reputable Ocean Artists Society for this documentary.

 

Languages: Fluent in Spanish and English.

 

Photo Credit: www.lauragrier.com

Felipe Dominguez

Founder / Director

Felipe Dominguez - Founder / Director - In The Sea Productions
Felipe Dominguez - Founder / Director - In The Sea Productions

Surfer, journalist, and film producer Felipe Dominguez feels blessed to have the magnificent Pacific Ocean close to his hometown of Ensenada and to his current home in Los Angeles. For years, the coasts linking Mexico to the United States have been his playground and his inspiration.

 

Originally moving to Los Angeles to study at UCLA, Felipe graduated in 2007 with a degree in Political Science, specializing in Latin America and Asia-Pacific relations. Through his student years, he was a passionate conservationist and an engaged student. He was immersed in a summer-long research project in Guanajuato, Mexico in 2006, and worked as a T.A. as an undergraduate at UCLA.

 

Working as a producer for Nippon TV, Japan’s largest and oldest television network, Felipe has had the opportunity to cover news stories such as the Chilean miners’ rescue, Whale hunting in the south Pacific, the 2008 presidential election, and other notable world events. As the main producer for the Los Angeles bureau of NTV, Felipe is in charge of organizing news coverage in the southwest United States and Latin America. He has interviewed notable figures such as former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor Clint Eastwood, among other distinguished business, political, and academic figures.

 

His links to Japan trace back to an exchange program he completed while in High School, which brought him to the other side of his beloved Pacific Ocean, and allowed him to become fluent in Japanese, in addition to English and Spanish.

 

Felipe began his film career as a film producer for the short ‘’Anne Jennings’’, a US-Japan production that won second place at the prestigious Yasujiro Ozu Film Festival in Japan. The film was part of the official selections and won awards at the Alaska International Film Festival, Ventura Film Festival, Santa Fe Film Festival, and the Directors Circle Film Festival.

 

Soon after, as a founder of non profit organization In the Sea Productions, Felipe began collaborating with longtime friend and producer Eduardo Manilla and director Esperanza Hill on ‘’In the Sea You’ll find me’’, a surfing documentary about the life of a young Mexican surfer called Walter Caloca, and the subsequent Paddle-out to bid him farewell. The paddle-out, organized by Eduardo and Felipe with the help of the community in Ensenada, was one of the largest ever in Mexico, and a testament to the importance of the Paddle-Out among surfers. With this film, Felipe hopes to inspire people to care for the coasts of both Baja California and California.

 

Languages: Fluent in Spanish, English and Japanese.

Founders