Slipping Into Darkness Streaming on HBO

Meet the Winners of HBO’s
Latinx Short Film Competition

HBO launched its inaugural U.S. Latinx Short Film Competition in partnership with the Official Latino Film and Arts Festival this past year. HBO’s project aims to give more creative authority to Latino filmmakers, creators and storytellers.

Two Film Production alumni entered their short film, Slipping Into Darkness, into the competition, which HBO selected as one of its three festival winners. The winning films are all available on the HBO platform.

What is Slipping Into Darkness About?

Slipping into Darkness is a powerful story of Juanito “Jay” who is struggling not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Jay’s life changes dramatically when an old friend is released from prison, and they cross paths, stirring up a past life of bad habits. With the weight of Jay’s financial difficulty and family responsibility, he’s presented a choice that could devastate his life.

From L.A. Film School Students to Filmmakers

David Mansanalez (writer) and Alex Munoz Ferrufino (director) met during film school and started collaborating on projects because of their similar upbringing in the Latino community. Slipping Into Darkness is a passion project based on David and Alex’s collective life experiences involving systemic incarceration.

The Film School interviewed its two alumni filmmakers via Zoom. Watch the full interview to see how they made this movie come to life on the big screen.

Watch the Virtual Chat

Find out more info about the Film Production Degree Program that Alex and David graduated from.