EXCLUSIVE: Sergio Lira, Lynette Coll and Cristobal Güell are launching Luz Films, a newly formed entertainment company founded with the mission of making Latino-focused prestige and elevated-genre content from diverse visionary creatives and producers in the film and TV space.
Lira and Coll will serve as co-CEOs while Guell will serve as CFO.
Through a collaborative community spirit, Luz Films will produce and co-finance projects from the Latino perspective for U.S. and global audiences. The company believes in mentoring and supporting projects from debut filmmakers and connecting them with veteran Latino creatives who can collaborate with these new voices behind the camera and on-screen.
‘While Latinos are one of the fastest-growing communities in the United States, representation for storytellers in the community lags behind other demographics,” the trio shared in an exclusive statement to Deadline. “Luz Films, named with purpose, embodies ‘light.’ Our mission is to illuminate opportunities. We aim to work with as many of the current buyers and studios but are no longer waiting or relying on them to decide when our films get made. We’re dedicated to ushering in a new era of high-caliber Latin-American cinema.”
Most recently, Lira served as a film development & production executive for three years at A24. Before that, he was at Amazon Studios in the Original Drama Series team where he worked on hit shows The Hunters and Hanna. His indie film roots began during his time at FilmNation Entertainment.
Coll previously worked as the Head of Development at Gamechanger Films and, before that, as the Head of Development and Manager of Acquisitions at Breaker. Some of her previous credits are Executive Producer of David Lynch Presents The Happy Worker. Additionally, she has worked with global, emerging artists such as Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell on their film Prospect (Netflix).
Güell also serves as a partner of the production company Madre. Before Luz Films and Madre, he worked as a film executive at Fabula where he executive produced Sorcery and Making It Up. He also produced Majo Staffolani’s La Idea de Dios.
Luz Films is currently developing several feature films and scripted television projects with various Latino creatives born in both the U.S. and Latin America. As part of their first venture, they co-financed and co-produced the upcoming feature In The Summers written and directed by debut filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza and starring Rene “Residente” Perez Joglar, Sasha Calle, Lio Mehiel and Leslie Grace, which Deadline revealed exclusively in July. The film will compete and premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month.
The project came together in part with the support of Emmy winner and Tony nominee, Henry R. Muñoz III, owner & chairman of Funny Or Die, who serves as an executive producer of the film. Muñoz III and the trio behind Luz are developing multiple projects together to be announced at a later date.
Additional collaborations coming down the pipeline include work from filmmakers and writers like Kristian Mercado (If You Were The Last), Francisca Alegria (The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future), Ryan Zaragoza (Madres), Melina Leon (Song Without a Name), Nathalie Álvarez Mesén (Clara Sola), Lucia Garibaldi (The Sharks), Lindsey Villarreal (La Maquina), Chelsey Lora (Vida), Eva González Szigriszt (Woman In The Book), Marcella Ochoa (Madres) and Maria Corina Ramirez (Bridges).
Luz Films is aiming to have 3-4 films in production by the end of 2024 in various languages to help bridge stronger co-production partnerships between the U.S. and Latin America.
