HISPANIC FILMMAKERS COME TOGETHER TO BRING THEIR STORIES TO A GLOBAL STAGE WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE LAUNCH OF PRODUCTION COMPANY EXILIUM AND ITS FIRST COMPLETED FILM, VANDAL.

Filmmakers Jose Daniel Freixas and Tony Gonzalez have joined to form Exilium, an international production company that will cater to the pursuit of diverse content that is to be shared among all distribution platforms. Exilium will focus on developing and financing film, television, and digital content, all sharing the same narrative of giving the audience stories from a minority perspective. 

The filmmakers recently completed their first film “Vandal” under the Exilium banner. Directed by Jose Daniel Freixas, and based on personal stories rooted in Freixas’ upbringing in Miami, “Vandal” unveils the underground world of graffiti with a story told through the eyes of these graffiti artists, who are viewed as vandals by the rest of society.

The film stars up and coming talent Daniel Zovatto (HBO’s Here and Now), Beau Knapp (Nice Guys), Otmara Marrero (newcomer, most recently starring in “Start Up” tv show), Juan Pablo Raba (Narcos), and veteran actor, Richard Schiff (The West Wing). Produced by Tony Gonzalez and Executive Produced by heavyweight, Rob Weiss (Ballers, Entourage) and graffiti legend Kelly “Risk” Graval, “Vandal” delivers an authentic drama about art, love, and war against the backdrop of a beautiful, gritty Miami that Freixas lived and together captured in the script with co-writer Gonzalez.

Freixas and Gonzalez have continued to pioneer a path for Latin filmmakers, but are fueling their successes in the film industry on inclusivity and pride in their roots. The pair named their company Exilium, which is Latin for ‘exile’, in honor of their cuban heritage. Both Freixas and Gonzalez pay homage to their own roots through their work, and feel all backgrounds are deserving of hearing their stories told. Freixas passionately says, “We strongly believe that our culture and community’s time has come for their stories to be as much at the forefront of modern day filmmaking as any other culture. We will be a force to support Hispanics among other diverse groups in the entertainment industry both in front, behind and intrinsically involved in the content we make.”

Freixas and Gonzalez joined forces to achieve a common goal, to tell stories about their culture, history and community; with that focus in mind, they collaborated in bringing one of the infamous characters in Cuban history to life. “The Corporation” based on the extraordinary life of the “Godfather of the Cuban Mafia” Jose Miguel Battle Sr, became one of the most active bidding wars from studios in recent memory. After two days of heavy bidding, Exilium found its home with Paramount Pictures and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way winning the bid, with Academy Award Winning Benicio Del Toro to star as Jose Miguel Battle Sr. The Corporation is a unique and true American gangster story that has never been fully told. The true story of The Cuban Mafia.

Along with Freixas and Gonzalez, the film will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, along with Andrew Rona and Alex Heinemann of the Picture Company. Freixas and Gonzalez collaborated with New York Times best-selling author T.J. English, who has just written the non-fiction novel that the film will be based on.

Already breaking records for pre-sales, English’ highly anticipated book “The Corporation: An epic story of the Cuban American underworld” is set to be released nationwide on March 20, 2018 by William Morrow. 

Exilium is currently in different stages of development on an array of film and television projects. They are repped at CAA