Talent Guide

Dani de Jesus

  • Discipline:Producer, Writer
  • Program Year:CNN Docuseries Intensive 2021

Bio

From LA, Dani de Jesus was highly involved in organizations advocating for women’s rights while at UCLA, including UCLA’s 1st Women’s Leadership Conference. She then was the director of development at Craig Anderson Productions for six years. For ten years, she taught at Maui High School, and won several awards, including 2011 HI Economics Teacher of the Year. De Jesus relocated back to LA and produced the short films “A Cohort of Guests” (Sarah Drew), “Adult Night” (Kevin Alejandro/Lesley Ann-Brandt), and music videos, including the recent Asian American Pacific Islander anthem Gold by Ella Jay Basco, featuring Ruby Ibarra.

Current Project

WHERE YOU FROM? The Search for a Filipino-American Cultural Identity

Logline

The rise and fall of Filipino Gangs: Overshadowed by the Crips and Bloods, Filipino Americans had a defining cultural moment in 1980s/’90s Los Angeles. This series is an intimate look at how the youth of an immigrant community--the Filipino Gangs of Los Angeles--were simultaneously rebelling against the Asian “model minority” myth while struggling to create their own cultural identity as Americans.