The Hidden GEM Creative Studios works with award-winning media professionals from the commercial media industry or the social justice non-profit arena to create innovative media and educational programs. Artists in our network are available for creative or instructional services, and can be reached through our CONTACT page.
EXECUTIVE BOARD & ADVISORS
Rafael Flores, MFA (Founder & Executive Director)
Rafael Flores is a bilingual documentary and narrative filmmaker of Mexican-Lithuanian ancestry. He is Phi Beta Kappa Scholar who holds a Masters of Fine Arts specializing in Directing, Social Justice Film Production, Chicano Cinema, and Third Cinema. He also holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Cinema Studies from the University Washington. He is currently a lecturer at San Francisco State University and The College of San Mateo where he teaches Latin-American Cinema, Digital Film Production, Screenwriting and Documentary film. His work has been praised by various institutions that include: The White House, The Grammy Foundation, TED-X lecture series, the Cannes International Film Festival, the Writer’s Guild Theater of America, the London Guardian, and the Chicano International Film Festival.
Erica Mendoza (Vice President, Directing/Producing Instructor)
Erica Mendoza is a Mexican-Chicana producer, director and actress with a background in marketing, policy advocacy, immigrant rights, and HIV prevention. Erica has led various projects and media campaigns for clients that include: The San Francisco Foundation, The California Endowment, YR Media, Destiny Arts and Somos LOUD. Her work is focused on shedding light on the experiences of undocumented, refugee and first-generation people whose stories too often go untold. She is dedicated to creating films that will empower marginalized communities, provide career opportunities and lead to the diversification of the film industry that will ultimately improve the representation of people of color in the United States. Erica leads the social enterprise arm of the Hidden GEM Creative Studios which employs our talent base in the Bay Area and Southern California.
Gabriel Negrete (Finance Advisor/Treasurer)
Gabriel Negrete, MBA, CPA is Deputy Director at La Raza Centro Legal. Gabriel has served as Controller for La Raza Centro Legal for years and he continues to lead fiscal compliance and administration for the organization. Gabriel brings best practices and high level financial and operational controls. He has served in management positions in both nonprofit and the for-profit corporate worlds. Mr. Negrete lives in the San Francisco Bay Area but grew up in Southern California. His family has roots in Guanajuato, Mexico and represents the hopes and dreams of his ancestors as a a first-generation college graduate. Gabriel has also worked as a teacher, professor, and coaches middle school and high school students in baseball. Gabriel Negrete holds deep financial knowledge, strong leadership abilities, and a commitment to driving organizational growth and financial stability. He is a true professional with the highest levels of integrity and a kind person committed to our mission.
Paul S. Flores, MFA (Director of Community Engagement)
Paul S. Flores is a San Francisco artist of Mexican and Cuban-American descent who has built a national reputation for interview-based theater and bilingual spoken word. He integrates indigenous and Latino healing practices to tell the stories of real people impacted by immigration and systemic inequalities. Flores appeared on Season 3 and 4 of HBO’s Def Poetry. He is the author of the plays We Have Iré, which premiered in 2019 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo; and On The Hill: I Am Alex Nieto, as well as the novel Along the Border Lies. His commissions have come from The National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, La Peña Cultural Center, MAP Fund, Pregones Theater, National Performance Network, SF Arts Commission, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN-SF), and many others. His workhas played across the United States and internationally in Cuba, Mexico, and El Salvador. Paul is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, and he teaches Theater at the University of San Francisco. He also works as cultural event producer at Acción Latina in San Francisco’s Mission District. His debut book of poetry We Still Be on El Martillo Press recently won the 2024 American Book Award.
Shawn Granberry (Director of Donor Relations)
Mr. Granberry is the CEO of HipHopTV, LLC, and founder of Watch Now Networks, Inc. He sits on the Temescal Business District Chamber of Commerce in Oakland and has worked in the entertainment industry for over 25 years and serves as the chair of the advisory board for the Hidden GEM Career Pathways Program to advance young people of color in the media industry. He started his career in the A&R department at Tuff-E-Nuff Productions (Clients include: Toni, Tone’, Tony, En Vogue, Madonna, Club Nouveau, Con Funk Shun, Timex Social Club, Regina Belle, Alexander O’neal, BET Networks, ABC & Fox Networks). Mr. Granberry also worked as a close confidant to acclaimed music producer Shakir Stewart to produce events like, Def Jam’s, “How To Find A Mega Star”. He has also worked closely with prominent movie producer, Robert Watts at Transformer Entertainment. Mr. Granberry also founded The Scholar Athlete Union and Bears Youth Basketball with help from childhood friend Jason Kidd, and works very close with Stanford and UC Berkeley faculty to support young people in securing professional education.
Stefan Ruenzel (Director of Education & Instructor)
Stefan Ruenzel is an award-winning filmmaker from Oakland, California whose produces narrative, documentary, and experimental films. Mr. Ruenzel has worked as Producer, Cinematographer and Editor on the “Open Road” nationally syndicated travel show on PBS, and his works has been recognized by the Cannes International Film Festival, The Sundance Institute, The California Endowment and the San Francisco Foundation. Mr. Ruenzel currently works as a freelance producer, director and cinematographer in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked with entities that include Microsoft, Disney, Bloomberg, Genentech, The United Nations Foundation and Levi’s.
Kavitha Dulai (Development & Fundraising Advisor)
Mrs. Dulai is a Grants Coordinator and Development consultant with over 15 years of experience supporting non-profits and philanthropies who advance immigrants/refugees, youth, women and artists. She has previously held positions with the Aurora Theater Company, Chabot Space and Science Center, and the I Have a Dream Foundation under Tony Thurmand, the California Superintendent of Education. Mrs. Dulai has also worked as Economic Coordinator at Mahavi, an organization for South Asian women, under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and has secured grants with the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Kenneth Ranin Foundation. the Haas Fund, National Endowment of the Arts, and Zellerbach Family Foundation. Mrs. Dulai is also a creative writer and poet who was a former recipient of the SF Emerging Art Professionals Fellowship and a featured literary artist at the Kearney Street workshop’s APAture Festival.
Roy Miles (Community Engagement Advisor, Animator & Designer)
Also known as the Ghetto Geppetto, Roy Miles is a animator, toy maker and filmmaker from East Oakland. CA. His work has been praised by multiple institutions and he is one of the founding members of the Hieroglyphics Video Crew. Growing up childhood friend Del the Funky Homosapien, Roy draws upon his life in Oakland for his creative endeavors. Known for his animated series “HoodFoot”, Miles also creates merchandise and toys for his own brand line. Mr. Miles has also worked in the creative ad industry, and as a multimedia manager in the non-profit arena for over 20 years.
Paulo Campos (Secretary & Production Coordinator)
Paulo César Campos Mendoza is a Bay Area filmmaker and educator in the non-profit sector. Graduating from San Francisco State with a bachelors in Creative Writing and Cinema, Paulo has worked in BAYCAT and Hidden GEM Creative Studios, non-profits that specialize in advancing filmmaking opportunities for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals. Paulo has worked on contracts and worked on commercially distributed films that have been produced for various entities that include Amaon, TubiTV, the SF Foundation, and the California Arts Council.
STAFF & TEAM
Daniel Tinajero (Post-Production Coordinator, Hidden GEM)
Daniel Tinajero is a Chicano filmmaker originally from Richmond, CA. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a BFA and his area of specialization is post-production and animation. Daniel s the founder of the first Latino/a/x Film Club at SF State University, and was a core organizer for the first annual BIPOC film festival at Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco. He has worked on various projects for the SF Foundation, California Endowment and other foundations in the Bay Area. Daniel is a graduate of our program and now manages all recruits working on client projects for our in-house social enterprise.
Desmond Holt (Post-Production Instructor, Hidden GEM)
Mr. Holt is the animation and design instructor for the Hidden GEM and is also the former Media Coordinator for UR Media from 2016-2021, an Oakland-based non-profit that serves low-income BIPOC youth in West Oakland. Holt has led various design and animation education programs for The California Endowment and SF Foundation, and has produced various commercials, designs and content for corporations like Adidas, Adobe, Under Armor, NBC and Google.
Jehnovah Carlisle, MFA (Screenwriting Instructor, Advisor)
Jehnovah Carlisle is an award-winning independent filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Carlisle graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Film. Carlisle also graduated from California College of the Arts with a MFA in Film Production. The short films that Carlisle has written, directed and produced have dealt with the realities of African American men haunted by troubled pasts, burdened by institutional racism, and scarred by trauma. Carlisle has experience in multiple genres (drama, comedy, crime) and also documentary filmmaking. His short films have screened nationally and his personal films are deeply rooted in the Bay Area community where he was born and raised. He was a San Francisco Film Society artist in resident in 2018. Carlisle currently teaches screenwriting at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles, California.
SUCCESS STORIES
Triumphs over Community Violence
De’Mario Williams Story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoCLf3iyLXo
Dashawn Clinton Story – https://vimeo.com/135312560
Eco-Entertainment Award & Screen at Cannes
Bay-Be Champ, The Scraper Bike King – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpc7XCoRlQU
NY Post & Red Bull Awards Youth Entrepreneurs & Refugee Filmmakers
Fix My Kixx, the James Green Story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdAyKMy5hjc
Alameda County Youth Media Awards
Single Fathers Produce Award Winning Content against Police Violence
https://oaklandnorth.net/2015/09/28/oakland-students-honored-at-east-bay-youth-media-awards/
