CARLOS RAFAEL BETANCOURT
DIRECTOR & EDITOR
OSCAR ERNESTO ORTEGA
DIRECTOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER
Carlos Rafael Betancourt is a Cuban filmmaker and AFI Alumni based in Los Angeles, with over 10 years of experience in Films, Television and Commercials. Stylized Visuals, Magical Realism, Nature and Social Drama intertwine in his work, like jigsaw puzzles combining pieces from different boxes.
Oscar Ernesto Ortega Cuba is a Cuban filmmaker. Combining Cinematography Studies at the University of Arts of Cuba and working in the trenches of EL CENTRAL from Havana to Miami, Oscar Ernesto has focused in both technical and creative fields for over 10 years. Finding visual narrative in the most unexpected ways is the key element of his work as cinematographer and director.
Carlos Rafael Betancourt and Oscar Ernesto Ortega developed a common voice as they created EL CENTRAL, one of the first production companies in Cuba, with award winning titles like “La Isla de Corcho”, winner of the Ibero-American contest CINERGIA, NYCIFF and IFQ Festival in the US.
While Oscar relocated with EL CENTRAL in Miami, Carlos moved to Los Angeles to pursue graduate studies in film, becoming the first Cuban Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute. Carlos’ AFI Thesis Film, “Running Shadow” played at NALIP, Skins Fest, Red Nation Film Festival, Catalina Film Festival, Worldfest Houston, LA Diversity Film Festival, Arizona International Film Festival, among others.
Carlos and Oscar joined forces one more time to write and direct their first feature film, “The Last Rafter”, a very personal story that mines from their immigrant experience. And they are back together again with their new feature film, "Borrowed".
Jim Kierstead
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Jim Kierstead is an Emmy, Olivier, and three-time Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway, touring, Toronto, and London productions of Kinky Boots, the revival of Pippin, and Hadestown. He is currently represented on Broadway as a co-producer of Tony-nominated Ain't Too Proud, Company, The Lehman Trilogy, Mrs. Doubtfire, and The Minutes. In addition, he has been a co-producer of 25 Broadway productions including The Inheritance, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Waitress, The Visit, You Can't Take It With You, Indecent, The Great Comet (all Tony nominated), Be More Chill, Pretty Woman, Side Show, It Shoulda Been You, M. Butterfly, Rocky, among others. Off-Broadway projects include Unexpected Joy, Yank! (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Nominees), Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, and Thrill Me - The Leopold & Loeb Story (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominees). He has produced London productions including Waitress, Dreamgirls, Pretty Woman, Be More Chill, Unexpected Joy, Yank!, Thrill Me, Night of the Living Dead, and Aspects of Love. Film/TV projects include the Emmy winning TV series The Bay, we well as Indoor Boys, Emmy-nominated After Forever, and Wakefield starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner. Along with Broadway United partner, William Fernandez, Jim produced the hit immersive show Amparo in downtown Miami for Bacardi. Jim is on the Board of Directors of The York Theatre Company, The Abingdon Theatre Company, and The New York Theatre Barn and is the founder of the digital theatre content creation company Broadway Virtual.
William Fernandez
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
William Fernandez is a former newspaper editor turned theater producer. A Pulitzer Prize winner, a two-time Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk winner, Fernandez has co-produced such critical hits on Broadway as American Son, The Inheritance, Frankie and Johnny and the current Mrs. Doubtfire. Fernandez has also produced theater off-Broadway, in London, Miami and Chicago. In Miami, he was the executive producer of the city's longest running hit, The Amparo Experience, an immersive play that ran for eight months to sold-out houses. In London, he produced the new American musical Unexpected Joy.
In January 2020, right before the pandemic began, Fernandez produced the world premiere of The Adult in the Room at Chicago's famed Victory Gardens Theater. On television, Fernandez currently is co-executive producing Season 2 of the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime series After Forever.
Fernandez also serves on the board of Zoetic Stage, a leading regional theater housed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. In his career as a newsman, Fernandez was the senior editor on the team that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He is also the recipient of two Emmy nominations.