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Project Link
https://www.funnybrownpeople.com/episodes-1-5.html

Funny Brown People - Web Series

An immigrant Mexican father navigates the challenges of balancing his Mexican heritage with the demands of raising a family to live the American dream.

  • Salvador Paniagua
    Director
  • Salvador Paniagua
    Writer
  • Jaime Ferrar
    Producer
  • Alejandro Patino
    Key Cast
    "Jerónimo Valdez"
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 19, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    27,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Salvador Paniagua

Salvador Paniagua's scripts and films have been recognized by multiple programs. He was recently invited directly into the second round of the Sundance|YouTube New Voices lab where he submitted Los Curanderos. Last year, he was invited to submit his comedic web series Funny Brown People. He along with producers Alejandro Patiño and Jaime Ferrar successfully raised the funding and completed Funny Brown People. Los Curanderos screened at Apertura through the American Cinematheque last year.

Paniagua’s short films have appeared in the Sacramento International Latino Film Festival and the San Diego Latino Film Festival, among others. Paniagua was a finalist for the Walt Disney Studios Feature Writing Fellowship Program. He also received a grant from the Mercury Latino Lens Challenge to shoot "Los Tamales," a comedic and warm-hearted story about a 7-year-old boy's trek across the neighborhood to run an errand for his mother.

Paniagua also participated in Film Independent's Project:Involve Writer/Director fellowship and NALIP's Writers Lab in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Paniagua discovered his love of cinema while an undergrad at Stanford University producing shows for the student TV station, SCBN.

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Director Statement

Whenever I watch a border story or something about immigrants there seems to be a lot of crying. And yes, the immigrant experience is hard, but there’s also a lot of laughing. At least there was at my house. My grandfather Augustin Lopez was the king of the one line groaners — he could of starred in his own sitcom — and my dad could put the family into a belly laugh with a perfectly timed one-liner. This made me want to write a comedic but heartfelt story that was about immigrants assimilating to American culture and their children born in this country. I took a survey from my large extended family and piled up a stack of funny stories. And that is how Getting to White came to be.

This is an old school family comedy that has its roots in the Dick Van Dyke show, Happy Days, Family Ties, One Day at a Time, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and even the Sopranos. I love having a show where I can see a family face some challenge and work it out in a shot period of time. It always gives me hope to see the family hard at work and sometimes stumbling to solve problems. I love to infuse comedy, sweetness, hope and a dash of heroism as they try to solve life's challenges.