Los Malos (The Bad Ones)

When his fresh-from-the-island brother unintentionally kills his opponent in an underground boxing match, an upwardly mobile “Americanized Dominican” is forced to choose between the new life he’s built, and helping his brothers escape a life he thought he left behind.

  • Nabil Vinas
    Writer
    Come Back Hailey
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Number of Pages:
    125
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cine Qua Non
    Morelia, Mexico
    August 1, 2021
    Script Revisions Lab (English)
  • 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Screenwriting from The New York Foundation for the Arts
    New York, NY
    July 9, 2019
  • SPACE on Ryder Farm Residency (Finalist)
    Brewster, NY
    May 19, 2020
    Finalist
  • Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship (Quarterfinalist)
    Los Angeles, CA
    April 10, 2019
    Quarterfinalist
  • SF IndieFest Screenplay Competition
    San Francisco, CA
    January 7, 2022
    Feature Screenplay Finalist
Writer Biography - Nabil Vinas

Nabil Viñas (writer, producer, actor) is a 2021 Cine Qua Non Lab Resident and 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Screenwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

An award-winning actor, his films have played festivals worldwide including “Program” which premiered at the 55th New York Film Festival.

He produced and acted in the indie feature “Tomorrow Ever After” which screened theatrically and earned favorable mainstream reviews. And he wrote, produced, and acted in the short “Come Back Hailey”, which screened festivals and secured domestic and international distribution.

With a background in theatre, Nabil has acted with many companies, most recently LAByrinth Theater and Cleveland Play House, and he’s currently co-writing a play with TÉA Artistry (Archive Residency, New Ohio Theatre).

Born and raised in Washington Heights to parents from the Dominican Republic, Nabil spoke only Spanish until age 5. A former athlete and child of hip-hop culture, he aims to create authentic works where men of color get to be caring and vulnerable.

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Writer Statement

Born in NYC to parents from DR, I spoke only Spanish until school, where I was educated in English. Though I thrived academically, this placed me at a crossroads. My “progress” was encouraged by my family, but it also drove an invisible wedge between us on the basis of language alone.

This wedge widened for reasons I couldn’t understand, but by college, I began to deduce that the culture of “success” promoted around me could more accurately be described as the culture of “whiteness” (or absence of culture).

I’ve long since reclaimed my community, but with “Los Malos” I get to follow Felix who has completely left his family behind to try and climb the “social ladder”, allowing for examination of what it means to assimilate, who gets to “pass”, what it affords you, and what it can cost.