Tony is a Filipino American filmmaker based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Originally from the Washington DC metro area, his love of storytelling grew from playing with cameras as a way of visual self-expression to understanding the power it has to connect and empathize with people who are far different than him. Tony has been fortunate to work on and learn from shows such as, Criminal Minds, Young Sheldon and Barbie as a production assistant. He was accepted into the Sundance Director Core Masterclass in 2020 and created two microbudget short films during the Covid-19 pandemic. He then created a crowdfunded short film titled FilAm, which is a coming of age story about a young Filipino American boy, which sheds light on the Filipino American experience. It has had success in the festival circuit being a winner at the Hollywood Blvd Film Fest (2023), Honorable Mention at the Hollywood New Directors Festival (2023) and Quarter Finalist Winner at The Bay International Film Festival (2023). In 2024 he moved from Los Angeles to Albuquerque after becoming a Directors of America Guild Member as a 2nd 2nd Assistant Director. While continuing to work in production as an Assistant Director, he still is creating independent short films in-between jobs – honing his skills as a storyteller and his goal to become a director in the entertainment industry. His next project is titled Sundown, a story about a young caretaker watching over an elderly patient suffering from dementia. This story comes from real life experiences as Tony lost his mother in 2023 after her battle with dementia and heart failure. Sundown is currently in post production with a 2026 festival release. Tony found his voice in telling personal stories to connect with others and finds filmmaking a cathartic process to empathize with the world.