Jose Daniel Freixas

Jose Daniel "Jaydee" Freixas (born January 19, 1983) is a Cuban-American filmmaker born and raised in Miami, FL, known for his first feature film Magic City Memoirs (2011).

Early Life

Freixas was born in 1983 in Miami, FL, where he was raised, and spent most of his adolescence as a graffiti artist. He graduated from Christopher Columbus High School, attended the University of Florida, and graduated from the University of Miami where he majored in Film and History.^[1][2]

Career

2011: Magic City Memoirs

Freixas co-wrote and produced his first feature film in 2011, Magic City Memoirs^[3][4]. The film was shot all on location in Miami and made its World Premiere at the 2011 Miami International Film Festival^[5]. Magic City Memoirs won the Pursuit of Perfection Award at this festival^[6] and was part of the Official Selection at the 2011 New York International Latino Film Festival^[7]. It also won Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the 2011 Ibiza Film Festival.^[8] Shortly after, Freixas developed a scripted television series based on the film with Fox Television Studios, whereby Fox Broadcast Channel picked up the project and ordered a pilot script.^[9] Magic City Memoirs can currently be seen on Netflix^[10]

2016: The Corporation

In 2016, Freixas and partner Tony Gonzalez, controlling the rights to New York Times best selling author T.J. English’s^[11] forthcoming book "The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban-American Underworld," agreed to partner with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way and Paramount Pictures to produce the feature film adaption of the book.^[12] Academy Award winning actor Benicio Del Toro is attached to star as Cuban Mob boss Jose Miguel Battle Sr. David Matthews of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl is attached to write the screenplay while Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson-Killoran, Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona will also produce.^{[13][14][15][16]}

2017 - present

In late 2016 and early 2017, Freixas started production on the feature film Vandal, which he co-wrote, produced, and directed. The film was shot all on location in Miami’s Wynwood, Little Havana, and Little Haiti neighborhoods. Inspired by true stories, Vandal is the story of a young graffiti writer struggling to justify his familiar world of illegal graffiti as he experiences loss and consequence for himself and those he loves. The film dives into the personal and societal struggles of an underground graffiti artist living and creating amidst the new world of globalized graffiti/street art.^[17][18]. Vandal stars Daniel Zovatto, Beau Knapp, Otmara Marrero, and Richard Schiff. Vandal is set to premiere in 2018.^[19][20]

References