Jeff Pinilla (/ˌp ih nee yah /; Colombian Spanish:; (born November 17, 1988) is a writer, producer, director, and editor. Since graduating from Full Sail University in 2009, he has been nominated for 11 Emmy awards, has won 5 Promax Gold Awards, and was awarded the "Ron Scalera Rocket Award" at the PromaxBDA 2012 Awards. (This award is given to any individual with two years or less experience who is doing outstanding work.) In his years since graduating, Jeff has also successfully produced three short films, "Numbers on a Napkin", a short documentary titled "The first 36 hours: an inside look at Hurricane Sandy." and was recently awarded "Best Narrative Short Film" at the 2013 Woodstock Film Festival for "The earth, the way I left it." His first major recognition in the industry came in the summer of 2010, when he was credited for his work as producer and photographer on a print campaign for New Yorks WPIX 11 newscast. His work garnered him a Promax Gold Award for "best consumer print advertisement."
Early life and education
Jeffrey Pinilla was born in Dallas, TX in 1988. His mother, Angela Maria Figueroa is a registered dental assistant in Plano, TX and his father, Edgar Armando Pinilla, is a middle school math educator for Dallas Independent School District. While in Texas, Jeff attended Sachse High School. In June 2009, Jeff graduated from Full Sail University in Orlando, FL with a bachelor of science degree in film.
Early Career and New York City
While attending Full Sail University, Pinilla had the opportunity to work as a part-time college outreach representative for Current TV. While working for Current, Pinilla had a documentary that was sold to the television station for broadcasting rights. The title of the film was "Seventyone: the seven decades of Jose Postigo." The documentary was a student film Pinilla had produced and edited while in school about 71-year-old weightlifting champion, Jose Postigo.
After graduation, Pinilla moved to New York City where he began freelancing as an assistant photographer for Michael Luppino. Shortly after, Pinilla edited and co-directed a documentary titled "Alive Inside." A clip from this documentary was leaked on the web in 2012, becoming a viral hit within hours. At 5 million views, Pinilla was recognized as one of the forces behind the powerful clip that became an internet sensation.
2010 - 2013
By July, 2010, Pinilla was hired by Tribune as a writer/producer/editor for their East coast creative group. While working here, Pinilla produced and photographed a print campaign for News York's WPIX11 Newscast, for which he was awarded the Promax Gold Award. The campaign was exhibited on the New York City subway cars and gained notable attention from many in the media. On March 17, 2011, Pinilla managed to raise through Kickstarter to fund a script he had been neglecting. The short film, titled: Numbers on a napkin, was included in several film festival programs such as the HBO Latino International Film Festival, Big Apple Film festival, and Westchester Film Festival.
In February 2011, Pinilla went on to earn himself 6 Emmy nominations in the local New York market as a writer and producer. and on June 14, 2012, Pinilla was awarded the PromaxBDA Ron Scalera "Rocket Award". The award is given to any individual that has been working in the industry for two years or less and is doing outstanding work. Pinilla also earned himself three Promax Gold awards for his work as writer, producer, and editor.
Shortly after summer ended, Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast, and Jeff, as someone with a great respect for the medium, offered an engrossing portrait of a news crew in action with his documentary 'The First 36 Hours: An Inside Look at Hurricane Sandy'. The 22-minute film was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick on the site "Vimeo.com", and follows reporter Arthur Chi’en and cameraman Kenton Young as they captured the events of the tragic storm that ravaged New York in October 2012. The film has garnered much attention and shortly after, On April 14, 2013, Jeff was honored with an Emmy Award for writing and producing an anti-bullying commercial for New York's WPIX Newscast entitled "The Bully."
In March, 2013, Pinilla began principal photography on his third short film entitled "The earth, the way I left it." The film completed post production and was recently awarded "Best Narrative Short Film" at the 2013 Woodstock Film Festival.