Phillip Rodriguez (Los Angeles) is a documentary filmmaker and L.A. native who chronicles the demographic and cultural changes in the western United States. Rather than preachy and gritty, his films are visually stunning and often humorous. LA Now is a portrait of the city and an exploration of its “post-Anglo future.” His other films are Mixed Feelings: San Diego/Tijuana, about the evolution and interrelationship of those two cities; Manuel Ocampo: God Is My Copilot, about the L.A. painter; and Pancho Villa and Other Stories. In 2006 Rodriguez started My City Now, a media literacy program for high school students that organizes traveling media workshops. He graduated with an MFA from the Department of Film and Television at UCLA in 1989. Rodriguez is a senior fellow for documentary filmmaking at the Institute for Justice and Journalism at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.
Portrait photo courtesy Richard Renaldi Los Angeles Now; photo courtesy Humberto Ramirez
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—Lynn Freeman, USA National Leadership Committee;
Director, Rose Foundation
