Carlos Avila

Carlos Avila is an award-winning director.

He grew up in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles to Mexican and Peruvian parents. He received his film training at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA's Graduate School of Theatre, Film and Television. Carlos made his feature film directing debut with New Line Cinema's 2000 release, "Price of Glory" starring Jimmy Smits, Clifton Collins, Jr. and Ron Perlman. This family drama set against the world of amateur and professional boxing was developed at the Sundance Institute's Director and Writer Labs. Carlos also served as Executive Producer on the film's groundbreaking soundtrack album which helped introduce Latin rock and hip hop to a wide audience. In 2001, he was awarded the ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) award for Best Director for his work on this film.

Carlos is the creator of "Foto-Novelas," a Humanitas Prize-nominated PBS television series comprised of half-hour dramas in the spirit of The Twilight Zone. Foto-Novelas was recently added to the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Television and Radio. His award-winning short films, "Distant Water" and "La Carpa" have screened at numerous film festivals in the United States and worldwide. Carlos also directed the pilot to the Sony Television/Telemundo detective series, "Reyes y Rey," among other Spanish-language television shows.

Carlos directed the "Street Money" episode of the long-running CBS series, "Cold Case," in 2008. Carlos's first documentary, "Tales of Masked Men," about lucha libre and the tradition of the masked wrestler, was completed in Fall 2012. The film was the recipient of three 2013 Best Documentary Awards at various film festivals around the United States.