Annual PitchBLACK Event Grants $380,000 to Upcoming San Antonio-Produced Film “American Sons” About JV Villarreal, the 22-Year-Old San Antonio Marine Killed in Action
For the last seven years, Black Public Media (BPM) has hosted the PitchBLACK film forum – a grant-based competition for independent filmmakers pursuing creative endeavors. This year BPM awarded over half a million dollars in grants to several filmmakers and creators developing various projects tackling a range of different subjects. Among the recipients, the most substantial award was given to the filmmakers of “American Sons,” a documentary about a 22-year-old Marine from the westside of San Antonio who was killed in action in 2010.
BPM is a Harlem-based media-centered nonprofit dedicated to promoting “the development of visionary content creators,” seeking to emphasize “stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future,” according to their mission statement. Formerly known as the National Black Programming Consortium, BPM develops, funds, and distributes content that highlights Black representation, generally focusing on documentary stories.
Producer / Director – Andrew Gonzales
The PitchBLACK film forum is hosted annually by BPM, with the goal of supporting and uplifting independently-funded filmmakers and storytellers aiming to spotlight perspectives from the Black community. This year’s session, which was held in April, saw a grand total of $610,000 awarded in grants to help various creators with their ongoing creative ventures, the most that PitchBLACK has donated since its creation less than a decade ago. Of the awards presented, the largest came from the Jacquie Jones Memorial Fund award, totaling $380,000, and was given to San Antonio native Andrew J. Gonzales and El Paso native Laura Varela, the respective director and producer of “American Sons.”
Gonzales and Varela both work and reside in the San Antonio area, and have been active in the film industry for over a decade. Back in 2015, the pair took home the top prize in the City on The Rise Film Competition at the San Antonio Film Festival, and have each gone on to amass a slew of other awards and honors for their separate documentary pursuits. Varela has also taught courses on documentary film at UTSA as a visiting professor.
“American Sons” is currently slated to debut on PBS in 2025 and centers on Corporeal Jorge “JV” Villareal, a young marine killed in action in Afghanistan. Villareal, who was from the westside of San Antonio, documented much of his life in combat through a series of video diaries that help frame the narrative of “American Sons.” The film also focuses attention on JV’s family and his Marine unit as they navigate the aftermath of his death. Gonzales and Varela hope that the film will shed light on the harsh reality of life in deployment, while providing insight into the emotional upheaval many veterans face during the transition from combat to civilian life.
The PitchBLACK grant will allow Gonzales and Varela to complete their film, which has already been in production for nearly five years. Stay tuned for future updates on “American Sons.”
