bio

IT ALL STARTED WITH $900, (and a borrowed camera.) Most of the money was spent on food, but over the course of a few weekends, (and A TON of favors,) Joaquin F. Palma made his writer and directorial debut with FOLLOWED HOME, (article pictured below.) Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Joaquin is a first-generation American; his family having immigrated from Mexico. He started his career as a production assistant and has gone on to become an award winning writer and director of features, TV, music videos, and commercials; the most notable of which, was as a writer on the Emmy-nominated HULU series, EAST LOS HIGH. In 2017, Joaquin toured the festival circuit with his fourth feature film, CRAVE: The Fast Life. The film went on to win 22 awards, including: four BEST PICTURE, three AUDIENCE CHOICE, and three BEST DIRECTOR and WRITER awards; along with multiple BEST ACTOR, ACTRESS and ENSEMBLE CAST awards for RENE ALVARADO, (Hulu’s East Los High,) JESSICA CAMACHO, (HBO’s Watchmen and CBS’ All Rise,) and JEARNEST CORCHARDO, (Apple TV’s Little America.)

Joaquin has also been accepted into multiple filmmaking fellowships, including: TOMORROW’S FILMMAKERS, a program run in conjunction with the Hola Mexico International Film Festival and partnered with both UNAM-LA and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Another fellowship participation was in NALIP’s TV DRAMA SERIES INCUBATOR, where Joaquin worked closely with both Televisa and Univision to bring Hispanic dramas to American audiences. NALIP would go on to showcase Joaquin in their list of Latinx directors, (pictured right,) as they partnered with USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative. Soon after, he began work on developing multiple pilots for various production companies. The first of which being THE PANIC, about the violent life of Los Angeles hip-hop icon, KID FROST; and the most recent being THE POOL BOY, an hour-long thriller set in 1980’s Hollywood. Aside from film and TV, Joaquin has also worked with various brands and artists in both music videos and commercials; including the Spanish-language national campaign, CONTIGO, for Univision.

In April of 2022, Joaquin signed on to co-write and direct Mother of the Groom for Sony, with production scheduled to begin in spring of 2023. Whenever able to, Joaquin is an avid supporter and volunteer for various youth programs where he mentors inner-city kids, (from the same neighborhoods he was raised in,) through the entire process of filmmaking. From developing an idea, to writing, filming, editing, and final exhibition. Such organizations include: FILM2FUTURE, a youth filmmaker program, founded by producer Rachel Miller and supported by the studio system at large; Nosotros Organization’s JUMPSTART YOUTH INITIATIVE (where the student short films were screened to a packed audience at The Golden Eagle Awards.)