EXCLUSIVE: Manuel Figueroa is set to make his feature directorial debut with Wild Ones, a coming-of-age drama starring Annie Gonzalez (Relationship Goal) that counts prominent studio filmmakers Ruben Fleischer (Now You See Me: Now You Don’t) and Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) among its producers.
Hailing from Camp Hobart and Midas Entertainment Group, Wild Ones is set in the mid-’90s Latinx Los Angeles world of high school ditch parties and follows Eddie, a hard-partying senior in the blue-collar San Gabriel Valley who has his life upended in the weeks before graduation when he unexpectedly meets responsible “school girl” Darlene. As Eddie deals with the problems in his life and Darlene plans for her future beyond school, an unlikely romance blossoms between them.
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Figueroa based the film on his personal experiences and penned the script with Jordan Heimer. In addition to Figueroa, Fleischer and Watts, producers include David Bernad and Darryll C. Scott (Evergreen Valley Prod), alongside Paul Coy Allen and Prince Baggett on behalf of Midas.
A two-time Imagen Award nominee actress, Gonzalez can currently be seen starring alongside Kelly Rowland, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, and Robin Thede in Relationship Goals, a romantic comedy from Amazon MGM Studios, which premiered on Prime Video on February 4. Otherwise best known for the films Flamin’ Hot and Jenni, she is repped by Innovative Artists, Luber Roklin, and Granderson Des Rochers.
Figueroa is a writer-director whose first script sale was Studio Gangsters, a pilot for AMC Networks. Subsequently, he developed Eastside for NBC, Three Joaquins for ABC, and The District and Clout with musical artist Cuco and Eugenio Derbez’s 3Pas Studios. Figueroa has served as an executive story editor and staffed on series including Stumptown (ABC), Defiance (Syfy), and the Starz music drama, Step Up. He is currently also writing an action film set in the world of reggaeton for Exile Entertainment/HYBE records and is repped by Gersh, Heroes and Villains Entertainment, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum.
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