Alex Avila was Senior Producer for NPR's Latino USA from 1998 to 2010, winning several national awards for journalism during his tenure. He received his B.S. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994 after learning film production at New York University from 1989-1991. He was co-founder and co-director of the Austin-based Chicano/Latino Film Forum from 1993-1999. He is completing his PhD in Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin . He is sole screenwriter and principal-producer of the film, Closer to Bottom, which began principal photography on October 6, 2012 and is being directed by veteran Hollywood actor Jesse Borrego.
