OVER 200 MILLION VIEWS AND COUNTING
Nuyorktricity (aka Friends We Love) is an award-winning production company based in Los Angeles creating aspirational and engaging content that reflects the universal stories of our communities. With a combined five Emmy nominations, four National Journalism Awards and four SoCal Journalism Awards, husband and wife team Michael and Moni Vargas bring a cinematic aesthetic to projects and personal attention to clients in the theatrical, television, commercial, music and creative fields.
Their clients include Will Smith’s Overbrook & Westbrook Entertainment, Lip Sync Battle, Sony Pictures Television, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Apple, UBTech, VICE, PBS/KCET, Bud Light, Coke, Nike, Target, Carter's, JUST Water, i-D Magazine and Diesel. Their films have been broadcast nationally and screened at international film festivals across four continents, at the United Nations, and at New York’s prestigious Brooklyn Museum and The Bronx Museum.
Nuyorktricity has over 15 years of experience creating, developing, directing, producing, filming and editing broadcast and streaming original content, documentaries, commercials, film featurettes, and music videos with high production value. They pride themselves in hiring highly inclusive and talented crews, collaborating with studio executives and teams, while managing projects from concept development through delivery while consistently meeting budgets and deadlines.
Moni Vargas
Moni Vargas is an AfroIndigenous award-winning filmmaker, artist and facilitator with 20 years of experience and a commitment to gender justice, radical inclusivity, and care. She has directed feature documentaries, scripted shorts, commercials, music videos, editorials, and educational content, including Con Safos, a one-hour documentary for PBS/KCET earning two Southern California Journalism Awards, two National Journalism Awards, and an Emmy Award nomination in 2022.
Between 2019 and 2021, Moni served as the Creative and Program Director at Breakthrough, a nonprofit culture change organization that uses media to promote human rights through a feminist lens. Moni directed and produced, Our Stories in Vivid Color, a nine-part short documentary series and interactive story archive by and for girls, women and gender expansive youth of color artists and activists.
Audrey’s Poem, a short narrative film Moni wrote, produced and directed, is included in the film anthology, Big Little Girls and won Second Place at the PDX Recovery Film Festival. She has also directed an 11-part university course with Queen Latifah and the pilot episodes of Red Table Talk, nominated for an Emmy Award in 2019.
Moni is skilled at managing projects from concept development through delivery with highly inclusive teams. She has developed a Care-Centered Approach to Filmmaking and Storytelling, facilitating seminars, workshops and trainings for organizations like The Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Represent Justice, Skoll World Forum and Double Exposure. (more)
Michael Vargas is an award-winning director, editor, and cinematographer with a rich background in photography and visual arts. He developed his diverse skill set in the film program at SUNY Purchase and shortly after graduating, set forth on a creative path that has led him, his camera, and his sketchbooks around the world. His body of work includes feature films, commercials, original series, scripted shorts and branded content for global brands like Apple, Nike, GQ, Diesel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and for media companies like PBS, Sony Pictures, Paramount, VH1, Vice and Westbrook Entertainment. Michael has earned two Emmy nominations, two National Journalism Awards and two SoCal Journalism Awards for the documentary films he directed for PBS/KCET.
Michael co-founded Friends We Love with his wife and creative partner, Moni Vargas. Together, they quickly made a name for themselves in the NYC music, film, and street art scene by creating a series of short docs featuring international musicians and artists. The Friends We Love project birthed an insightful and inspiring blog with viewership around the world and held screenings at the prestigious Bronx Museum and Brooklyn Museum of Art.
In 2010, Michael was selected to join Will Smith on a trip around the world shooting and editing content for The Karate Kid film and Overbrook Entertainment. He was soon directing and editing a series of visually stunning music videos, branded content, behind-the-scenes docs, travel, and concert films for Will, Jada, and their talented kids, Jaden, Willow, and Tre.
In 2021, Michael directed and edited “Con Safos,” about the life of Chicano Culture Sculptor, Rubén Guevara and in 2022, he directed the “Ruben Ortiz Torres Story” for the PBS series, Artbound. In addition to documentaries, he’s writing narrative screenplays and developing unscripted educational content. He continues to expand his reel with commercial and independent projects that showcase his dynamic cinematic style.