Building the American Dream
Logline
In the shadow of Texas’s lucrative building boom, immigrant workers are on a downward spiral to poverty, illness, and death. BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAMexplores intimate stories from the frontlines of the construction industry, as undocumented immigrants fight for their basic rights.
Sarah Garrahan
Editor
Sarah Garrahan is a documentary producer and editor from San Antonio, Texas. She holds an MA in Creative Documentary from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and an MFA from Duke University in the Experimental and Documentary Arts. She is a co-producer and additional editor on the hybrid documentary The Infiltrators by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and was awarded both the Audience and Innovator Awards for the NEXT section. She is an editor on Building the American Dream by Chelsea Hernandez, which premiered at SXSW in 2019. In 2018, she worked as an Associate Producer on Ellen Spiro and PJ Raval’s short documentary Come & Take It, which premiered at SXSW and went on to play at festivals around the world. She is a former Flaherty Fellow (2013) and Felsman Fellow (2015). She also works with the Sundance Documentary Fund, where she aids in the selection of films for their fund. .
Chelsea Hernandez
Director, Producer
Chelsea Hernandez is a Mexican-American filmmaker based in Austin, Texas. Her work focuses on the unique perspectives of various issues and topics through the lens of ordinary people who challenge the status quo and injustices in this world. She is a fellow of Firelight Media Doc Lab and Latino Media Market.
Mario Troncoso
Co-Producer
Mario Troncoso is a 9-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker, producer and director of the documentary series ARTS IN CONTEXT (PBS) and Executive Director of The Documentary Society (Doculab). With extensive agency and production company experience, Mario has worked on productions across many formats over a period of 15 years, ranging from advertising campaigns to documentaries and fiction projects.
Marisol Medrano
Producer
Born in Mexico City and a graduate from The University of Texas at Austin, Marisol has produced projects that closely relate to the filmmakers’ cultural diversity and personal interest. She has produced various award-winning short films including Student Academy Award Winner Fatakra in 2011.
Marcy Garriott
Executive Producer
Independent documentary filmmaker based in Austin Texas, Marcy Garriott produced and directed award-winning film INSIDE THE CIRCLE, and produced THE LEAST OF THESE, and AN UNREAL DREAM: THE MICHAEL MORTON STORY. She is a former board member of KLRU, a former president and board member of the Austin Film Society, and a current member of the Cine Las Americas Advisory Board.