Biography

Rafael Agustín was a writer on the award-winning TV show Jane the Virgin, is the author of the bestselling book Illegally Yours: A Memoir, and is a producer on the upcoming rock documentary Los Lobos Native Sons.

Rafael was the founding Executive Director of the Youth Cinema Project and the founding CEO of the Latino Film Institute. In 2018, LA Weekly named Rafael one of the fifty most essential people in Los Angeles. Also in 2018, the United Nations invited Rafael to speak at their 70th Anniversary Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2022, the LA Times declared Rafael a "Power Player" in their inaugural Latino trailblazers list, and in 2023, Rafael received the Spirit of Los Angeles Award from the Program for Torture Victims. In 2024, Rafael received the Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Cinema & Literature from the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Rafael serves as Vice Chair of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), which publishes Mother Jones magazine and the Reveal radio show, and is a member of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress. He received his BA and MA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television, and is a past Sundance Institute Episodic Fellow.
- IMDb mini biography by: Rafael Agustin