Merced Elizondo is a Mexican-American film director based out of Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles, California. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2016 and has devoted his attention to independent filmmaking, commercials, and branded content.

 

His latest film, MANOS DE ORO, is a black-and-white short film that stars Julio César Cedillo, who can be seen in works such as Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, Sicario, and the Cannes-winning drama The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. The film was acquired by Argo and has screened at festivals such as the the Oscar®-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, LA Shorts International, LALIFF, the Miami Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival, and the “InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema” event, hosted by NewFilmmakers LA and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recently, the film won the “Best Short Film” award at the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today program.

 

Merced is currently developing a proof-of-concept short film for his debut feature, The Mourning Of, which won Silver at the Young Director Award Dreampitch Competition (Cannes Lions) and was awarded a NewNarratives Filmmaker Grant through NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022.