Aric Lopez is an award-winning filmmaker born and raised in Southern California. His documentary “Palmas” was one of six documentaries to be fully funded by USC's School of Cinematic Arts in 2024 and has earned the “Collegiate Filmmaker Spotlight Award” at Burbank International Film Festival as well as the “Best Student Documentary” award at Glendale International Film Festival. Along with a half dozen festival appearances, “Palmas” has screened at a selection of community-based organizations, such as the LA Poverty Department and CAFILM’s Environmental Youth Forum.

True to his Southern California roots, Aric developed his skills as a screenwriter at California State University, Northridge before being accepted to the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, earning his MFA in Film and Television Production. He’s the recipient of the prestigious George Lucas Family Foundation Fund for Production, Cheech Marin Scholarship, and Abraham L. Polonsky Scholarship in Critical Writing. At USC, he contributed to over thirty short films at every level of production and earned 1st Runner Up in Editing at the USC First Look awards for his work on the short film, “Last Words”.

Aric is inventive by nature, rooted in his starting years of filmmaking producing small movies with the limited resources around him: family, friends, school equipment, and local streets. This inspired his filmmaking style, one that brings together his diverse, community-based collaborations with his extensive film production experience to cultivate authentic, one-of-a-kind films that resonate with audiences on a personal level.

In 2025, Aric founded MUGEN Productions, an entertainment company that incubates stories threading the traditions of his heritage with modern American filmmaking styles. MUGEN aims to forge new narrative potentials in film that resonate with younger generations of brown communities.