Mia C. Villanueva is a Pilipina-American filmmaker who was raised in Seattle, WA, went to school in Los Angeles where she built her filmmaking career, and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Mia creates films that explore the dualities of real people from marginalized communities who dream big and endure extraordinary life experiences. As both a left and right brain thinker/executer, Mia was highly influenced by her Pilipino immigrant family upbringing, most especially her grandparents. Her grandmother was a biologist and her grandfather was a classical concert pianist.

Prior to kickstarting her filmmaking career, Mia founded the Film Independent Project:Involve Job Placement Program where she helped hundreds of filmmakers of color find paid jobs in film and television. Mia co-founded the production company, The Narra Group, focused on creating films about human rights and social justice issues. She is a former Loyola Marymount University Kodak Film Scholarship Recipient; Film Independent (formerly IFP/LA) Project:Involve Film Directing Fellow; a selected Artist/Writer-In-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts; a Visual Communications 'Armed With a Camera' Fellowship/Grant Recipient; a Women's Foundation of California Leadership Fellow; selected as a "Director to Watch For" at the NY Asian American International Film Festival and featured in DGA Magazine; chosen as a "Festival Favorite" at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival; a Kauffman Labs Education Entrepreneurial Ventures Fellow; and recently selected as an Artist in Resident at Green Olive Artist Residency in Morocco.

Mia has created content and films for National Geographic Channel, MTV International, Los Angeles Film Festival, and the U.S. Embassy to name a few. Her work has screened/showcased at New Directors/New Films (NY), LaunchPad Gallery (NY), Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Mostra Brazil Film Festival, NY Asian American Film Festival, MTV Europe, Lost Souls Gallery (LA) & numerous universities and educational institutes worldwide.

While creating films, she has a track record of supporting fellow artists of color by organizing committees at the Screen Actors Guild; working as a Career Counselor at Parsons The New School for Design and Workplace Hollywood; serving on grant committees for the Entertainment Industry Foundation; and speaking on numerous panels for festivals and organizations such as the Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, DGA, and the Los Angeles Film Festival. In the future, she hopes to provide sustainable funding opportunities for Pilipino and other Pacific Islander filmmakers worldwide while continuing to create her own original feature narrative films.