Friends We Love (FWL) is a series of documentary films examining the experience of underrepresented artists and artisan communities. For over 15 years, FWL has been creating a living humanities archive documenting the work of emerging and mid-career contemporary artists in the USA. The documentaries are open-access for general public streaming via friendswelove.com, and we continually seek to partner with public-facing projects, from youth-oriented conferences and after-school programs, to hosting arts and film events, to partnering with more traditional art galleries and institutions.
Friends We Love creators, directors, and producers Michael and Moni Vargas are two multiracial Latinx filmmakers with a mission to amplify the works of art and stories of our creative community. This digital archive of underrepresented artists has been self-funded since 2008, with 111 short-form documentaries and video segments published to date.
Friends We Love has sought to disrupt the invisibility of underrepresented artists and artisans, centering and uplifting stories of BIPOC artists from their studios, offices, stages and the streets—wherever the creative magic happens.
Friends We Love has been ahead of its time, and thus by necessity adopted a DIY, punk rock ethos, self-funding the work for over a decade. We did not wait for permission, funding, or the green light to begin investing our time and energy in creating high-quality documentaries of artists and artisans in our communities. We approach art as a healing practice, as a way to transform personal and cultural narratives for ourselves and our communities.
Moni Vargas
Moni Vargas is an AfroIndigenous award-winning filmmaker, artist and facilitator with 20 years of experience and a commitment to gender justice, radical inclusivity, and care. She has directed music videos, editorials, documentaries, scripted shorts, commercial and educational content, including Con Safos, a one-hour documentary for PBS/KCET earning two Southern California Journalism Awards, two National Journalism Awards, and an Emmy Award nomination in 2022.
Between 2019 and 2021, Moni served as the Creative and Program Director at Breakthrough, a nonprofit culture change organization that uses media to promote human rights through a feminist lens. Moni directed and produced, Our Stories in Vivid Color, a nine-part short documentary series and interactive story archive by and for girls, women and gender expansive youth of color artists and activists.
Audrey’s Poem, a short narrative film Moni wrote, produced and directed, is included in the film anthology, Big Little Girls and won Second Place at the PDX Recovery Film Festival. She has also directed an 11-part university course with Queen Latifah and the pilot episodes of Red Table Talk, nominated for an Emmy Award in 2019.
Moni is the co-founder of Friends We Love / Nuyorktricity, a Latine media production company she runs with her partner, Michael Vargas, based in Los Angeles, California. For the past 15 years, their clients have included Sony Pictures, PBS, Paramount Network, Will Smith’s Westbrook & Overbrook Entertainment, Vice, and Firelight Media, among others. Their film work has screened at international film festivals, the United Nations, and at New York’s prestigious Brooklyn Museum and The Bronx Museum.
Moni is skilled at managing projects from concept development through delivery with highly inclusive teams. She has developed a Care-Centered Approach to Filmmaking and Storytelling, facilitating seminars, workshops and trainings for organizations like The Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Represent Justice, Skoll World Forum and Double Exposure.
In 2022, she co-directed another one-hour documentary for the award-winning PBS/KCET Artbound series, earning an Emmy nomination, and a six-part documentary series featuring inspiring stories of athletes with dual citizenship for P&G. She had developed two unscripted projects: a half-hour pilot she executive produced and directed, Unapologetically Fly, featuring a group of women of color in midlife who travel around the world and Healing Through the Home, a transformative and inspiring lifestyle series.
Moni enjoys creative time with her family, especially cooking, living room sound baths and dance parties to her monthly Friends We Love radio show on WorldwideFM.
Michael vargas
Michael Vargas is an accomplished director, editor, and cinematographer with a rich background in photography and visual arts. He developed his diverse skill set in the film program at SUNY Purchase and shortly after graduating, set forth on a creative path that has led him, his camera, and his sketchbooks around the world. His body of work includes content for global brands like Apple, Nike, GQ, Diesel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and for media companies like PBS, Sony TV Pictures, Westbrook Entertainment, VH1, Vice, and ID Magazine.
Michael co-founded Friends We Love with his wife and creative partner, Moni Vargas. Together, they quickly made a name for themselves in the NYC music, film, and street art scene by creating a series of short docs featuring international musicians and artists. The Friends We Love project birthed an insightful and inspiring blog with viewership around the world and held screenings at the prestigious Bronx Museum and Brooklyn Museum of Art.
In 2010, Michael was selected to join Will Smith on a trip around the world shooting and editing content for The Karate Kid film and Overbrook Entertainment. He was soon directing and editing a series of visually stunning music videos, branded content, behind-the-scenes docs, travel, and concert films for Will, Jada, and their talented kids, Jaden, Willow, and Tre.
Most recently, Michael directed and edited a one-hour documentary for the PBS series, Artbound, called “Con Safos,” about the life of Chicano Culture Sculptor, Rubén Guevara. In addition to documentaries, he’s writing narrative screenplays and developing unscripted educational content. He continues to expand his reel with commercial and independent projects that showcase his dynamic cinematic style.