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Erniel Baez was born in Cardenas, Cuba. He lived there until the age of 8, at which point he moved with his mother and step father to Montreal, Canada. As a kid, Erniel would watch movies every night with his grandfather. This is where his love of acting began. Being a huge fan of Al Pacino, he was convinced that the actor was Cuban until the age of 13.

At the age of 15, Erniel started training with Josa Maule at the Montreal School of Performing Arts. This is where he started developing his craft as a theatre performer. Shortly after, he transitioned to Film & Television.

Erniel got his first on-screen speaking role in the acclaimed Canadian TV series 19-2 (2014). He then went on to land one of the lead roles in the cult horror film, Game of Death (2017), which premiered at the prestigious SXSW!

At that point his career began to shift into American productions, where he booked roles on Reacher (2022), opposite Alan Ritchson, and a recurring role on Cross (2024), opposite Aldis Hodge. Both series air on Prime Video.

Audiences will be able to see Erniel as a recurring guest star in the upcoming series, Hotel Cocaine (2024). Erniel plays the role of Ray Dorado, an untrustworthy Cuban banker with criminal ties who is seen regularly at the Mutiny Hotel. The series stars Danny Pino & Michael Chiklis, and will air on MGM+.

Danell Leyva is a three-time Olympic medalist and has been acting since his retirement in 2016

Danell was born in Cardenas, Cuba on October 30th, 1991. After having severe asthma as a baby, his mother, Maria Gonzalez, fled from Cuba to find a better life for her children, Danell and his sister, Dayanis Mesa.

After a 20-year long career in gymnastics that saw Danell Johan Leyva win three Olympic medals, two silver medals during the 2016 Rio Olympics on Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar, and one bronze in the All-Around at the 2012 London Olympics, Danell moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion in entertainment.

Since his arrival to Los Angeles, Danell has appeared in multiple short films and web-series, and appeared on two episodes of the Nickelodeon show Paradise Run. Most notably, he was cast in a lead role for the short film Stealth that premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. He has appeared on several nationwide commercials with companies such as Target, Diesel, Uber Eats etc.

Danell has also participated as a contestant on multiple unscripted shows such as the fifth season of the Univision show Mira Quien Baila where he finished in third place, and was featured on two episodes of season 11 of American Ninja Warrior on NBC. After the episode aired on September 2nd, 2019, Danell went viral. He was on the front page of Reddit as well as trending on Twitter.

Elian's mother, Elizabet Brotons, was a hotel housekeeper who had married Elian's father, Juan Miguel González, when she was 18. After seven miscarriages, they finally had a child, and decided on a unique name for him: Elián, composed of the first three letters of Elizabet and the last two letters of Juan. They called him El Niño Milagro, "the miracle child." The couple divorced, however, and on November 22, 1999, Elizabet kidnapped 6-year-old Elian from school and left with him for Miami, with 12 other people, in a tiny aluminum boat with no roof, no seats, a decrepit motor, and only three life preservers. The passengers injected themselves with Gravinol to prevent seasickness. At sea, the motor failed, and the boat flipped and sank. In the darkness and inferno of panic, the adults, who did not know how to swim and were drowsy from the Gravinol, drowned. Elian's tiny body appeared in an inner tube in the water off Fort Lauderdale, unconscious and badly sunburned, where he was rescued by fishermen.

In the following months, an international custody standoff ensued over what to do with Elian. Elian's Miami relatives took him in, and their vocal, anti-Castro supporters vehemently opposed Elian's return to Cuba, daring the government to take Elian by force. Finally it came to that: a predawn raid by FBI agents on April 1, 2000, where Elian was rescued at gunpoint and delivered back to his father in Cuba.

Manuel Gallardo was born on 3 May 1935 in Cardeña, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain. He was an actor, known for Tierra de todos (1962), Estudio 1 (1965) and Lucas. He was married to María Jesús Lara. He died on 21 August 2020 in Madrid, Spain.

Joaquín Roche was born in November 1899 in Cárdenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He was an actor, known for La estampida (1959), La sombra del Caudillo (1960) and La guerra de los pasteles (1944). He was married to Elvira Guendulain. He died on 28 August 1975 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.

Gastón Rodríguez was born on 4 July 1987 in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico. Gastón is a director and writer, known for Conçu sans péché (2020), Bad Lands (2014) and Gorila Baila (2013).

Marina Herrera was born on 18 July 1927 in Cárdenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. She was an actress, known for La liga de las canciones (1941), Dos tenorios de barrio (1949) and Jeca Tatu (1959). She was married to David Carrillo. She died on 16 February 2023 in Mexico.

Saúl Yelin was born on 1 February 1935 in Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba. He was a production manager, known for Stories of the Revolution (1960), ¡Cuba Sí! (1961) and Cooperativas Agropecuarias (1959). He died on 16 February 1977 in Havana, Cuba.

Agustin Blazquez was born in Cardenas, Cuba. He left Cuba on July 18, 1965, and lived in Montreal, Paris and Madrid before arriving in the U.S. in 1967.

Blazquez graduated from The Municipal Academy of Dramatic Arts of Havana in 1962. Although the single curriculum available was termed "Dramatic Arts", he began his acting career before graduation by performing on radio, TV and in theater.

Before graduating, he and a fellow graduate purchased a Keystone 16 mm camera because 16 mm was the only film stock available in Cuba at that time. With the two reels of stock they were able to find to purchase, they produced two films for the sole purpose of obtaining the experience. They had no access to editing equipment, so the productions were shot in sequence. Due to the lack of everything from equipment and opportunity in post-revolutionary Cuba, they were able to view the films only once. There was no means to screen or otherwise distribute them. The two reels were left behind in Cuba to unknown fate.

In 1962 Blazquez auditioned for I.C.A.I.C., Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematografica, the official government film studio. In 1963 he signed a contract to play the role of "Responsable", the supervisor of a group volunteer teachers in the Sierra Maestra mountains in En Dias Como Estos, directed Jorge Fraga, released in 1964. He also played the part of the bartender in Cronica Cubana, and a bit part in Preludio 11, both 1963.

While living in Madrid he perused his acting career by appearing in numerous dramatic, musical and comedy television productions for TBE, Television Espanola from January 1966 to June 1967.

In the U.S. he appeared in America's Most Wanted as drug dealer in 1989, an later did the English voice-over of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Jordi Pujol, guitarist from Barcelona, for Maryland Public Television series, The Immigrants.

In 2008 he was the narrator for the Cuban Spanish version of Welcome to the U.S. Guidebook for Refugees produced by the U.S. State Department.

After arriving in the U.S. Blazquez was stricken by the inaccuracies and omissions on the subject of Cuba in the U.S. Media, and by the freedom to take action, leaving him feeling compelled, by 1968 to began writing articles on the subject. Eventually numbering over 300 to date, the articles were distributed at first by U.S. Mail and word of mouth, later by fax, then email and appearance on numerous websites. Some were published by the Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Washington Inquirer, etc. in the U.S. and others abroad. Internet sites such sites as Newsmax and FrontPage Magazine have picked up his articles.

Meanwhile, his film production education continued by way of making experimental productions using an 8 mm home movie camera (including a silent musical) and video as soon as he obtained his first home video camera. He also took two courses offered by local cable TV. The rest is will power.

In 1995, his first documentary of the series Covering Cuba premiered at the American Film Institute in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He went on to produce Cuba: The Pearl of the Antilles, Covering Cuba 2: The Next Generation, Covering Cuba 3: Elian, presented at the 2003 Miami Latin Film Festival and the 2004 American Film Renaissance Film Festival in Dallas, Texas, Covering Cuba 4: The Rats Below, Dan Rather 60 Minutes an inside view, Covering Cuba 5: Act Of Repudiation, Covering Cuba 6: Curacao and Covering Cuba 7, Che: The Other Side of an Icon.

Covering Cuba 3, 4, 5 & 6 were shown at the Palm Beach International Latin Film Festival. Covering Cuba 2 was shown at the Miami International Book Fair.

To aid in the production of the documentaries, he established UnCovering Cuba Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization in 2005. A selection of his articles, along with those of Carlos Wotzkow, were published in the book Covering and Discovering in 2001 and he translated the book by Luis Grave de Peralta Morell, The Mafia of Havana: The Cuban Cosa Nostra in 2002.

He also produced a music video, Uno with Cuban American singer/song writer Luisa Maria Guell and You Don't Know Che and March of a Progressive with singer/song writer Steve Pichan, and a compilation of the dance numbers of rumba dancer Maria Antonieta Pons from her movies.

His queue of future productions is long and continues to grow, as he nears completion of the first in a new series Art and Politics.

Virgilio Piñera was born on 4 August 1912 in Cárdenas, Cuba. He was a writer, known for Novela (1963), La cara (2013) and Le philanthrope (2001). He died on 18 October 1979 in Havana, Cuba.

Claudio Nasco was born on 17 June 1976 in Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba. He was an actor, known for Un Asalto en la Lincoln (1999), Noticiario CDN (1998) and Enfoque Final (2013). He died on 13 December 2013 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Tomas Piard was born on 28 July 1948 in Cardenas, Cuba. Tomas is a director and writer, known for Si vas a comer espera por Virgilio (2013), El Fantasma de mi Novia (2018) and Dies Irae (1998).

Born in Cárdenas, Cuba on January 28, 1948. After studying visual arts and graphic design, at the National Schools of Arts, and Educative Cinema and Journalism in Havana, Cuba, he worked in Cinematografia Educativa (CINED) He co-created, wrote and directed the "En Video" Weekly TV show that showcases the Art of Video in Cuba, between 1991 and 1993. In 1993 he won the Grand Paoa Prize in the Festival Viña del Mar, Chile; country where he resided until 1995, when he moved to the United States. Since then he has worked in Pipin Productions, Miami, Telemundo 47 and HITN-TV New York, as a director of Documentaries and producer of promotional. He currently works for channel 41 Univision New York. He has won 30 International Prizes including the Valdivia Film Festival in Chile, plus many awards at the Encuentro Nacional de Video, Prize Caracol, and the Art of the video, in Havana, Cuba.

Icaro Cisneros was born on 23 May 1925 in Cárdenas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He was a writer and director, known for El día comenzó ayer (1965), Los amigos (1968) and El triángulo del crimen (1983). He died on 4 December 1984 in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Esteban Morales Domínguez was born on 26 August 1942 in Cárdenas, Cuba. He died on 19 April 2022 in Medellin, Colombia.

Maria Diego Hernandez was born on 27 September 1958 in Cardenas, Tabasco, Mexico. Maria Diego is a writer, known for Voces de la Constitución (2016), Throw Everything Into Play (2020) and ¡Yo soy yo! (2016).