Empowering Latin America
and Hispanics in the USA
through impactful financial education
and personal development for lasting success.
An innovative nonprofit organization dedicated to helping artists achieve holistic success and positively impact their communities. We accomplish this by offering them free training in leadership, personal growth, and financial management.
“The poverty of Latin America’s and Hispanic’s in the US is not due to a scarcity of resources or its historical sufferings; rather, it stems from inadequate education, which fosters a mindset that hinders progress. We aim to fundamentally transform the mindset of the youth to pave the way for advancement.”
– Yecid Benavides (President ALCC) –
THE FREE AND PRODUCTIVE ARTIST PROJECT
We provide empowerment and financial support artists, particularly those facing economic difficulties, by supplying them with a wide range of resources for personal development, creative enhancement, financial education, and opportunities to earn sustainable income from their art. This initiative is designed to allow artists to pursue their creative aspirations unimpeded by economic barriers, fostering their growth and aiding in the expansion of the Orange Economy in countries with underdeveloped artistic and creative policies.
Help us provide Financial Education to a talented artist in Latin America, enabling them to work full-time on their art.
Scholarships for Latin Artists and Hispanics
at the Online Film School
An online film school with 15 diferent courses that cover all the areas of a film production.
How the school was born.
In 2016 we made a feature length film that became the most watched movie in the history of our coutry, Bolivia. That propelled us to relocate permanently to the USA. In 2020, people in Latin America had long periods of confinement due to COVID 19. Thus, we decided to give free master classes, through ZOOM, on the subjects of personal development and film production, subjects that we had a long track record of having worked on. It was then that several universities asked us to hold sessions for their social communication students and for their students to be able to interact with us. This sparked in us the idea of creating an online Film University/School that would cover all the areas of a film production but that also integrated personal development and leadership.
As a family, we are well aware that people nowadays do not have the time or money to attend expensive universities that are located far away from their city or country. Also, most film schools teach a sort of filmmaking that does not reach millions of people, or create an industry, but rather stays mostly within small circles of film connoisseurs. Our “Artistas Latinos Film School” (Escuela de Cine Artistas Latinos) teaches people a more commercial type of filmmaking, and lets people study from home anytime they want, at their own pace. Plus, they can start working immediately, get income and begin the creation of an industry within their communities.
Courses in the school:
Course 01 – FUNDAMENTALS AND KEY CONCEPTS (6 sections – 86 classes)
Course 02 – PRODUCTION (12 sections y 73 classes)
Course 03 – SCREENWRITING (4 sections y 32 classes)
Course 04 – DIRECTING (16 sections y 61 classes)
Course 05 – ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (1 sections y 7 classes)
Course 06 – ACTING (4 sections y 6 classes)
Course 07 – CASTING DIRECTOR (2 sections y 3 classes)
Course 08 – CINEMATOGRAPHY (14 sections y 54 classes)
Course 09 – CONTINUITY/SCRIPT SUPERVISION (2 sections y 3 classes)
Course 10 – ART (4 sections y 9 classes)
Course 11 – PRODUCTION SOUND (5 sections y 9 classes)
Course 12 – VIDEO POSTPRODUCTION (8 sections y 19 classes)
Course 13 – AUDIO POSTPRODUCTION (11 sections y 28 classes)
Course 14 – FILM HISTORY (3 Classes)
Classes:
In our first stage as a school, we managed to produce more than 100 classes, but our goal is to produce the 500+ classes needed to cover all areas of film production.
The online platform we use is “Teacheable,” which has an extraordinary system of organization so people can easily access their classes and courses.
Scholarships:
Our Artistas Latinos Cultural Center is concentrated on providing scholarships for low-income students, minority groups, talented leaders, etc. who want to immerse themselves in film production or any area of the filmmaking process.
For more details visit our page: https://escueladecine.artistaslatinos.com
Help us provide full scholarships to Latin Americans and Hispanics in the US who wish to study film and make movies for millions.
ABOUT US
The ARTISTAS LATINOS CULTURAL CENTER Inc., is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America.
VISION
A world where artists have financial stability, sustainable artistic success, and are effective leaders in a modern world.
MISSION
To help artists reach integral success:
More specifically, the ARTISTAS LATINOS CULTURAL CENTER Inc. is dedicated to promoting the creation and development of strong and self-sustaining artistic and cultural industries, by providing educational programs, empowerment tools, venues, festivals, and products, for artists, supporters, financiers, audiences and people in general. It is also dedicated to helping artists and aspiring artists in the USA and Latin America, in developing countries and worldwide, make their projects viable, sustainable and widespread.
A BRIEF SUMMARY
Our family, the Benavides, consists of two generations of artists. We are grateful and humbled that our art has achieved significant success in Bolivia and across Latin America. Currently, we are all working professionals with notable achievements in the music industry and filmmaking. To learn more about our film production company and our corporate area, click here.
In addition to our work in the artistic field, our family has been actively involved in social assistance for over 25 years. In 1998, we established our first non-profit organization, the “SIEMBRA Foundation,” with the goal of helping impoverished families by creating microenterprises in arts and crafts.
For two decades, we operated through our SIEMBRA FOUNDATION, and in 2015, we established the CENTRO CULTURAL CINEMATOGRÁFICO. This non-profit serves as the social responsibility arm of our for-profit corporation, ARTISTAS LATINOS Ltda., located in La Paz, Bolivia. Through this initiative, we have impacted over 2,000 people with teachings, seminars, and workshops in the arts, production, and self-development. After four years of successfully serving the community through non-profit efforts, our family relocated to the United States and incorporated the ARTISTAS LATINOS CULTURAL CENTER Inc., as a charitable non-profit organization in Miami, Florida, in September 2019. We also launched two main programs within our Cultural Center: “Scholarships to study in the Artistas Latinos Online Film School” and “Metamorphosis,” a personal development program offering teachings, workshops, and coaching on leadership, transformation, and mindset change. In 2023, we launched the ‘Productive and Free Artists Project’ to support low-income artists. This initiative enables them to dedicate their full time to their talents, assists them in marketing their products, and provides financial education.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
YECID BENAVIDES ALIAGA
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
GIANCARLA LOPEZ
TRUSTEE
JORGE PEREZ CUETO
TRUSTEE
SUSANA PRUDENCIO
TRUSTEE
OFFICERS
YECID BENAVIDES
PRESIDENT
VIKTORIIA MERKULOVA
EVENT MANAGER
YECID BENAVIDES JR.
TREASURER-CFO
JOHANAN BENAVIDES
EDUCATION OFFICER
Thousands of people in Latin America and Hispanics in the USA are deprived of the opportunity to study filmmaking, primarily due to the prohibitive costs and lack of access to prestigious film universities.
You can help them gain access to our online film school by donating.
OUR 24 YEARS OF WORK
1998 - 2016
In 1998, our founder Yecid Benavides Senior, with the help of the family, establishes the SIEMBRA FOUNDATION.
For more than 15 years, we worked with low income families, home industries, reconciliation events, and cinematography. Our efforts have been consistently focused on promoting development and peace. Bolivia and Latin America have always experienced violence and social upheaval, but these have increased alarmingly in recent years. And, since development and progress can only take place in the context of peace, we have turned our attention to address this pressing issue. The SIEMBRA Foundation has taken on the challenge to invest time, resources and energy in combating racism and violence in our country and beyond its borders. As conflict grew all around us, we made it our goal to sow unity and reconciliation with the confidence that it will produce a harvest of peace.
2000
For 5 years our family, through the SIEMBRA FOUNDATION, supported several impoverished families. We firmly believe in helping families as opposed to individuals because this creates a culture that is more likely to withstand the test of time, and it has an impact that grows exponentially through the generations of that family. So, we began by training members of the families in the production of arts and crafts. Then, we created micro-business for each family so they can sell their products and have an income to support themselves. But we didn’t stop there. We always believed that it is not enough to “teach people how to fish,” rather it is even more productive to go one step further and teach them how to sell their “fish.” We encouraged them to sell at a fair price and to create a sustainable family economy and industry.
2002
CHARACTER – PHILOSOPHY – CULTURE
Our Siembra Foundation developed this advanced leadership training project so that every individual can learn how to have a positive impact on their environment and their nation, through character building, transparency, ethics and high values.
Phronesis' Vision
Our Vision with the Phronesis program was to allow every human being to have a clear understanding of the values that form the basis for the development of nations and to be able to put these values into practice, thus transforming nations and changing people’s mentailty. All of this yields a better world where we live in unity, peace and harmony.
Ropes Course Training
The SIEMBRA FUNDATION developed yet another program based on strategies and immersive experiences and dynamics such “High Ropes Courses,” “Floor Dynamics,” “Low Ropes´ Courses” and “Strategy Adventures”, much in the vein of the Harvard School of Business’ Leadership Program. By placing individuals in artificial high-pressure, high stress and/or high-risk dynamics, we were able to extract life changing teachings that would be imprinted in the students’ minds and that would change their outlook on life.
Kentron's Vision
To train new leaders that have renewed minds through the transformation of their understanding, and that can develop skills such as: abstract thinking, capacity to formulate strategies, effective problem-solving, effective in decision-making, and that they may have the ability to take great risks and work as a team to affect nations carrying the outstanding character traits necessary to create lasting change in society.
2004
CINEGLIDE
Film Camera Stabilizer
The Siembra Fundation supported the creation of the film camera stabilizer named Cineglide. We created a micro-enterprise that supported the Terceros family in the city of Santa Cruz and that was dedicated to the production of this particular filmmaking equipment.
2006
RECONCILIATION
Forgiveness Event
On March 31, 2006, a great historical event was held in the city of Potosi in which representatives of the Qhechua people, Afro-Bolivians, authorities from Spain and Bolivia corrected past offenses and shook hands in a meeting of forgiveness and reconciliation
POTOSI – BOLIVIA
Reconciliation 2006 was an event to promote reconciliation between the Spanish descendants of the conquistadors and the Quechua native people of Bolivia
The Siembra Fundation organized the 2006 Reconciliation event in the city of Potosí, an event in which representatives of Spain and the Catholic Church met with the Quechua people and Afro-Bolivians at the famous centuries-old Coin Mint “Casa de la Moneda,” in order to shake hands in an official act of forgiveness. A commemorative plaque was officially set in the main square of the city of Potosi as a reminder of this historic moment.
The Fundation also supported the film production and editing of the “Reconiciliacion 2006” documentary.
2016 - 2018
In 2016, our Family’s film production company in Bolivia, Artistas Latinos Ltda., created the Cinematographic Cultural Center (CCC) in order to promote the development of the film industry and culture in Bolivia.
Our Cinematographic Cultural Center was intensely active and helped thousands of people in having a deeper understanding of art and finance, as well as the importance of leadership and self-development in art.
Cinematographic Cultural Center - LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
Centro Cultural Artistas Latinos - La Paz Bolivia
In 2018, we decided to change the name of the center to encompass a greater number of people and transcend the borders of Bolivia. The vision expanded towards all Latin American countries, and our plans for establishing the Foundation in the USA begin taking shape.
The Centro Cultural Artistas Latinos in Bolivia impacted the community by uniting artists, giving them artistic training, leadership training, opening doors for them, and leading them to focus their talents and abilities.
2019 - PRESENT
ARTISTAS LATINOS CULTURAL CENTER - FLORIDA, USA
In 2018, after having made the most watched movie in the history of our country, our family decided to take the strategic step of migrating to Florida, USA. Our goal is to reach the broad Latino and Hispanic community with our vision of a world where artists have financial stability, sustainable artistic success, and are effective leaders in a modern world.
Thusands of young people that want to impact their community through filmmaking, are deprived of a good education due to the lack of film schools or their high cost.