Arí Maniel Cruz Suárez is a renowned Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer in the film and television industry. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1978, he began his career in the early 2000s working at Puerto Rico's local public television network WIPR channels 6 & 3.
He started as a writer for the shows "micasa.com" and "Huellas musicales" before becoming a producer for "En la punta de la lengua". In 2004, he co-directed, co-produced, and co-wrote the mini-series "Barrios" for WIPR. The following year, he directed a TV feature film for kids, "Zompi".
In 2006, he wrote and directed another TV film, "El brindis del bohemio", which portrayed one of Puerto Rico's New Year's Eve traditions. From 2005 to 2007, he was a host of the prime-time cultural television show "Cultura Viva" on WIPR.
Maniel then moved to New York City, where he worked as a producer and on-camera talent at V-ME, a US Hispanic television network. He later became an executive producer for original programming and traveled across the US covering major events such as the NFL Super Bowl and the 2008 Elections.
In 2011, he wrote the bilingual off-Broadway play "La Barbería", which opened at the New World Stages in NYC and received critical acclaim. In 2012, he directed and produced the independent feature film "Under My Nails", which won several awards, including the Special Jury Award and the Best Actress Award.
Maniel's next feature film was "Antes que cante el gallo", which won multiple international awards and became a landmark in Puerto Rican cinema. He also wrote "Mis planes son amarte", the visual album for the multi-Latin Grammy award-winning artist Juanes.
In 2017, he wrote and directed "¿Quién eres tú?", a film that solidified his position as one of Puerto Rico's most prominent filmmakers. He then worked as the showrunner, 2nd unit director, and main writer of the Netflix Original Series "El Ganador Nicky Jam", which told the life story of the recording artist Nicky Jam.
Maniel continued to work on various projects, including the musical films "Más de un siglo" and "Tiempos de aguinaldo", and the scripted series "Bravas" for YouTube Originals. He also wrote the original screenplay "Barrio Fino" in collaboration with Daddy Yankee and Eric Newman.
In 2022, he directed a 6-episode promotional series for Bad Bunny's "Un Verano sin ti" album and tour with Spanish actor Mario Casas. In December 2022, he won the Emmy Award in the Suncoast Chapter for the documentary "Sounds of the Rum Capital".
