My name is William D. Caballero, and I tell big stories using small figures.

BIO 

William D. Caballero is an American filmmaker whose work merges documentary, animation, and handcrafted miniature worlds to explore memory, migration, faith, and the emotional architecture of family. Across film, television, and short-form media, Caballero has developed a singular visual language rooted in tactile set-building, intergenerational storytelling, and a deep reverence for his Puerto Rican heritage.

In 2001, he was awarded the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship, recognizing his academic promise and leadership at an early stage in his career. He went on to earn a BFA from Pratt Institute in 2006 and an MA from New York University in 2008. This foundation in both fine art and cinematic storytelling laid the groundwork for a practice that bridges visual art, documentary realism, and experimental fabrication. While at NYU, Caballero created American Dreams Deferred, his first (but not last) autobiographical feature about his family.

Caballero first gained widespread recognition in 2015 as the creator of the HBO series Gran'Pa Knows Best, which premiered on HBO and ran for two seasons. Centered on 3D-printed miniature recreations of his Puerto Rican grandfather, the series combined playful scale with emotional depth, redefining what personal storytelling could look like on television. Its inventive approach to memory and intergenerational dialogue positioned Caballero as a bold new voice in hybrid nonfiction storytelling.

He later brought that sensibility to the big screen with his short film VICTOR AND ISOLINA, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. The film further established his intimate, handcrafted approach to documentary. In 2022, he returned to Sundance with CHILLY & MILLY, continuing to refine his signature blend of humor, tenderness, and cultural specificity.

His feature-length personal documentary TheyDream premiered at Sundance in 2026, where it received the NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression. Over five years, Caballero directed, produced, wrote, shot, animated, and storyboarded the film himself, designing and fabricating dozens of intricate miniature sets, characters, and props by hand. The result is a visually daring and emotionally resonant portrait of his Puerto Rican family—a meditation on generational memory, grief, resilience, and the fragile beauty of everyday life.

In recognition of his artistic achievements, Caballero received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018, a Creative Capital Award in 2021, and a Webby Award in 2024. These honors underscore both the cultural impact and creative ambition of his body of work, which continues to expand the possibilities of hybrid documentary filmmaking.

With celebrated television, Sundance-selected shorts, and a Sundance award-winning feature, William D. Caballero stands as one of the most distinctive American Latino voices working today—an artist whose handcrafted aesthetic and emotional precision continue to redefine contemporary cinema.

I strive to create unique work employing my self-made mantra, "THE THREEE". Hence, each of my projects must contain at least 2 of the following "E's":

• EMPOWER: to inspire the viewer to become aware of their precious and individual talents, to remind us that we all have important stories to share, and to lend a voice to those who have none.

• ENLIGHTEN: to forcibly wake up humanity from the spell of mindless materialism, to break our addictions to outdated ideologies of control, and to remind us that while we are all the same, we are all truly unique and beautiful.

• EXPRESS: to pursue projects that are colossal undertakings that challenge me to look deep into what I can create and to give it my all, because only then, can I lose myself inside my own hidden potential.

AWARDS AND GRANTS