Overview

• Juan Pedro Soto has grown his Sandclouds team from two to more than twenty collaborators to advance its stop-motion production.
• The short explores parental sacrifice through a Venezuelan-American immigrant lens, highlighting generational tensions over success and identity.
• His journey from self-taught cinephile in Maracaibo to formal training at Full Sail University and UCLA shaped his focus on emotional storytelling.
• A response from Guillermo del Toro—“Querer es poder”—and mentorship under Peter Lauer informed his dedication to patient craftsmanship.
• Early works such as the short Luna Azul and a Manuel del Valle music video established his collaborative approach now central to Sandclouds.