TODOS Media: New Documentary Filmmaking, in Conversation

TODOS Media has been busy. Founded by Angel Medina of República fame with videographer Braulio Díaz, they launched their Youtube channel in September 2024 and their own digital platform later that month. I learned that they are actively producing three documentary series: Humble Kitchen, which premiered on July 23; Her Way, premiering on August 27; and Season 2 of Memorable, premiering on October 8.

I sat down with Angel to chat about his work and here is some of what we talked about.

More on TODOS Media Productions

TODOS Media describes themselves as, “An independent production house creating original series, films, and editorial work rooted in food, culture, and identity—with a focus on BIPOC and women-led voices that have historically been pushed to the margins of mainstream media.”

Along with the three series I mentioned earlier, they have also produced Rose City ‘Til I Die, which launched on April 22, 2026 for 14 episodes. Que Penca is their podcast about mezcal that has two seasons under its belt.

About These Series

For this article, we will be focusing on Humble Kitchen, Her Way, and Memorable.

TODOS Media: Humble Kitchen

This four-part documentary series launched on July 30, 2026. It focuses on the immigrant roots of American food and gastronomy, with individuals based in in four different cities in the Midwest and Portland. Humble Kitchen speaks with the chefs and their families who talk about their food and community. They are:

• Minneapolis: Gustavo Romero of Oro by Nixta, reviving the Mexican tradition of nixtimalization.
• Milwaukee: Gregory León of Amilinda, celebrating Spanish and Portuguese cuisine.
• Detroit: Nadia Nijimbere and Hamissi Mamba of Baobab Fare, celebrating East African cuisine.
• Portland: Juan Gomez of Lilia Comedor, a personal restaurant where he honors his family. The Portland episode will premiere mid-August.

TODOS Media: Her Way

This new, original documentary series launches on August 27, 2026. Her Way focuses on female leaders innovators in the modern wine industry. Host Kelsey Glasser, Sommelier & Owner at Arden, travels to different viticultural regions, “to document the women transforming leadership, artisanal craft, and community.”

The series starts with its first episode in the Napa Valley, one of the most celebrated wine regions in the world. Other areas they’ll explore in the series are the Sonoma Valley, Columbia Gorge, and the Willamette Valley.

TODOS Media: Memorable

Memorable is a documentary series that focuses on Mexico, showing it as a nuanced, multifaceted destination; Mexico has been the whipping boy of many in power in the U.S, so Memorable is a welcome alternative. They look to go deeper, taking in cultural heritage, culinary reclamation, and personal histories. Season One is out, and we will have to wait a couple of months or so for Season Two.

A description about Season Two being in the Mexican state of Hidalgo sounds a lot like the United States: “A state shaped by migration, Indigenous history, labor, landscape, and some of the country’s most essential culinary traditions.”

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Last month, Angel and I chatted about TODOS and their projects. We had a nice conversation, and I also sent him some questions over email, so I’m sharing that here.

Decision Making for TODOS Media Films

High on my mind was how they chose the most recent subjects for their films. “We spent a great deal of time researching these stories before we knew exactly who would be at the center of them,” wrote Angel. “We looked at everything—from James Beard nominations to the work each chef had done within their own community. Some of the most remarkable parts of their stories revealed themselves much later, but we were fortunate. We believe we chose the right people.”

He continued, “Geography also shaped the decision. We built the production around a clear route, beginning in Minneapolis, traveling by train to Milwaukee, resting briefly in Chicago, and continuing again by train to Detroit. We always knew the journey would eventually bring us home to Portland.”

Who Cares About TODOS Media?

As an artist (musician) and creative person (writer), I am intimately familiar with that curious and intrusive voice in your head that asks, “Well, will they like it?” It can happen when I’ve worked on a piece of music, or working on a piece of writing here. Sometimes things straight up bomb.

So I asked Angel why he thought people will care about these stories that are clearly important to him.

“People should care because immigration is not simply a current event,” he remarked. “It is part of the future of this country and part of the way American culture has always been created.”

He continued, “What comes from immigrant communities is much bigger than food. Their ideas, labor, traditions, and inventions have helped build this nation. Humble Kitchen gives people a chance to see the human beings behind those contributions; their joy, their struggles, their families, and the communities that hold them together.”

And who is the target audience for this series? Well, the core of their audience is made up of individuals who inherently believe these stories matter, who are sympathetic to them.

But Angel hopes that these films can affect those who may not be on board at first, but who have an open mind and are intellectually curious. “If the film can change even one person’s understanding of immigration, then we know we have done something right,” Angel said.

ICE

And in these current times, with immigration comes ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in 2026. It’s very hard to separate the two, like it or not.

It is my belief that terrible things have happened at the hands of ICE, especially since 2025. Recent news brings us new, additional concerns and fears. Last week we heard that millions of dollars will be spent “equipping immigration officers with gloves that can deliver electric shocks.”

It is hard to comprehend that this is real. And while the gloves may be described as a “de-escalation device,” it would be no surprise that some may be tempted to use them in other, more aggressive and harmful ways. To attempt to convince us that shock gloves are a good thing, I am reminded of word of the singer Tracy Chapman, “Why are the missiles called peacekeepers when they’re aimed to kill?”

So I wanted to know: Have the atrocities committed by ICE affected Angel’s creative decisions when discussing immigration in the United States?

“That has absolutely affected our creative decisions,” he responded. “They make these stories harder to tell; not because we believe in them any less, but because we have to consider what telling the truth might cost the person sharing it.”

He continued “You have to think about their safety, their family, and what happens after the cameras leave. Could they be forced into hiding? Do we need to conceal their identity or cover their face? Could speaking openly place someone they love at risk?

“As filmmakers, we cannot think only about the story we want to tell. We have to take responsibility for what that story may do to the people who trusted us with it.”

The Naysayers

To change gears a bit, I asked Angel how he handled the detractors and the folks who would not give him the time of day early on. “I have always carried a chip on my shoulder because I do not come from the background of someone who is supposed to do this,” wrote Angel. “Being underestimated is nothing new. I have dealt with it for as long as I can remember; creatively for the last six, and professionally for nearly 30.

He continued, “Of course, it can knock the wind out of you. It can bring your spirits down for a moment. But it has never stopped me. At the end of the day, I still get to sleep in my own bed. Nothing is that hard.

He added, “You cannot take it personally. You keep working, and you keep proving them wrong.” This is good advice.

The Goals

From the outside looking in, TODOS Media seems to be doing well. Lots of interesting projects, with meaningful output. But have they achieved the goals they set out to achieve, in a way that feels satisfying? To start, the creative side is locked in and en route to greatness.

“I do not know that we have achieved every goal we set for TODOS Media—not yet,” wrote Angel. “Creatively, yes. I believe we have proven what we can make. Give us a larger budget and the opportunity to do this full-time, and we would probably produce twice as much.”

TODOS Media was self-funded at first; as time went on they gained investors and hired a team. One of those “practical goals” is to make the work sustainable financially, from repaying investors to giving raises and bonuses to their team.

Recognition for their work is one of those goals that is perpetual—you can meet that goal but there’s always room for improvement. “There are still many steps ahead, but the next one is earning recognition for the work—having people watch it, understand it, and value it the way they have valued my restaurants,” wrote Angel.

He added. “The accolades are not simply about trophies. They help the team understand that the work they are doing matters, that it has value, and that other people can see it, too. We want to create the kind of company where talented people can continue doing this work. And maybe somewhere at the end of that, I will even be able to pay myself.”

Where To Watch

If you’d like to watch Humble Kitchen, Her Way, or Memorable, the best place to do that is online at watchtodos.com. There’s a menu at the top of the site that will guide you to the different projects TODOS Media has created.

Of the three series, Memorable has had the most time to be out in the world, and Angel says that a theatrical release may be part of its future.

Festival and Awards

They also submitted Memorable: Oaxaca—the first season of Memorable focused on the Mexican state of Oaxaca—to several festivals, “and it kept winning,” Angel remarked. “I think part of that came from being thoughtful about where we submitted it. We looked for festivals that understood what the film was actually about—agriculture, identity, Indigenous stories, and the people protecting those traditions.”

One of the places Memorable: Oaxaca won was at the Georgia Latino International Film Festival. It received awards for directing, cinematography, and story. “That was a significant moment for us. It confirmed that we had made something special,” wrote Angel.

Memorable: Hidalgo

They plan to submit Memorable: Hidalgo to that same festival in October. And after seeing how it does there and at any other festivals they plan to enter, that will lead them to whatever the next step are for them.

Earlier I stated that I thought the descriptor of Memorable: Hidalgo made the state sound like the U.S. I mentioned that to Angel and he agreed.

“It is funny—the description does sound like the United States because both places have been shaped by movement: Indigenous peoples, workers, families, and ideas arriving at different moments and changing the land around them.”

He also described Memorable: Hidalgo in a way that reminded me of how his servers at República share context about the area and region a dish is from. “Hidalgo has long been home to Hñähñu, Nahua, and Tepehua communities,” Angel wrote. “Tula became the great capital of the Toltec world, influencing the civilizations that followed. Centuries later, British miners came to Real del Monte to work the silver mines and left their mark on the region’s architecture, food, industry, and even brought over the beloved sport of soccer.

He continued, “The difference I kept thinking about was who is allowed to be remembered as a contributor. In Hidalgo, the Cornish miners became an acknowledged part of the region’s identity. In the United States, immigrants have shaped nearly every part of our culture, but we still have difficulty allowing them to claim that contribution—or even treating them as though they belong here.”

He added, “That is what migration can do to a place. It does not simply add something to the landscape. It changes what that place will become.”

The Multitasker

As a small businessperson, I know how complicated it is to run one business, but Angel is out there running at least two, so I asked him what it’s like to put intentional effort into his Substack, film production, and República at the same time in 2026? He had a number of thoughts on that.

“It takes an enormous amount of work, although the work did not begin in 2026,” he explained. “I started building toward this years ago. I would ask for one opportunity, get turned down, and reshape the idea into something else. I would prove the concept, build something real, get shut down again, and find another way forward. That has been the process.

“Along the way, you hire people, lose funding, and sometimes have to let good people go before you are ready. The hardest part is the balance. It is moving between Substack, film production, and República, putting on a different hat each time and understanding that success looks different in every room.

“I often think that with a few more hours in the day and a little less need for sleep, I could get all of it done. As it is, I push myself as far as I can. I do not think there is anyone in this town who works at my pace. Maybe that is sanity. Maybe it is insanity. Maybe it is simply what genuine belief in the work looks like.

“In many ways, 2026 does not feel that different from 2025. We are still building, adjusting, and proving what this can become. But I believe 2027 is the year when all these separate pieces finally begin to come together. Knock on wood.”

Finally, I asked him, “What separates you from your peers?”

“What separates me is not that I am the most talented person in every room. I am not. There are better chefs, filmmakers, writers, and editors. But I do not know many people who can carry as many parts of an idea as I can, work the hours I work, and remain focused on the larger vision at the end.

“I think a lot of people would have broken by now. They would have watched the success of the restaurants, watched people they helped develop leave and build their own things, and watched pieces of what they created reappear elsewhere in fragmented or diluted versions. That can make you bitter. It can make you defensive.

“I have never seen it as a threat because I know the difference between reproducing one piece of the work and building the entire thing.

“I am not simply a chef, and I am not simply a filmmaker. I am a producer, an editor, a curator, and a builder. My strength is taking different people, disciplines, and ideas and bringing them together until the thing actually exists.

“There may be people who are more naturally gifted at individual parts of the job. What separates me is my ability to carry the idea from the beginning all the way through to fruition – and the endurance to keep going until it becomes what I saw in the first place.”

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Many thanks to Angel for giving us some of his time to think about and answer these questions, as well for as our conversation last month. I hope you’ll head to TODOS Media’s website and check out some of their films. Remember, the first episode of Her Way premieres on Thursday, August 27 and the Portland edition of Humble Kitchen premieres later this month.