log line
a young child loses his prized deck of playing cards amidst a life changing day for him and his family.
— project type
short film
— genre
drama
coming-of-age
— role
director
producer
story by
— release date
2025
originally written was a short story back when tyler was in college, king of games was developed and presented as their graduate thesis film at the brooklyn college, feirstein graduate school of cinema.
shot in the late summer 2023 on location in queens, ny, and finished in late fall 2024, the film is now currently on the festival circuit. check out the trailer below.
this project was a labor of love, and would not have been possible without many collaborators, who took their talent, time, and resources to uplift. see below the stills for full credits.
"king of games is THE story i wanted to realize since starting my graduate school journey. it was an opportunity to explore the dynamics of multicultural families like my own, and the subject of divorce from a unique point of view. through this endearing and humanistic film, i wanted to touch on how part of growing up is getting used to loss – whether it is a deck of playing cards, a home, or even a family. change is not 'a problem to be solved,' it is just an inevitable piece of life."
“king of games”
cast…
hector…emperor kaioyus
luna…mildred r. gil
bianca…annie henk
paul…bryan fitzgerald
miguel…joshua garcia
head mover…rigo garay
mover…tony dimartino
…and miriam cruz as ana luna “mami”
animation voiceovers…
reiko…brandy ochoa
crowd member…manuela romero samacá
announcer…brian nichols
director…tyler cino maradiaga
first assistant director…monisha roychoudhury
unit production manager…nicole fernández
unit production manager…yuanwei wang
casting director…manuela romero samacá
story by…tyler cino maradiaga
screenplay by…gabriella bartley
spanish dialogue translator…gabriela burgos
script supervisor…gabriella bartley
executive producer…domenique cino
executive producer…mitchell hokanson, kevin jantz, wesley neher, andrew reker
executive producer…rashad frett
executive producer…maansi shah
producer…nicole fernández
producer…tyler cino maradiaga
producer…yuanwei wang
director of photography…luisa madrid
1st assistant camera…selene almeron
1st assistant camera…piper yu
2nd assistant camera…marissa oge-graville
camera swing…gabriela burgos
camera swing…tony dimartino
camera swing…shahinda elsayed
storyboard artist…piper yu
gaffer…quentin guobadia
best boy electric…wesley jean-pierre
best boy grip…gurru anvekar
electric and grip…harshad deshmane
electric and grip…tony dimartino
electric and grip…tobias belliard
driver…nicole fernández
production designer…johnny taranto
set designer…chris bowman
prop master…chris bowman
art production assistant…alexandra alston
art swing…gabriela burgos
picture car handler…matthew yturralde
costume designer…alexandra alston
wardrobe…alexandra alston
make-up artist…kayla aaliyah
monster design & illustrator…raven lozada
on-set vfx supervisor…raven lozada
paint artist…stephen sues
prop cards designer…shannon chu
animation director…raven lozada
lead animator…raven lozada
backgrounds & illustrator…charawn fladger
title designer…tyler cino maradiaga
editor…cassie grimaldi
assistant editor…giuseppe de matteis
post production supervisor…monisha roychoudhury
colorist…selene almeron
online editor…selene almeron
on-set sound recordist…brian nichols
on-set sound recordist…bridget perry
sound supervisor…santiago ruiz cufiño
first pass sound editor…brian nichols
sound editor…daniel castilla galan
dialogue editor…santiago ruiz cufiño
re-recording mixer…santiago ruiz cufiño
music by…brian nichols
“growing pains”
music by…brian nichols
lyrics by…gabriella bartley & jonathan zuckerman
vocals by…jonathan zuckerman
guitars by…danny schwartz
bass…brian nichols
drums…ray marte
produced by…anthony lopardo, ray marte, brian nichols
mixed & mastered by…ray marte
“el baile de los peones”
by…jordan w. carter
special thanks…
abel cine, john allen, sean azze, joe amon, rafael alvarro, kathleen baluyot, anne carey,
dustin chang, matte chi, matthew cino, stephe cooper, andrew cordoba, lauren dozier,
anthony drazen, mark duplass, duplass productions, eclectic charango beats,
rebecca eskeris, rashad frett, richard gladstein, jodi gibson, trish giovani, tony goodie,
pontus gunve, charles haine, cw headley, hecho en brooklyn, sam ishii-gonzales
grace johnson, jay kim, matt kumar, rick lopez, mad kat, minuteman press of forest hills
mum mediterranean cuisine, keif matera, julian marenco, ana maradiaga-bunker
josie meléndez, anastas michos, asc, gsc, zak mulligan, mr. melo, jim plannette,
ryan roman, martin ruhe, asc, julissa scopino, seed & spark, julia shirar, spencer simpson,
sirota, ben snyder, dinh thai, ben vigus, yong xiang wang, westfall recording company,
alexa wolfe, hongxing yuan, xiulan zhu, ximena zuluaga