Actress Isabel Cueva stars in the film “Angel Baby”
Latina/indigenous actress, writer, director and producer Isabel Cueva, is the star of the upcoming suspense thriller “Angel Baby,” with Rebecca DeMornay, Dan Thiel (NCIS), and Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive).
“Angel Baby” Coming to Theaters and On Demand Dec.15
Link to the movie trailer
It is the directing debut for actor Douglas Tait who is best known for his roles in (“Hellboy,” “Legacies,” and “Grimm”). Tait also has a starring role in the film. Michael Walker, VP of Acquisitions and Sales at 101 Films Int’l shared “At the helm for the first time, Douglas Tait has delivered standout performances from a talented cast in this unique and mesmerizing feature. We can’t wait for everyone to see Isabel Cueva’s stellar performance.”
“Angel Baby” centers around Val (Cueva), a loving wife, and her husband Justin (Thiel) who move to a remote cabin to heal from the sudden death of their unborn twins and are in search of a new beginning. Soon she senses an evil presence that interrupts their tranquility. After her best friend (Anderson) comes to check on her mental health, dark secrets begin to unravel.
Meanwhile, Val meets a mysterious neighbor (Browning) desperately searching for the truth, and with the help of Maggie, the local bar owner (DeMornay), she gains the strength to face what is tormenting her peace.
The screenplay is written by Elisa Manzini (“I’ll Be Waiting”) and Rebecca Stahl (“Everything in Between”). Whitney Anderson (Holland, Michigan) and Chris Browning (Bright) also star in the film. Cinematographer is Alvaro Martin Blanco, Production Designer is David Hartwell, Composer is Max Di Carlo, Costume Designer is Elaine Lin.
“Angel Baby” is produced by Cueva of Cave Entertainment, and financed by Fearful Pictures. Cueva founded Cave Entertainment to make ground-breaking female-driven films and television shows focused on Latino, indigenous, and underrepresented voices. With the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report, released in October 2023, revealing that across 16 years, 3.1% of “Produced by” credits went to a Latino or Hispanic individual with “Women” representing less than 1% overall. Less than one-quarter of one percent (<0.25%) of all speaking roles went to Native American characters across the 16 years studied. In fact, the percentage of Native American roles did not exceed 1% across any of the years evaluated. There was only 1 film with a Native actor in the leading role.
Cueva’s achievement as both star and producer of “Angel Baby” is all the more impressive. Cueva is determined to break the devastating statistics that remain stagnant even after the Latino/Hispanic community has grown over 26% in the last decade.
“We need the global financial support and commitment by the large investment companies, and the large movie studios, in order to improve this situation. We need the support not just in helping our movies and television shows get made, but putting large financial support in the marketing. Just like the amazing marketing campaign for “Barbie”. They spent about 150 million into marketing Barbie, and now people love to wear pink and own a Barbie. Everyone in the world heard about Barbie. That’s the kind of support our Latino, and indigenous projects need. It is essential that enough films and television shows have Latino and indigenous lead characters, so that children in this generation and the next, feel seen and confident in who they are and their communities, so that they believe they can be anything they dream of, and that it’s possible”.
Cueva has garnered multiple “Best Actress,” “Best Writer,” “Best Director” film festival awards and nominations, and is the recipient of an ALMA Award, Imagen Award nomination, and the CINE Golden Eagle award.
“Angel Baby” is coming to select Theatres in the US and On Demand Dec 15. The film is distributed by Quiver Distribution in North America and Canada. 101 Films international is handling international sales. Cueva and Tait are repped by Mark Muir of Greenberg Glusker and Gary P. Kohn.
ABOUT Isabel Cueva
Isabel Cueva was born and raised in Los Angeles. Isabel is an award-winning actress, director, writer and producer. At a very young age of 4-5 she knew she wanted to be an actor and a filmmaker. She loved how movies could take you away on a journey and make you feel so much. Being the daughter of two hard working Mexicans, she was taught at an early age, a strong work ethic and the importance of understanding business. Isabel began training in acting at a young age, and after auditioning, she was selected to attend the prestigious L.A County High School for the Arts and the CaL Arts acting program. Following that, she performed in award winning theatre productions in Los Angeles and was critically acclaimed for her acting talent in theatre. Soon after, Cueva married actor Douglas Tait and had three children. She focused on being there full time for them, and although she took long acting breaks to prioritize her kids, she trained in screenwriting while being a mom.
Cueva has won multiple film festival awards such as “best actress, best writer, best director” awards. She is the star and producer of “Angel Baby”, a female driven thriller, with Rebecca DeMornay, Daniel Roebuck, directed by actor, director Douglas Tait. Some of her previous acting credits are starring roles in “The Lady Killers” with Ayre Gross and Peter Shinkoda. She also starred in a Lionsgate film opposite top latino name actors Luis Guzman, with Eugenio Derbez (Coda, Instructions not Included). She also starred opposite Danny Trejo and Douglas Spain in “American Flyer”. Cueva has also worked with Morgan Fairchild, and Alessandra Torresani in “Paranormal Initiation”.
Isabel has been critically acclaimed by top publications like LA Times, indiewire, TIME magazine, Dread Central, Latino Weekly Review for her past performances. She is a past recipient of the Alma Award, the Cine Golden Eagle Award, and has received multiple film festival awards for her acting, writing, and directing (ITV Fest, LA Women’s International Film Festival, Best Shorts Competition, Imagen Awards). She is the founder and president of CAVE Entertainment, a production company focused on making inspirational, female driven, stories with Latino, Indigenous and diverse main characters. Isabel is proud to have produced a female driven thriller, “ANGEL BABY”, as being a mom of three kids and managing so much, made producing easy. She also had so much joy hiring talented close friends and family that she always wanted to see shine. She optioned the script from her friends Elisa Manzini and Rebecca Stahl, hired close actor friends (most of the cast) and her own husband to direct. Isabel knew her hubby Douglas Tait wanted to direct a horror or a thriller, since he’s played a lot of villains in horrors and thrillers, she felt it was the right project for his directorial debut. Isabel has several feature films lined up, but she is excited to direct and star in her own feature directorial debut “Brothersand Enemies”, a feature inspired on her festival, multi award winning short “In The Name of Freedom”, which was distributed worldwide.
