UNCW student wins Netflix competition, short film to be released this week

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington filmmaker and UNCW student will be launched into the limelight this week.

Jonny Morales-Moreno has lived in Wilmington his whole life, and grew famous for his storytelling on TikTok.

One of three chose out of thousands, Morales won a Netflix and Adobe competition, and got to write, direct, and star in his own short film last summer. Now, his hard work is about it pay off, as his short film, The Refugee, will be released o

n Netflix and Adobe’s social media this week.

Morales said the film will explore a very personal struggle he had growing up.

“Basically when I was younger, I you know struggled with a mix of identity within culture,” said Morales-Moreno. “So I was trying to figure out where my identity was in. Was it in my Mexican culture from my parents, or was it in my American culture and the place that I grew up here in Wilmington? ”

Bursting at the seams, Morales said to keep an eye on his social media as well as Netflix’s and Adobe’s Tuesday.