Luis Álvarez y Álvarez

Is the principal of Toma Films. Based in New York he directs, produces and has an extensive career as a film editor.  He has a diverse body of work encompassing feature films, television, documentaries, animation and the art world.

He started his editing career in the Bay Area at Pixar Animation Studios, where he had the chance to closely observe the directors John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich while working on such lauded films as Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. Starting as an assistant editor and working his way up, his time at Pixar was an experience that defined his craft for telling stories. Since then, his feature film credits include Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental documentary The 11th HOUR, the artist Matthew Barney’s RIVER OF FUNDAMENT and DRAWING RESTRAINT 9, and Larry Charles and Bob Dylan’s cult film MASKED AND ANONYMOUS, which was a collaboration with Academy Award winning film editor Pietro Scalia.

Most recently he directed the pilot episode of ON THE MENU, a series that follows chefs of the top restaurants around the world as they devise a plate to add to their menu.

Also this year, he completed three episodes, including the pilot, of the series The System with Joe Berlinger for Radical Media and Al-Jazeera America. In addition, he has also edited documentaries for clients such as National Geographic, ESPN FILMS (30 FOR 30 series) and ITV. 

Born in Mexico City, he is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Interactive Telecommunications Program. He currently teaches film editing at the MFA program of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Film Department. He is available for producing and editing films in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City.