TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson-based creative studio BRINK Media Inc. won the Social Impact Award at the 2025 Tribeca X Awards for its short film Daniel Really Suits You, a portrait of a transgender teen and his family, filmed entirely in Southern Arizona.
Produced in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the film follows Daniel Trujillo, a transgender teenager, through a summer marked by the quiet, universal rites of passage of adolescence.
"We created a story rooted in universality, empathy and optimism," said Joshua Belhumeur, CEO of BRINK. "It’s crafted to open hearts, not harden positions, and I think that’s why it connected with audiences."
The Tribeca X Awards celebrate brand-supported storytelling in film, audio and immersive media.
Shot on location in the Sonoran Desert and surrounding Southern Arizona communities, the film casts real people in semi-fictionalized versions of their lives. Belhumeur describes the stylistic choice as “blurring the line between real and imagined” to create something “emotionally truer than either format could provide on its own.”
But the story behind the film took a heartbreaking turn after production wrapped.
The Trujillo family, long-time residents of the region, made the difficult decision to flee the country in the wake of increased threats, intensified ICE activity in their neighborhood, and the passage of multiple anti-trans bills in Arizona.
In a public message, the family wrote:
“We did not want to leave our home, family, community, or business. We are truly devastated and a little homesick… But the continued attacks on transgender youth and their families made us realize we were no longer safe here.”
You can watch Daniel Really Suits You on Vimeo.
