Minivela Appoints Manny Ruiz as CEO

Minivela, a bilingual vertical shorts platform serving the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets, has named Brilla Media co-founder Manny Ruiz as its CEO.

Ruiz, who most recently served as Minivela’s chief content officer, will now lead the company’s strategic growth as it scales with the aim of becoming the leading producer of vertical shorts for U.S. Hispanic and Latin American audiences.

The appointment comes during a time of expansion for Minivela, which recently partnered with Nueva Network to strengthen its distribution capabilities, sales operations and advertiser reach across key Latin markets. Under Ruiz’s leadership, Minivela is developing a slate of original short dramas designed to reflect the bilingual, bicultural experiences of modern Latino audiences in the U.S. and abroad.

Prior to co-founding Brilla, Minivela’s parent company, Ruiz founded, led and later sold Hispanic PR Wire and Hispanicize.

“Our recent partnership with Nueva Network and evolving distribution and content slate require Manny’s innovative leadership and focus,” said Angela Sustaita-Ruiz, CEO of Brilla Media.

“This second stage of Minivela is all about scaling and building partnerships across producers—and even competitors—who need the content, production and/or adtech capabilities we’re developing for ourselves and others,” Ruiz commented. “This is the first company I’ve built that is made to work with everybody, and that’s both fascinating and liberating for Minivela. We’re going to impact a lot of creative careers, brands and businesses.”