Creative Forces
Doris Anahi Muñoz
“My ambition and my career is rooted in a sense of responsibility for the sacrifices that my parents made for me”
Doris Anahi Muñoz, star of the Disney Original Documentary, Mija, has had a life-changing year. The first-generation Mexican-American artist grew up in San Bernardino, California, and had a love of music at a young age. She was determined to get into the music industry, and after an unpaid internship with Sony, and her first job at Columbia Records, she started her own management company, Mija Mgmt, at the age of 23, in 2017. And while that is impressive enough, the universe had bigger things in store for Muñoz, like making her a star in her own right.
Muñoz was able to help support her family and earn enough money to pay for her parent’s green card managing her childhood friend, Cuco. Once the pandemic hit, they parted ways, and she was at a crossroads that included following her own dreams, and financial security. Despite the fear that she would no longer be able to support her family, she decided to close Mija Mgmt in 2020 and transitioned it to Casa Mija, a program for music mentorship.
At this time, Mija was filming the documentary that would change it all, while pursuing her own music career. She told Billboard releasing music “was never really part” of her plan, but the universe began “shouting” at her to finally put herself first.
Making the decision to become an artist was just the beginning for Doris, who would soon see the release of her groundbreaking documentary. The documentary began filming in 2019 and is based on her life as the first U.S.-born member of her family. Doris told the NY Times:
“My ambition and my career is rooted in a sense of responsibility for the sacrifices that my parents made for me. I hope people, especially Latinx viewers and viewers of color, will come away from the film feeling a sense of hope.”
It tells her inspiring and at times, heartbreaking story, and has been called an ode to daughters of immigrants. “Growing up I was desperately searching for stories like mine to find hope, and now I get to step into the role as the main character of the film I needed,” she wrote on Instagram announcing the film. Directed by Mexican-American filmmaker Isabel Castro, the film also follows singer Jacks Haupt.
The film premiered at Sundance and hit the festival circuit, and quickly got the attention of Disney, who acquired the worldwide rights with FX retaining the rights to develop scripted content based on it. Disney Original Documentary had acquired worldwide rights to Mija and, as part of the deal, FX would retain the rights to develop scripted content based on the film. Mija will debut on Disney + on September 16th.
The sky seems to be the limit for Muñoz, who released her first single “Que Sufras” with the help of artist and producer Camilo Lara, in February. She has since sold out shows, performed with Mon Laferte, and traveled city to city to her film’s premieres around the country.
