Dante Hillmedo’s debut film Butterfly gets digital release June 16

Bronx filmmaker Dante Hillmedo is taking his award-winning debut feature Butterfly to digital platforms June 16, including Amazon Prime, Fandango at Home, Cox and Google Play. The release expands a personal story inspired by Hillmedo’s upbringing and underscores how independent films can break through with self-funding and persistence. Why it matters: - Butterfly gives a Bronx-born filmmaker his widest release yet after a decade behind the camera. - The film’s rollout puts an independently financed, Black Caribbean story in front of mainstream digital audiences. - The release adds momentum for Dante Hillmedo’s production company, Team Elite Productions, and his newer luxury fragrance brand, Lunessence. What happened: - Dante Hillmedo announced that Butterfly will arrive June 16 on Amazon Prime, Fandango at Home, Cox, Google Play and additional digital platforms in a pay-to-watch model. - Butterfly won Best Feature Film at the Spring 2025 Big Apple Film Festival. - The film marks Hillmedo’s debut feature as a writer, director, producer, cinematographer and editor. - The cast includes Tahiry Jose, Lea Robinson and Jamaican YouTube creator Trabass, who makes his feature film debut. The details: - Butterfly is a narrative drama about a teenage girl in a single-parent immigrant household in New York City who uses dance to navigate social pressure, identity and instability. - The story is drawn from Hillmedo’s upbringing by a single immigrant mother in the Bronx. - Hillmedo said a crowdfunding campaign raised only $3,000 of the needed budget. - Hillmedo then invested $90,000 of personal savings to finish the film. - The film beat projects executive produced by Spike Lee and films featuring Mahershala Ali at the Big Apple Film Festival, Hillmedo’s team said. - The release campaign includes a June 16 morning press blast with a screener link, press kit, trailer and contact information. - The campaign also includes digital ads on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, plus podcast and broadcast outreach in the Bronx and the greater New York area. - Hillmedo was raised in the Bronx by Jamaican immigrant parents. - Hillmedo left the School of Visual Arts after one year because of financial pressure. - Hillmedo got his first paid videography work through Craigslist with Caribbean DJ Mad Out, which led to work connected to artists including Shaggy, Ding Dong and Kranium. - Hillmedo now leads Team Elite Productions, which serves clients including Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation Gala, Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest and the White Party, Roc Nation and Essence Magazine. - Hillmedo has taught film and music production for six years at a Riverdale high school. - Hillmedo recently launched Lunessence, a luxury fragrance brand built around extrait de parfum scents inspired by mood, memory and cultural expression. - Hillmedo is pursuing long-term brand partnerships with B&H, Sony and Aperture and is open to commercial, branding and documentary work through Team Elite Productions. Between the lines: - Hillmedo’s career arc shows a filmmaker using cultural specificity and technical control as a business strategy, not just an artistic one. - The self-funded path suggests Butterfly is being positioned as proof that independent creators can build marketable value without studio backing. - The mix of film, education and consumer branding points to a broader entrepreneurial model around Hillmedo’s name and audience. What’s next: - Butterfly begins streaming and transactional digital sales on June 16. - Hillmedo is expected to use the release to deepen brand partnerships and expand Team Elite Productions’ commercial and documentary pipeline. - Lunessence is set to continue as another lane in Hillmedo’s creative business portfolio. The bottom line: - Butterfly is both a personal story and a proof point for Hillmedo’s larger creative brand: independent, culturally rooted and built to scale across film and business.