Jesse Ayala

Creative Director, Fovrth Studios

Jesse (Jesus) Ayala is an immersive storyteller who uses new media to engage audiences with social issues. Ayala’s work has premiered at Tribeca, SXSW, Cannes, The American Film Institute (AFI), HotDocs, and Sheffield. Ayala is best known for “Authentically Us: Voices from the Transgender Community,” Oculus’ first virtual reality docu-series, and #ImmigrantVoices a Global Citizen virtual reality series.

Ayala’s faith in the power of storytelling to stir action stems from his fieldwork positions for the Clinton Global Initiative with HIV/AIDS interventions, the United Nations in crisis zones in Gaza and Lebanon, Al Jazeera as a photojournalist during the Arab Spring, and as a Teach for America educator in New Orleans. In 2012 Ayala founded Modavanti, social impact/sustainable lifestyle company.

Ayala is an Oculus Creators Lab filmmaker, a Future of Storytelling (FoST) for Good creative partner, an IDFA DocLab Academy member, and a NEW INC member, the New Museum’s technology, culture, and arts incubator.

Ayala is currently creative director at Fovrth Studios. Ayala is proudly Latinx and LGBTQ+ and a member of Out In Tech Digital Corps helping LGBTQ communities organize.