Luis Miranda Jr. is not throwing away his shot.
The veteran political consultant recently stepped down from his leadership role at the MirRam Group, the firm he co-founded with former Assembly Member Roberto Ramirez in the late ’90s. Miranda, now 71 years old, has spent decades helping build up Latino political power in New York, and now he’s ready to focus more on the arts – following the lead of his internationally famous son Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the smash Broadway hit “Hamilton.”
“Luis has spent a lifetime in public service, from organizing local communities and exemplary work in not-for-profits, to developing a business that for 25 years has shown Latino excellence, and the powerful role of Latino presence in New York,” Ramirez told City & State. “I think that this is a well-deserved moment for him to branch out into new projects of deep, personal meaning for him.”
The elder Miranda now has a number of new projects in the works. He’s helping produce Lin-Manuel’s forthcoming Broadway adaptation of the 1979 film “The Warriors” and is credited as a producer on the Broadway musical “Buena Vista Social Club,” which is starting an international tour. He’s also helping produce a number of documentaries – one of which is set to be released by Disney and another of which he’s hoping to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next year. Through the Hispanic Federation (which he founded) and the Miranda Family Fund, he has also set up fellowships for Latino filmmakers and artists.
City & State caught up with Miranda on March 12 to discuss his accomplishments at the MirRam Group and his plans for the future. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you decide to leave the MirRam Group?
I’m now emeritus – that sometimes happens when you get old, and there are other things that I want to do in whatever time I have left. And it’s very, very difficult to be dedicated to clients as you begin to pursue things that are your own. So it’s best, when I know there is such a terrific team of partners and people at MirRam (and) at Hamilton Campaign Network, to stay emeritus: Applaud what they do, help in whichever way they want my help, and then really use my energies in doing the next thing.
What do you want to do next?
I want to help produce! I want to help produce works of art, documentaries, to continue to tell stories. I’m working with my son in producing a new movie that he is about to start filming. Then next year, we’re going to be producing “Warriors,” which is his next Broadway show. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun being one of the producers of (the Broadway musical) “Buena Vista Social Club,” and now we’re planning on taking it to other countries. I’m working on a number of documentaries with an indie company that I created with friends, so I have my plate full.
I’m about to go to LA in a little while because politics continues to be part of my DNA. We selected five Latino candidates that when they win, we would have flipped five red seats into blue seats. I’m very much involved in the campaigns of these five candidates as an individual, as a family. We’re having a big fundraiser for them next week. So I continue to have a full plate. It’s just full of other exquisite food.
So you’re more focused on national politics than New York state politics now?
I really want to work very hard for us to take over the House, and that’s happening elsewhere. I want to be part of those campaigns. You know, I’m now a vice chair of the state Democratic Party, so it’s not like I ran away. I just expanded to do things that I believe that at this time are key for the future of the country.
Are there any races you’re closely following in New York now?
I will forever support my congressman, Adriano Espaillat. I have seen him move from an Assembly member to now the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It’s a race that I will continue to follow. And my friend Tish James. Tish James is one of the pillars of our fighting for democracy, so it’s a race that is also of interest to me. (Republicans are) going to be pouring money into that race, even if their candidate is unknown and flawed, right?
What about the race to replace Rep. Nydia Velázquez?
That race has emotional undertones for me because Nydia (was), in Congress, the one who moved forward any Puerto Rican agenda. Anything that Puerto Rico needed, regardless of the political persuasion that the people in Puerto Rico were, Nydia was important in moving forward that agenda. I hope and will support Antonio Reynoso to take over because he has proven he can work with all communities and has a substantive history of working in politics.
Your career has been very focused on politics for decades. Has Lin-Manuel Miranda’s career success allowed you to focus more on the arts now?
No doubt about it. I think that when you have a kid in an industry, I tried to be as helpful as I could. “In the Heights” came out back in 2008 and then “Hamilton” in 2015, but it has been the last couple of years where I have said to myself, “What if I begin to do things also that may be in the arts, not necessarily what Lin-Manuel is doing?” That’s how I ended up helping produce “Buena Vista Social Club.”
You know, I am not the dude who’s going to make changes to the libretto or is going to choreograph a production, but I’m pretty good at raising money! I could do that. I have developed one or two contacts throughout my life that will enhance a production, get more eyeballs and continue, particularly on Broadway, as it becomes much more difficult for productions to succeed.
What are your proudest accomplishments at the MirRam Group?
One is that the company continues to focus on nonprofits, in supporting policies that are important for nonprofits and additional resources from government that are important to nonprofits – from the urban health clinics that have been a client of MirRam forever, a network of Puerto Rican and Latino growth clinics in New York City, to the Afro-Latin jazz group that trains kids in our music. For me, it was always very important that our clients were partly representing who we are and our belief system.
The Freddy Ferrer campaign. Even though we did not win it, and we have not elected a Latino mayor – I still hope that we elect one before I die – it was for me, an election on developing power and dreams. Roberto, who’s my “other wife” – my wife calls him my “other wife” – Roberto always talked about politics as a mix of art and science. He was the art, the gut, the feelings, and I was the science part, depending on polls and focus groups and discussions. It’s the mix of both. I learned that mixture of mind and heart in politics in the Freddie campaign 26 years ago, and it served us well in the Tish James campaign for public advocate, and then for AG.
