Wet Heat Project are documentary filmmakers producing commissioned and independent films with a focus on art and performance, in locations worldwide. Bill Bilowit and Grela Orihuela established the Miami-based company in 2008; filmmaker and artist Marilyn Loddi joined in 2016.

Our films bring genuine spontaneaity and nuance to shortform art documentaries, capturing details that cannot be staged.

Watch a selection of some of our many films from the categories below, or read on for more about us and our work.

Our films include commentary by Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Hernan Bas, Thomas Bayrle, Larry Bell, Ross Bleckner, Amy Cappellazzo, Judy Chicago, Edouard Duval-Carrié, Tomás Esson, Rachel Feinstein, Charles Gaines, Adler Guerrier, Matthew Angelo Harrison, Guadalupe Maravilla, John Miller, Damian Ortega, Eric-Paul Riege, Norberto Rodriguez, Don and Mera Rubell, Jerry Saltz, Jacolby Satterwhite, Manuel Solano, Jen Stark, Mette Tommerup, Frances Trombly, and many more.

Our film series projects include artist-driven exhibition stories for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (more than 30 original films 2015-2022), the venerable alternative art space Locust Projects (2021-2022), the Miami Design District (renown gallery pop-ups 2020-2022), production of in-depth walk-throughs and commentary for the Margulies Collection (2020-2022), nationwide studio visits for The Chicago Project X public art launch (2013-1014), and our independent 20-episode series Studio Drive-by that captured the bouyant art scene across a spectrum of practices in post-financial crisis Miami (2008-2010).

Our feature films include miamiHeights, a ride-along during two years of painter Hernan Bas' rocket career launch– from Rubell Collection ABMB week survey show in Miami to New York solo shows at the Brooklyn Museum and Lehmann Maupin– all before the age of 30, and making sh*t up, a multi-year journey with emerging artist Norberto Rodriguez from his Whitney Biennial 3-week performance piece to the challenge of career growth that followed– with conceptual art commentary by Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Amy Cappellazzo, Jerry Saltz, and many more.

Our performance films include events by Trisha Brown Dance Company, Michael Clark Company, Adam Weinert (presenting Ted Shawn's Dance of the Ages), Paul Maheke with Sophie Mallet, a sound-bathing ritual with artist Guadelupe Maravilla, and a jazz quartet recital composed and led by artist Charles Gaines (A Visionary Recital - After Terry Adkins).

Bill Bilowit (development /direction /camera /edit) has been filming non-fiction and fiction films all his life, the first 13 years of which were on MacDougal Street. His career began as a teenager shooting 16mm documentaries for cultural events in NYC, which he continued while studying film theory and enjoying evening classes in astronomy at Hunter College. In the 1980s heyday of low-budget East Coast horror movies, Bill was a scenic effects artist and art director for feature films such as CHUD and Sleepaway Camp, as well as the alien plant life chief fabricator for Creepshow by George Romero and Stephen King. During the 1990s dawn of digital tech, Bill created wordless corporate futurist videos featuring prophetic devices and lifestyles for Sony and Canon in America and Japan. After settling in Miami, there seemed no choice but to focus intently on capturing stories of the city's vibrant, free-thinking art experience all around him in the early 2000s. With partner Grela Orihuela, Bill co-founded Wet Heat Project in 2008, directing multiple film series, special events, and BFA student showcases. His favorite lens these days is a f0.95 wide prime.

Marilyn Loddi (development /direction /camera /edit) has been producing art documentaries in Miami since 2014 including films for Locust Projects and The Margulies Collection, and film /photography projects for Borscht Corporation, FilmGate, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Contemporary Arts Program, and Contemporary Art Daily. Her interdisciplinary artwork includes founding the collaborative artist duo Hush Fell (@hushfell) in 2020, integrating sculpture, performance, filmmaking, graphics and sound. Marilyn's character-based work includes interventions at The Nerve: Performance Art Festival, ArtServe: A Conversation with Sarah Thornton; staged performances with video and sculpture at The Frost Art Museum, and appearances at MOCA North Miami, The Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, Young at Art Museum, FilmGate, and more. Marilyn graduated from the FIU Honors College, majoring in Video Art and Art History. Her favorite lens these days is the 20x optical zoom on her CX350.

Grela Orihuela (Exec Producer /Advisor) is Cuban by birth and grew up in Astoria, Queens. She graduated from NYU Tisch Film School Fine Arts program, followed by executive positions in broadcast television at WABC-TV news, Telemundo Network, and for independent syndicated Spanish-language programming. Her producing shifted to international projects and multimedia events for fashion (with Kal Ruttenstein) and music (with Bill Graham), followed by large-scale corporate events with in-venue concerts by Tony Bennett, Cyndi Lauper, Julio Iglesias, and Celine Dion. Her art career includes curation of multi-artist video programs for NADA Miami Beach, NADA Hudson, Vanity Projects in New York City, Art Wynwood Contemporary Art Fair, Arte Americas, and the Los Angeles Art Association. In Miami she co-founded Wet Heat Project with partner Bill Bilowit in 2008 which has since produced more than 100 films. Her art consultancy 1meter50 was established in 2019 for private clients, and in early 2021 Grela became Vice President of Global Fairs at Design Miami as the company began ambitious international expansion strategies.