Atlanta filmmaking couple is scripting their own story with happy plot turns
This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
When Diego Silva Acevedo came to Atlanta in 2016 from Colombia, South America, he was looking for opportunities in the film industry.
“My heart said, ‘Don’t go to LA; go to Atlanta. Atlanta will be the new base for filmmaking,’” Silva Acevedo said. And soon after he arrived, he landed a job as director of a film short being produced by Atlanta native and acting coach Kelly Young-Lively, who would later become his life partner.
After the short film wrapped, Silva Acevedo found his next opportunity directing for MundoNow (formerly Mundo Hispánico), an Emmy-winning digital media platform for news and entertainment focused on the Hispanic community and a broad bicultural audience.
Meanwhile, his new producer friend Young-Lively focused on her Words in Motion Acting Studio.
Fate brought the two friends back together on a feature film that used Words in Motion actors.
“We had a group of people who donated their weekends for a year,” Young-Silva said about the project. One of those people was Silva Acevedo.
After the film wrapped, the longtime friends called “action” and got married in February 2017.
Silva Acevedo went on to lead the digital division of MundoNow from his full-service production studio, Seven Studios Productions — the studio he operates to this day.
“I’m able to create projects from scratch like I did for Mundo, from the beginning through post-production,” he said.
Young-Silva added: “He doesn’t like to brag about this, so I have to brag for him. He’s won three Emmys for best director in the Southeast. He has 17 Emmys with his name on them — and many more that he filmed without putting his name on, so other people, like me, could share the win. He’s generous with his skills, and he genuinely loves seeing the people around him succeed.”
Silva Acevedo is quick to note that he and Young-Silva’s partnership in the film and television industry is a gift.
“It’s an interesting communion because, as a director, I work with actors that are already prepared. So I’m used to just saying, ‘Hey, this is my vision,’ and she works with green actors and all kinds of levels to get them prepared,” he said.
“I learned a lot seeing her work with actors, because sometimes I was working with actors on set and trying to get (what I need from them) as a director with a language barrier,” he said. “I was very technical, and it was good for me to learn about her side and how to work more (closely) with actors.”
For Young-Silva, too, having a director as a husband has strengthened the level of knowledge she can impart to her students. “It’s important for actors to learn the technical part so they can understand what is happening on set,” as she put it. “Being married to him has definitely helped me be a better coach.”
Five years ago, the pair had a little boy, Oliver Diego Silva.
“Oliver has grown up on set, so he thinks everything we do is normal,” Young-Silva said. “He had his first audition when he was about 3 months old.” By the time he turned 2, Oliver was auditioning regularly and getting television roles.
Then, at 3 years old, a feature film opportunity emerged when a casting director friend told Young-Silva there was a role for which she thought Oliver should audition, although particulars about what the film was remained under wraps.
“He was just turning 3 (after his initial audition), and we didn’t hear anything for a long time,” Young-Silva says. Yet, she and Silva Acevedo began to suspect the film was “Superman.”
“Oliver got a call back for a second audition, and we went a little overboard and asked our stunt friend to put him on wires and fly him for the audition,” Young-Silva said. “I don’t think it was the only factor in him booking the role — after all, Oliver looks like David Corenswet,“ who played Superman as an adult.
After the second audition, there was another period of waiting — one Young-Silva told her acting students about. “After each audition, you must not think too much about it. You don’t pressure yourself about what you did wrong. Your job was to tell the story to the best of your ability and move to the next audition. Casting is very, very subjective, and it’s (random) on any given day.”
For Oliver, the audition process was just another day in the family business. His mom’s studio was running an acting camp the same week as his final audition, and so she said Oliver thought the audition was just like camp.
To the family’s surprise and delight, Oliver got the part of young Clark Kent in “Superman” (2025), directed by James Gunn, and he appeared at the end of the film in a sequence as the Man of Steel is thinking back on his childhood.
Their son’s talent, all on its own, stands out to Silva Acevedo, who said: “Something that amazes me about Oliver is he’s really natural. I don’t know if being on set and in that environment with us has something to do with it, but he’s not afraid of all the people on set.”
Oliver is represented by Carol Shaginaw Talent Agency, and one of his latest films, “See You When I See You,” premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
“We would love for him to work in the industry, because it’s what we do,” Young-Silva said when asked about Oliver’s future. “Keeping him safe is always a main priority, though. Child laws on set have changed over the years, and that gives us a lot of comfort. (As an example), parents are now allowed to go everywhere their child goes on set.”
Meanwhile, at home, the family is doing what it always does — perpetually working on film projects and staying busy with life.
Oliver keeps his family on the go with wrestling, violin and soccer practices. Young-Silva is coaching actors, and Silva Acevedo is continually consumed with the technical tools of filmmaking.
“One of her students came to our house at 9 p.m., and I was outside testing a snow machine,” the director said. “Ours is the only house that will have snow in the summer.”
Young-Silva added: “Our place does become a film set a lot. He’s got the house set up where lights can literally be screwed into the ceiling.”
Currently, the couple is keeping busy with a 501(c)(3) organization over which Young-Silva serves as president, Georgia Arts Initiative. She describes it as “a film branch that serves to educate and provide a connection point for actors, directors, producers, crew and business owners. We invite casting directors, agents, directors and producers to educate about things like unions for crew members and other topics that help people who are working in or breaking into the film industry.”
Through Young-Silva’s acting studio, the pair also offers students on-screen workshops where Silva Acevedo films the them in his studio, edits the footage and provides sound design and presents students with a short film they can use for their acting reels.
Ultimately, whatever projects they are focusing on, Silva Acevedo said, “The industry strengthens us as a couple.”
Carol Badaracco Padgett is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who focuses on film and television, the automotive industry, architectural design and collaborative storytelling projects.
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