With a background in theatre and commercials, Santos appeared Off-Broadway between 2009 and 2012 in plays premiering at New York Theatre Festival, Samuel French Play Festival and the New York International Fringe Festival. In his late teens, he wrote and appeared in the coming of age docufiction, Lone Prophet, utilizing guerrilla filmmaking in support of the DREAM Act. In 2011, he collaborated with Christopher J. Lopez to create Densely Hollow Films. Their first film, The Cure, premiered at the Palais des Festivals et des Congress at Cannes Film Festival.