Report on Prime Latino Media Salon (January 2014) - Alternatives: Programming Channels & Music

On Monday, January 27, 2014, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Tío Louie, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), and the New York Chapter of the United Latino Professionals of New York (ULP-NY) presented the January edition of the Prime Latino Media Salon. This particular edition took place in a new location, the tapas bistro bar Alquimia, located in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan just a few blocks away from Times Square. This month's theme was "Alternatives: Programming Channels & Music".


The evening started out, as is the Prime Latino Media Salon custom of a relaxed social atmosphere where one can easily network in the room among actors, filmmakers and other multimedia-makers. The program then started with the master of ceremonies, Louis Perego Moreno (more commonly known as Tío Louie) interviewed actor-filmmaker Laura Gómez.


Tío Louie and Laura spoke about her career, from being born in New Jersey and raised in the Dominican Republic (where she trained as an actress), to her wanting to make work for herself and others by venturing into filmmaking. Her first short film, To Kill A Roach, has hit numerous film festivals worldwide and won awards along the way. Her upcoming short film, Hallelujah (of which a clip was shown), is about to embark on the film festival circuit as well. Finally, she discussed her latest acting gig, the recurring role of Blanca Flores (also known as #DiabloGirl on Twitter) on the wildly popular Netflix series "Orange is the New Black", for which she just wrapped up her second season.

After another networking break, Tío Louie introduced Haitian-Dominican actor-voiceover artist-singer-composer Jean-Marc Berne, who regaled the crowd with his guitar strumming and four original songs (including one instrumental). He spoke of using his music towards scoring films and/or using his songs in films. The evening ended with music and disco lights and good cheer as people gave each other long goodbyes. Or goodbye at least until the next Prime Latino Media Salon.

[Photos by Alphabeta Photography. To see more photos of this event, click here.]