ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS of the 2014 HOLAfestival

Alberto Bonilla received a BA in Theatre at Arizona State University. He also studied at The British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford, England. He continued his studies at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts receiving an MFA in Acting under Maggie Flanagan and William Esper. Plays that he has written include  Walking To America, Nonnie, Big Black Mexican Woman, #69, El Conejo and PS 357. He is currently developing two new plays. He also wrote and developed a new play based on Medea called María with Resonance Ensemble of which he is a member. As a director, his credits include the plays Look Back in Anger, Three Points Over the Vig, Leaving Lilly, Servant of Two Masters, Raft of the Medusa, and Macbeth. He is also a fight director, teacher and the Director of Film and Television at Maggie Flanigan Studios. For more information, click here. 

Elaine Del Valle has enjoyed a lucrative voiceover and commercial career for over two decades. She studied acting under the legendary Wynn Handman, in whose studios she wrote and developed her multiple award-winning off-Broadway solo show Brownsville Bred, her true, coming-of-age story set in the tough neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. Directed by Pamela Moller-Kareman, the show enjoyed sold out, critically acclaimed runs at Westchester's Schoolhouse Theater, before debuting off-Broadway at the prestigious 59E59 Theaters. She continues to perform the show and share its inspiring message at high schools, colleges and corporations. Recent performances include at new York's legendary Nuyorican Poets' Café, Time Warner Columbus Circle and The New York Times headquarters. She is currently penning the young adult fiction novelization of Brownsville Bred with Parachute Publishing. In addition, she also enjoys performing standup comedy and improv at places like Governor's Comedy Club, The P.I.T. and UCB. Recent film credits include Elliot Loves, Stereotypically Me, and the webseries "Los Angeles". She also writes, produces and stars in the popular webseries "Reasons Y I'm Single". Recent television appearances include "Blue Bloods", "NYC-22" and MTV's scripted comedy series, "Failosophy". She can also be heard on the Nickelodeon/CBS hit animated series "Dora The Explorer", in which she continues to be work, sing, and voice many characters since its debut in 2000. For more information, click here.   

Michael Díaz (also known as Juan Bago) originally hails from Redding, Connecticut. After attending Central Connecticut State University, he moved to NYC in hopes to pursue his dreams in acting and comedy.  In 2006, he wrote, produced and starred his first independent film, The Story of Juan Bago. The original screenplay and production was conceived from the perspective of not seeing enough roles for Latinos. The success of the slapstick-humored film led to his involvement with various projects such as Jolopeo (producer/assistant director), Sandman's Box (producer), The Tickets (director), and HBO’s “Habla Ya” campaign (actor). During the evolution of his career, he formed Heights Entertainment, a multi-service production company specializing in marketing and film production. He studied at the famed Upright Citizen Brigade (UCB) to perfect his comedy and improvisation skills. Consecutively, it led to his co-hosting “The Bochinche Bueno Show” on Urban Latino Radio for the following two years. He continued on to work on various projects ranging from producing and starring in the short film Act of Love to working on as a personality for NuvoTV; Latino101 and MTV Tr3s Chisme Club. In the late 2000’s, he founded a comedy troupe, Room 28, that performed live and filmed sketches. The group has has recently reunited and has been performing live throughout NYC. With Heights Entertainment, he created viral hit "Pan con Queso", the spoof of Wiz Khalifa’s hit song “Black and Yellow”.  The parody duo, Juan Bago and O, had comical hits have been featured in The New York Daily News, Telemundo, Yahoo! News, Billboard.com and was on rotation on mun2, MTV Tr3s and Music Choice. He is currently involved in a couple of projects including "Brisk Bodega Chat", "Studio Heads" and several web projects including hosting "123unodostres", a new digital hub for a young, multi-cultural demographic. He stars in the new webseries from The Flama (an entity owned by Univision), "#AskBago", which premiered in October 2014.

Anthony Ruiz is an actor and writer. As an actor his recent credits include Eli Moran (starring David Zayas, scheduled for release during summer 2015), Daughter of God (starring Keanu Reeves, scheduled for release during fall 2015). Last year he won the SVA/Directors Guild of America Best Actor Award for the short film Caravella. He is also a semi-regular in "The Late Show with David Letterman". As a writer he has written several sketches about "The Richest Man In The World... Carlos Slim" (with David Letterman), and Stirred Crazy: The Pryor Family Story, Part One (with Richard Pryor, Jr.), scheduled to be presented in December 2014 at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in Long Island City. With Ed Trucco, he co-wrote and co-directed the short films Truth Will Out and The Game.

Ed Trucco is an actor/director who can be seen in several films and TV shows. His credits include Maria Full Of Grace, and “Law and Order”, among others. He has an extensive theatre background. He most recently acted in a production of La caída de Rafael Trujillo (The Fall of Rafael Trujillo) at Teatro Círculo in New York City. He co-wrote and co-directed with Anthony Ruiz the film Truth Will Out and the soon-to-be-released short The Game. He is currently working as director of photography on a short directed by Laura Gómez, titled The Iron Warehouse. He is also a second-generation director, as his father was Argentine film director Orestes Trucco. For more information, click here.

Vanessa Verduga is an actor, writer, singer, director, producer and lawyer committed to examining social issues for their impact on the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She is the creator and star of the popular award-winning webseries “Justice Woman”, which follows the story of an Assistant District Attorney, by day, who becomes a defender of truth and justice at night. She also stars and produces H.O.M.E., a feature film that examines the loss of communication told through the immigrant’s perspective, and is in pre-production for a comedy feature film she wrote and will star in entitled The Implications of Cohabitation. For more information, click here. 


The 2014 HOLAfestival will be presented at Teatro LATEA on Monday, December 1, 2014 at 7:30pm. Suggested Admission: $10, $5 for HOLA members. To RSVP for the evening of screenings, call either (212) 253-1015 or (888) 624-HOLA or by e-mailing here. For more information, click here.