Friday, July 31, 2015

Banner Ads Now Available on HOLA Website

Wanna promote your upcoming stage production? Your upcoming film screening? Your upcoming special event?

HOLA members often get publicity in our Members in Performance page, but what if you could promote on our main homepage, or in our directory (The HOLA Pages), where more people can see your ad?

What if you had a project with no HOLA members that you wanted to promote?

What if you wanted to promote something that wasn’t a show (like your production company itself or a new website)?

Now you can do so by BUYING A BANNER AD on the HOLA website.

Banner ads come in half-page and full-page sizes and can be on the HOLA website for one week, two weeks, three weeks or a whole month. HOLA can also link your ad to a particular website at no additional cost.

Prices on the banner ads are affordable. Also, not-for-profit organizations receive a 10% discount on ad prices.

The HOLA website receives thousands of visits each month. The HOLA website is viewed by many professionals in the industry and is a unique way of reaching the Latino/Hispanic and mainstream audiences, which make buying a banner ad a smart investment for you.

Wanna buy a banner ad? Call (212) 253-1015 or (888) 624-HOLA or e-mail us for prices and ad dimensions.

HOLA Regional Membership Available For Those Outside New York Metropolitan Area

If you are an actor who lives in an area of the U.S. outside of the New York metropolitan area, New Jersey or Connecticut (HOLA's programming and administrative headquarters region), HOLA is proud to announce its Regional Membership level - for only $65 (versus a $125 regular NYC region membership price) for one full year!

As an HOLA Regional Member, you'll be entitled to the following member benefits:

• Your headshot, resume, reel and voiceover demo*  showcased on the HOLA Pages, the internet's only concentrated source of Latino acting talent. The directory is a trusted resource for casting directors, producers and talent agents receiving, on average, over 5,000 visits per month. (* There is an additional charge 
of $15 for adding your voiceover demo.)

• Your performances listed and promoted via HOLA's website and social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) that reaches thousands of people in the entertainment industry.

• Casting notices that will alert you to employment opportunities tailored to the Latino actor.

• Advocacy to combat stereotypes of the Latino/Hispanic community in media and entertainment as well as the opportunity to join in solidarity with the Latino/Hispanic acting community.


Application for regional memberships accepted by telephone order only. Call HOLA toll free at (888) 524-HOLA or (888) 524-4652. (VISA, MasterCard and American Express accepted.) Please submit your headshot (in .jpg format) and resume in a Word 
document or in Portable Data Format (.doc or .docx; or .pdf) via e-mail to HOLA.

Why Join HOLA? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About HOLA


WHY JOIN HOLA?
Frequently Asked Questions

• Is HOLA an agency or management company?
No. While we work similarly to an agency or an artist management company, we do a lot more. In essence, HOLA is a membership organization, a not-for-profit arts service and advocacy organization that offers jobs and casting opportunities, workshops and seminars and special events to its membership.

• Does one have to audition for HOLA?
No. HOLA is a membership organization. Just pay the annual membership and you become an HOLA member.

• I am a new actor. Does HOLA apply to me and how so? (Or conversely, I have a fair amount of experience. How does HOLA apply to me?)
HOLA members range from the beginner to the established and everywhere in between. HOLA will apply to you at every stage of your career.

• Do I have to speak Spanish (or Portuguese) to be an HOLA member?
No. HOLA members speak English only, Spanish only, or both languages fluently. Our Brazilian members speak Portuguese as well as English. There is no requirement for any member to speak Spanish (or Portuguese) to be an HOLA member.

• What kind of casting notices do you receive?
HOLA receives all kinds of casting notices— from union and nonunion, through the disciplines of film, television, theater and voiceover. The majority of our notices are distributed to our membership. There are some instances, whether because of short notice or because of the search for something very specific, that HOLA makes referrals to certain talent.

• I have signed representation. Would that be in conflict with HOLA?
No. In fact, we would put your signed representative’s name and number on your online profile. It would be another way to promote yourself without conflict.

• If I book a job through HOLA, do I owe you a commission?
No. We are not an agency or artist management company. You are under no obligation to give us a commission. (But if you want to show your appreciation with a donation, we’ll be forced to take it, I suppose.)

• I am in the process of getting my citizenship. Could I still join HOLA?
Yes. As long as you can legally work in the U.S., you can join HOLA.

• Does HOLA have a social media presence?
Yes. We are on FacebookTwitter and have our own channel on YouTube. In addition, we are on Wikipedia and have our own blog, titled El Blog de HOLA.

• What if I am not an actor but I like what you do?
You could support HOLA by becoming a Friend of HOLA and donating to the organization. If you are a producer or director, a Friend of HOLA donation allow us to promote your productions!

All About Becoming an HOLA Member or a Friend of HOLA

Wanna be an HOLA member? Wanna know more about HOLA first?

HOLA
 is a not-for-profit arts service and advocacy organization founded in 1975.


HOLA members get their headshots and resumes on our web directory. In addition, HOLA receives casting notices from various sources that we pass on to our members (or in specific cases, help refer actors to the casting director).

HOLA offers low-cost workshops and seminars, professional counseling, special events and networking activities. We also produce the HOLA Awards which honor outstanding achievement by Latinos in entertainment.


HOLA has a Facebook page and a Twitter page in addition to this blog (imaginatively titled El Blog De HOLA). Whenever a member is doing a project, we can promote via e-mails we send out, through our Members in Performance page on the website or in El Blog on our HOLA Member Bochinche column (only good bochinche, never bad bochinche). It functions as another outlet to promote your work. HOLA is also on YouTube and on Wikipedia.

What if you are not an actor? You can support HOLA by being a Friend of HOLA. For more information, click here.

To become an HOLA member online (New York metropolitan area), fill out the member application form here.

Latinos Are Everywhere, Except On TV. What's Going On?

If the current rate of Latino involvement in the media were to play out as it has, it would take 60 years for Latinos in lead film roles to match their share of the U.S. population. It would take 100 years to do the same in TV. But even at that point, the Latino population would have already doubled.
Put more bluntly, if U.S. Latinos annexed themselves and founded their own country, they would comprise the 14th largest economy in the world, with $1.6 trillion in buying power.
Latinos make up 17 percent of the population. And they're young, about a decade younger than the average White American. They tune into radio more regularly. They buy movie tickets more often. So why are there so few Latinos still on TV and in film? 
Check out this article by J. Weston Shippen (with contributions from Janie Boschma) in the website of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), which highlights Frances Negrón-Muntaner's report with Columbia University entitled The Latino Media Gap, by clicking here

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Journalist María Hinojosa and Her Role In Making The Invisible Visible

Former HOLA Awards honoree (and award-winning journalist) María Hinojosa spoke on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at the first-ever Tedx Pennsylvania Avenue event in Washington, District of Columbia, where she spoke of her upbringing as part of a family of immigrants, not seeing herself at all in the media (as a result, growing up feeling "invisible" in the United States of America), and using her role as a journalist (through her production company The Futuro Media Group) and a professor to point the microphone at people whose voices were/are not heard and to tell the narratives that were/are not told– in essence, rendering the invisible now visible. To see her speech, click on the video below.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends of HOLA who are getting acting, performance or similarly artistic gigs and/or recognition in the media. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface. To see what other HOLA members are doing currently, click here.

Caridad de la Luz (also known by her nom de poésie et de musique La Bruja) will perform with her band on Friday, August 21, 2015 at the Poet's Den Theater, located in Manhattan's El Barrio neighborhood. For more information, click here.

Joel Pérez performed at the 54 Sings Lady Gaga concert in July. The show, which showcased the oeuvre of Stefani Germanotta (also known as Lady Gaga), featured many singers from Broadway. The concert took place on Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 54 Below, located in the theater district of midtown Manhattan. For more information, click here.

Vladimir Ríos, along with photographer Lester Blum, created The Warrior of Hope, a photo series in which Ríos plays the titular character. After having an exhibition at New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum, the museum has acquired the photo "Scanning The World", shown above at left, as part of its permanent collection. In addition, he appeared in the August/September 2015 issue of Out in Jersey  magazine, shown above center and right, where The Warrior of Hope was highlighted. The Warrior of Hope will have future exhibitions at the Staten Island LGBT Community Center in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island in September and at the Brad Brafford LGBT Center in Santa Ana, California in December. For more information, click here and here.

Ángel Dillemuth booked a co-starring role on the season 3 premiere of "The Blacklist"(NBC).

Joel Luna directed the music video "Me la llevé (Vamos vamos)" by hip hop artist Nove featuring singer Nathaly. The MiLu Films project can be seen below (note: slight adult language).




If you are an HOLA member or a Friend of HOLA and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, why not join? If you live outside the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, you can find out more information on how to do so, by clicking here. If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one? 

MundoFox Is No More; Now Completely Owned By RCN, It Has Been Renamed MundoMax









Just days shy of its third year anniversary, MundoFox is no more. Originally founded as a joint venture between Colombia’s RCN Television and U.S.-based Fox Entertainment Group through its Fox International Channels (FIC) division, the network has switched names to MundoMax. Just two weeks ago, FIC announced it had sold its stake in MundoFox to RCN. However, this change was done so abruptly that even some of MundoFox's affilliates weren't aware of the change nor given prior notice. For more information, read the report in Media Moves by clicking here.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends of HOLA who are getting acting, performance or similarly artistic gigs and/or recognition in the media. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface. To see what other HOLA members are doing currently, click here.

Joel Pérez, shown at right, was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award (NY IT) as part of the ensemble of the Broken Box Mime Theater production Topography (also in the cast nominated for Outstanding Ensemble are Becky Baumwoll, Dinah Berkeley, Géraldine Dulex, David Jenkins, Tasha Milkman, Marissa Molnar, Leah Wagner, Joshua Wynter and Matt Zambrano). The ensemble-devised and -directed work was also nominated for two other NY IT Awards– for Outstanding Choreography/Movement and Outstanding Performance Art Production. For more information, click here. He can currently be seen on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre playing Roy, Mark, Pete, Bobby, and Jeremy in the Jeanine Tesori-Lisa Kron Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home (based on the Alison Bechdel graphic novel of the same name). For more information, click here.

Christopher Morriss will be starring in the Samsun Knight play Vanishing Point. Produced by Middle Distance and directed by Sophie Weisskoff, the play will be presented in New York City in August as part of the New York International Fringe Festival (fringeNYC) at Teatro SEA, in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. For more information, click here or here.

Sandor Juan is starring as the title character of El burlador de Sevilla. Written by Tirso de Molina and directed by Victoria Collado, the play also stars Claudio Weisz, Marcelo Carrascosa and Úrsula Tinoco and is being presented in July and August at the Repertorio Español, located in Manhattan's Rose Hill neighborhood. For more information (and to buy tickets), click here.

The Francisco Lupini Basagoiti short film Tú. Yo. Baño. Sexo. Ahora.  continues its journey on the film festival circuit, this time making its Asian premiere at the Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (TIQFF) in September in Taipei, Taiwan. The film stars Francisco Fuertes and Mauricio Pita (also see below)For more information, click here.

The next incarnation of the Sueño Pop concert series, from SepLo Productions, was featured in the Arte NY blog. Created by José Sepúlveda, the concert is titled "Baila" and will feature music direction by Carlos Escalona, It will be presented on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at Drom, located in Manhattan's East Village. The performers for the "Baila" concert include Sepúlveda, Mauricio Pita (also see above), and Luis Salgado. To read the blog in Arte NY (which is in Spanish), click here. For more information, click here and here. [Clockwise from the top left, on the photo above left: Pita, Sepúlveda, Salgado.]

If you are an HOLA member or a Friend of HOLA and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, why not join? If you live outside the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, you can find out more information on how to do so, by clicking here. If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one? 

"Sesame Street" and "Battlestar Galactica" Slated For Spanish-Language Editions

Univision will begin showing Season 1 of "Sesame Amigos", a new 30-minute Spanish-language program from Sesame Workshop, on Saturday, August 1, 2015 at 8:30am ET/PT in its Saturday children’s programming block “Planeta U.” The network has scheduled 26 episodes featuring Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie and other familiar denizens of the popular PBS series "Sesame Street".


NBC Universo announced the launch on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 of "Battlestar Galactica", the 2004-2009 series from the Syfy channel. From Universal Cable Productions, the series will air for the first time in Spanish on U.S. television. The series starred Edward James Olmos, Grace Park, Mary McDonnell and Jaime Bamber. NBC Universo recently launched "Law & Order: L.A." and "Suits" in Spanish on Tuesday nights.

For more information, read the Deadline article by clicking here.

Monday, July 27, 2015

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends of HOLA who are getting acting, performance or similarly artistic gigs and/or recognition in the media. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface. To see what other HOLA members are doing currently, click here.

The next incarnation of the Sueño Pop concert series (created by José Sepúlveda and SepLo Productions) was featured in El Blog de Pablo (written by Pablo García Gámez) and in Broadway World. Titled "Baila", the concert will feature music direction by Carlos Escalona and be presented on Saturday, August 8, 2015 at Drom, located in Manhattan's East Village. The performers for the "Baila" concert include Sepúlveda, Mauricio Pita (also see below), and Luis Salgado. To read the article in El Blog de Pablo (which is in Spanish), click here. To read the Broadway World article, click here. For more information, click here and here. [Clockwise from the bottom left, on the photo above right: Salgado, Pita, Sepúlveda.]

The feature film Medardo (written by 2015 HOLA Awards recipient Julio Ortega and directed by HOLA Awards recipient Nitsy Grau, respectively), was profiled in the Ecuadorian daily newspaper El Universo, where its Special Citation from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors for the 2015 HOLA Awards was mentioned. The film, which was filmed in and is currently playingin movie theaters in Ecuador, stars Ortega, Edna Lee Figueroa, Edison Carrera, Inma Heredia, and Juan Villarreal. To read the article, which is in Spanish, and to see a trailer for the movie, click here. [Shown above left, from left to right: Ortega, Figueroa.]

The Francisco Lupini Basagoiti short film Tú. Yo. Baño. Sexo. Ahora. (starring Francisco Fuertes and Mauricio Pita, also see abovecontinues its journey on the film festival circuit, this time hitting the Long Beach QFilm Festival in September in Long Beach, California. For more information, click here.

Modesto Lacén, shown at right, was interviewed by Amary Santiago Torres of the Puerto Rican daily newspaper Primera Hora, where he talked about playing Pedro Knight, Celia Cruz's husband in the Fox Telecolombia limited television series titled "Celia", based on the life of Celia Cruz, known as the Queen of Salsa and Guarachera de Cuba. (The series has been picked up for the U.S. by the Telemundo network.) For more information, click here (note that the website is in Spanish).

If you are an HOLA member or a Friend of HOLA and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, why not join? If you live outside the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, you can find out more information on how to do so, by clicking here. If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one? 

Sunday, July 26, 2015

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends of HOLA who are getting acting, performance or similarly artistic gigs and/or recognition in the media. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface. To see what other HOLA members are doing currently, click here.

Edison Carrera, shown at right, was named Actor of the Year by the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey, as a result of his acting accomplishments and his service to the community. He will be presented as such in the Ecuadorian Parade in Newark, New Jersey on Sunday, August 9, 2015.

The Francisco Lupini Basagoiti short film Tú. Yo. Baño. Sexo. Ahora. (starring Francisco Fuertes and Mauricio Pitacontinues its journey on the film festival circuit, this time hitting the IV Festival de Cine La Otra Banqueta in July in Guatemala City, Guatemala; and the Birmingham SHOUT! LGBTQ Festival in August in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. For more information, click here.

2015 HOLA Awards recipient Héctor Luis Rivera, through his blog Héctor Luis Sin Censura, wrote about the 2015 HOLA Awards Announcement Ceremony, and in highlighting the events of the ceremony, Rivera, shown at left, mentioned a bunch of HOLA members. They include 2015 HOLA Awards honoree Andrea Navedo; 2015 HOLA Award recipients Pablo García Gámez, Soledad López and Julio Ortega; as well as Inma Heredia, A.B. Lugo and Raúl Rivera; and HOLA Board President Manolo García Oliva). To read the blog, which is in Spanish, click here.

The Puerto Rico premiere production of David Mamet's Speed-the-plow (Jala la pala in Spanish) had one of its rehearsals profiled in a Photo Flash photo essay from Broadway World. The play, which is being directed by Luis Salgado and will star an all-HOLA member cast in Emmanuelle Bordas, Javier E. Gómez, and Éric-Dominique Pérez. The production will take place in August at the Corralón de San José in Viejo San Juan neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico. To see the photo essay, click here. [Shown above, at right, from left to right: Bordas, Pérez, Salgado, Gómez.]

If you are an HOLA member or a Friend of HOLA and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, why not join? If you live outside the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, you can find out more information on how to do so, by clicking here. If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one? 

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends of HOLA who are getting acting, performance or similarly artistic gigs and/or recognition in the media. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface. To see what other HOLA members are doing currently, click here.

Edwin Sánchez, shown at right, has just released his debut novel Diary of a Puerto Rican Demigod. There will be a launch party for the book on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at Pregones Theater's eponymous space (located in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx). For more information on the launch party, click here. For more information on the novel (or to buy it), click here.

Suni Reyes will be performing standup comedy as part of the Juerga en El Barrio event. Presented by the Hispanic Federation in collaboration with Boundless Theatre Company and Producciones El Barrio, it will take place in July at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center (located in Manhattan's El Barrio neighborhood). For more information, click here.


Edison Carrera, Raúl Rivera, and Juan Villarreal were highlighted in the Héctor Luis Sin Censura blog (written by 2015 HOLA Awards recipient Héctor Luis Rivera) in a blog among multiple theater festivals coming this fall to New York. To read the blog, which is in Spanish, click here. [Shown clockwise from top left: Carrera, R. Rivera, Villarreal.]

María Cotto performed her solo show El billetero. The show took place in July as part of La Marqueta Retoña, at La Marqueta (located in Manhattan's El Barrio neighborhood).

If you are an HOLA member or a Friend of HOLA and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, why not join? If you live outside the New York metropolitan area and want to be an HOLA member, you can find out more information on how to do so, by clicking here. If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one?