Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Report on the PRIME LATINO MEDIA Holiday Fiesta


The Holiday Fiesta, dubbed the “madre of all holiday fiestas", was no less disappointing this holiday season. Always the biggest turnout of the year as the officially-unofficial family reunion homecoming for our metro-New York community of Latino multimedia-makers, actors and musicians, this year's fiesta was no less disappointing. Partnering in this special occasion was the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) and NY Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) that was held on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at Bar 13 in the shadow of Manhattan's Union Square. Food and drink available, there were actors ranging from Aris Mejías who had two films at this year’s International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival with the feature film The Vessel (starring Martin Sheen) and her short After; to 2016 HOLA awardee Dalia Davi; to filmmaker William Caballero, who has a short film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017, all there cheering on the awardees.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2016 Padrino/Madrina Awards. Previous recipients have been filmmaker Sonia González-Martínez, actor David Zayas, producer-actor Elaine Del Valle, and actors Luis Antonio Ramos and J.W. Cortés. This year’s Madrina (godmother) was Bárbara Matos, Vice-President of Diversity from CBS Corporation; and filmmaker-actor, Adel L. Morales of Hollyhood Productions. Both were handed home-baked prizes of pumpkin-coconut-cranberry-chocolate cakes soaked in rum that they shared with their community of attendees and supporters. But the icing on the cake was when Morales credited his success as a filmmaker in the support he received from his community of Latino multimedia-makers, actors and musicians, as well as the support he provided in kind. He encouraged everyone to leave the evening’s gathering with at least five new contacts.


The tone set by the founder and Executive Producer of Prime Latino Media, Louis E. Perego Moreno (more commonly known as Tío Louie), was that more than ever “we need to be a community of latinos unidos in supporting one another in the year moving forward to produce stellar works of art in Spanish-language and mainstream media.

To that effect, he wished a successful and happy 2017 to “todos en nuestra comunidad.”

The next monthly PRIME LATINO MEDIA Salón is slated for Inauguration Eve, Thursday, January 19, 2016. Save the date and stay tuned for details.

[Photos courtesy of Tío Louie. To see more photos, click here.]

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