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.

Jeannie Sol, shown at right, will be singing at the after party for the runway fashion show for the new couture line from designer Adrián Alicea on Thursday, September 12, 2013 at the Sky Room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Times Square located in Manhattan's Times Square district.

The Family/La Familia Repertory Company presented an evening of short plays and monologues written by Marvin F. (Pancho) Camillo and Marvin F. (Panchito) Camillo Valentine, Jr. The evening took place on Friday, September 6, 2013 at LaunchPad in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn and featured Pablo Andrade, Natasha Waisfield, José Sánchez and Alejandro Fumero Gil in the cast.

Adriana Gaviria, shown at left, will act in Just Like Us. The play is written by Karen Zacarías and based on the book by Helen Thorpe and directed by Kent Thompson. The production will have its world premiere in October and run through November at the Stage Theater at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. For more information on the production, click here.

Carlos A. González will be performing standup at Kool Mike Ski's annual Hispanic Heritage Month Comedy Fiesta, where he will share the bill with Vladimir Caamano, Gina Brillón, Ángelo Lozada, Flaco Navaja, Ruperto Vanderpool, Imagine, Ángel "Chi Chi" Salazar and Eric Nieves on Sunday, October 13, 2013 at Broadway Comedy Club, located in the theater district of midtown Manhattan. For more information, click here.

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?

END OF AN ERA: NYILFF Fades to Black

It has been announced that the New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) has closed up shop. The announcement was made by Calixto Chinchilla, founder and Co-Executive Director of the festival, in an interview for Cinema Tropical. However, the reason(s) for the closing of the festival vary, and Co-Executive Director Elizabeth Gardner gave her side of the story in an interview in IndieWire. At any rate, the NYILFF is no more.

Launched in 1999, the New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) was considered the premier urban Latino film event in the country.

The NYILFF's mission was to showcase the works of the hottest emerging Latino filmmaking talent in the U.S. and Latin America, offer expansive images of the Latino experience, and celebrate the diversity and spirit of the Latino community. Programming included the flagship film festival in NYC, new music and art showcases, family and community events, scholarships for aspiring filmmakers, and a nationally recognized short film competition in partnership with HBO. The NYILFF was the only film event to have had the endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's NYC Latin Media and Entertainment Commission since its formation in 2003.

The NYILFF and HOLA have an intertwining history over the past couple of years. HOLA (along with the Screen Actors Guild) had an HOLApanels event titled, "The Changing Face of Latinos in Media", moderated by Dr. Clara E. Rodríguez with panelists Tony Plana, Emilio Delgado, Adrián Martínez and Rogelio Douglas as part of the 2009 Festival. To read about the event, click here. To see photos of the event, click here.

In addition, HOLA Associate Director A.B. Lugo served as the Festival's incumbent intern coordinator in 1999, the same as the first annual HOLA Awards. The NYILFF received a Special Recognition Award at the 2011 HOLA Awards.

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.

Ticket 2 Eternity Productions is presenting Nina Mansfield's play Gymnos: A Geek's Tragedy. Produced, directed and conceived by Adyana de la Torre, shown at right, it is choreographed by Enrique Neto and original music by Brett Thomas Miró and features a 25-member cast including de la Torre, Neto, Miró, Alexander Stine, Facundo Rodríguez, Jay Rivera, Eugene Mishin, Liz So and Lucía Gómez Robledo. The production will have a September and October run at HERE Arts Center, located in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. For more information, click here.

Milena Dávila, shown at left, is starring in the upcoming Theater for a New Generation production of Charles Smith's play Freefall. Directed by Mel Williams, the play also stars Jason Bond, Omar Evans and Rosario Salvador, and will run in September at the Drilling Company Theater in the West Side of Manhattan. For more information, about the production, click here. The production was also highlighted in BroadwayWorld.com. To read that article, click here.

Marco Antonio Rodríguez booked a national commercial campaign for Rent-A-Center.

Emmanuelle Bordas booked a commercial for MetroPlus Health Plan of New York.

Jeannie Sol is starring in the musical revue Rafael Hernández... Romance. Directed by Manuel A. Morán and set to the music of the famed Puerto Rican composer. The show also stars Morán, Ana Campos, Laura Castaño, Alex Bautista and Ángel Feliciano and is produced by Teatro SEA and will be presented in November at its eponymous theater at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. For more information, click here.

Carmen Cabrera is acting in the GALA Hispanic Theatre production of Cabaret Barroco: Entremeses del Siglo de Oro en España (Cabaret Barroco: Interludes of Spain's Golden Age). Written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Francisco de Quevedo and Bernardo de Quirós and directed by José Luis Arellano García, the production is scheduled for a September and October run at GALA's Tivoli Theater, located in the NorthWest area of Washington, District of Columbia. For more information, click here or here (second link 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?

#SupportLatinoWork–– This weekend in theaters: MISSION PARK

Opening this weekend in U.S. movie theaters.... MISSION PARK.

Mission Park follows the lives of four best friends who choose very different paths. Torn apart over time by their ambitions, their choices ultimately bring them back together on different sides of the law. In this urban crime drama, two young F.B.I. agents, Bobby Ramírez and Julián Medina, go undercover to infiltrate an illegal drug organization run by the untouchable drug lord Jason Martínez  and his right-hand man Derek Hernández.

Written and directed by Bryan Anthony Ramírez, the film stars Jeremy Ray Valdez, Will Rothhaar, Walter Pérez, Joseph Julián Soria, Fernanda Romero, Will Estes, Jesse Borrego, Vivica A. Fox, Sean Patrick Flannery and Douglas Spain.





With the record box office success of Instructions Not Included/No se aceptan devoluciones (more info HERE), which hit number five at the box office last weekend, and other Latino-helmed films (Tío Papi and 36 Saints) hitting the theaters this weekend, imagine if there were two (or three or even four) Latino-directed films in the top 10 of the U.S. box office.

SUPPORT LATINO WORK.
#SupportLatinoWork

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.

Marco Antonio Rodríguez, shown at right, is happy to report this award-winning play La Luz de un cigarrillo, will be published in the international edition of Tramoya theater magazine, where he will be in the same issue with Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, Migdalia Cruz and Diana Chery.

Jesús E. Martínez booked a voiceover campaign for Macy's for television and radio.

J.W. Cortés, shown at left, was profiled in About.com's Famosos blog. To read the blog (which is in Spanish), click here.

2013 HOLA Award recipient Teatro TEBA is presenting La carbonerita and Sombras, two pieces by Federico García Lorca and directed by Raúl Rivera. It is scheduled to take place in October at Teatro Soy (located in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan) as part of the Lorca al Desnudo theater festival. The cast consists of Yanet Betances, Stalin Cando, Digna Carvajal, Jorge Pluas, Héctor Luis Rivera, Helen Rodríguez, Lorendy Rosario, Kathy Tejada and Serxh Velázquez.

Caridad de la Luz (also known by her nom de poésie et de musique La Bruja) recently performed her spoken word poetry at The Poet's Passage in Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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?

#SupportLatinoWork–– This weekend in theaters: TÍO PAPI and 36 SAINTS

Opening this weekend in U.S. movie theaters.... TÍO PAPI and 36 SAINTS.

In the family comedy-drama Tío Papi, wild bachelor Ray Ray Domínguez dreams of nothing more than a carefree life of indulgence in Miami, but his plans are abruptly changed when he becomes the legal guardian of his sister's six children. 

Directed by Fro Rojas, written by Joey Dedio and Brian Herskowitz, the film stars Dedio, Kelly McGillis, Frankie Faison, Fátima Ptáček, HOLA member Vanessa Aspillaga, Franky G and Carlos León.



In the supernatural thriller 36 Saints, the New York Police Headquarters is confronted with the horror of a serial murderer loose on the streets of Manhattan. As more dead bodies mount, detectives are in a race against time to stop the serial killing. The crime scenes and the way each victim was killed lead the detectives to theorize that each of the killings may be linked to the victims' ancient namesakes. Those namesakes are known to be some of the most saintly people that have graced the earth. As evidence continues to mount and more body bags are gathered, the detectives are convinced that the killer is basing his crimes on the belief that every generation has 36 righteous individuals who live among us, where, with all of them gone, the world would fall into chaos, corruption and eventual darkness. The hunt is on to find the last of the 36 saints before the killer does.

Directed by Eddy Durán, written by Jeffrey De Serrano and Joey Dedio, the film stars Donna McKechnie, De Serrano, Franky G, Dedio, Jaime Tirelli and Laverne Cox.



With the record box office success of Instructions Not Included/No se aceptan devoluciones (more info HERE), which hit number five at the box office last weekend, imagine if there were two (or even three) Latino-directed films in the top 10 of the U.S. box office.

SUPPORT LATINO WORK.
#SupportLatinoWork

#SupportLatinoWork

A common complaint is that Latinos don't see themselves enough in film and television. (Or if we are on television and film screens, the images of ourselves can be quite limiting.)

Another concern often brought up is that mainstream U.S. producers do not know how to market to Latinos. (Will Mexican Americans see a film about a Caribbean Latino in New York? Will a Caribbean Latino in New York see a movie about Chicanos in the Southwest?)

Yet another common remark is that once a Latino project is presented to Latinos, Latinos don't watch it on television, nor pay for tickets at the movie theater nor support in any other way.

Well, there are ways to remedy some of these issues, and that is simply by supporting Latino work– go see that independent film by a Latino director, or that story that doesn't show Latinos in a stereotypical way. Go see the television shows with Latino cast members in it and the handful of television series about Latinos (even if they turn out to not be great, at least take the time to see the first couple of episodes). And if it is a webseries, get online and see it on your computer or smartphone. Buy tickets and attend theater written by Latinos, directed by Latinos and/or produced by Latinos. Buy that novel by a Latino author (perhaps he/she may already have a Pulitzer on his/her mantel).

And now with the advent of social media, there is another, extremely easy way to support Latino work. Whenever you are tweeting or posting about a Latino project just add the phrase "#SupportLatinoWork". Imagine if thousands (or tens or hundreds of thousands or more) use this hashtag so that #SupportLatinoWork becomes a trending topic.

By adding this hashtag, you can...
• Show your support for a Latino project via simple promotion
• Tell the "powers-that-be" can better know what we like and market to us accordingly
• Unify the Latino consumer so that we can transform our growing numbers into purchasing power
• Proclaim that "Latino work" (work that reflects Latinos in ways based on reality and not simply stereotypes) is something you as a consumer like and want more of in the near future.

With projects like Gun Hill Road; 200 Cartas; Bless Me Última; Miss Bala; Mosquita y Mari and Instructions Not Included either racking up awards at film festivals and/or even breaking records at the box office; and television shows such as "The George López Show" and "Ugly Betty" being successful and creating a cultural impact in the U.S., OUR VOICES CAN AND NEED TO BE HEARD.

And perhaps #SupportLatinoWork can be a clarion call, a simple way Latinos can stand up and say, "¡Presente!" to the mainstream powers that be (even if we do it sitting down at our computers and typing it on our keyboards).

If you want to see more non-stereotypical images of Latinos in the media, if you want to be able to know when and where Latino stories are being presented in film and television, if you want to see YOU on film, television and new media, it's the least you can do.

#SupportLatinoWork