This is the official blog of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA). www.hellohola.org
HOLA has been funded, in part, through the New York State Council on the Arts, The City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Friends of HOLA and the dues-paying members of HOLA.
Below is a list of new (and returning) HOLA
members who joined between November 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. (Note that
"returning members" refer to those members who have returned to HOLA after having their memberships expire for
some time and do not include renewing members.)
Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends ofHOLA 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.
Gerardo Gudiño, shown standing, at right, was profiled in El Telón de Fondo, a literary publication of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, where he spoke about his life and career. To read the article (which is in Spanish), click here and click on the PDF symbol. Susanna Guzmán booked a guest-starring role in "Power" (Starz). She will follow this up with a role in the film Keep in Touch (written by Michael Angelo Covino and Sam Kretchmar and directed by Kretchmar).
The film Eli Moran is currently filming in New York City. It is written and directed by TJ Collins and stars Raymond Piniella, Lorraine Rodríguez-Reyes, Anthony Ruiz, Alfredo Romeo Suárez, Annie Henk, Mateo Gómez and Judy Torres. (Rodríguez-Reyes, Gómez and Henk are shown, left to right, respectively, in the photo at left.)
Carlos A. González, shown at right,will start off 2014 with a bang. His standup comedy gigs in January alone includes NYC-area appearances at the Greenwich Village Comedy Club (January 8), the Coney Island Bar & Grill (January 9), three sets at Ha! Comedy Club (January 10), Broadway Comedy Club (January 16), Niko's (January 17), a second appearance at Ha! Comedy Club (January 18), Alamo Drafthouse (January 19) and Train Wreck Comedy at Producers' Club (January 22). All of these appearances are in New York City, except for Niko's (White Plains, New York) and Alamo Drafthouse (Yonkers, New York). For more information about this actor-comedian-writer, click here or here.
Milena Dávila, shown at left, was featured as a model in The Huffington Post for an article titled "7 Things You 'Totes' Need to Stop Saying if You're Over 30 (Oops, There's One of Them)". To read the blog, click here.
Gladys K. Nilsenrepresented Rhode Island in the Ms. Senior America pageant this past October at the Resorts Hotel and Casino at Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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?
Clockwise from top: Jaime Camil, Mônica Steuer, Dayanara Torres and Lin-Manuel Miranda of the film 200 cartas.
Check out Vanessa Erazo's blog in Remezcla about ten Latino films that were released in 2013 that are must-sees (including Bruno Irizarry's 200 cartas, the stars of whom are shown at right) by clicking here.
Pope Francis drinks the South American beverage yerba mate
as he arrives for his general audience at St Peter's Square in
Vatican City. Photo credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.
Check out this blog by The Huffington Post as they compile eleven moments that made "us proud to be Latino in 2013", showcasing the continuing influence of Latinos in the United States and worldwide, by clicking here.
Eugenio Derbez of the film Instructions Not Included.
Check out Adrián Carrasquillo's blog in BuzzFeed about how the success of recent films like Gravity, Fast & Furious 6, Instructions Not Included (directed by and starring Eugenio Derbez, shown at right), and the upcoming, highly anticipated biopic Chávez (about labor leader César Chávez) is providing the entryway to more Latino projects (and/or Latino characters) by Latino filmmakers in U.S. films by clicking here.
Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends ofHOLA 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.
2013 HOLA Award recipients Mariana Parma and Elena Mohedano, shown above, from left to right, are currently filming the short film Christmas Therapy (written and directed by Ricardo Bacallao). They booked their respective gigs through HOLA referrals. Ángelo Mercado, Jr. can soon be seen in Times Square Neverland, a short film he wrote and in which he stars (it is directed by Louis So). The short is currently in post-production. Laura Gómez is wrapping up post-production on the short film Hallelujah (which she also wrote, co-produced and directed). She stars in the film alongside Alfredo Narciso, Indio Meléndez, Berto Colón and María Helan. The film is set to to hit the film festival circuit in 2014. For more information, click here. La vida inesperada (written by Elvira Lindo and directed by Jorge Torregrossa), starring Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Carmen Ruiz, Luis Carlos de La Lombana and Juan Villarreal) has released the trailer in advance of its upcoming premiere. For more information on the Spanish film, click here. The movie trailer (also in Spanish) can be seen below.
RTVE.es estrena el tráiler de "La vida inesperada"
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?
Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends ofHOLA 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.
Vivienne Jurado can be seen in a print ad, shown at right, for Chelsea Taylor Jewelry. Judy Torres will be premiering her new single, "Beautiful Life", on Monday, January 6, 2014. The song will be available on Amazon and iTunes. To hear an instrumental teaser of the song, click here. For more information about this singer-actress-radio personality, click here. Liza Colón-Zayas is currently filming of the short film There is Another Sky. Co-produced by Monte Bezell, it is directed by Juan Cáceres and co-stars Andrea Sixtos and Nina Blue. Éric-Dominique Pérez is presenting his self-penned solo show El Gringuito in Puerto Rico. Directed by A.B. Lugo, it will be presented as part of the Festival de la Calle San Sebastián at the Corralón de San José in mid-January in Viejo San Juan. Elaine Del Valle premiered a new webisode of "Reasons Y 'I'm Single'". The webseries was created, co-written, edited and directed by Del Valle and also stars Holie Barker and Gina Tuttle as it follows the adventure of Doris, Joanie and Gina, three friends who are "single, over 35 and under-fabulous". To see the webisode, click on the video below. For more information, or to see other webisodes, 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?
Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends ofHOLA 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.
Vivienne Jurado was the subject of a profile in the Fall/Winter 2013 issue of Art Bodega magazine, where she talked of her career, where she is referred to as "the next Lorraine Bracco". To read the article, click on the photo at right. Mauricio Pita and Earlene Babcock (also known as Michelle Gotay) will star in Miss Abigail's Guide To Dating, Mating and Marriage. Written by Ken Davenport and Sarah Saltzberg, this two-handed comedy is directed by Semina DeLaurentis and will run in January and February at Seven Angels Theatre, located in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Modesto Lacén can be seen in Puerto Rican style magazine Caras as one of the magazine's "Caras [Faces] of 2013". To read the profile (which is in Spanish), one can click on the photo at left. Allison Strong performed at an American Red Cross benefit for aid to the Phillipines at the famed hotspot 54 Below (located below Studio 54 in midtown Manhattan). The singer-songwriter will close out the year by playing at Rockwood Music Hall (in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood) on Saturday, December 28, 2013. For more information, click here. Claudio Marcel Weisz continues his residency with the Raf Astor Band at Havana Central Upper West Side (located in Manhattan's Morningside Heights/West Harlem neighborhood. Jeannie Sol will be singing on Thursday, December 26, 2013 at Club Feathers in River Edge, New Jersey. Ángelo Mercado, Jr. appeared in two commercials for Burlington's, one in English and one in Spanish. He can be seen in the commercial receiving the last gift by clicking here (in English) and here (en español). 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?
The Hollywood Reporter recently released its 2013 Women in Entertainment Power 100 of the most powerful women in the entertainment industry (its 22nd annual list). Below are three of the Latinas on the list. To find out who else is on the list, click here.
#60 Jacqueline Hernández Chief Operating Officer, Telemundo Media Hernández oversees domestic revenue and marketing, digital media and emerging platforms, youth-targeted cable network mun2 and consumer insights, and she is focused on the metrics driving advertisers to spend more on the Hispanic market. She also brokered blue-chip ad deals with Target and L'Oreal Paris.
#38 Belinda Menéndez President, NBCUniversal International TV Distribution and Universal Networks International Since Comcast reorganized international TV two years ago, Menéndez has maximized program distribution and newly packaged and expanded cable channels in Asia and Africa, among others. She also began experiments with second pay TV windows worldwide.
TV's most watched network, CBS, scored a win among the 18-to-49 demographic for the 2012-13 season, its first in 20 years. "I don't feel we've ever not been cool," says Tassler, TV's longest-serving broadcast entertainment president after eight years on the job. "We are most definitely relevant." Tassler also saw CBS secure the most ad commitments for the 2013-14 season of any network, totaling $2.6 billion. And, despite the network's lack of a new fall hit, "The Big Bang Theory"and "NCIS" still are TV's most watched shows, while the success of "Under the Dome", from Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, is helping boost the trend toward summer programming and event series. "Under the Dome" lured about 15 million viewers (and a 3.9 rating in 18-to-49) on CBS, plus more via an innovative and lucrative streaming deal with Amazon Prime (the show returns in 2014). Tassler, who is married with two children, is writing What I Told My Daughter: Raising Feminist Daughters in a Post-Modern Feminist World, with a portion of proceeds to go to the nonprofit Girls Inc.
Bochinche refers to “gossip”. In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members or Friends ofHOLA 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.
Johanna Ramírez, shown at right, booked a principal role in a branded webseries after she received the casting notice in the daily announcements that HOLA sends to its members and self-submitting. 2013 HOLA Awards honoree Vanessa Verduga and her webseries "Justice Woman" (in which she stars and also wrote, created and directed) is an official nominated selection of the 2014 Rome Web Awards, scheduled to take place in Rome, Italy on Saturday, April 26, 2014. For more information about this awards ceremony, click here. Eileen Galindo is now among the voice talent for the animated children's series "Sofia the First" (Disney Channel). Caridad de la Luz (also known by her nom de poésie et de musiqueLa Bruja) is performing in the Crime Against Humanity/Crimen contra la humanidad. Written by Michael A. Reyes and Luis Rosa and directed by Reyes, the production is making its Mexican and Spanish-language debut in December. Produced by Quilomboarte, the play will also feature a spoken word performance by Bocafloja take place at the Foro Cultural Coyoacanense in the Coyocán area of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. Víctor Cruz will soon be lensing the feature film The Stockroom. For more information about this film, which he wrote and directed and in which he stars, click here. Lorraine Rodríguez-Reyes shot a promo for ESPN.
Grupo de Teatro Sinergía and Teatro Frida Kahlo are presenting Lina Gallegos' play Wild in Wichita/Locuras en Wíchita(Más vale tarde que nunca). Translated and directed by Denise Blasor, it will star Margarita Lamas, Miguel Santana, Wakai Sol and Minerva García in the cast and will be presented in January and February 2014 at the Frida Kahlo Theater in Los Angeles, California. 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?
Some of the most notable names from the dawn of film and television are of Latino descent. Here are some of them. In this edition, an actor-musician known for his "Entourage", an opera diva (and Kennedy Center honoree), a European actor making his breakthrough in Hollywood, and a science communicator (who among other things, popularized the term "Manhattanhenge").
Adrian Grenier was born on July 10, 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A., the son of Karesse Grenier and John T. Dunbar. His parents met at a commune in the 1970s, and were never married. His father was from Ohio, and was of European ancestry; his mother was born in New Mexico, to a Hispanic family, with mestizo (Spanish/Native American) roots; a DNA test, on the PBS program "Finding Your Roots". He was raised by his mother, a real estate agent, in Manhattan, New York. He went to Bard College in New York where he studied molecular biology. In 1997, he made his film debut in the independent drama Arresting Gena. In 1999, he played opposite Melissa Joan Hart in Drive Me Crazy. In 2002, Grenier made his directorial debut with the documentary, Shot in the Dark.
The documentary chronicles his years-long search for his father, with
whom Grenier's mother broke up while he was still a baby. Grenier and
Dunbar remained estranged for 18 years, and in 2001, Adrian began work
on the documentary in an attempt to forge a relationship with Dunbar.
The two eventually reunited and maintain a warm relationship. HBO premiered the documentary on June 3, 2007. In 2004, he landed the lead role in the HBO series "Entourage", which has brought him his most substantial notice and success. In 2006, he won a role in The Devil Wears Prada, as Anne Hathaway's boyfriend, Nate. In addition to being a filmmaker, he is also a musician, playing guitar, drums, French horn, and the piano. He is a member of two New York bands, lead singer in Kid Friendly and drummer in The Honey Brothers.
Martina Arroyo (or Martina Arroyo Washingtonal estilo latino) was born on February 2, 1937 in New York, New York, USA, the daughter of Puerto Rican-born Demetrio Arroyo and Lucille Washington, an African American. Born and raised in Harlem,
the operatic soprano conquered the opera world, from the Metropolitan Opera to
the Vienna State Opera, from Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires to La Scala
in Milan, Paris Opera, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden as well as
the great concert halls from Salzburg and Berlin to her hometown of New
York. Few in her generation have been so fearless, or so successful,
triumphant across the repertory, from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Strauss
to Barber, Bolcom, Schönberg and Stockhausen. The New York Times once
heralded her voice as "among the most glorious in the world." Her
extensive recorded legacy reflects Arroyo's at once inspired and
inspiring collaborations with the greatest conductors of our age:
Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Rafael Kubelik, Zubin Mehta, Thomas
Schippers, Colin Davis and James Levine. Since her official retirement from singing in 1989, she has amassed significant teaching credits, including stints at Louisiana State University, UCLA, University of Delaware, Wilberforce University, the International Sommerakademie-Mozarteum in Salzburg and Indiana University. She has given master classes nationally and internationally, and
judged several competitions including the George London Competition and
the Tchaikovsky International Competition. She founded the Martina Arroyo Foundation, which is dedicated to
the development of emerging young opera singers by immersing them in
complete role preparation courses. She is also active on the Boards of
Trustees of Hunter College and Carnegie Hall. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. She is a recipient of a 2010 Opera Honors Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2013, she received a Kennedy Center Honor.
Daniel Brühl, born Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo on June 16, 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is an actor. The son of a Brazilian-born German TV producer Hanno Brühl and a Spaniard teacher mother, he was raised in Spain and Cologne, Germany. Brought up in a fully multilingual home, he speaks German, Spanish, English, French and Catalán. Brühl began acting at a young age and made his acting debut in 1995 as street kid Benji in the soap opera "Verbotene Liebe" ("Forbidden Love"). His international breakthrough role came in 2003 as Alex Kerner in the Golden Globe-nominated film Good Bye, Lenin!, which reached an estimated six million cinema-goers worldwide. In 2003, he won the European Film Academy award trophies for Best Actor (Critics/Audience Awards) for the role. He made his English-speaking film debut in the 2004 Ladies in Lavender, starring alongside British acting legends Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. He featured as Lieutenant Horstmayer, a central character in the 2005 film Joyeux Noël, a trilingual World War I film based on the experiences of French, German and Scottish soldiers during the Christmas truce of 1914. The film shows his linguistic ability as he ably communicates in German, French and English throughout. In June 2006, he made a cameo appearance in Two Days in Paris, a romantic comedy film which was directed by French actress Julie Delpy. In September 2006 his Cannes-nominated film Salvador (Puig Antich) premiered in Spain. In the film he played Salvador Puig Antich, a Catalán anarchist executed during the Franco era. In 2007 he appeared in a small role in the film The Bourne Ultimatum. He was further introduced to mainstream U.S. audiences in the role of Frederik Zoller, a German war hero in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, starring Brad Pitt, which premiered at Cannes 2009. He, and his co-stars won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2009, he also starred in Julie Delpy's third directorial film The Countess. Later that year he decided to become active in a different field of
filmmaking by launching the production company Fouronfilm together with
Film1. He starred in the 2010 British-Russian production In Transit where he played a young Nazi soldier opposite John Malkovich. He also co-starred with Clive Owen in the 2011 horror thriller Intruders, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. In 2013, he co-starred in The Fifth Estate, a film based on the founding of WikiLeaks, where he played Daniel Domscheit-Berg, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange. He is currently (as of this writing) nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for his role as race-car driver Niki Lauda in the Ron Howard-helmed motion picture Rush.
Neil deGrasse Tyson (or Neil deGrasse Tyson Felicianoal estilo latino) was born on October 5, 1958 in New York, New York, USA. Her mother, Sunchita Marie Feliciano Tyson, was a gerontologist, and his father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson, was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for the New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first Director of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited. His maternal grandparents were Puerto Rican. The astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. From 2006 to 2011 he hosted the educational science television show "NOVA ScienceNow" on PBS and has been a frequent guest on "The Daily Show", "The Colbert Report", "Real Time with Bill Maher", and "Jeopardy!" He attended the Bronx High School of Science (1972–76) where he was captain of the wrestling team, and editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal. He had an abiding interest in astronomy
since he was nine years old, following his visit to Pennsylvania and
seeing the stars, saying "it looks like the Hayden Planetarium". He obsessively studied astronomy in his teens, and eventually even
gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the
subject at the age of fifteen. He recalls that "so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that
I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the
universe called me." Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies. He chose to attend Harvard University, however, where he majored in physics. He was a member of the crew team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, eventually lettering in his senior year. In addition to wrestling and rowing in college, he was active in dance, in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in physics from Harvard in 1980 and began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Master of Arts
in astronomy in 1983. In 1985, he won a gold medal with the University
of Texas dance team at a national tournament in the International Latin
Ballroom style. Tyson transferred from the University of Texas at Austin to Columbia University in 1988. At Columbia University, he earned a Master of Philosophy in astrophysics in 1989, and a Doctor of Philosophy in astrophysics in 1991. Dr. Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation. He has held numerous positions at institutions including the University of Maryland, Princeton University, the American Museum of Natural History, and Hayden Planetarium. He has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for the magazine in 2002, Tyson coined the term "Manhattanhenge"
to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with
the cross streets of the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset
visible along unobstructed side streets. As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto
from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center.
Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between
objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants
together, and Pluto with like objects and to get away from simply
counting the planets. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the dwarf planet classification. He has written over a dozen books. He also donates all his income earned from numerous television appearances and appearances as a personal speaker. • Wanna see other editions of "
Betcha Didn't Know...?" Click here.
