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 Facebook, Twitter 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.

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.

J.W. Cortés, shown at right, was profiled by Kevin Scholla of the Breitbart blog, where his recurring role as Detective Álvarez in the Fox television series "Gotham" was highlighted. To read the article, click here.

Manny Alfaro and A.B. Lugo booked roles in the feature film St. Nicholas (written by AR García and directed by José A. Esquea).

Pablo Andrade, shown at left, was profiled in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, where it spoke of his career and his recent awards (for acting in Pablo García Gámez's play Noche tan linda, presented in New York in June 2014), including a 2014 HOLA Award. To read the blog, which is in Spanish, click here.

Laura Riveros is one of the performers in the second George Sand Invitational One-Minute Play Festival. Taking place in January and February 2015, the evening of 68 short plays will take place at City Center Stage II, located near the Columbus Circle area of 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?

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.

Alberto Bonilla, shown at right, was nominated for a Queens Kudos Award for his direction of William Shakespeare's Richard III (which took place at The Secret Theatre, located in the Long Island City area of Queens). It was one of several award nominations (presented by the TimesLedger) that the production received. For more information, click here.

Due to popular demand, the critically acclaimed Repertorio Español production of Félix Lope de Vega's El loco por fuerza is returning for a limited engagement from January through March 2015 at the theater (located in the Rose Hill section of Manhattan). The play, directed by Leyma López received several 2014 HOLA Awards and will feature Pablo Andrade, Idalmis García, Elena Mohedano and Fermín Suárez in the cast. For more information, click here.

Jason Torres was cast in Call Me, Mr. Nelson? The feature film is written and will be directed by Emilio Rosa, and is scheduled to be filmed in spring 2015 in New York City and Miami.

Chris Morriss stars in the film Deliria (written and directed by Ian O'Brien). The film is available for rent or to own via VHX on demand. For more information, click here. A trailer for the film can be seen below.

Deliria trailer #2 from Trek North Films on Vimeo.

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?

Meet Disney's First Latina Princess – Princess Elena of Avalor

Princess Elena of Avalor.

Disney's finally has a Latina princess– meet Princess Elena of Avalor.

She will be introduced in an episode of the Disney Junior show "Sofia The First". When that program was first announced, there was confusion as to whether Princess Sofia was Latina. However, Disney later clarified that she was not Latina, but that they had a Latina princess show in development. That show will be for Princess Elena of Avalor. After her debut in "Sofia The First", she will have her own program (also on the Disney Junior network), tentatively titled "Elena of Avalor", and scheduled to debut on the network in 2016.

Aimee Carrero.

Please note that she is not even remotely the first Latina/Hispanic princess in real life. Not including Princess Leonor of Asturias (and any of the previous princesses of the Iberian peninsula), there are a few other Latina/Hispanic princesses in Europe. They include Princess Ángela of Liechtenstein (originally from Panamá) and Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg (whose mother, the Grand Duchess María Teresa of Luxembourg, is Cuban). One might also count the daughters of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, née Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in Argentina (Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange; and princesses Alexia and Ariane) as current Latina princesses.

Princess Elena of Avalor will be voiced by actress Aimee Carrero, currently playing Sofía Rodríguez in the ABC Family program "Young & Hungry". 

For more information about Princess Elena of Avalor, click here. 

John Leguizamo on Diversity and Creating Roles For Himself

"I didn’t want to be a drug dealer or a murderer for the rest of my life. That’s not me, that’s not my people." –Tony-nominated actor/writer JOHN LEGUIZAMO, on why he started to write roles for himself, referring to the industry as "Hollywouldn't" (as opposed to Hollywood) when he found a dearth of interesting roles, instead finding the handful of stereotypical roles for Latinos being offered to him

Post by John Leguizamo.

Hollywood Has A Blind Spot on Diversity

Check out Rubén Navarrete's article in his syndicated column about diversity and the Academy Awards by clicking here.

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.

Johanna Tolentino, shown at right, booked a role in the new feature film Creed. Written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington and directed by Coogler, it stars Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan and is the latest chapter in the Rocky Balboa film saga. In this film, Rocky Balboa becomes a mentor and coach to the grandson of his friend (and former rival) Apollo Creed. The film is scheduled for release in 2016.

Anthony Ruiz just shot the lead role in the film short Hasta mañana. Written and directed by Pedro Bermúdez, it was shot in Connecticut and also starred Susanna Guzmán. The film is scheduled to hit the film festival circuit later this year.

Lucio Fernández, shown at left with a bust of José Martí Pérez, received a special recognition from the Hijos y Amigos de Fomento association in Union City, New Jersey on the anniversary of the birth of Cuban national hero José Martí Pérez for all his work supporting the Cuban and Hispanic communities.

Caridad de la Luz (also known by her nom de poésie et de musique La Bruja) and Zahaira Curiel will be guest performers in the next Room 28 sketch comedy troupe performance, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, February 13, 2015 and Saturday, February 14, 2015 at The Poet's Den Theater, located in Manhattan's El Barrio neighborhood.

Omar Pérez is directing In 5 Beats! Created by Pérez and the ensemble, it is a collision of beatboxers (hip hop vocal percussionists) and actors and features Kid Lucky, Kaila Mullady, Flaco Navaja and Antonio Vargas in the cast. The show will take place in February at Pregones Theater, located in the Mott Haven area of the South Bronx. For more information, click here.

J.F. Seary will be performing in Of Mothers and Men. Written and directed by Crystal Shaniece Román, the play will take place in February and March in The Bridge Theater at Shetler Studios, 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?

BIRDMAN wins Producers Guild Awards' Top Honor

Michael Keaton in a scene
from Birdman.

Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) won the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Best Movie— elevating its status as an awards-season front runner since the last seven PGA winners have gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The award went to the film's producers— director/co-screenwriter Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole.

The Producers Guild of America Award was originally established in 1990 by the PGA in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product. For more information (and to find out the 2015 winners and nominees), click here or here.

"Orange is the New Black" Reigns Supreme at the SAG Awards

SAG Award winners Selenis Leyva,
Dascha Polanco, Jackie Cruz
and Jessica Pimentel of Netflix's
"Orange Is The New Black".

SAG-AFTRA presented its coveted Actor statuettes for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2014 at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in ceremonies attended by film and television’s leading actors, held Sunday, January 25, 2015 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California.

Among the Latinos receiving an award were the Latina cast members of "Orange is the New Black" (Jackie Cruz, Diane Guerrero, Selenis Leyva, Jessica Pimentel, Dascha Polanco, and Elizabeth Rodríguez), which received the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (the closest approximation of a Best Comedy Series honor). They joined Uzo Aduba (who also won an Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series), Jason Biggs, Danielle Brooks, Laverne Cox, Catherine Curtin, Lea DeLaria, Beth Fowler, Yvette Freeman, Germar Terrell Gardner, Kimiko Glenn, Annie Golden, Michael J. Harne, Vicky Jeudy, Julie Lake, Lauren Lapkus, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning, Joel Marsh Garland, Matt McGorry, Adrienne C. Moore, Kate Mulgrew, Emma Myles, Alysia Reiner, Judith Roberts, Barbara Rosenblatt, Nick Sandow, Abigail Savage, Taylor Schilling, Constance Shulman, Dale Soules, Yael Stone, Lorraine Toussaint, Lin Tucci, and Samira Wiley in receiving this honor for the critically acclaimed hit Netflix series.

Of the top industry honors presented to actors, only the SAG Awards are selected entirely by 111,228 performers' peers in SAG-AFTRA. The SAG Awards were the first televised awards show to acknowledge the work of union members. For more information, click here.

HOLAwave: An Actor Inquires – Protecting Yourself If You Are A Nonunion Actor

[HOLAwave represents a series of guest blogs by industry insiders giving informative and educational tidbits for the Latino performer. They can range from acting and auditioning advice, tech tips, legal advice, marketing, producing tips, and so on. Get caught up in the wave– the HOLAwave.]

AN ACTOR INQUIRES

An Actor Inquires is a section devoted to actors and the questions they have about the business and legal aspects of the film and theatre industry. In a nod to Stanislavski and his book, An Actor Prepares, these blog posts are meant to prepare you about the other equally important areas of the acting profession. A talented actor who knows his or her craft AND the business is a force to be reckoned with. If you have questions for future postings, please e-mail them here.

“If I choose to work in a nonunion film (one that is not SAG-AFTRA), what key contract terms or clauses should I look out for to protect myself?”

Here’s something that any working actor can tell you: there are many more nonunion roles than there are SAG-AFTRA roles. So, actors, in a quest to build their credits, gain experience, make themselves visible and hone their craft will take on a nonunion role if they find it in their interest to do so. Whether they should or not is another story but assuming they do there are some things an actor should look out for to protect themselves from unscrupulous or sleazy producers.

• Put it in writing. While it is true that oral agreements are enforceable, if it’s not on paper, your job to prove you were promised something for your work in a production becomes that much harder. So make sure that anything you are promised winds up in the document you sign. If it’s not, then don’t sign until it is.

• If the contract has a clause that your image or work can be used in whatever form for perpetuity understand that that means they can do anything they want with the images they shoot of you. Forever. Ask that it be limited to non-pornographic purposes or to be used ONLY for the production or the marketing of that production. If they use it for some other project, you should be paid for that, in my opinion.

• In addition, producers tend to add clauses that state that your work or image can be used in “any medium known or unknown throughout the universe” (or something like that), which gives them the right to use your work or image in any medium without having to pay you extra for it (besides any aforementioned compensation or residuals, if any, already stated in the contract).

• Also beware of any audition release forms that give a producer the right to use your audition footage in whatever way they wish.  It’s one thing to have the acting you did for a movie appear in a trailer (which is to be expected), but your acting for an audition is less polished and more intimate which means you might not want that footage released to the public.

• Pay attention to clauses that limit what future work you can do because of a conflict. This could come up in cases where you work in a commercial for a particular product/service and the clause is put in there to prevent you from working for a competitor product/service. Even though you might not be able to change this clause, at least understand that it means you can’t work for a competitor’s commercial. However, to be fair, this clause should be limited to a certain time period and geographical area.

• If the script calls for sex or nudity, check to see if the contract provides for a clause with restrictions on who can be on the set during the shoot, how the footage is to be used and whether or not nudity/semi-nudity is required.

When it comes to contracts, the first thing is awareness; actors need to know what they are signing. The second thing is whether or not the actor can get something changed or removed from a contract. The truth is that an actor’s ability to have clauses modified or removed comes down to how much leverage the actor has. Famous actors, actors desired by producers to play a specific role and actors demanded by certain investors for a role all have leverage and can get their way if they ask for it. However, even if you don’t have that kind of leverage, if you feel strongly about something, don’t be afraid to speak up. You’d be surprised to know how much a director or producer is willing to address your concerns. And if they don’t, then at the end of they day, you don’t have to sign the contract. It all depends on how much you want that role.

Danny Jiminian is an attorney who specializes in Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property, Business Law and Nonprofits and practices out of New York. For a free consultation, reach him at his website.

Matter included here or in linked websites may not be current. It is advisable to consult with a competent professional before relying on any written commentary. No attorney client relationship is established by the viewing, use, or communication in any manner through this web site. Nothing on this blog or blog posting is official legal advice; it's just information and opinion. If you want to, you can visit my professional website and hire me by clicking here.