Thursday, March 31, 2016

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.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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.

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to "gossip". In this sense, we use it to highlight 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.

José Roldán, Jr., shown at right, booked a role on the television series "Feed The Beast" (AMC).

Elaine Del Valle
 wrote, cast and produced the webseries pilot "The Bodega Series", which has been chosen for the NewFilmmakers New York showcase. The pilot, which co-stars Denia Brache, will be screened on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at the Courthouse Theater at the Anthology Film Archives, located in Manhattan's East Village. For more information, click here. For more information on the webseries, which also stars Cinthya Carmona, Gil Pérez-Abraham, Sandra Elizabeth Rodríguez, Víctor Cruz and Danny Bolero, click here or here.

Judy Torres was featured in an article in the March 2016 issue of Latin Trends magazine where she was highlighted along with TKA/K7, George LaMond, Cynthia, Lisa Lisa, and Coro, among others, as popular artists in the genre of electronic dance music known as freestyle music. To read the article, click on the images at above left and above right.

Larissa Santiago starred in the short film The Darkest Black. Written and directed by Angelita Mendoza and Víctor Capiz), the film is produced by VidiVici Films and Xizmo Media. The film is currently hitting the film festival circuit and it is scheduled to be screened in May at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival (in Cannes, Frnace) as part of the  festival's Short Film Catalog. 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?

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to "gossip". In this sense, we use it to highlight 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.

Marcos Sotomayor, shown at right, will be guest-starring in the upcoming show from sketch comedy troupe Room 28. Titled Do The Right Spring, it will have three performances in April at the June Havoc Theatre in the fashion district of midtown Manhattan. For more information, click here.

The Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York (ACE) announced the winners for the 48th annual Latin ACE Awards. Among the nominees in the various theater categories were a plethora of HOLA members. They are Martha Alzate,
 Iván L. ArgudoEdward AzcorraRicardo Barber, Luis Carlos de La LombanaCaridad del ValleÁngel Gil OrriosGerardo GudiñoAlicia Kaplan, Soledad LópezAna Margarita Martínez-CasadoManuel A. Morán (also see below), Héctor Luis RiveraJeannie Sol
, and Maite Uzal. The awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at the Mexican Festival restaurant, located in Manhattan's Upper West Side. For more information, click here (note that the website is in Spanish).

Teatro SEA and producer Manuel A. Morán 
(also see aboveis presenting its production of Mi superhéroe, Roberto ClementeWritten by Morán and Alejandro Zuleta (with translations by Richard Marino, Kristián Otero Morán and Antonio Valle), and directed by Morán, this musical is currently running at its namesake theater in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Theater (home to HOLA), located in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. For more information, click here.

Marlene Forté acted in a national GEICO commercial which can be seen below (she is the one sitting next to the, um, alligator).





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?

Monday, March 28, 2016

HOLAwave: The Definitive Guide To Being Super Successful

[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.]


The Definitive Guide To Being Super Successful

Okay, I lied… by no means is this the definitive guide to “making it”. I was going for that classic online click-bait type thing. Although I’m currently living the dream, working on the biggest project of my life, I’ll tell you right off the bat, I’m not signed to a single representative right now. I’m laying here in the middle of the night, word-vomiting my positivity, with no clue of what tomorrow may bring for my career. Welcome to the reality of life. It’s not easy, but we have each other and I hope that if I achieve nothing else here, I can inspire a little bit more love and compassion in the world. It’s 2016, the current state of our country is embarrassing and we for damn sure need it.   

• Be Crazy
I think I have to start this off by confirming that, yes, I’m out of my mind. I am crazy enough to believe in myself and believe that I deserve to dream wild, ridiculous dreams without any regard to what’s “socially acceptable”. Now that sounds dangerous, but I believe that if you are willing to find a way to get your work ethic to match your wild dreams, you might just find something special. Delusional would be to believe that I deserve a lead role in an Oscar-winning film by just simply sitting on my ass and farting it into existence. Reality is knowing that I’m not the smartest, most naturally talented person in the world and I have to find a way to realistically achieve those goals. I can’t say this often enough– in NYC I’ve met and been around some of the most incredible, inspiring artists/human beings, and every second that I’m with them in the theater, in class, in life, I’m trying to soak in as much as I can.   

• Ask/Find Help
You know the whole “It takes a village…” talk, it works. I can’t count how many times I’ve made a complete awkward fool of myself trying to honestly ask for help. Most of the time, I’ll probably say something stupid, impatiently wait for the perfect answer and/or creep people out. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world. I’m not perfect, I know that, but I’d rather take the risk of letting people know where I’m at than beat myself up for not speaking from my heart. There’s a lesson to learn with every risk you take and somewhere down the line, if you can prove that you are genuine, you might just find some of the answers you are looking for. Someone will see the real you and do their best to help.   

"Patience is the key to life."
This quote is from the greatest fortune cookie I’ve ever gotten. Although at the time I used it to hit on a girl named Patience in my high school, I think this principle applies to everything I have to say. Have patience, because becoming the artist/person you want to be takes time. In the same vein, asking for help is an immediate action– but the right answer takes time. Don’t pull on strings that aren’t ready to be pulled. Don’t go up to the successful actor with the incredible agent, when you don’t have a credit to your name, and demand that they get you a meeting. When the time is right, things will work themselves out. In the past two years, I beat myself into my first real fit of depression obsessing over what could have been, only to realize that all those jobs I didn’t get, led me to be prepared for the fair shot I finally got with this show, my current project [the BBC One television series "My Mother and Other Strangers"].
 
• Self-Preservation
If you didn’t already know this, congratulations, you played yourself. Establishing yourself in any new business venture is incredibly difficult. Find a way to make your health and sanity a priority. Not only will you probably come close to starving, but there is a world of negativity out there that will try to break you. People will dump their egos, bad experiences and pure "haterade" on you just to make themselves feel better. Be strong, be bold, be confident. The actor Bryan Cranston said something along the lines of the fact that, in the acting business,  you need to be willing to be the player with the ball in the last seconds of the game, ready to take the final shot. I found boxing and relate it to my every day life. I know I’m not made to be a world champion fighter but I’ve been tossed around the ring enough to know that no circumstance in this world can hurt me worse than actual punches. Find what builds you up, keep your chin tucked and learn to be scrappy.


We can call this “Part One” of my over-the-top self-help, Tony Robbins rant, but the truth is I don’t have all the answers. As performers, WE DON’T KNOW. That’s the beauty of the journey. Only you can see through the lens you’ve been given. Enjoy it. Take the pain, the joy, the struggle and add it to your arsenal of life experience. If you’ve made it this far into this article, I’m proud of you (hell, I’m proud of myself). This is much less of a how-to guide and more of the kind of advice I have always looked for. I wear my heart on my sleeve to provide hope that if a random kid from San Antonio, Texas, with absolutely no connections, with no reason to succeed more than anyone else, can stubbornly decide to live his dream…you can too.


Aldo Uribe is a New York-based actor with experience in theater, film, television, commercials and print. Credits include work with INTAR Theatre, "Law & Order: SVU", Labyrinth Theatre Company, Investigation Discovery, Mike Tyson, and more. He is a founding member of INTAR Theatre's Unit 52 and a recipient of The Labyrinth Theater's first fellowship for young artists. He is currently in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, where he is playing the role of Master Sergeant Ray Noches in the upcoming BBC One television series "My Mother And Other Strangers" (written by Barry Devlin and starring Hattie Morahan and Aaron Staton). For more information about him, click here.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to "gossip". In this sense, we use it to highlight 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.

Maite Uzal, shown at right, nabbed the role of Camila Rosario in the Tony Award-winning, Lin-Manuel Miranda-Quiara Alegría Hudes musical In The Heights. The musical, directed by Michael Bello, will run in April and May at The Gallery Players, located in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. She booked the part after receiving the casting notice in the e-mail announcements that HOLA sends to its members and self-submitting. For more information, click here.

Marlene Forté and Nancy Castro star in the short film Times Like These (written and directed by Lorena Gordon and co-starring Jayson Simba, and Ethan Rosero). The film is currently hitting the film festival circuit, where it was recently made an official selection of the Louisiana International Film Festival, taking place in April at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more information, click here or here.

Edna Lee Figueroa, shown at left and also see below, was interviewed in Diálogo, the official publication of the Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR), where she spoke of her life and career and the award she is receiving from the Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York (ACE) for her role in the award-winning feature film Medardo (written by Julio Ortega and directed by Nitsy Grau Crespo). She will receive the award in a ceremony on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at the Mexican Festival Restaurant located in the West Harlem/Upper West Side of Manhattan. She also spoke of her latest project, the Mariana and Camila Monclova play Santa Bárbara es una femme fatale (where she is co-starring, co-directing and co-producing). For more information about that show, please see below. To read the interview, which is in Spanish, click here.

Johary Ramos, shown at right, is doing the choreography for the two-hander Santa Bárbara es una femme fataleWritten by Mariana Monclova and Camila Monclova, the two-hander will co-star and be co-produced and co-directed by Edna Lee Figueroa (also see above) and Edmi De Jesús for Producciones El Barrio. The play will have its NYC premiere in April as part of the first annual Festival de Comedias TEBA, presented by the Teatro Experimental Blue Amigos at the Broadway Blackbox Theater in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.

Sebastian Stimman co-created, wrote and is starring in the horror webseries "Apartment 34" (produced by B1o Entertainment and directed by Pierre Taisne), which is currently in production.


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 highlight 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.

Liza Colón-Zayas, shown at right, is currently shooting the feature film Collateral Beauty (written by Allan Loeb and directed by David Frankel). The film stars Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Jonah Hill, Michael Peña, Enrique Murciano, Naomie Harris, and Ann Dowd, and is scheduled for release in U.S. theaters on Friday, December 16, 2016.

Carla Caraballo and Jeannie Sol are acting in the play In Defense of Glitter and Rainbows. Written by Viviann True Rodríguez and directed by Andrés Chulisi Rodríguez, it will run in June at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center (MMAC), located in Manhattan's West Side.

Rhina Valentín, shown at left, and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney are performing in the cabaret show The "PHAT" Pack (Pretty Hot and Tempting). Created by Valentín and Stickney, the show is produced by Advocates for Diversity in the Arts and La Reina Del Barrio, and will have a performance on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at the world famous Ashford & Simpson's Sugar Bar in Manhattan's West Side. For more information on the performance, click here or here.

Greta Quispe just completed a run playing the title character in Elvira - The Immigration Play. Written by Jessica Carmona and directed by Misti B. Wills, the production took place in March at the Kumble Theater in Long Island University Brooklyn campus.


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?

Friday, March 25, 2016

HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to "gossip". In this sense, we use it to highlight 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 Teatro Experimental Blue Amigos (TEBA) is presenting the first annual Festival de Comedias TEBA, taking place April 10-24, 2016 at the Broadway Blackbox Theater in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood. This year's festival is dedicated to the actress, writer, director, journalist and producer Cecill VillarA list of the productions is below. HOLA members are shown in boldface.

Maduritas, macrobióticas, y multiorgásmicas
Written by Cristián Cortez Galecio
Directed  by Franco Galecio
Produced by Fragal
With Kathy Tejada, Fior Marte, Melba Miranda

Santa Bárbara es una femme fatale
Written by Mariana and Camila Monclova
Directed by Edna Lee Figueroa and Edmi De Jesús
Produced by E
dna Lee Figueroa and Edmi De Jesús for Producciones El Barrio
With Edna Lee Figueroa and Edmi De Jesús 

• Q.E.P.D. (Que en paz descansen)
Written by José Martinez Queirolo
Directed by Iván L. Argudo
Produced by Teatro Vanguardia

With 
Ivan L. Argudo and Aileene Pérez 


• 2 veces 2+ 1
Written by 
Julie de Grandy

Directed by George Riverón
Produced by Teatro Del Aire
With Natalia Ivana Escobar, Sandor Juan, Úrsula Tinoco, Léster Arellano, Victor Alfonso

• Que Bárbara
Written and directed by Yoshvani Medina 

Produced by ArtSpoken
With Barby Ganesh

Ya viene abuela

Written by Dinorah Coronado 
Directed by Raúl Rivera
Produced by Teatro Coronado 

With Olga Camil, Helen Rodríguez, Digna Carvajal, Pedro Vargas, Jorge Nieto and Gloria Almázar

• Cama para tres 

Adapted by Elías Balladares (from a play by J.C. Garccione)
Directed by Cecill Villar

Produced by Compañía de Comedias Cecill Villar
With Cecill Villar, Edison Carrera, Ingrit Pérez, Aksel Tang, Piedad Castaño

Carne
Written by Maikel Chávez 
Directed by Erom Jimmy 
Produced by Miami Factory Theatre
With Héctor Alejandro González, Rosabel Ceballes, Miriam Bermúdez, Monica Bermúdez, Jessica Mesa

In addition, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, the festival will have a panel titled, "¿Por qué escribimos comedia?", and will consist of four Latino playwrights based in New York– Dinorah Coronado, Pablo García Gámez, Franco Galecio, and Pedro R. Monge Rafuls.

For more information about 
the first annual Festival de Comedias TEBAdedicated to the actress, writer, director, journalist and producer Cecill Villar, and taking place April 10-24, 2016 at the Broadway Blackbox Theater in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, click here or 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?