Lin-Manuel Miranda Says We Should Stop Complaining and Write Our Own Roles in Hollywood

Check out the article by Núria Net of Univision News and interview with writer-performer and Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (who is currently represented on Broadway with Bring It On: The Musical, which he co-wrote the lyrics and music) by clicking here.

2012 HOLA Awards Announcement Ceremony

Save the Date

HOLA AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENT CEREMONY

Mark your calendars and join us on Monday, August 13, 2012 from 5:30PM to 7PM at the Spanish Repertory Theater (Repertorio Español), located at 138 East 27th Street (bet. Lexington and Third avenues), NYC, as we announce the recipients of the 2012 HOLA Awards.

The HOLA Awards Gala honors outstanding achievement by Latinos in arts and entertainment. This year will mark the 13th annual edition.

Call (212) 253-1015 to reserve. Limited seating. Doors open at 5PM.

The 2012 HOLA Awards will take place on Monday, October 8, 2012. Photo credit: Anthony Ruiz/ARuiz Photography.

Networks Struggle to Appeal to Hispanics

Check out this article by Tanzina Vega and Bill Carter (the former is a previous HOLA Award winner) in The New York Times regarding how the major networks are trying to negotiate the balance between appealing to Hispanic audiences and not offending them with regards to sterotyping by clicking here.

At above right: Ed O'Neill and Sofía Vergara, from left to right, in character as Jay Pritchett and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in ABC's highly-rated sitcom "Modern Family." Photograph by Peter Hopper Stone/ABC.

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 and performance gigs. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface.

Laura Patalano, shown at right, is one of the stars of the movie Mosquita y Mari (written and directed by Aurora Guerrero), which is now in limited release. The movie just earned a rave review from The New York Times. To read the review, click here. For more about the film, click here. She also wrapped up work (opposite Katey Sagal) for "Sons of Anarchy" (FX).

José Yenque, shown at left, has been quite busy as of late. He has just been nominated for an Imagen Award for his role as DEA agent Enrique "Kike" Cámara in the film Miss Bala (written and directed by Gerardo Naranjo). He will start filming the Blake Freeman feature film comedy Mucho Dinero, where he will star opposite Eddie Griffin, Casper Van Dien and Danny Trejo. In addition, the short film he produced, Botes al amanecer (directed by Nikki Roberts), will be screened at the New York International Latino Film Festival (NYILFF) in August at the Clearview Cinemas in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. For more information, click here.

Jeannie Sol will be singing at Mamajuana Café (located in Manhattan's Upper West Side) on Monday, August 6, 2012. She will then perform her cabaret, Jeannie Sol and Friends, on August 24 and 25, 2012 at Teatro LATEA, located in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. Special guests include Andrés Chulisi Rodríguez, Janderie González, Anthony Ruiz, Marilyn Torres, Rokafella, Advocate of Wordz [sic] and others. For more information, click here.

Basil Rojas has just joined the cast of Tango Fever. Written by Meri Wallace and directed by José A. Esquea, the show will star Esteban Domenichini, Mariana Parma and Nelson Landrieu and run in September and October at Teatro LATEA, located in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. 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 are not an HOLA member, why not join? If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one?

Industry Players on the State of Business for Latino Actors

Check out this fantastic article reported by Daniel Lehman in Back Stage and its Latino issue regarding industry players on the state of business for Latino actors and featuring quotes from SAG-AFTRA Interim National Director of Affirmative Action/Diversity Adam Moore, casting director Sig De Miguel and HOLA Executive Director Manny Alfaro and others 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 and performance gigs. The names of HOLA members and Friends of HOLA are listed below in boldface.

Eddie Valdés, shown at right, wrote, directed and starred in the short film Contéstame (Answer Me!), for which he won Best Actor Award from the Cinefiesta Puerto Rico Film Festival. For more information, click here.

Arisleyda Lombert booked an episode of "El rostro de la venganza" (Telemundo).

Jeannie Sol will be performing at a celebration/fundraiser for La Casita Comunal de Sunset Park in mid-August in La Casita's Sunset Park, Brooklyn headquarters.

Milteri Tucker will be performing with Bombazo Dance Company twice in August. First, she will be at Las Caras Lindas de Mi Gente Negra, a tribute to the late composer Tite Curet Alonso, as part of Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors. The performance will take place on August 5, 2012 at Damrosch Park in the Lincoln Center complex in Manhattan's West Side. For more information, click here. They will also be performing at Queens Museum on August 24, 2012 in the Flushing area of Queens. For more information, click here. Both events are free.

Also happening at Queens Museum on August 24, 2012 (see above), will be a screening of the movie Cayo. Directed by Vicente Juarbe, it stars Kamar de los Reyes, Roselyn Sánchez and Iván Camilo. For more information, click here.

LaMicro Theater is presenting City Non-Specific. An ensemble-created dance-theater-multimedia piece stars Pietro González, Hazuki Homma, Berioska Ipinza and Sonia Portugal and will take place in August as part of the New York International Fringe Festival (fringeNYC) at the New School for Drama Theater in Manhattan's West Village. For more information, click here, 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 are not an HOLA member, why not join? If you are not a Friend of HOLA, why not become one?

SAG-AFTRA Receives AFL-CIO Charter

Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (August 1, 2012) — SAG-AFTRA today received a new, national charter from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. SAG-AFTRA joins 55 other unions, comprising more than 12 million working men and women, under the AFL-CIO banner.

"With workers’ rights under attack nationwide, this charter represents a bright spot in the union movement and  we are proud to add our new, unified voice in support of all workers in this country,” said SAG-AFTRA Co-President Roberta Reardon. “We are delighted to join with workers across the nation, and reaffirm the mission we share with the AFL-CIO: to ensure workers are treated fairly.”

“This is a terrific capstone to the historic merger of SAG and AFTRA and we are proud to receive a charter from America’s labor federation, the AFL-CIO, and we thank President Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, and the members of the Executive Council,” said SAG-AFTRA Co-President Ken Howard. “This charter represents the start of a new chapter for our organization, facing new challenges in a changing entertainment and media landscape, but also presenting limitless opportunities.”

“Today the AFL-CIO celebrates a new charter for a newly created union, SAG-AFTRA, that brings together two great unions committed to changing to meet the needs of the future,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “The AFL-CIO commends the members and leaders for a process that gave every member a chance to weigh in — it’s union democracy at its best. I look forward to the continued leadership of SAG-AFTRA Co-Presidents Ken Howard and Roberta Reardon on the AFL-CIO Executive Council.”

“A lot of people don’t realize what SAG-AFTRA does,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White. “As the union that represents the world’s most recognizable faces, it’s easy to forget that our main focus is to ensure that middle-class working performers are provided fair compensation and safe working conditions.

“Only a small fraction of our 165,000 members are high-profile stars, the rest are dedicated professionals who work hard to feed their families and pay their mortgages. As workers in any other industry, they deserve the rights and protections that only a labor union provides.”

The charter was presented at the morning session of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Washington, D.C., ushering in a new era for the union movement and the entertainment and media industries. It authorizes the new union “to conduct the affairs of said union in furtherance of the best interest of the AFL-CIO and of labor in general.” SAG and AFTRA received their first charters through the Associated Actors and Artistes of America in the mid-1930s. AFTRA received its direct charter on February 3, 2008.

For decades, Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have been fighting for workplace protections for actors, stunt performers, broadcasters and all entertainment and media performers working in front of a camera or behind a microphone.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was created (as AFRA) in August 1937 with the support of top radio stars. The union began with 400 members in two Locals, and by December of that year, the ranks had swelled to 2,000 and the union covered 90 percent of all radio artists in key broadcast cities. In 1952, AFRA merged with the Television Authority to create AFTRA, and since then, it has covered a wide spectrum of performers, from those who worked on scripted dramas and comedies in both radio and television to those who provide voices and performance capture for the latest video games.

Screen Actors Guild (SAG) organized in 1933 for the protection of motion picture actors and the betterment of working conditions. Soon, some of the biggest Hollywood stars of the day were supporting the new union, including James Cagney, Eddie Cantor, Joan Crawford, Edward G. Robinson and Fredric March. Over the years, SAG expanded coverage to scripted primetime television and commercial actors as well as non-broadcast, videogame and new media performers. The Guild would go on to mark a number of milestones, including being led by Ronald Reagan, the only U.S. president to have ever previously served as the president of a union.

For more information (including photos), click here.