NALIP-Tío Louie-HOLA-ULP Holiday Fiesta

PRIME LATINO MEDIA SALON

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 from 6-10PM

New York’s only monthly series for Latino multimedia-makers & actors

2013 programs featured projects and insights from some of the best Latino artists producing webisodes, documentaries and narratives.

Join us in celebrating at our annual

HOLIDAY FIESTA

As we begin to wrap up the year, take stock of what transpired and assess what lies ahead; let’s count our blessings and industry networking relationships forged this year and over the years~~ 'cause heaven knows we can’t do it alone. So you can only kick off a new and good year, the way the preceding year ends. Join us to ring in the old and welcome prospects for 2014 in full Latino style!

Date & Program Schedule: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 from 6-10PM

·   Host: TÍO LOUIE/Louis E. Perego Moreno, President, Skyline Features

FREE ADMISSION (RSVP required)-- Visit http://holidayfiestaplm.eventbrite.com.

Venue & location: Bleecker Heights Sports Bar, 296 Bleecker Street @ 7^th Avenue (enter thru FIVE GUYS Burger Joint and take stairs up). Cash bar.

Subway/Bus: 1 to Christopher St./A, B, C, D, E, F, M to West 4th St.; M8, M20

Food can be ordered and brought up from Five Guys, John’s Pizza or Soy Sake (Asian vegetarian food).

Complimentary Holiday portraits: Photos by Yahtsy.

Become a member of:

·       National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP)

             www.nalip.org

·       Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) www.hellohola.org

·       United Latino Professionals (ULP) http://www.unitedlatinoprofessionals.org

Of Latinas and the Word "Spitfire"

Jennifer Farrar of the Associated Press recently reviewed a production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Classic Stage Company. A quote from her review is printed below.

[Director Téa Alagić] spices up the story of two feuding families with Spanish interjections, dynamically choreographed fight scenes, and a flamboyant performance by Daphne Rubin-Vega, who comically portrays the Nurse as a flouncing Latina spitfire in huge platform shoes. [Boldface added.]

Tony-nominated performer Daphne Rubin-Vega, at left,
with Elizabeth Olsen in the CSC production of Romeo and
Juliet (directed by Téa Alagić). Photo by Joan Marcus.

Why must every Latina be referred to as a "spitfire" when she seems to be loud, not be docile, or (eek!) express an opinion? Flamboyance is one thing, but I have only ever heard the word "spitfire" used to describe Latinas, which in and of itself is a form of ignorance or discrimination or racism. (The same way "dragon lady" is used for Asian women or "sassy mama" for African American women.) At the very least, it's lazy writing. I have never seen an Asian spitfire, nor an African American spitfire, nor a Caucasian spitfire.

These kinds of words make people who are not Caucasian seem like just the "exotic other", which can be used to make people of color seem "less than" Caucasians. It's not like white people are written about in reviews as "moving across the stage in rhythmless grace". Not because it is true nor false, nor because it is offensive (which it is), but because NO ONE writes like that. I understand that a writer would want to highlight a person for some special quality, but to go to one's ethnicity as a guide to describe that person is just dumb and really not necessary. The word "spitfire" (and words like it) seem to be societally acceptable replacements for demeaning, inflammatory and discriminatory (some might say racist) terms.

The actor who played Romeo in the above production, Julian Cihi, is Japanese-born; luckily no reference was made to his Asian heritage when describing his portrayal of Romeo (the production and the dispute between the two families were not seemingly based on racial divisions; even if it did, why go there with the word "spitfire"?). Daphne Rubin-Vega is a very talented actor, singer-songwriter with two Tony nominations to her credit. Did she deserve to be relegated to being called "a spitfire"? Do any Latinas?

For some other examples of words (specifically adjectives) that are used to describe Latinas, check out Tanisha Love Ramírez's blog in Cosmopolitan, by clicking here. 

The Charm of Bobby Cannavale

Check out this profile by Luis Reyes of Latin Heat about two-time Tony nominee, two-time Emmy Award winner (including a win in 2013 for playing Gyp Rossetti in HBO's "Boardwalk Empire", shown at right) and 2013 HOLA Awards honoree Bobby Cannavale by clicking here.

Fusion, English-language network for Latinos created by ABC and Univision, Launches

Fusion, the English-language cable television network joint venture of ABC and Univision, launched last month, on Monday evening, October 28, 2013 at 6:57pm EST. With 16 to 30 year old Latino millennials and their BFF’s as their target, the latest cable network is hoping their mix of news, pop culture and satire television shows will have what it takes to lure this coveted audience to their channel.

As a way to bring attention to the network’s launch, the two biggest morning shows in America joined forces with Fusion for an unprecedented three-way simulcast in two languages. ABC’s "Good Morning America" and Univision’s "Despierta América (Wake Up America)" “fused” for a day to celebrate the launch of the new cable network Fusion, beginning the following Monday at 7am.

The morning megaevent saw Karla Martínez and Raúl González of "Despierta América" joining the "Good Morning America" team live in New York's Times Square while ABC’s Lara Spencer and Sam Champion traveled to Miami to be live from the "Despierta América" set.  While on the set of Fusion’s "Morning Show", hosts Pedro Andrade, Mariana Atencio and Yannis Pappas joined the festivities at "Despierta América" to mark the first time the three morning show broadcast together in two languages (English/Spanish).

For more information about this megaevent between the three networks and more information on Fusion's network offerings, read the Luis Reyes blog in Latin Heat by clicking here.

El Rey Network and "From Dusk Till Dawn The Series", Both From Filmmaker/Producer Robert Rodríguez, To Premiere in December 2013

Coming on December 2013 is the long awaited launch of the Robert Rodríguez/FactoryMade Venture cable network El Rey Network. Originally geared towards English-speaking Latinos, the powers that be decided that they would widen their target market to include all millennials.

El Rey was one of the minority-owned networks that were guaranteed a national carriage deal on Comcast Corp. as part of the FCC’s conditions for approving the 2011 buyout of NBCUniversal. Earlier this year Univision announced they had made a strategic investment in the newbie cabler.

Initially, programming for El Rey will consist of a mix of reality, scripted action and animated series, movies, music and sports programming, with the first original series for the network announced last week, "From Dusk Till Dawn The Series". Acquired programming it is said to include a slate of movies and television shows selected by Rodríguez.

Rodríguez originally directed the "From Dusk Till Dawn The Series" adaptation of the 1996 cult film by the same name. The television series is currently shooting in Rodríguez’s hometown of Austin, Texas, and is expected to debut next month when the network launches.

For more information about El Rey Network, read the blog by Bel Hernández of Latin Heat by clicking here.

For more information about "From Dusk Till Dawn The Series", the television series adaptation of the Rodríguez-helmed film From Dusk Till Dawn, read the blog by Bel Hernández of Latin Heat 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.

Tony Plana, shown at right, will be starring opposite Armando Riesco, Anthony Chisholm, Elizabeth Rodríguez, Dariush Kashani and Annapurna Sriram in 2013 HOLA Awards recipient Quiara Alegría Hudes's play The Happiest Song Plays Last. Directed by Tony Award winner Rubén Santiago Hudson, the play is the third and final part of the playwright's Elliot trilogy (the first two plays, Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue and Water By The Spoonful also boast HOLA Award winners). The production is scheduled in February and March at Second Stage Theatre (located in the theater district of midtown Manhattan). For more information about this production, click here or here.

J.W. Cortés nabbed a role in the MTV pilot "Eye Candy", starring Victoria Justice.

2013 HOLA Awards recipient José Roldán, Jr. performed his HOLA Award-winning solo show Father Forgive Me For I Have Sinned (directed by Dante Albertie) to a sold out crowd at Lehman College's Lovinger Theatre (located in the Bedford Park area of the Bronx). For more information, click here or here.

The Premio Arte 2013 ceremony was held on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at the HSA-UWC in midtown Manhattan and hosted by Tony Rodríguez and Trinidad Alcorta. Winners included Lucio Fernández (with two awards), 2013 HOLA recipient Elena Mohedano, 2013 HOLA Awards recipient Ernesto De Villa Bejjani, Eduardo Leáñez, 2013 HOLA Awards recipient América Barrera and 2013 HOLA Awards recipient Valeria Solomonoff. Special recognition awards were given to a trio of 2013 HOLA Awards recipients: Edison Carrera, Alicia Kaplan and Héctor Luis Rivera, of Teatro Tocando Puertas, Danisarte and TEBA, respectively; as well as special awards for Inma Heredia and 2013 HOLA Awards recipient Juan Villarreal. For more information, click here.

Miriam  Colón was interviewed on "Cafecito" (NBC Latino). To see the interview, which covers her career as an actress and producer of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. To see the interview, click here.

Manuel A. Morán was interviewed by Lynda Baquero of "Visiones" (NBC), where he spoke about the upcoming productions of his theater company, Society of the Educational Arts (SEA), which is celebrating its 28th season. To see the interview, 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?

Mexico Cinema Crosses the Border With ‘Instructions,’ ‘Nobles’

Check out this blog by John Hopewell and James Young of Variety highlighting the success of Mexican films We Are The Nobles (directed by Gaz Alazraki) and Instructions Not Included (directed by Eugenio Derbez), the latter also a big hit in the United States, by clicking here.