Karol G Leads Pack of Premios Juventud Award Winners with Five

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Karol G is embracing her juventud victories…

The 33-year-old Colombian superstar tied Peso Pluma for top winner honors at the 21st annual Premios Juventud.

Both Karol G and the 25–year-old Mexican singer-songwriter claimed a total of five awards each.

Karol G won awards in categories like Premios Juventud female artist and best urban album for Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season).

Meanwhile, Peso won best regional Mexican album for Génesis and best urban track, sharing that award with Karol for their collab “Qlona.”

Neither Karol or Peso were at the awards show, which prides itself in speaking to the youth and for showcasing young talent.

This year, the star power was mainly fueled by veterans like Wisin and renowned producer Sergio George, who opened the show with their new salsa song “La Vida Es Una Fiesta.”

Other musical numbers featured Mexican iconic band Los Tigres del Norte, who were one of the Agent of Change honorees of the night, Los Ángeles Azules with Emilia, for a generational balance, Reik and Camila.

But newer acts like Ela Taubert — who won new generation female artist — and Los Esquivel also had a chance to take the stage. In fact, Los Esquivel delivered a riveting set with their electro corrido “Alucin,” as they turned the stage into a mini rave.

Besides the many musical numbers, the show handed out only a few awards throughout the three-hour telecast. Also, viewers were treated to pre-recorded messages by Ángela Aguilar, who sent a shout out from her wedding congratulating Premios Juventud on its 21st anniversary, and Shakira, who was one of last year’s Agent of Change recipients who returned to the event, this time via video, to remind fans and a new generation of artists to always believe in themselves.

Among the best moments of the night was the Fania tribute to celebrate its 60th anniversary, revisiting its salsa classics via a medley.

Because few awards were handed out during the telecast, there weren’t many speech opportunities. But the few that did happen were good and, one in particular, really stood out. Lele Pons shared powerful words when she received the Agent of Change award. “Stop trying to find your happiness in the acceptance of other people who don’t value you, ok? I use my platform to see if I can help people to love themselves and laugh, show cellulite, be you, be transparent,” she said. “Not everybody is going to love you, not everybody has to like you, that’s their problem, not yours. Love yourself, respect yourself, ok? You are enough. I love you.”

Here are the 2024 Premios Juventud winners:

Premios Juventud Male Artist: Carín León
Premios Juventud Female Artist: Karol G
Favorite Group or Duo of The Year: Fuerza Regida
New Generation – Female Artist: Ela Taubert
New Generation – Male Artist: Luar La L
New Generation – Regional Mexican: Xavi
The Best Beatmakers: Bizarrap
The Perfect Collab: “Bellakeo” — Peso Pluma, Anitta
OMG Collaboration: “Esta Vida” – Marshmello, Farruko
Girl Power: “Labios Mordidos” — Kali Uchis, Karol G
My Favorite Dance Track: “Contigo” — Karol G, Tiësto
Best Urban Track: “Qlona” — Karol G, Peso Pluma
Best Urban Mix: “Quema” — Ryan Castro, Peso Pluma, SOG
Best Urban Album: Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season) — Karol G
Best Pop/Urban Song: “Bonita” — Daddy Yankee
Best Pop/Urban Collaboration: “Baby Hello” — Rauw Alejandro, Bizarrap
Best Pop/Urban Album: Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran — Shakira
Tropical Hit: “Bailando Bachata” — Chayanne
Tropical Mix: “Plis” — Camilo y Evaluna Montaner
Best Tropical Album: Llamada Perdida — Prince Royce
Best Regional Mexican Song: “La Diabla” — Xavi
Best Regional Mexican Collaboration: “Lady Gaga” — Peso Pluma, Gabito Ballesteros, Junior H
Best Regional Mexican Fusion: “Según Quién” — Maluma, Carín León
Best Regional Mexican Album: Génesis — Peso Pluma
Creator of the Year: Wendy Guevara
Creator that Inspires Me: Carlos Eduardo Espina
Creator with a Social Cause: Juan González
Best LOL: Karla De La Torre
My Favorite Actor: Daniel Elbittar — El Amor No Tiene Receta
My Favorite Actress: Bárbara de Regil — Cabo
They Make Me Fall In Love: Angelique Boyer, Daniel Elbittar — El Amor Invencible

Arturo Sandoval Among This Year’s Kennedy Center Honors Recipients

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Arturo Sandoval has earned a special national honor…

The 74-year-old Cuban jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero and composer will be among this year’s Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

Sandoval will be recognized alongside director Francis Ford Coppola, rock band Grateful Dead, blues and rock singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt and the venue The Apollo.

While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his friend and mentor and helped him defect from Cuba while on tour with the United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval became an American naturalized citizen in 1998.

His life was the subject of the film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story starring Andy García.

Sandoval has won 10 Grammy Awards, Billboard Awards and one Emmy Award. He performed at the White House and at the 1995 Super Bowl.

Mickey Hart, Billy Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir will be recognized for The Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, died in 1995.

The ceremony will take place on December 8, for broadcast on December 23 on CBS.

This will be the 47th year of the honors, which started in 1978. It’s one of the premiere cultural events of the year in D.C., typically attended by the president and first lady, as well as the chief justice of the Supreme Court and congressional leaders. President Joe Biden has hosted the recipients at a White House ceremony and reception just before the Kennedy Center event. The night before, the State Department also hosts a ceremony for the honorees.

Done+Dusted will produce the ceremony for the third year, in association with ROK Productions.

The first Kennedy Center honorees were Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers and Arthur Rubinstein.

Draco Rosa to Receive The Latin Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Draco Rosa will receive a special honor for his storied career…

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur will be one of the recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award from The Latin Recording Academy, as part of its annual Special Awards presentation.

Draco is among a roster of honorees that include Albita, Lolita Flores, Alejandro Lerner, Los Angeles Azules and Lulu Santos.

Additionally, Puerto Rican composer Ángel “Cucco” Peña and Mexican guitarist Chucho Rincón will receive the Trustees Award.

“It is with great pride that we honor these musical legends who continue redefining our Latin music and heritage, said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating them as part of our Latin GRAMMY 25th anniversary festivities in November.”

According to the Latin Academy, the Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to Latin music and its communities.

Meanwhile, the Trustees Award is given to artists who’ve made “significant contributions to Latin music during their careers in ways other than performance.”

Both are voted on by the Latin Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees.

Draco has evolved from boy band stardom to becoming a rock en español icon and global hitmaker.

He originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s, singing lead on the band’s biggest stateside hit, “Hold Me” and featuring prominently in the accompanying music video.

After leaving the band he moved to Brazil where he released two albums, achieving mainstream success.

Following a brief subsequent stint in California, he returned to New York and joined the band Maggie’s Dream, which split after only one album, allowing him to resume his solo career.

The singer and composer has released numerous albums and has composed multiple songs for Ednita Nazario, Julio Iglesias and former Menudo band-mate, Ricky Martin.

He has also been featured on VH1‘s Behind the Music.

Renowned for her fiery vocal delivery, Albita has been championing Cuban music and tradition since the late ’80s.

Her career in the U.S. has produced success, including multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations and wins.

In 2005, Albita was cast for a major role in the Broadway-produced musical play The Mambo Kings, where she worked for six months to rave reviews.

Daughter of Spanish legends Lola Flores and Antonio “El Pescaílla” González, Lolita Flores has made significant contributions to modern flamenco with her stunning voice and diverse repertoire.

Flores started her career in the early 1970s and with the release of the album Amor, amor and a single of the same name in 1975 she achieved success in her native Spain, as well as in countries in Latin America.

Her songs “Sarandonga,” “Lo voy a divider” and “Si la vida son dos días,” among others, have become staples in Spanish radio.

In 2002, she won a Goya Award for Best New Actress for her performance in the movie Rencor. Flores has also appeared in several television programs such as Directísimo and Hostal Royal Manzanares. In February 2019, she received the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes.

Hailing from Buenos Aires, Alejandro Federico Lerner was a trailblazer in Argentine rock during the ’70s and is celebrated as a seminal figure in the genre.

From Iztapalapa to the world, Los Ángeles Azules have been instrumental in propelling Mexican cumbia to international acclaim since the ’70s, continually infusing the genre with a Latin alternative twist that keeps it vibrant and relevant.

Lastly, Lulu Santos, a gifted Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer, has enchanted audiences for over five decades with his distinctive contributions to Brazilian music.

The honorees will be celebrated at a private event on Sunday, November 10, in Miami during Latin Grammy Week. As in previous years, Latin Grammy Week will include the Latin Grammy Person of the Year gala, which this year honors Colombian sensation Carlos Vives, the Special Awards ceremony and a Leading Ladies of Entertainment luncheon, among other events.

Nominations for the 2024 Latin Grammys will be announced on September 17, and the awards ceremony will take place on November 14 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

Alfonso Cuarón to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is being recognized for his stellar career…

The 62-year-old Mexican filmmaker, known for award-winning films Gravity and Roma, will receive the 2024 Locarno Film Festival‘s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The five-time Oscar winner will receive the award on Sunday, August 11 in Piazza Grande.

That same day, the audience will have an opportunity to meet the Mexican filmmaker in a panel conversation at Forum Spazio Cinema.

The Locarno tribute will be accompanied by the screening of Alain Tanner’s Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l’an 2000, which was personally selected by Cuarón.

Before the screening of Tanner’s film, Cuarón will discuss its significance both for his own work and film history in general. The conversation will be moderated by Frédéric Maire, director of Cinémathèque Suisse, and is organized in collaboration with Les Films du Camélia.

Cuarón is best known for movies including Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018).

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the festival, said: “Alfonso Cuarón is a visionary author of agile and liberated imaginaries. Combining an experimental spirit with the sweep of great popular writers, he has managed to capture the imagination and hearts of millions of viewers, passing on the same wonder that he himself experienced as a child and teenager basking in the glow of classic Mexican cinema. From coming-of-age novels to science fiction, from melodrama to grand sagas like Harry Potter, Alfonso Cuarón has reinvented himself as an artist with each new film, always in the service of the pleasure of cinema, and has thus created a truly multifaceted body of work.”

Paolo Tizón’s “Night Has Come” Documentary Wins Special Prize at Karlovy Vary Film Festival

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Paolo Tizón is celebrating a special prize…

Following the world premiere of the Peruvian cinematographer and director’s documentary Night Has Come at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Tizon’s film has earned some special recognition.

Night Has Come has been awarded the Proxima Special Jury Prize, which comes with a $10,000 prize, at the festival.

The film centers on a group of young men, many of them teenagers, who sign up for one of the most challenging military training courses in Latin America. The objective is to turn them into fearsome fighters operating in the dangerous VRAEM region, an area plagued by various armed groups, guarding their coca plants and engaged in narcotics trafficking.

“In his absorbing look at the hermetically sealed world of the army, debut director Paolo Tizón paints a portrait of one institution while depicting individual human stories and reflecting on male identity, the potential for self-determination, and a fragile masculinity that stands in striking contrast to the brutal training. Sensitivity alongside violence, beauty alongside vulnerability,” festival programmer Vojtěch Kočárník states in his description.

The film is produced by Diana Castro and executive produced by Tizón. The lead production company is Cinesol Films in Peru, in collaboration with Tupay Cine in Peru, PCM Post in Mexico, and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in Spain.

The film is funded by DAFO, Peru’s Ministry of Culture.

Tizón graduated from Elías Querejeta Film School in Spain. He has directed the short films Sobre el Cerro Lechuza (2020) and Soroborda” (2023), which were screened at international festivals such as San Sebastian in Spain, ULTRAcinema in Mexico, and Al Este de Lima in Peru.

Night Has Come” is his first feature film.

Daniel Brühl to Receive Honorary President’s Award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a presidential honor for Daniel Brühl.

The 46-year-old German-Spanish actor will receive the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Honorary Presidents Award during this year’s edition, which runs from June 28 to July 6.

Brühl is among a list of honorees that includes Viggo Mortensen and Clive Owen.

Brühl, who will receive his honor later during the festival, will screen his directorial debut Next Door.

He has received various accolades, including three European Film Awards and three German Film Awards, along with nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA Award.

He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in Das Weisse Rauschen (2001), Nichts Bereuen (2001) and Vaya con Dios (2002).

His starring role in the German film Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) received widespread recognition and critical acclaim, and garnered him the European Film Award for Best Actor and another German Film Award for Best Actor.^[

The festival has also announced that Benicio del Toro will serve as the main protagonist of the 2024 festival trailer. Each year the festival produces a satirical ‘festival trailer’ that is screened during the opening ceremony. This year’s trailer was written and directed by long-time creator of KVIFF trailers Ivan Zachariáš.

“We filmed with Benicio del Toro in May in Berlin, where he took time out for us while shooting Wes Anderson’s new film. His first response was: ‘It’s a great idea, but we have to be quick.” said Zachariáš. “Benicio was a pro. He immediately understood what I wanted from him, and so we got most of the shots in one go. We were prepared in advance, we marked all the camera positions and lenses before the shoot, and in the end, Benicio himself was surprised at how we managed it all.”

British band Kosheen will perform as part of the opening concert of the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The concert will be free for the public.

Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo’s Series “La mesías” Among Winners at Banff World Media Festival

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo are celebrating rockie victory…

The Banff World Media Festival has revealed the winners of its 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition, with the 39-year-old Spanish actor, director and writer and the 33-year-old Spanish actor, director and writer among the honorees.

Ambrossi and Calvo’s Spanish family thriller series La mesías has won the Drama Series: Non-English Language.

Created, written and directed by Ambrossi and Calvo (‘Los Javis’) that was originally released on Movistar Plus+, the series stars Macarena García, Roger Casamajor, Lola Dueñas, Ana Rujas, Carmen Machi and Albert Pla, among others.

Featuring musical, religious, psychological drama and science fiction elements, the series follows a family torn apart by the matriarch’s religious fanaticism.

The competition saw participation from 30 countries and featured 155 nominees representing 19 countries including USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany and Taiwan.

HBO’s The Last of Us won the Grand Jury Prize and Best English-language Drama Series. Poker Face won Best English-language Comedy Series, Family Guy won Best Animated Series and The Masked Singer won Best Competition Series & Game Show.

The International Program Competition winners include:

Comedy & Variety
The Graham Norton Show
So Television
UK

Competition Series & Game Shows
The Masked Singer
FOX Alternative Entertainment
USA

Docuseries
Boris
Woestijnvis NV
BELGIUM

Lifestyle
Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi
Part2 Pictures
USA

Reality Series
Wild Cooks
Avanti-Toast, Vrai, TVA, Zeste
CANADA

Podcast: Fiction
The Sesame Street Podcast with Foley and Friends
Sesame Workshop, Audible
USA

Podcast: Non-Fiction
The Other Side of the Story (L’autre moitié de l’histoire)
Radio-Canada OHdio
CANADA

Animation: Children
The Sound Collector
Eagle Vs Bat, Enanimation, Mackinnon & Saunders, ITV, RAI, Serious Kids
ITALY, UK

Animation: Preschool
Tabby McTat
Magic Light Pictures
UK

Interactive Children and Youth Content
Weirdwood Manor Vol. 2 – Rise of the Therimancer
Relish Studios, Wasabi Entertainment
CANADA

Live Action: Children
Horrible Histories
Lion Television, BBC, BBC Studios
UK

Live Action: Youth
Sofiy and Her War
Hakka TV
TAIWAN

Arts & Culture
Otto Baxter: Not A F**ing Horror Story
Story Films, Archface Films
UK

Crime & Investigative
Scandalous: Phone Hacking on Trial
Hardcash Production, BBC Panorama
UK

Environmental & Wildlife
Planet Earth III
BBC Studios, BBC America, France Televisions, ZDF, The Open
FRANCE, GERMANY, UK, USA

History & Biography
Lockerbie
Mindhouse Productions, Sky Documentaries
UK

Science & Technology
Deep Sky
Crazy Boat Pictures
USA

Short Form Non-Fiction Series
Out of the Shadows: Born from Rape
BBC News, BBC World Service 100 Women
UK

Social Issues & Current Affairs
The Shamima Begum Story
BBC Current Affairs
UK

Sports Documentary
Gods of Tennis
Mindhouse Productions, BBC Studios
UK

Animated Series
Family Guy
20th Television Animation, Fuzzy Door Productions
USA

Comedy Series: English Language
Poker Face
T-Street, MRC, Animal Pictures, Paramount Global Content Distribution
USA

Comedy Series: Non-English Language
Gorgeous (Les Bombes)
Les Productions Sovimage
CANADA

Drama Series: English Language
The Last of Us
HBO, Sony Pictures Television Studios, Playstation, Naughty Dog, Word Games, The Mighty Mint
USA

Drama Series: Non-English Language
La Mesías
Movistar Plus+, Suma Content
SPAIN

Feature Length Film
Men Up
Quay Street Productions, Boom, BBC1, Cineflix Rights
UK

Limited Series
Best Interests
AC Chapter One, BBC One, Fifth Season
UK

Short Film
The Flying Sailor
National Film Board of Canada
CANADA

Short Form Fiction Series
The Fades of Papineau (Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau)
Trio Orange
CANADA

Best Use of Music in a Series
Yellowjackets
eOne, Showtime
USA

Emerging Talent Prize
Emilie Mannering The Fades of Papineau (Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau)
Trio Orange
CANADA

Prix Francophone
Les Bombes (Gorgeous)
Les Productions Sovimage
CANADA

Roger s Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content
Satan Wants You
Nootka Street Film Company, Grand Scheme Productions, 666 Films
CANADA

Grand Jury Prize
The Last of Us
HBO, Sony Pictures Television Studios, Playstation, Naughty Dog, Word Games, The Mighty Mint
USA

Rita Moreno to Be Honored at This Year’s Academy Museum Gala

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rita Moreno is earning special icon honors…

The Academy Museum will host its fourth annual star-studded gala on October 19, with the 92-year-old Puerto Rican Emmy, Oscar, Tony Award and Grammy-winning (EGOT) actress, singer and dancer among this year’s honorees.

Moreno is among a roster of honorees that includes Paul Mescal and Quentin Tarantino.

The fundraising event will celebrate the museum’s third anniversary and help raise funds to support museum exhibitions, education initiatives and public programming.

Moreno the Icon Award, celebrating an artist whose career has had a significant global cultural impact.

She has performed on stage and screen in a career spanning over eight decades, including her Oscar-winning turn as Anita in West Side Story.

Moreno is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Mescal will receive the Vantage Award, honoring an emerging artist or scholar who is helping to contextualize and challenge dominant narratives around cinema; Tarantino the Luminary Award, given to an artist whose singular contributions have expanded the creative possibilities of cinema.

The gala is being co-chaired by Dr. Eric Esrailian, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria and Tyler Perry.

“The Academy Museum Gala celebrates the power, global impact, and indelible importance of cinema, and I am thrilled we can gather for a fourth year and honor these three amazing artists — Rita Moreno, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Mescal — whose groundbreaking achievements, filmmaking influence, and demonstrated versatility will continue to inspire generations of artists and filmmakers,” said incoming Academy Museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement. “We are profoundly grateful to Rolex for their continued support of the museum and cinema worldwide, our co-chairs Dr. Eric Esrailian, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria, and Tyler Perry for hosting this special evening.”

The Academy Museum Gala has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most A-list events, at last year‘s ceremony toasting Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola and raising more than $10 million in the process.

The 2024 Academy Gala Host Committee, also announced on Monday, includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amy Adams and Darren Le Gallo, Jon Bernthal, Orlando Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Ruth E. Carter, Jon M. Chu, Kieran Culkin, Willem Dafoe, Ariana DeBose, Colman Domingo, Winston Duke, Kirsten Dunst & Jesse Plemons, Cynthia Erivo, Emerald Fennell, Sally Field, Nicholas Galitzine, Jennifer Garner, Ariana Grande, Ludwig Göransson, Regina Hall, Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Cord Jefferson, Dwayne Johnson, Rashida Jones, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Jessica Lange, Jude Law, Jennifer Lawrence, Greta Lee, Demi Moore, Niecy Nash-Betts, Josh O’Connor, Ke Huy Quan, Questlove, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Eddie Redmayne, Saoirse Ronan, Meg Ryan, Celine Song, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang, Jeffrey Wright, Letitia Wright, Steven Yeun and Hans Zimmer.

Harvey Guillén Among National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Impact Award Honorees

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Harvey Guillén is being feted for his impact…

The National Hispanic Media Coalition has revealed the 2024 Impact Award honorees for its annual gala taking place on June 14, with the 34-year-old Mexican American actor among those being recognized.

Annie Gonzalez (Flamin’ Hot) and Mayan Lopez (Lopez vs. Lopez) will host the celebration.

The Impact Awards is a part of the NHMC’s overall mission to spotlight the importance of accurate, fair and positive representation in media.

Each year, the organization honors individuals who are truly making an impact, shifting societal narratives and setting an example for Latine communities.

The 2024 honorees include:

Harvey Guillén, star of the hit FX series What We Do In The Shadows which is gearing up to premiere its sixth and final season. He will receive the Outstanding Performance in a Series Impact Award.

Issa López, a multi-hyphenate who most recently co-wrote and directed HBO’s True Detective Season 5 starring Jodie Foster. NHMC will recognize López’s achievements with the Trailblazer Impact Award.

Fede Alvarez, writer, director and executive producer of the upcoming feature Alien: Romulus, the seventh installment of the Alien franchise. NHMC will give him the Outstanding Film Director Impact Award.

Tatyana Ali, who most famously portrayed Ashley Banks in the hit comedy series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, will receive the Advocacy Impact Award for her advocacy and policy work in maternal health and reproductive justice.

The Los Angeles Football Club will be honored with the Community Impact Award for their commitment to multiculturalism and creating change for marginalized communities

Tubi will be honored with the For the People Impact Award for its diverse programming providing a platform for Latine series showcasing authentic representations of our communities.

“We are honored to celebrate these powerful figures who represent the present and future of the entertainment industry. This year’s honorees embody where our community is headed and are pushing their industries forward simply by taking up space and using their platforms to uplift other Latine creatives.,” said Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the NHMC. “This year more than ever, it is imperative that we continue to celebrate our Latinidad in all aspects of our society, and NHMC is committed to ensuring that our community is recognized – not just at our gala, but in every space.”

Luciano Luna to Receive SESAC Latina’s SESAC Legacy Award

Posted on May 26, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Luciano Luna’s legacy in Latin music is being celebrated…

The 42-year-old Mexican Latin Grammy-winning songwriter/producer will receive the SESAC Legacy Award during the SESAC Latina Music Awards Gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26.

Luna will be presented the award in honor of his illustrious career and significant contribution to Latin music.

“I am very grateful for this distinction; it motivates me to continue dedicating myself to writing stories with my songs and being a good example for new generations of songwriters,” Luna said in a press release.

The Sinaloa creator has recorded more than 250 productions, mostly in the regional Mexican music genre, with iconic acts such as Julión Álvarez, Gerardo Ortiz, Banda Los Recoditos, Banda MS, Régulo Caro and more.

As a co-author, his collaborations include Joss Favela, Edén Muñoz and others.

“We are thrilled to present the Legacy Award to one of the most distinguished songwriters of our generation, Luciano Luna, who has sustained a remarkable career throughout the years,” said Celeste Zendejas, senior vice president of SESAC Latina

This year marks SESAC Latina’s 30th anniversary of representing top-tier songwriters globally.

The event will recognize the exceptional talent and achievements of its affiliated songwriters and publishers, awarding honors such as song of the year, publisher of the year, and more.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate the magnificent and vibrant talent within the Latin songwriting community,” remarked SESAC’s CCO, Sam Kling. “The SESAC Latina Music Awards always showcase exceptional songs and songwriters, making it an unforgettable evening.”

“SESAC Latina’s 30th anniversary is a celebration of continued growth, endless creativity, and the global success of the exceptional talent behind the music. On this milestone year, we honor all our incredible songwriters who continue to inspire us with their profound lyrics and soulful melodies,” added Zendejas.

She continued, “We are thrilled to present the Legacy Award to one of the most distinguished songwriters of our generation, Luciano Luna, who has sustained a remarkable career throughout the years.”

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Category Archives: Awards