HBO Max Acquires North American Rights to Lorenza Izzo’s Latest Film “Women Is Losers”

Lorenza Izzo is winning at Los(er)ing…

HBO Max has acquired the North American rights to Women Is Losers, the 1960s-set indie drama starring the 31-year-old Chilean actress and model.

Lorenza Izzo

Hailing from writer-director Lissette Feliciano, her debut feature, Women Is Losers has its world premiere at this year’s SXSW.

In addition to Izzo, the film also stars Chrissie Fit, Bryan Craig and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu. The streamer will now debut the film exclusively on the platform on October 18.

Set in 1960s San Francisco, the plot centers on a once-promising Catholic schoolgirl (Izzo) who sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest in a future for herself that sets new precedents for the time. The filmn is inspired by real women and the Janis Joplin song of the same title. Steven Bauer, Liza Weil, Cranston Johnson, Alessandra Torresani, Shalim Ortiz and Lincoln Bonilla also star.

Feliciano and David Ortiz are producers.

“We set out to make a film that was as bold, funny, and honest as the women that inspired it,” said Feliciano, who also discussed the film at Deadline’s SXSW Studio earlier this year. “We could think of no better time in our nation’s history for this film to reach the women of America. This is one you’re going to want to watch with your family. We’ve found the perfect partner in HBO Max who are known for their provocative and entertaining content. This film is an inter-generational story and at its core is about always having hope no matter how big the obstacles. Lorenza Izzo, Chrissie Fit, Simu Liu, and Bryan Craig give their hearts in these performances. I can’t wait for you all to see them.”

ABC to Premiere Christina Vidal-Mitchell’s Family Comedy Series “United We Fall” in July

Christina Vidal-Mitchell will be celebrating the Fall this summer…

ABC has scheduled a summer premiere date for United We Fallthe family comedy starring the 38-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Will Sasso.

Christina Vidal-Mitchell

The network ordered the series back in May 2019, and had been looking to release the series in the fall

United We Fall, which hails from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, will bow with back-to-back half-hour episodes starting at 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday, July 15, with episodes being available on Hulu the following day.

A holdover from ABC’s 2019-20 season, United We Fall follows the trials and tribulations of Jo and Bill (Vidal-Mitchell and Sasso), parents of two young kids, as they try to make it day to day as a functioning family. Bill’s very judgmental live-in mother (Jane Curtin) and Jo’s large Latinx Catholic family never hesitate to let the couple know they’re seemingly screwing up, but Bill and Jo will always have each other’s backs and united against everyone: other parents, teachers, doctors, specialists, coaches, co-workers and especially their kids.

Guillermo Diaz and Ella Grace Helton also star.

Julius “Goldy” Sharpe wrote and executive produced the pilot. Mark Cendrowski directed the pilot.

Issa Lopez to Write & Direct Blumhouse’s “Our Lady of Tears,” Based on Epic article “The Haunting of Girlstown”

There are tears in Issa López’s future…

The 48-year-old Mexican writer and director will adapt and direct Our Lady of Tears for Blumhouse based on the Daniel Hernandez’s Epic magazine article “The Haunting of Girlstown,” which was published on Vox.

Issa López

The article focuses on a mass hysteria epidemic with supernatural roots, that in 2007 spread through Villa de las Niñas, an all girls, Catholic boarding school in the outskirts of Mexico City. The school recruited and isolated socially neglected girls coming from families living in extreme poverty and in remote areas of Mexico.

The project is in the same supernatural spirit of López’s previous feature, Tigers Are Not Afraidwhich followed children fighting for survival in a harsh real-life environment.

“The moment I read the Epic article, I knew I wanted to tell this story. I myself attended a Catholic school in Mexico City. I grew up on a steady diet of supernatural visitations and miracles, and of the real life horrors that young girls who grow up in poverty face every day in Mexico, and around the world. Having the chance to tell that story with Jason [Blum] and his team, producers of such socially incisive genre classics like Get Out, and of so many true horror gems, is a huge privilege. I couldn’t be more excited about this movie,” said López in a statement.

“The Blumhouse team was enthralled by the original article and Daniel’s deep reporting around such a terrifying and heartbreaking story. Ever since I first watched Tiger’s Are Not Afraid, I have wanted to find a project to collaborate on with Issa and I knew this was a perfect fit. I can’t wait for audiences to see her take on this material,” said Blumhouse co-founder and CEO,Jason Blum.

“Epic spent years tracking down former students, government officials and teachers to try to understand what happened at Girlstown. We learned that isolation can protect us from physical threats but our internal demons follow us wherever we go,” said Joshua Davis, co-founder, Epic.

Our Lady of Tears will be produced by Blumhouse in association with Epic Media.

Thousands Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City…

There’s no denying that Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is Mexico’s most popular religious and cultural image… And, “La Morenita,” as she called, has become one of the most popular icons of the Virgin Mary throughout Latin America and the world.

On Monday, December 12, hundreds of thousands gathered at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City— one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world—to observe the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an annual celebration that dates back to the 16th century.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

This year’s observance—which included a special performance of “Las Mañanitas” to the Empress of Latin America by superstars like Lucero, Aracely Arámbula, Pedro Fernández and Gabriela Spanic—commemorated the 480th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s apparitions in Mexico, on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, on December 9, 1531.

According to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to a poor 57-year-old recently converted Aztec Indian named Juan Diego and asked him to build a church on the spot where they were standing. He told the local bishop, who asked for proof. When he returned to the hill, Mary gave Juan Diego the requested sign. Miraculously, roses appeared on the hill in the middle of winter, and Juan gathered them in his tilma.
Mary arranged the roses in his tilma with her own hands, and Juan returned to the bishop. When he released the tilma, the flowers fell to the floor and an imprint of the Virgin Mary appeared on the tilma from the residue of the soil and roses.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Along with “Las Mañanitas,” Monday’s celebration included a performance of “Amor eterno” and special prayer readings.