Veronica Rodriguez Signs with Verve

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Veronica Rodriguez has new representation…

The Mexican American writer, director and producer has signed with Verve.

Rodriguez’s feature directorial debut, the television movie Let’s Get Merried for VH1 and MTV, followed a hard-partying, down-on-her-luck holiday-hater who decided to get married at a Christmas-themed adventure park to a man she hadn’t yet met, netting her an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing.

She’s currently a co-producer on Netflix’s comedy series Freeridge, and previously staffed on Disney’s Gabby Duran & The Unsittables, also directing an episode of that series before staffing on HBO’s Betty. She also directed the short film Shoot, which was produced by and starred Insecure’s Jay Ellis.

The Bay Area native is a graduate of USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program who got her start working at Funny or Die, producing and directing original content for the platform including the viral hit, How To Become Legally Recognized As A F*ckboi. During her time at that company in 2018, she participated in the Sundance New Voices Lab, then being recognized as a Sundance Institute Latinx Fellow for 2019.

Rodriguez was also a part of the 2019 Viacom ViewFinder Director Program, and Refinery 29’s Shatterbox initiative. She continues to be represented by Writ Large.

Hulu to Release Eugenio Derbez-Starrer “The Valet” in May

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez is readying for Valet service this May…

Hulu will premiere its original film The Valet, starring the 60-year-old Mexican actor, comedian and filmmaker and Samara Weaving, will premiere globally across Disney’s streaming services on May 20th.

In The Valet, world famous movie star Olivia (Weaving) faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent (Max Greenfield). The hard-working valet Antonio (Derbez) accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia’s new boyfriend as a cover-up. This ruse with Olivia thrusts Antonio into the spotlight and unexpected chaos. In this fish out of water romantic comedy, two worlds and cultures collide as both Olivia and Antonio start to see themselves more clearly than ever before.

The Valet is an English-language remake of the hit 2006 French film of the same name.

The film also stars Betsy Brandt, Carmen Salinas Lozano, Amaury Nolasco, Marisol Nichols, Diany Rodriguez, Tiana Okoye, John Pirruccello, Ravi Patel, Noemí González and Lunay.

Richard Wong directed from a script by Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher, with Derbez and Ben Odell producing for 3Pas Studios.

Derbez recently won his first SAG Award for being part of the cast of CODA, which was named Best Picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Demi Lovato to Release “Sped Up Remix” of Hit Single “Cool for the Summer”

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Demi Lovato is (re)mixing things up for the summer….

The 29-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actor is readying to release a remix of their sultry 2015 hit, “Cool for the Summer.”

The star took to Twitter on Wednesday, March 30, to share the pre-save link for the “Sped Up Remix” of the song.

The release, of course, comes following the summery hit’s resurgence on TikTok, thanks to a hip-swaying dance challenge and a viral mashup with Ginuwine’s “Pony” from user @kuyamagik.

Upon its release, “Cool for the Summer” peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart dated September 19, 2015, and spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart.

Earlier this year, Lovato bid farewell to their pop music and welcomed a new, rock era. Lovato jokingly shared an image to their Instagram grid posing with both middle fingers up, joined by music executives from Island Records and manager Scooter Braun. Every person in the picture wore all black. “A funeral for my pop music,” Lovato captioned the brooding image.

Lovato then elaborated via their Instagram Story, with one of the label executives saying, “You put out whatever music you want, whenever you want to. Break the rules.”

Demi then shared two snippets of a new rock song in the following clips.

Lovato’s most recent album, Dancing With the Devil…The Art of Starting Over, primarily featured pop lyrics and production.

The album peaked at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Fans were first given a taste of Lovato’s rock-inspired sound in their first two albums, Don’t Forget and Here We Go Again, under Disney’s Hollywood Records.

https://t.co/YeqEVCIhws

— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) March 30, 2022

Adassa to Perform “Encanto” Hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” at Academy Awards Show

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s official… Adassa has a date with Oscar.

The 35-year-old urban singer is set to perform the chart-topping single “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” alongside her Encanto voice cast mates.

The 94th annual Academy Awards, another key movie song not mentioned in their release.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” will be performed on the awards show even though it wasn’t even submitted by Disney and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda for consideration in the category.

Miranda is a nominee for another tune from the same film, “Dos Oruguitas,” which will be performed by Sebastian Yatra.

The performance is reportedly planned to be a major highlight of the awards show and is being advertised as the first live performance of the smash hit song.

In addition to Adassa, other Encanto cast members set to take the stage to perform the song include Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Carolina Gaitan, and Diane Guerrero, along with Becky G and Luis Fonsi performing “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

“If there is a song that unites people this year [it is this one], and that is kind of the epitome to me of what movies can do, because people of all stripes, ethnicities, ages, color, background, around the world [are singing it] ad nauseum, and we are going to help them out so they sing it a little bit more. Our apologies to the parents,” Packer laughed.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre and will be televised live on ABC at 8:00 pm EDT/5:00 pm PDT and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

American Sign Language (ASL) provided by Certified Deaf Interpreters, and live closed captioning and audio description will be available during the live broadcast.

Rachel Zegler to Serve as Presenter During This Weekend’s Academy Awards Show

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rachel Zegler has a date with the Oscars after all…

The 20-year-old half-Colombian American actress/singer, who won a Golden Globe for her performance in West Side Story, will serve as a presenter for the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday.

Over the weekend, Zegler reported on social media that she did not receive an invite to the Oscars, but that changed two days later when her production schedule in London on the Disney movie Snow White loosened up.

But, Zegler isn’t the only Latinx talent set to present on Hollywood’s Biggest Night.

Jacob Elordi, the 24-year-old Spanish-Australian star of Netflix‘s The Kissing Booth teen film franchise and the HBO series Euphoria, has also been added to the list of presenters, alongside Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Momoa, Jill Scott, J.K. Simmons, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Previously announced Latinx presenters include Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo and Rosie Perez.

Here is the full list of presenters, in alphabetical order, set for the Oscars, which will air live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET and in 200-plus territories around the world:

Halle Bailey
Stephanie Beatriz
Josh Brolin
Ruth E. Carter
Sean “Diddy” Combs
Kevin Costner
Jamie Lee Curtis
DJ Khaled
Jacob Elordi
Jennifer Garner
Jake Gyllenhaal
Woody Harrelson
H.E.R.
Tiffany Haddish
Tony Hawk
Anthony Hopkins
Daniel Kaluuya
Samuel L. Jackson
Lady Gaga
Lily James
Zoë Kravitz
Mila Kunis
John Leguizamo
Simu Liu
Rami Malek
Shawn Mendes
Jason Momoa
Bill Murray
Lupita Nyong’o
Elliot Page
Rosie Perez
Chris Rock
Jill Scott
Naomi Scott
Tyler Perry
Tracee Ellis Ross
J.K. Simmons
Kelly Slater
Wesley Snipes
Uma Thurman
John Travolta
Shaun White
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Yuh-Jung Youn
Rachel Zegler

Carolina Gaitán & Her “Encanto” Cast Mates May Perform “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” at Academy Awards

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Carolina Gaitán could have a date with Oscar…

The Academy Awards are heralding the “first live performance of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno,’” a song performed by the 37-year-old Colombian actress and singer and her Encanto cast mates, for the awards show on Sunday, March 27.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from Disney’s chart-topping Disney animated film Encanto topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, an astonishing showing for a multi-character theatrical piece.

The song is performed by Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the cast of Encanto on the soundtrack, which is currently in its ninth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

We don't talk about Bruno…except at this year's #Oscars!

Catch the 94th Academy Awards hosted by @MoreReginaHall, @amyschumer, and @iamwandasykes LIVE Sunday, March 27 on @ABCNetwork! pic.twitter.com/9DZ23urvSM

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 16, 2022

Another of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs from Encanto, “Dos Oruguitas,” is competing for best original song at the Oscars.

The Academy hasn’t officially announced that all five best original song nominees will be performed on the show, but that is widely expected. If they are, on top of the performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the show will have a strong music focus.

If the Oscars are able to book all of the original performers, Sebastián Yatra would perform “Dos Oruguitas,” Beyoncé would perform “Be Alive” from King Richard, Van Morrison would perform “Down to Joy” from Belfast, Billie Eilish would perform No Time to Die from the film of the same name, and Reba McEntire would perform “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Encanto” Soundtrack Notches Ninth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s on Cloud Nine…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican composer/lyricist’s soundtrack for Disney’s Encanto soundtrack has logged a ninth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 19.

The soundtrack contains eight original songs written by Miranda, including the chart-topping “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” and produced by Mike Elizondo that were recorded by the voice cast, and 27 score pieces composed by Germaine Franco.

The set earned 72,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending March 10 (down 9%), according to MRC Data.

In addition, Encanto has surpasses 1 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S., as the latest tracking week brings its to-date sum to 1.03 million. The soundtrack album was released on November 19, before the film arrived in U.S. theaters on November 24. The film was released via the Disney+ streaming service a month later (December 24). The album spent its first week at No. 1 on the January 15, 2022-dated chart.

In the last five years, only two albums have spent at least nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200: Encanto and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks in 2021).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by MRC Data. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

Of Encanto’s 72,500 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 63,000 (down 8%, equaling 93.03 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 8,000 (down 14%) and TEA units comprise 1,500 (down 12%).

Germaine Franco Wins SCL Awards Prize from Society of Composers & Lyricists for Disney’s “Encanto” Score

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Germaine Franco is celebrating a special recognition…

The Latina composer’s Oscar-nominated score for Encanto won outstanding original score for a studio film at the third annual SCL Awards, which are presented by the Society of Composers & Lyricists this week at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Franco’s score was competing with three other Academy Award-nominated scores — Nicholas Britell’s Don’t Look Up, Hans Zimmer’s Dune, and Jonny Greenwood’s The Power of the Dog.

Franco, the first woman to score a Disney animated feature film, is vying to become the first Latina to win an Oscar for best original score.

Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, also has reason to smile.

The 38-year-old half-Mexican American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer won outstanding original song for a musical/comedy alongside Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande and Taura Stinson.

Kid Cudi and the gang won for penning “Just Look Up” from the Netflix film Don’t Look Up.

Meanwhile Cristabel Tapia de Veer took home the outstanding original score for television.

The Chilean-born Canadian film and television score composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist won for his work on AppleTV’s The White Lotus.

The awards were presented about five weeks later than originally planned. They were set to be presented on February 1, but the show was postponed in early January due to the spread of the Omicron variant. With the postponement, the show lost its original host, Emmy winner Darren Criss. Aloe Blacc hosted in his place.

Awards were presented across seven categories for music in visual media (film, TV, streaming, interactive).

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) is the primary organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists. The organization is focused on education and addressing the creative, technological, legal, newsworthy issues affecting the music for visual media community.

For more information, visit the SCL’s website or go to thescl.com/scl-awards/.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Outstanding original score for a studio film:
Germaine Franco, Encanto, Walt Disney Pictures

Outstanding original score for an independent film:
Daniel Hart, The Green Knight, A24

Outstanding original song for a musical/comedy:
Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Taura Stinson, “Just Look Up,” Don’t Look Up, Netflix

Outstanding original song for a drama/documentary
Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, “No Time to Die,” No Time to Die, MGM/United Artists

Outstanding original score for television:
Cristabel Tapia de Veer, The White Lotus, Apple

Outstanding original score for interactive media:
Hildur Guđnadóttir & Sam Slater, Battlefield 2042, Digital Illusions CE, Electronic Arts

David Raksin award:
Stephanie Economou, Jupiter’s Legacy, Netflix

Spirit of collaboration award:
Recipients: composer Carter Burwell and filmmakers Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Carolina Gaitán & Her “Encanto” Cast Mates Log Seventh Week at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Carolina Gaitán is still making a splash across the pond…

The 37-year-old Colombian actress and singer and her fellow Encanto cast mates are celebrating a seventh week at No. 1 in the United Kingdom with their hit single from the Disney animated film, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the longest-running No. 1 this year so far, became the first original Disney cut to lead the Official U.K. Singles Chart.

The song, by Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto cast (all singing as the characters that they voice in the movie), was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The track was recently named Best Song Written for a Film by the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA).

Encanto continues to make a big impression on the chart with “Surface Pressure” down 3-5 this week, and “The Family Madrigal” down 8-10.

Stephanie Beatriz Among Latino Entertainment Journalists Association’s Film Award Honorees

Posted on March 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Stephanie Beatriz is the LEJA choice…

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA) has revealed the winners of its annual awards, with the 40-year-old Colombian and Bolivian American actress among this year’s honorees.

Beatriz took home the Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance for her role as Mirabel Madrigal in Disney’s hit animated film Encanto, which was named Best Animated Film by the association.

The chart-topping single “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which she performs alongside fellow voice cast members Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz and Diane Guerrero, was named Best Song Written for a Film. The track was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Meanwhile, the Encanto score, by Germaine Franco – the first Latina to be nominated for an Oscar for original score – was named Best Musical Score.

Oscar-hopeful Ariana DeBose, already a SAG Award winner, was named Best Supporting Actress.

The 31-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer/dancer continued her winning ways for her scene-stealing role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Spanish Oscar-winning actress Penelope Cruz was named Best Actress in a Leading Role for the work in Pedro Almodovar’s Spanish-language film Parallel Mothers, which took home the Best Foreign Language Film prize.

Anthony Ramos and his fellow In The Heights cast members won the Best Ensenble Casting award.

The LEJA membership also selected Miranda as the recipient of the Latino Activism Award. Meanwhile, John Leguizamo was honored with the 2022 Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing the actor, producer and comedian as a tireless force in the Latino community. The Latino Breakout Award was bestowed on West Side Story star Rachel Zegler.

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association is committed to developing and celebrating Latino voices among all areas and backgrounds of the entertainment industry.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Picture
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)

Best Director
Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” (Netflix)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Troy Kotsur, “CODA” (Apple Original Films)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” (20th Century Studios)

Best Voice or Motion Capture Performance
Stephanie Beatriz, “Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Animated Film
“Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Foreign Language Film
“Parallel Mothers” (Sony Pictures Classics) (Spain)

Best Documentary Film
“Flee” (Neon)

Best Original Screenplay
“C’mon C’mon” (A24)

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)

Best Ensemble Casting
“In the Heights” (Warner Bros)

Best Production and Set Design
“Dune” (Warner Bros)

Best Cinematography
“Dune” (Warner Bros)

Best Costume Design
“Cruella” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Editing
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)

Best Hair and Makeup
“Cruella” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Sound Design
“Dune” (Warner Bros)

Best Visual Effects
“Dune” (Warner Bros)

Best Musical Score
“Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Stunt Design
“No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Best Song Written for a Film
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures)

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Disney