Rodrigo Prieto to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at GuadaLAjara Film Festival

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Rodrigo Prieto is earning a special award…

The 57-year-old Mexican Oscar-nominated cinematographer will be honored with the 2023 Árbol de la Vida, a lifetime achievement award, at the 13th edition of the GuadaLAjara Film Festival on November 1.

Taking place at the Theater at the Ace Hotel in Downtown L.A., Prieto will be honored at the opening night gala celebration. Past honorees have included Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette, in addition to stars such as Xolo Maridueña, Rosario Dawson and Danny Trejo.

Prieto has garnered worldwide acclaim for his work on various feature films, collaborating with some of cinema’s most vital masters. He has picked up his three Oscar nods for Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005) and two with Martin Scorsese — Silence (2016) and The Irishman (2019).

He’s teamed up with the iconic filmmaker again for Killers of the Flower Moon, the story of a group of men that murdered Osage tribe members in the 1920s. The Apple Original Films and Paramount Pictures co-distributed feature stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone.

Prieto also lensed Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar Mattel meta-comedy Barbie from Warner Bros — now the highest grossing release of 2023.

Curated with Latinx and BIPOC communities in mind, GLAFF’s programming is a mix of films that aim to attract cinephiles and art and culture enthusiasts. The 2023 program and official selection includes a special Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) centerpiece gala screening of the 1960s Mexican classic Macario from director Roberto Gavaldón. More films will be announced in the coming weeks.

“GLAFF continues its mission to be a bridge between Latin America and U.S.-based Latinx/BIPOC creators,” says Ximena Urrutia, festival director. “Being part of a festival run by Latina women, we strive to add to the efforts of ensuring domestically and internationally Latinx representation.”

The GuadaLAjara Film Festival is supported by the University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, the University of Guadalajara Foundation USA, the Grodman Legacy Family Foundation and the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG).

Ramón Rodríguez to Receive Spotlight Award at National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts’s Visibility Awards

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ramón Rodríguez is officially in the Spotlight…

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts is honoring three artists at its annual Visibility Awards in D.C. on Wednesday, including the 43-year-old Puerto Rican actor, at an event designed to advance Latino representation in film and television.

Rodríguez will receive the organization’s Spotlight Award for producing and starring in the adaptation of the Karin Slaughter crime novel Will Trent.

“Ramón has been a leading voice in continued efforts to open doors for Latino talent in the industry,” the foundation said.

Ángel Manuel Soto, director-producer of the Latino superhero movie Blue Beetle, is being recognized with the organization’s Raul Julia Award for Excellence.

“Ángel’s work advances the presence of Latinos in film and highlights studies demonstrating that Latino directors are more likely to bring Latino talent to their projects,” the foundation said.

Camila Morrone, honored with the Horizon Award, is starring with Willem Dafoe in Patricia Arquette’s, Gonzo Girl, based on Cheryl Della Pietra’s semi-autobiographical novel, based on her time as Hunter S. Thompson’s personal assistant.

The event and Noche Musical, to be held at the Mayflower Hotel, will follow the foundation’s 2023 Visioning Summit, Advancing Representation in Media, Arts, & Beyond. Felix Sanchez, the foundation’s chair and co-founder, said in a statement that the summit’s intent is to “rethink the landscape with images of the American Latino.”

Among those leading panel discussions at the event, to be held Wednesday morning at the National Press Club, will be CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe, CNN’s Jim Acosta, NBC News’ Monica Alba, and NPR’s Claudia Grisales.

Also scheduled to participate are Soto, Carla Dirlikov, senior advisor and envoy for cultural exchange at the National Endowment for the Arts; Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), actor and comedian Eugenio Derbez and producer Flavio Morales. The summit is free and open to the public.

Organizers said that the event will adhere to any modifications per SAG-AFTRA guidelines.

Benicio del Toro Earns First-Ever Emmy Awards Nomination

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Benicio del Toro is celebrating a special first…

Nominations for the 71st annual Primetime Emmy Awards have been revealed, with the 52-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-winning actor earning his first-ever nod.

del Toro is nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series or Movie category for his role as convicted murderer in Showtime’s seven-episode series Escape At Dannemora.

The show is based on a real-life 2015 prison break and explores the dynamics between convicts Richard Matt (del Toro) and David Sweat (Paul Dano) and prison worker Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell (Patricia Arquette), who ultimately helped them escape.

John Leguizamo, an Emmy winner in 1998 for his semi-autobiographical HBO one-man show Freak, has earned his second consecutive Emmy nod in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category.

The 54-year-old Colombian actor and stand0-up comedian, a nominee last year for his role in the limited television series Waco, is nominated for his role in the Netflixminiseries When They See Us.

Anthony Mendez has picked up his third nomination in the Outstanding Narrator category.

The bilingual Latino voice actor, who earned two Emmy nods his narrating the CW’s Jane the Virgin, is nominated in the Outstanding Narrator category for narrating USA’s documentary series Wonders of Mexico.

Emmy-winner Tessandra Chavez has earned a nod in the Outstanding Choreography For Variety or Reality Programming category for her work with the contemporary dance company she founded Unity LA, and their routines on NBC’s World of Dance. She’s up against fellow Latino choreographers and World of Dancechoreographers Melvin “Timtim” Rogador and Karen Forcano & Ricardo Vega.

Other Latino nominees include Hanna cinematographer Dana Gonzales in the Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (One Hour) category and RGB editor Carla Gutierrez in theOutstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program category.

The 2019 Emmy Awards will air on September 22 on Fox.

Here’s the list of some of the high-profile Latino nominees and their competition:

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Jared Harris as Valery Legasov, Chernobyl
Benicio del Toro as Richard Matt, Escape At Dannemora
Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse, Fosse/Verdon
Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays, True Detective
Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe, A Very English Scandal
Jharrel Jerome as Korey Wise, When They See Us

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Stellan Skarsgård as Boris Shcherbina, Chernobyl
Paul Dano as David Sweat, Escape At Dannemora
Ben Whishaw as Norman, A Very English Scandal
Asante Blackk as Kevin Richardson, When They See Us
John Leguizamo as Raymond Santana, Sr., When They See Us
Michael K. Williams as Bobby McCray, When They See Us

Outstanding Narrator
Angela Bassett, Narrator, The Flood
Liev Schreiber, Narrator, The Many Lives of Nick Buoniconti
Sir David Attenborough, Narrator, Our Planet
Juliet Stevenson, Narrator, Queens Of Mystery
Charles Dance, Narrator, Savage Kingdom
Anthony Mendez, Narrator, Wonders Of Mexico

Outstanding Choreography For Variety Or Reality Programming
Travis Wall, Choreographer, So You Think You Can Dance
Luther Brown, Choreographer, So You Think You Can Dance
Melvin “Timtim” Rogador, Choreographer, World Of Dance
Suresh Mukund, Choreographer, World Of Dance
Karen Forcano, Choreographer & Ricardo Vega, Choreographer, World Of Dance
Tessandra Chavez, Choreographer, World Of Dance

Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series (One Hour)
Jonathan Freeman, ASC, Director of Photography, Game Of Thrones
Zoë White, Director of Photography, The Handmaid’s Tale
Colin Watkinson, Director of Photography, The Handmaid’s Tale
Dana Gonzales, ASC, Director of Photography
Gonzalo Amat, Director of Photography, The Man In The High Castle
M. David Mullen, ASC, Director of Photography, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Robert McLachlan, ASC, Director of Photography, Ray Donovan

Outstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program
Tom Patterson, Editor, Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Bob Eisenhardt, ACE, Editor, Free Solo
Jules Cornell, Editor, Leaving Neverland
Carla Gutierrez, ACE, Editor, RBG
Michael Harte, Editor, Three Identical Strangers

Dash to Publish “There Goes My Social Life” Book via Regnery Publishing

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

There goes Stacey Dash’s life…

The 48-year-old part-Mexican American actress, former Clueless star and Fox News contributor has signed a deal to publish There Goes My Social Life, Regnery Publishing revealed.

The book, scheduled for publication this summer, will discuss how Dash became a conservative, her upbringing in the South Bronx and her Hollywood career.

In a statement, Dash credited these things for her “strong opinions about the value of a good education, the importance of family, the inanity of political correctness, and the power of personal responsibility.”

Dash has a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most outspoken female conservatives. In 2012, she announced her disappointment in the Barack Obama-led White House, and endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Twitter, receiving enormous backlash from the movie and music industries.

More recently, Dash has made news for criticizing Patricia Arquette‘s Oscar acceptance speech championing equal pay for women.

“First of all, Patricia Arquette needs to do her history,” Dash said on an appearance on Fox News. “In 1963, Kennedy passed the equal-pay law. It’s still in effect. I didn’t get the memo that I didn’t have any rights.”

She criticized the controversy over the lack of diversity in this year’s Academy Awards nominees and the snubbing of Selma in the acting and directing categories.

“I do know that if it were something conservative and there were not any black people in the audience or on the stage getting awards, there would be a lot of problems. [It’s a] double standard. They’re hypocrites.”

Regnery Publishing has had success publishing conservative females, including Phyllis Schlafly, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin. Dash is the first actress to secure a book deal with the company.

Leto to Serve as a Presenter at This Year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It’s another night with The Actor for Jared Leto…

The 43-year-old part-Spanish American actor, who picked up a SAG Award, also known as “The Actor,” last year for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club, will serve as a presenter at Sunday’s 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

In addition to Leto, other presenters just added to the roster include Matthew Beard, Colin Farrell, Jeff Goldblum, Allen Leech, Lupita Nyong’o, Emmy Rossum, Andy Samberg, Liev Schreiber and Reese Witherspoon

They join previously announced Patricia Arquette, Adrien Brody, Ellar Coltrane, Kevin Costner, Laverne Cox, Bryan Cranston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eric Dane, Viola Davis, Carrie Fisher, Ethan Hawke, SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard, Felicity Jones, Rashida Jones, Michael Keaton, Lenny Kravitz, Matthew McConaughey, Edward Norton, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, J.K. Simmons, and Emma Stone.

The SAG Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS at 8:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm PT.

Derbez Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal with Pantelion Films

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Eugenio Derbez is ready to make more crossover films… And, he now has the support to produce them.

The 53-year-old Mexican writer, director and star of the hit Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Lionsgate/Grupo Televisa’s Pantelion Films.

The pact keeps Derbez in business with the label that released his record-setting Spanish-language film last year.

The deal was made via Derbez’s newly launched 3PasStudios, a partnership with former Pantelion president of production Benjamin Odell. 3Pas will focus on Spanish- and English-language films targeted at Latino and crossover audiences in the U.S.

Instructions Not Included became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. when it opened last year. Pantelion also is behind biopic Cantinflas which has pulled in $3.6M since it opened last weekend in 382 theaters.

Derbez’s film credits include Under The Same Moon, also among the highest-grossing Spanish language films released in the U.S.

He and Odell first worked together on Sangre de Mi Sangre in 2006, starring Derbez, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and for which Odell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Odell also produced Pantelion’s 2012 release Girl In Progress, starring Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette and Derbez, and he is producing Pantelion’s upcoming drama Spare Parts, starring Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis and George Lopez, scheduled for release on January 16, 2015.

Zayas to Star in the Mob Thriller “The Wannabe”

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

David Zayas is officially a wannabe…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican actor, best known for his role as Angel Batista on Showtime’s Dexter, has joined the cast of the mob thriller The Wannabe.

Zayas joins Golden Door’s Vincenzo Amato, Moonrise Kingdom’s Neal Huff, Goodfellas’ Mike Starr and The Town’s Slaine as the final additions to the film’s cast.

The Wannabe, which will begin shooting on October 28 in Brooklyn, stars Patricia Arquette, Vincent Piazza and Michael Imperioli and will be directed by Nick Sandow, who also wrote the script.

Martin Scorsese and Dean Devlin are executive producing the film, which is set in New York City in the early ’90s and follows a man obsessed with mob culture (Piazza) who attempts to fix the jury in the trial of John Gotti. But his plans are foiled, so he sets off with Rose (Arquette), a neighborhood fixture, on a ride worthy of mob lore.

Zayas, who portrayed Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama series Oz, recently signed on to Sony‘s new Annie film.

First Trailer Released for Sheen’s “Charles Swan III” Film

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Call it Charlie Sheen’s Swan song…

The first trailer for the 47-year-old part-Spanish actor’s latest film A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III has been released.

The clip is chock full of entertaining moments as the title character (played by Sheen) tumbles into his imaginary world after a recent breakup with his gorgeous girlfriend.

He and his loyal friends, Kirby and Saul, are seen dressing as cowboys on a Western set where a girl hits him with an arrow. In another scene, he gets entangled in what seems to be an espionage world and almost gets exploded.

The film features Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and Aubrey Plaza and begs the question: Is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time?

The Roman Coppola-directed dramedy opens in theaters nationwide February 8, 2013.

First Look: Eva Mendes’ “Girl in Progress”

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Mendes is one bad momma in her next feature film… Literally!

The 37-year-old Cuban-American actress plays a neglectful mother in Girl in Progress, as evidenced by the recently released trailer for the film.

Mendes, who recently appeared in a hilarious Drunk History Christmas video from Funny or Die, stars as struggling mother of a teenage daughter in a film that will undoubtedly raise questions about who is actually the parent and who is the child.

Mendes’ character seems to be in more trouble than her young daughter (played by Cierra Ramirez). She’s sleeping with a married man, falling behind on her bills and neglecting her 13-year-old daughter.

“A coming of age story is the story of a young person’s change from child to adult,” says a teacher in the trailer.

As Mendes’ character’s actions become more unstable and erratic, her daughter is forced to grow up and find her independence.

Girl in Progress, which also stars Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Modine and Patricia Arquette, will open in theaters on April 27.

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