December 19, 2007

One of our most powerful Signature Programs is coming back in March 2008!

For the fourth consecutive year, NALIP brings you our highly successful Latino Media Market!

The 2008 Latino Media Market™ is designed to bring Funders, Studio Executives, Distributors, Dealmakers, Agents, Mentors and Employers together with NALIP members and their projects.

The Latino Media Market™ consists of a meeting series for up to 32 selected projects. Filmmaker participants meet one-on-one with industry representatives who can commission pilot scripts and episodes, provide broadcast licenses or documentary completion funds, as well as fund feature development or production.

The Latino Media Market™ is a NALIP Signature Program for NALIP members with qualified projects in the following categories:

Direct-to-DVD or low-budget film productions
Documentary works-in-progress
Feature development projects
Non-scripted Television Series ideas

Deadline for Submissions is Friday January 25, 2008
DO NOT miss this unique opportunity!
FOLLOW THIS LINK to download your application now!

Questions? Please contact David Perez - dwperez@nalip.org or 310-395-8880.

Hispanic Media Startup Debuts Mio.TV

A veteran group of Latino advertising, media and telecom executives embarked today on the launch of Mio.TV, a bilingual online multimedia entertainment, communications and social networking site aimed at young acculturated U.S. Hispanics.

Mio, which is Spanish for "mine," was unveiled in New York to the media this week in a beta version and is scheduled to go live in either late February or early March, executives said.

Touting the site as a "one-stop shop," Mio chairman and CEO Manuel Garcia-Duran, the former chairman of Spain's Telefonica Media, said the interactive site would allow users to access an online video player to watch original and exclusive Mio-produced content, view and share videos, create profiles, make voice-over-IP phone calls, listen to music, send instant messages, manage e-mails and create documents in Microsoft Word and spreadsheets in Excel, all from their desktops, which they can access online and via mobile devices and eventually on TV through cable boxes. No downloads are required and membership is free.

"The key to this platform is the content, the content is king," said Garcia-Duran. "This will change the way we use media, communications and entertainment."

The site is expected to compete against other major Hispanic-targeted online players, including Batanga, AOL Latino, Univision and even YouTube for its video-sharing capabilities.

Prior to its public launch next year, Mio will rely largely on viral marketing to promote the site, though the company has set aside just under $5 million for online, print and outreach, said Moses Frenck, Mio.TV's evp, business development and strategy and a former managing editor of Marketing y Medios.

An ad agency review hasn't yet been set in motion, Frenck said. He added that Mio would not accept ads from beer and liquor marketers or stage parties and events, saying, "We want to stay away from the stereotypes sometimes associated with Latino consumers."

Marketers already on board for Mio's launch in 2008 include Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar, Frenck said.

With a Hispanic market known for its heavy use of digital and mobile media and its ever-growing economic clout, which is expected to reach more than $1 trillion by 2010, advertisers already are eying Mio.

"There are a lot of advertisers who have been looking for something like this for quite some time," said Alex Alonso, multicultural director, West, of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based media-buying agency Carat USA. "This sets the bar very high and defines what engagement should be."

A small group of investors and advertisers are being invited to test the Mio video player online and watch its original programming centered on lifestyle, sports, music, celebrities, entertainment news, fashion, beauty, cooking and travel. Mio talent includes Ana Maria Montero, a correspondent for CNN en Espanol, and Kiki Melendez, creator of the Latina comedy troupe Hot Tamales.

Mio's original programming is being produced in Los Angeles, where the company opened an office in August. Former HBO executive Concepcion Lara, now Mio's evp of programming, is heading up the West Coast operation, which is co-producing content with The Media Shop, a Hollywood, Calif., production studio.

Along with Garcia-Duran, Frenck and Lara, other founding members of Mio include former Lifetime executive Jenny Alonzo, and Courtney Kennedy, daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, who will lead a not-for-profit foundation that Mio will launch as part of its mission to serve the U.S. Hispanic population.

Monterrey Pictures Hires Rosalinda Morales

Monterrey Pictures has engaged Rosalinda Morales of FarMore Casting & Production, to join the production team of its upcoming feature, 700 Hill. Ms. Morales’ recent credits include La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon, U.S. Casting) and Ladrón Que Roba a Ladrón.

David Mendez, founder of Monterrey Pictures and producer of 700 Hill, will immediately begin working with Ms. Morales to help cast the lead roles, while simultaneously continuing discussions with key directors. “This project excites me like few others recently, and the ensemble casting possibilities are fantastic”, says Ms. Morales. “I’m proud to be a part of what is destined to become one of the most revered feature films in contemporary cinema”.

“Our vision for casting authentically was a perfect match for Ms. Morales, who specializes in diversity casting. Her knowledge and access to Mexican talent is unmatched”, reports Mr. Mendez. 700 Hill’s “crossover” cast includes lead and supporting roles for both Mexican and Caucasian talent, one of the chief commercial attributes to 700 Hill. “The abundance and quality of authentic Mexican talent, as well as better understanding of Latino audiences, has begun to shift casting and production paradigms in Hollywood for films with Latino content, and I’m excited to be part of this movement”, proclaims Mr. Mendez.

700 Hill is a classic story of conviction, faith and perseverance. Inspired by a true story, the film chronicles the heart-wrenching experiences of a Mexican family’s struggle to survive in a depression-era coal-mining town in West Virginia. Paralleled with the life of an Appalachian woman who marries into the Mexican family, 700 Hill juxtaposes their opposing cultures to present how personal triumph and the resilience of the human spirit crosses cultural and racial barriers. Mr. Mendez co-wrote the story in collaboration with Nat Christian, the screenwriter, who earlier this year produced, directed and wrote the indie Channels.

Sonoma Call for Entries: Sonoma Valley Film Festival

11th annual SONOMA VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
April 9 - 13, 2008

"I adore the Sonoma Valley Film Festival!~ Alexander Payne, director, SIDEWAYS

FINAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, December 21, 2007. SUBMIT TODAY: www.SonomaFilmFest.org/pages/submissions

* $10,000 CASH AWARD for Best Narrative Feature!* Over 1/2 of 2007 selections received major distribution!* New animation award - Pixar artist jury*

Casual mixing with stars, producers, industry leaders
MORE INFO: http://www.SonomaFilmFest.org

St. Clair Bourne
1943 - 2007

Photo: St. Clair Bourne mentored this "Doing your Doc" class in Miami

St. Clair Bourne, a prominent independent documentary filmmaker whose work focused largely on African American social and political issues and cultural figures such as Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes, has died. He was 64.

Bourne, a Brooklyn resident, died Saturday of pulmonary embolisms after undergoing surgery for the removal of a benign tumor on his brain, said his sister and sole survivor, Judith Bourne.

In a career that began in the late 1960s as a producer for the public affairs series "Black Journal" on public television, Bourne launched his production company, Chamba Mediaworks, in New York City in 1971.

Over 36 years, he produced and/or directed more than 45 works, including documentaries for HBO, PBS, NBC, CBS, the BBC, the Sundance Channel and National Geographic.

Among his most notable films was "Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks" (2000), an Emmy-nominated feature-length documentary about the renowned photojournalist and filmmaker that ran on HBO.

"Black men who define themselves from an Afrocentric point of view fascinate me -- how they succeeded and overcame opposition," Bourne told American Visions in 1999, the year "Paul Robeson: Here I Stand," his documentary about the singer-actor-activist, was part of the PBS series "American Masters."

"For the last 25 years, he was one of the most important African American nonfiction filmmakers on the scene," said Sam Pollard, who met Bourne in 1980 and edited five of his films.

"When I met Saint, I was a 30-year-old African American male who grew up in New York City like he did," said Pollard. "He re-energized and refocused what my mission should be as a filmmaker: to document the African American experience and make people aware that it's an important part of the American experience that can't be denied."

Lou Potter, who wrote a number of Bourne's documentaries, said Bourne's "work certainly inspired a lot of people to get into the field; he was a mentor to a lot of young artists. At the time he got started it was a very, very small field" for blacks.

Although there were a considerable number of documentaries dealing with racial issues being made at the time, Potter said, "They typically were not being addressed by media from an African American point of view. They were doing it from the outside looking in; he was doing it from the inside looking out."

Bourne majored in journalism and political science at Syracuse University. After graduating in 1967, he won a scholarship to Columbia University's Graduate School of the Arts, where his involvement in the radical black student movement led to his expulsion when he was among the students arrested for taking over the administration building in 1968.

But within two weeks of his arrest, Bourne landed a job as an associate producer on "Black Journal" on a recommendation from one of his professors. He quickly rose to become a producer of documentary films for the series, which won an Emmy Award during his three years there.

Bourne, whose career included a stint making documentaries for Los Angeles PBS station KCET-TV Channel 28 in the late '70s, was a founder of the Black Documentary Collective, a New York-based documentary service organization; in addition to the Los Angeles-based Black Assn. of Documentary Filmmakers-West.

A memorial service for the twice-divorced Bourne will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive in Manhattan.

By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Full Article Online Here

AFI Picks Best of 2007
(Variety) - The American Film Institute announces its picks for the top ten films and television shows of 2007. Among the film choices are "Juno," "Knocked Up," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood." FULL STORY

Bardem, Ferrera and Shakira Nab Golden Globes Noms
(LatinHeat) - The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced its nominees for the 65th annual Golden Globes early Thursday morning. FULL STORY

Singleton to Update "The A-Team" For Big Screen
(EURweb) - Latino Review is reporting that John Singleton has signed on to direct a feature film adaptation of "The A-Team" for Fox Studios. FULL STORY

Visit the NALIP Job Opportunities page for all the latest listings.

Tenure Track Position in Production at Loyola Marymount University's School of Film and Television #1
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILMMAKING. The successful candidate must demonstrate wide-ranging expertise in all aspects of Feature filmmaking, with special emphasis given to strong skills in narrative visual storytelling. Extensive experience working with and directing actors is also required. FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Tenure Track Position in Production at Loyola Marymount University's School of Film and Television #2
NARRATIVE FEATURE FILMMAKING. The successful candidate must demonstrate wide-ranging expertise in all aspects of narrative filmmaking, with special emphasis given to strong skills in narrative visual storytelling. Extensive experience working with and directing actors is also required. FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Assistant to Producer
Best position for advancement in the film industry just became available. Independent film producer in Beverly Hills seeking a sharp, computer savvy Executive/Office Assistant ASAP! FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Receptionist/Media Support Rep at Post Facility
The DR Group (formerly Dr. RawStock) currently has an immediate opening for a Receptionist/Media Support Rep at our Culver City facility. FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Casting: Male Lead in "The Dinner Party"
HECTOR (male lead): in his 20's or 30's, a day laborer of Mexican descent, probably undocumented. FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Casting: Spanish Speaking Actors/Actresses for TV Series
We are looking for Spanish speaking actors/actresses who are great with improv for an ongoing TV series. FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

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