News & Updates
-
LPB Presents New Season of VOCES
Posted by NALIP on March 05, 2015
Latino Public Broadcasting announced that season four of VOCES, the Latino arts and culture documentary showcase series, will premiere in spring 2015 with three new broadcasts on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET from April 17 to May 1, 2015 (check local listings) on PBS. A fourth film, “Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer’s Journey,” will premiere this fall as a special co-presentation of VOCES and THIRTEEN’s American Masters. VOCES is presented by PBS SoCaL.
Kicking off the series on April 17 is Hector Galán’s “Children of Giant.” Sixty years after production began on George Stevens’ classicGiant, this new documentary returns to Marfa, Texas to explore how the groundbreaking film both reflected and transformed the lives of the town’s Anglo and Mexican-American residents. “Now en Español” (April 24) explores the ups and downs of being a Latina actress in Hollywood through the lives of the five women who dub “Desperate Housewives” into Spanish for American audiences — and whose real lives are often as dramatic and desperate as those of their onscreen counterparts. “El Poeta” (May 1) is a powerful and poignant profile of the renowned Mexican poet Javier Sicilia who ignited an international movement for peace after the brutal killing of his 24-year old son – collateral damage in a drug war that has left more than 100,000 dead or missing since 2006.
“The films in the new season of VOCES explore the ever-evolving relationship between Latino culture and the larger fabric of American society, from a classic movie set in remote Texas to modern day Hollywood to the frontlines of the drug war,” said LPB Executive Director and VOCES executive producer Sandie Viquez Pedlow. “The Latino American experience is so diverse and there are so many stories to tell. We’re delighted to play a part in bringing some of these stories to PBS through these remarkable films.”
“We’re delighted to partner once again with LPB to bring VOCES to PBS viewers,” said Donald Thoms, Vice President, General Audience Programming, PBS. “These remarkable documentaries showcase the rich mosaic of Latino culture and history, and are part of the PBS commitment to provide stories that reflect our nation’s diversity, and which contribute to greater understanding and appreciation of ourselves as Americans.”
-
Mauricio Mota Inks First-Look Deal With ABC
Posted by NALIP on February 28, 2015
Mauricio Mota, co-president of Wise Entertainment and exec producer of Hulu’s original series “East Los High,” has signed a first-look deal with ABC.
Mota developed the School of Series, a yearlong television seminar and lab, with Brazilian Entrepreneurship Agency and Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing. The newly formed lab will foster writers and producers in Brazil to create more than 30 series for the U.S. and Latin American marketplaces.
Under the pact, ABC will have a first look at projects hailing from the School of Series, giving the lab’s creators a chance to partner with Mota.
The deal marks a development in the booming Latino American market filtering through television production Stateside. Hulu’s “East Los High” is the streaming network’s first and only series with an all-Latino cast.
Mota is repped by WME.
Check this out at Variety.com
-
Fellow Cristina Kotz Cornejo Takes Short to San Diego Latino Film Festival
Posted by NALIP on February 27, 2015
NALIP Member Cristina Kotz Cornejo's (LWL '04; LMM '09; LMM '11. LMM'14) latest short film, Buena Fé, shot on the coast of Buenos Aires and featuring Nicolás Meradi, Catlina Krasnob and Gullermo Hoffer will screen at the 22nd Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival in March. Cristina's latest feature project, Hermanas de Fé participated in the 2014 NALIP Latino Media Market and 2014 Cine Qua Non Screenwriter's Lab and has Paulina Gaitan (Sin Nombre) and Vanessa Bauche (Amores Perros) attached to star.
In Buena Fé, couple’s relationship is falling apart after the death of their young son. The couple, Carlos and Romina, is living in a cabin in a beach town to try and mend things before they head off to Mexico for Carlos’ religious work. Romina, who is battling depression, seeks out a mysterious man. In what Carlos thought would be a trip to bring them closer together only makes him realize the trip served to further the divide
-
The [Latino] Future of PBS
Posted by NALIP on February 27, 2015
Made in L.A.
A proposal by WNET to move POV and INDEPENDENT LENS to a secondary channel in New York leaves filmmakers frustrated
An Op-Ed by John J. Valadez
NEW YORK – Yesterday afternoon several hundred independent documentary filmmakers, along with executives from PBS, WNET, POV, INDEPENDENT LENS and FIRELIGHT MEDIA gathered at the AFI theater on 14th street in Manhattan to speak candidly about a controversial proposal put forth by Stephen Segaller, WNET’s Vice President of Programming.
His bold initiative would assign POV and INDEPENDENT LENS, to premier on New York’s ancillary channel, WLIW, and would have the two signature series’ later re-run outside of prime-time on WNET. According to Segaller, “By moving POV and INDEPENDENT LENS off WNET for the initial broadcast, and then showing them on WNET in a different time-slot we might increase viewer-ship.”
There may have been people in the audience who agreed with Segaller’s assertion, but I didn’t run into any.
WHY THIS MATTERS
POV and INDEPENDENT LENS represent the vast majority of nationally broadcast work by Latinos on PBS. If New York moves independent film (and Latino filmmakers) to an ancillary channel, other PBS stations will follow. The result: our work and our communities will be marginalized and funders will see our films as less important (less impactful) making it even harder to raise money to complete our work.
POV and INDEPENDENT LENS have shown more work by NALIP members than The American Experience, American Masters, Nova, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline and the PBS News Hour combined.
I mention this not to criticize or critique. I watch these programs and they really do represent some of the best programming in the nation. Instead, I mention this to point out how vital POV and INDEPENDENT LENS are to the PBS ecosystem, and how important they are to our community and to an integrated civic discourse in our country.
In truth, they represent the consistent core Latino presence on PBS signature series.
A study by Columbia University released last June called THE LATINO MEDIA GAP: a report on the state of Latinos in the US Media, written under the leadership of Frances Negrón-Muntaner, reveals some stunning statistics:
Series % of Latino or Latin American-Themed Episodes/Segments
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 2.7%
AMERICAN MASTERS 2.6%
HISTORY DETECTIVES 5.5%
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS 6.8%
SOUND STATE 3.2%
GENEALOGY ROADSHOW 7.0%
INDEPENDENT LENS 11.2%
POV 14.9%
According to the report, “Latinos had the highest levels of participation in POV and INDEPENDENT LENS, underscoring the importance of both series to diversity on television.”
Below is an unscientific list (off the top of my head) of programs by NALIP members that have aired on POV and INDEPENDENT LENS. From this work came: an Emmy Award, an Academy Award Nomination, Three Emmy Nominations, and a McArthur Genius Fellow:
THE STATE OF ARIZONA STRANDED
LAS MARTHAS OUR DISAPPEARED
AL OTRO LADO LA LUPE QUEEN OF LATIN SOUL
GANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR RACE IS THE PLACE
REPORTERO MAID IN AMERICA
THE LAST CONQUISTADOR LOS ANGELES NOW
70 MILES PHOTO-NOVELAS
BIBLIOBURRO: THE DONKEY LIBRARY PRESUMED GUILTY
THE LONGORIA AFFAIR THE RECKONING
ELLA ES EL MATADOR THE NEW MUSLIM COOL
NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT PRECIOUS KNOWLEDGE
RECALLING ORANGE COUNTY CALAVERA HIGHWAY
PASSIN’ IT ON MAQUILOPOLIS
MADE IN LA FARMINGVILLE
TRUE-HEARTED VIXENS SOLDADOS
EL VELADOR SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA
THE SIXTH SECTION EL GENERAL
CORPUS: A HOME MOVIE FOR SELENA THE GRADUATES
WONDER WOMEN! FAITH EVEN TO THE FIRE
PLENA IS WORK, PLENA IS SONG LOST SOULS
LAS MADRES: THE MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO
PALENTA SIEMPRE PALENTE: THE YOUNG LORDS
By my count that is 42 films (I’m sorry if I missed any) not including Latino themed work produced by non-Latino filmmakers.
If there were ever a time to speak up about why POV and INDEPENDENT LENS are important to Latinos across America: it is NOW.
I urge NALIP members to immediately join INDIE CAUCUS (http://www.indiecaucus.org/) and work with them to keep POV and INDEPENDENT LENS prime time on WNET in New York.
I also urge NALIP, and its members, to initiate a robust discussion with Public Television about how we can work with them to bring more Latino viewers into the PBS family. We all have an interest in seeing Public Television thrive and I believe that this discussion should be a critical part of our upcoming media summit.
John J. Valadez is a Peabody Award winning filmmaker, and a founding member of NALIP who has produced three films for POV and INDEPENDENT LENS. He lives in New York.
-
HBO Seeks Diverse, Emerging Writers for HBOAccess Writing Fellowship
Posted by NALIP on February 27, 2015
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
@ Indiewire
HBO has announced the launch of the HBOAccess Writing Fellowship which will begin accepting applications on March 4, 2015. The program will give emerging writers from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to attend a week of master classes held at the HBO campus in Santa Monica, California focusing on character and story development, pitching ideas and projects, securing an agent, and networking. Each participant will then enter into an 8-month writing phase where he/she will be paired with an HBO development executive and guided through the script development process. At the conclusion of the program, HBO will hold a reception and staged reading for industry professionals where the writers will be introduced to the entertainment industry.
"With the success of our first year of the HBOAccess Directing fellowship, we wanted to expand our focus to other areas of the creative process," said Kelly Edwards, Vice President, HBO Talent Development. "We are looking for emerging writers with a deep passion for storytelling and a unique voice who will want to bring that talent to HBO and Cinemax. In turn, they will be nurtured by some of the best creative executives and showrunners in the business. HBO has a long legacy of supporting writers and we are excited we can begin those relationships at this early stage."
Last year's inaugural HBOAccess Directing Fellowship proved to be a tremendous success. 4 directors were selected to go through a series of lectures with HBO executives, mentors, and industry professionals. The program concluded with the production of 4 short films which are set to air in March on HBO On Demand and HBO GO.
The HBOAccess Writing Fellowship is open to diverse and female writers 21 and older who must be able to work in the US. Prior to the application, the writer must NOT have been staffed on a network or cable series in excess of 13 episodes and/or had more than one feature film or more than two plays produced.
All submissions must be made through the online portal, Without A Box, and will require a resume, a writing sample, a completed release form and a personal essay in 500 words or less explaining how his/her background has influenced his/her storytelling. For more information on eligibility, visithttps://www.withoutabox.com/03film/03t_fin/03t_fin_fest_01over.php?festival_id=13830.
Timeline and Important Dates:
March 4, 2015 - Application process opens at https://www.withoutabox.com/. The application portal will close when 1,000 submissions have been reached. No mail or email submissions will be accepted.
May, 2015 - 20 candidates advance to first round interviews with HBOAccess(TM) program directors via in person or Skype.
June 2015 - Final interviews with HBO development and production executives. All applicants selected to the final round must provide a second writing sample. They must also be prepared to pitch up to three ideas, one of which will be developed during the eight month long mentorship.
July 1, 2015 - Eight participants are notified.
August 17-21, 2015 - Master classes will take place over a one week period at the HBO offices in Santa Monica, CA from 10am to 5pm. Any finalist not local to the Los Angeles area must be prepared to cover his/her own travel and lodging for the duration of the program, however a small stipend will be available to defray those costs.
Check this out at Indiewire.com
Get the latest from NALIP news in your inbox. Sign up right here.
-
Report: Audiences Demand More Diversity in Film and TV
Posted by NALIP · February 26, 2015
Film Reporter @ Variety
Hollywood needs diversity in its movies and TV to stay attractive to the increasingly diverse U.S. audience, according to a new “Flipping the Script” by UCLA’s Ralph Bunche Center.
“Diversity sells,” the report concluded. It covers theatrical film releases in 2012 and 2013 and all broadcast, cable and digital platform television programs from the 2012-13 season in order to document the degree to which women and minorities are present in front of and behind the camera.
“The Hollywood race and gender problem documented in this report is nothing new,” wrote Darnell Hunt, head of the center. “From the earliest days of the industry, white males have dominated the plum positions in front of and behind the camera, thereby marginalizing women and minorities in the creative process by which a nation circulates popular stories about itself.”
Hunt asserted that the audience is demanding more projects with diverse themes and casts.
“What’s new is that business as usual in the Hollywood industry may soon be unsustainable,” he said. “Evidence from this report (and its predecessor in the series) shows clearly that America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse content created with the input of diverse talent. Diversity sells.”
The UCLA report examined 172 theatrical films released in 2012 and 175 released in 2013 along with 1,105 TV shows airing during the 2012-2013 season.
The report noted that minorities will soon become the majority in the U.S. but said minorities remain under-represented in Hollywood. It also said women have seen even smaller gains in Hollywood than in the previous report.
The center issued a report a year ago showing that minorities and women were falling far short in making inroads into influential Hollywood positions compared with the actual demographics of the U.S. population. That document asserted that the percentages of female and minority actors, writers, directors and producers in films and TV ranges from less than 10% to 50% of their actual population percentage.
That study, dubbed “The 2014 Hollywood Diversity Report: Making Sense of the Disconnect,” also asserts that movies with relatively diverse casts generate above average performance at the box office and that TV shows reflecting U.S. diversity excel in ratings.
Check this out at Variety.com
-
FCC Votes ‘Yes’ on Strongest Net-Neutrality Rules
Posted by NALIP · February 26, 2015
Net-neutrality advocates quite literally danced in the snowy streets Thursday outside the Federal Communications Commission in Washington just before the agency voted to approve the strongest ever rules on net neutrality.
The vote marks the culmination of a yearlong struggle that pitted grassroots Internet advocates and Silicon Valley tech giants against the titans of the telecom industry.
The FCC’s vote is considered a historic victory for so-called open-Internet advocates, and a major blow to big Internet service providers, such as Comcast and Verizon, which will now be subject to stronger regulations.
Crucially, the FCC’s new rules were designed to give the agency explicit legal authority to regulate broadband-Internet providers by reclassifying broadband under Title II of the federal Communications Act.
Because of a weedy legal issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found in January 2014 that the FCC did not have authority to regulate broadband, and therefore threw out the FCC’s previous rules on net neutrality, which were passed in 2010. The court recommended that the FCC reclassify broadband under Title II in order to establish its regulatory authority. Mobile-phone companies and public utilities are also classified under Title II.
The ISPs strongly opposed the Title II reclassification. They argue that the move will destroy innovation and investment in the nation’s digital infrastructure by imposing burdensome regulations on the industry. For example, under Title II, the FCC technically has the power to dictate how much ISPs can charge customers for online access.
The FCC has vowed it won’t regulate broadband as strongly as it could and that it will not control broadband prices. The new rules include a line guaranteeing that the FCC will not regulate “unbundling, tariffs, or other forms of rate regulation.”
Many net-neutrality advocates, including President Obama and Hillary Clinton, who did not immediately support Title II reclassification, have announced their support for the move recently. Clinton said at a conference on Tuesday that the move is the only plausible option available to the agency, which needs to establish its legal authority in order to regulate broadband at all.
Earlier this week, Republicans on Capitol Hill said they would not actively oppose the FCC’s new net-neutrality rules, since any new bill would be nearly impossible to get through Congress without Democratic support. But Verizon, AT&T and their trade group, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, aren’t giving up quite yet. They are expected to sue the FCC again this year in an effort to have the rules thrown out.
The stakes in this battle are high. Net neutrality, the concept that an Internet-service provider can’t block, slow or otherwise hamper users’ access to any online site, has an immediate impact on nearly every business and individual in the country.One of the biggest sources of controversy has been over what’s known as paid-prioritization agreements or Internet fast lanes. Open-Internet advocates and Silicon Valley tech firms, such as Google, Amazon and eBay, lobbied hard that any new net-neutrality rules should explicitly forbid ISPs from collecting payment from web companies for delivering their content to Internet users more quickly or in higher quality in paid fast lanes. A record-breaking 4 million people wrote to the FCC last year to comment on its proposed net-neutrality rules. The majority of commenters supported a version of net neutrality that prohibited fast lanes.
The ISPs, meanwhile, have argued that paid-prioritization agreements should be allowed, and that the notion was not at all at odds with the concept of “net neutrality.” (Comcast, for example, has spent millions of dollars on advertisements saying it is in favor of neutrality rules. But its definition of net neutrality allows for paid-prioritization agreements.) The FCC’s new net-neutrality rules, passed today, bar paid-prioritization agreements.
The FCC’s 3-2 vote Thursday broke down on party lines. Both Republican commissioners opposed the rules; all three Democrats, including chairman Tom Wheeler, who has close ties with the telecom industry, voted in favor of it. When the vote was announced, the room exploded in cheers.
Check this out at TIME.com