By Carlos A. Gutiérrez

Mexican cinema has been going through an exceptional boom over the last few years, and folks abroad have taken note. The historic feats of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón at the Oscars aren’t matters of mere coincidence; it’s worth pointing out that two other Mexican directors, Carlos Reygadas and Amat Escalante, won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival twice consecutively in the last three years. Not to mention, the many filmmakers who have won prizes at the Sundance, Berlin, Locarno and Rotterdam Film Festivals, among many others. If we take the Oscars and Cannes as polar opposites in the (false, but hegemonic) dichotomy of film as either industry or art, we can affirm that Mexican filmmakers have conquered some of the greatest honors in world cinema.

Indeed, these prizes have generated more attention and enthusiasm for Mexican filmmakers, but they haven’t been able to guarantee better distribution and exhibition for Mexican films, specifically in the United States. Historically, Hollywood has been interested in foreign talent, but not in foreign films (here it is worth mentioning that Birdman is obviously not a Mexican film). This has been one of the biggest problems with the Academy Awards. Just as the Oscar for the Argentine film El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes) didn’t open the door for more Argentine films in the United States, I fear that the triumphs of Cuarón and González Iñárritu will sadly not translate into better distribution platforms for Mexican cinema in this country.

Read More at Remezcla.

Last week, the Cooney Center and members of the Aprendiendo Juntos Council (AJC) released three new publications that take a closer look at the way Hispanic-Latino families engage with media. Aprendiendo en casa, by June Lee and Brigid Barron, zeroes in on data about Hispanic-Latino families collected during our 2014 national survey of parents on educational media use. Connecting to Learn by Vikki S. Katz and Michael H. Levine analyzes the impact of digital equity programs such as the public-private partnership Connect2Compete and offers recommendations for policymakers. Digital Media Use and Latino Families, by Bruce Fuller, José Ramón Lizárraga, andJames Gray, takes a close look at the ways families adopt and use digital media and offers recommendations for producers of digital media, those hoping to engage Latino families, along with the growing range of nonprofits, schools and funders that hold faith in digital technologies.

Read More HERE.

By Ed García Conde

Before Hollywood became the epicenter of America’s nascent film industry, New York City played a major role with the world’s first commercial motion picture exhibition right here in our city in 1894.  Many studios sprang up around the city including two in The Bronx:  First Edison Studios in Tremont just north of Crotona Park (which opened in 1907 and eventually closed its doors in 1918) and Biograph Studios which ran from 1912 in Bedford Park until the 1970s (in 1956, after being closed for several years, it reopened as America’s largest film studio outside of Hollywood).

Now, York Studios is set to bring Film & Television back to The Bronx with the construction of 3 buildings totaling about 300,000 square feet on a 10 acre lot in Soundview along The Bronx River which was purchased by the company for $7.2 million in October of 2012 (the property is actually an assemblage of 3 separate, adjacent lots).

York Studios proposed site along the Bronx River in Soundview.

 The company currently operates out of a 40,000 square foot facility in Queens where the hit television series ‘Elementary’ is filmed.  The studio also has under its belt the ‘The Amazing Spider Man 2′ among its credentials.

Edwin Pagán, filmmaker and former board member of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) said, “Film production has deep historical roots in the Bronx and the concept of a major film studio being built in the borough is a very intriguing proposition, and could, potentially, become a catalyst for long-term economic revitalization in the region.”

As like many others who have been talking about York Studios settings shop in our borough, Pagán raises the important issue of how such a project can really impact our youth and community.  He says:

“The creative medium of film, with its varied disciplines and vocations, would provide an excellent opportunity for apprenticeship programs for the local community, especially youth and the many filmmakers who call the Bronx home. It would be great to see the studio create “shadow” training initiatives where young people are linked with mentors and receive hands-on production experience in set-building, lighting, makeup, wardrobe and other production crew responsibilities, with the ultimate goal of having them become part of the related unions and can build careers in the industry. We hope the investors have this kind of vision purpose-built into their overall long-term plans.”

We know how our borough is full of talent and the arts in all disciplines and not least of all the television and film industry with Woody Allen, Alan Alda, the late Lauren Bacall, George A Romero, Penny Marshall, Tracy Morgan, Regis Philbin, Sonia Manzano, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Stanley Kubrick, and so many others either born here, raised here, or both.

The site, although a long walk from the nearest subway station at Elder Avenue on the 6 line, is just minutes from the Bruckner Expressway.

Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by Summer 2016.  Currently, no files have been submitted to the department of buildings as per their website.

What are your thoughts on this project?

Check this out at WELCOME2THEBRONX.com

Julie Ann Crommett and Barbara Matos

NALIP is pleased to announce Julie Ann Crommett, Program Manager, CS Education in Media, GOOGLE and Barbara Matos, VP, Diversity, CBS Corporation as the Co-Chairs for the 2015 NALIP Media Summit to take place June 25-28 at the W Hollywood Hotel.

“We are honored and thrilled to have Julie Ann Crommett and Barbara Matos, co-chair this year's Media Summit. As two rising and leading Latinas in the industry, they bring a fresh vision, an impressive trajectory, a passion for the work that we do and a renewed mission of our organization.” said Axel Caballero, NALIP Executive Director.

Crommett and Matos will head the Summit Host Committee and partner with the NALIP board and staff to realize this year’s highly anticipated NALIP Media Summit. 

The NALIP Media Summit is the largest and most prestigious annual gathering of Latino content creators and those interested in Latino content. The 16th annual Summit will present top-level speakers who provide analysis of the television, film, documentary and digital media industries while projecting future trends. Intimate conversations with artists will be held as well as workshops for emerging and mid-career content creators.

Maria Agui Carter, Chair Emeritus and Trustee of NALIP, has been selected for the 2015 Latino Screenwriting Project with her new dramatic feature script, The Secret Life of La Mariposa, about Mari, an undocumented 13-year-old in NYC, who survives abuse from a stepfather who is her only ticket to citizenship, and the disappointment of a mother too overwhelmed to protect her, by escaping into a fantastical world that overtakes her reality.  In this modern retelling of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a Mexican teen girl obsessed with insects transcends her impossible circumstances through science and fantasy.
  Maria worked on her first draft at the 2014 NALIP Artist Retreat Center, and is a lifetime member of NALIP.  The Latino Screenwriting Project takes place Feb. 25-28, 2015 during Cinefestival in San Antonio and is supported by the Sundance Institute.