Thursday, March 28, 2024

Listen to podcast interview with Sergio “El Sensei” Barrientos, chief creative officer, Latin3 about games as a media vehicle

Posted by Elena del Valle on February 4, 2008

Sergio El Sensei Barrientos

Sergio “El Sensei” Barrientos, co-founder and chief creative officer, Latin3

Photo: Latin3

A podcast interview with Sergio “El Sensei” Barrientos, chief creative officer, Latin3, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses games as a media vehicle with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.

Sergio, known by many colleagues as “El Sensei,” has leveraged his target market strategies for Cingular, Dell, Google, Microsoft, Nextel, Pepsi, Reebok, Sony, TACA, Visa and Xerox by creating shopping environments for online stores. “El Sensei” is the recipient of Latino Marketing Awards, Web Awards, iNovas, PMA’s, and Reggies. Sergio and his team have also made the finals at Cannes Cyberlions.

Before working with Latin3, Sergio was creative director for other companies in Latin America, Spain and the United States for more than 14 years. Prior to joining Latin3, he managed corporate services for a Latin American communications and interactive group.


Reach Hispanics online today with

“Marketing to Hispanics Online” audio recording

Identifying and characterizing the booming Hispanic online market

JoelBary Alex Carvallo Matias Perels

Joel Bary, Alex Carvallo and Matias Perel

Find out about

• The 16 million Latino online users
• Latino online users by gender
• What they do online
• Their language preferences
• How to reach Hispanic urban youth online
• What affects their online behavior
• What influences their purchases

Click here for information about “Marketing to Hispanics Online”


To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Sergio Barrientos,” click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the February 2008 section of the podcast archive.


Make your ads resonate with Hispanics
Listen to C&R’s Research Director Liria Barbosa in

“Hispanics’ Perspective on Advertising” audio recording

Liria Barbosa

Liria Barbosa gives a presentation and participates in an extended Q&A discussion about

• Type of ads Latinos prefer
• Latino top media choices
• Percent of Latinos who tried products because of ads
• Percent of Latinos who purchased products because of ads
• What makes an ad “Hispanic”
• If ad language is important for bicultural Latinos
• What to keep in mind when targeting bicultural Latinos with ads

Click here for information on Hispanic Perspectives on Advertising


A video message in Spanish from one of our sponsors



NALAC supports Latino art through national grant program

Posted by Elena del Valle on January 29, 2008

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Fabiola Trujillo, Rudy Lopez, Gonzalo Soaresgache, Sonia De Leon
and Lucina Rodriguez, grant recipients

Photo: National Association of Latino Arts and Culture  

The San Antonio based National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) recently recognized 24 United States Latino artists and 26 Latino arts and culture organizations for their uniqueness, artistic significance and excellence. The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) distributed $143,505 in grant funding to noteworthy individuals and organizations from across the nation.

Individual artists in nine states received grants ranging between $1,500 and 6,800. California and Texas each had six grant recipients. Among the recipients, there were also five New York artists, two artists from Massachusetts, and one each from Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Organizations in 11 states including nine in California and four each in Texas and New York, received grants ranging from $2,000 to $4,500. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Tennessee also had grant winners.


Improve your outreach programs by understanding
how Latinos see themselves – listen to
 

“Latino Identity and Situational Latinidad ” audio recording

Diana Rios, Ph.D.Federico Subervi, Ph.D. 

Presenters Diana Rios and Ph.D., Federico Subervi, Ph.D.

Find out

• Who is Latino
• Assimilation, acculturation and pluralism
• Hispanic culture dynamics affecting Latino
• Role of Latino identity
• Three factors that contribute to Latino identity

Click here for information on Latino Identity and Situational Latinidad


“NALAC’s support of Latino artists and organizations ensures that the nation’s cultural life is enriched and made vital through the diverse artistic and cultural expressions of our artists. We are pleased to support the creative process of Latino artists and organizations across the country that are engaging communities, stimulating ideas and local economies, and building audiences for all of the nation’s arts,” said Abel Lopez, chair, NALAC Board.

Two multidisciplinary peer review panels examined eligible applications from among the 202 submissions using established criteria and made recommendations to the NALAC Board of Directors. The selection was made on the basis of artistic merit, funding impact, and capability. “In an effort to preserve the integrity of the peer review process” NALAC declined to identify individual judges and panel members.

According to an organization representative, NALAC is the only national Latino arts service organization in the United States. NALAC headquarters have been in San Antonio, Texas for almost 19 years. The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), a grant program to support Latino artists and cultural organizations, is the only national arts fund in the country that provides support specifically for Latino artists and arts organizations working in music, dance, performance art, theatre, visual arts, media and literary arts.

Since its inception in 2005, the Fund has provided 128 grants totaling more than $379,000 to Latino artists, ensembles and small and mid-size Latino arts and culture organizations throughout the U.S. The NALAC Fund for the Arts is made possible with funding from the Ford Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Cultural Collaborative, Heineken and Southwest Airlines. 


Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations Understanding and Targeting America’s Largest Minority book

Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations 1932534083

“A must resource for practitioners/professionals expecting to reach US Hispanics; also valuable for college programs in marketing, public relations and communications. Highly recommended.”

Choice magazine

Click here for information on the Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations books


Watch video – New film documents Brothers to the Rescue tragedy

Posted by Elena del Valle on January 25, 2008

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“Shoot Down” poster

Photos, video: Rogues Harbor Studios

For three years film director Cristina Khuly and producer Douglas Eger, co-founders of Rogues Harbor Studios, worked on a documentary film that opened in theaters last week. They dedicated their financial resources and countless hours to researching, documenting, interviewing and creating “Shoot Down,” an 88-minute documentary film about the tragedy that befell four members of the Miami based Brothers to the Rescue volunteer group.

On February 24, 1996, the volunteers were shot and killed by two Cuban military fighter jets while flying, unarmed, over the area between Florida and Cuba, in international waters, in search of Cuban refugees. Scroll down to watch “Shoot Down” video clip.

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 Cristina Khuly, director of “Shoot Down”

Cristina’s uncle was Armando Alejandre Jr., one of the four American’s killed that day. The other three men were Carlos Costa, Mario De La Peña and Pablo Morales. As part of the production for the documentary the producers scoured government documents, transcripts and never-before seen news footage of Fidel Castro. According to promotional materials, the film features voice recordings from the MiG pilots and their controllers in Havana; and the cockpit recordings from the Cessna planes, edited to re-enact the moment when they were shot down.


Make your ads resonate with Hispanics
Listen to C&R’s Research Director Liria Barbosa in

“Hispanics’ Perspective on Advertising” audio recording

Liria Barbosa

Liria Barbosa gives a presentation and participates in an extended Q&A discussion about

• Type of ads Latinos prefer
• Latino top media choices
• Percent of Latinos who tried products because of ads
• Percent of Latinos who purchased products because of ads
• What makes an ad “Hispanic”
• If ad language is important for bicultural Latinos
• What to keep in mind when targeting bicultural Latinos with ads

Click here for information on Hispanic Perspectives on Advertising


During the film, winner of the 2007 Sonoma Film Festival Award for Best Documentary, interview subjects speak English and Spanish. “Shoot Down” includes English subtitles for Spanish speakers. In some theaters, there will be Spanish subtitles for the English speakers. Residents of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Raleigh, South Florida, and Washington, D.C. will be able to watch the film in a local theatre. Rogues Harbor Studios is expected to release the film on DVD following the theater showings.

Twenty people related to the deceased Brothers to the Rescue volunteers or involved in the case share their thoughts during the film including Miriam de la Peña, Eva Barbas and Mirta Costa Sr., mothers of a victim; Maggie Alejandre Khuly, Nancy Morales and Mirta Costa-Mendez, sisters of a victim; Marlene Alejandre-Triana, daughter of a victim; and Mario T. de la Peña, father of a victim.

Khuly co-founded Rogues Harbor Studios with Eger in 2005. Khuly, a former model and commercial actress, is an artist. Eger served as chairman and chief executive officer of Eger, Inc., a company that creates, builds, and manages high growth enterprises. Since 1997, Eger has served as president of Taconic Enterprises, Inc., a merchant bank that specializes in investing in and advising high growth companies.

Listen to podcast interview with film director Mabel Valdiviezo about making films for Hispanic audiences

Posted by Elena del Valle on January 21, 2008

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Mabel Valdiviezo, producer and director, “Carlos Baron”

Photo: Mabel Valdiviezo 

A podcast interview with Mabel Valdiviezo, producer and director, “Carlos Baron” and “Soledad is Gone Forever” is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, she discusses the films and making films for Hispanic audiences with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.

Mabel is the founder of Haiku Films, a production company based in San Francisco, California.  She is the writer, director and producer of the short films “The Water’s Muse” and “Strange Machines: Music Boxes” that screened at the International Latino Film Festival and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.


Make your ads resonate with Hispanics
Listen to C&R’s Research Director Liria Barbosa in

“Hispanics’ Perspective on Advertising” audio recording

Liria Barbosa

Liria Barbosa gives a presentation and participates in an extended Q&A discussion about

• Type of ads Latinos prefer
• Latino top media choices
• Percent of Latinos who tried products because of ads
• Percent of Latinos who purchased products because of ads
• What makes an ad “Hispanic”
• If ad language is important for bicultural Latinos
• What to keep in mind when targeting bicultural Latinos with ads

Click here for information on Hispanic Perspectives on Advertising


Her short film “Soledad is Gone Forever” screened at the Short Film Corner Cannes International Film Market in May 2007 and was part of Sundance Producers Conference 2007. It was also nominated for the Emerging Filmmakers Award at the International Latino Film Festival. She is developing the feature length version of “Soledad is Gone Forever” and “Parallel Lies.” Mabel, who was born in Lima, Peru, was nominated for a Sundance NHK International Filmmaker Award.

To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Mabel Valdiviezo,” click on the play button or download it to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. You can also subscribe to the podcast by right clicking over the podcast box and selecting “copy shortcut” then inserting the URL address in the podcast section of your iTunes program listed under the “advanced” column. The podcast will remain listed in the January 2008 section of the podcast. 



Listen to podcast interview with Demian M. Bellumio, president, Hoodiny Entertainment Group, about Cyloop.com

Posted by Elena del Valle on January 7, 2008

Demian M. Bellumio

Demian M. Bellumio, president, Hoodiny Entertainment Group, LLC

Photo: Hoodiny Entertainment Group, LLC

A podcast featuring an interview with Demian M. Bellumio, president, Hoodiny Entertainment Group, LLC, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses his company and Cyloop with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast. 

Demian is the founder and president of Hoodiny Entertainment Group (“Hoodiny”), an entertainment company focused on U.S. Hispanic, Latin America, and Spain markets. Through its three business units, Cyloop.com (formerly elHood.com), Hoodiny Interactive and Hoodiny Productions, Hoodiny assists some of the leading Spanish language media companies in the monetization of their content and adoption of media delivery platforms. In 2007, Hoodiny completed a $10 million financing round. The company has operations in Miami and Los Angeles in the United States as well as Madrid and Buenos Aires.

Prior to founding Hoodiny, Demian was vice president of corporate finance and development at Terremark Worldwide, Inc., a provider of internet infrastructure services in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. While at Terremark, he executed over $200 million in financing transactions, including a $45 million secondary offering, an $80 million senior debt financing and an $86 million convertible note financing. Demian also was responsible for developing and managing a $60 million corporate budget and coordinating investor relations’ activities.


“Emotional Branding: How to capture the heart and mind of the Hispanic consumer” audio recording

Jay Gronlund Mario Quiñones

Emotional Branding” was recorded January 2007 during the Strategic Research Institute 13th Annual Blockbuster Marketing to U.S. Hispanic and Latin America conference in Miami, Florida. Receive a free downloadable copy by completing our Visitor Survey.

Click here for your free copy of Emotional Branding


Demian is a founding member and shareholder of BroadSpan Capital, Ltd., an investment banking firm that specializes in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market, with offices in Miami and Rio de Janeiro. Prior to BroadSpan, Demian worked for the Latin American division of Barclays Capital, the investment-banking arm of Barclays Bank PLC.

Demian, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, received a B.B.A. in finance, international business and marketing from Florida International University (FIU) in 2000. He is a member of FIU’s Dean’s Council, the College of Business Administration’s principal advisory board.

To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Demian M. Bellumio,” click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the January 2008 section of the podcast archive.


Reach Hispanics online today with

“Marketing to Hispanics Online” audio recording

Identifying and characterizing the booming Hispanic online market

JoelBary Alex Carvallo Matias Perels

Joel Bary, Alex Carvallo and Matias Perel

Find out about

• The 16 million Latino online users
• Latino online users by gender
• What they do online
• Their language preferences
• How to reach Hispanic urban youth online
• What affects their online behavior
• What influences their purchases

Click here for information on “Marketing to Hispanics Online”


Listen to song – Chilean rock band releases studio album

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 31, 2007

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Los Tres

Photo: Nacional Records

Chilean rockers Los Tres recently released their first studio album in five years, “Hagalo Usted Mismo” (“Do It Yourself”), a follow up to the band’s 2001 “Freno de Mano.” The first single in the album, “Camino,” received heavy airplay in Mexico and Chile. Scroll down and click on the play button to listen to “Camino.”

Hagalo Usted Mismo” is described as combining melodic rock with traditional Chilean folkloric influences and instruments, as well as classic rock sounds, while the single “Camino” has an upbeat, vintage rockabilly sound.

The album, produced by Joe Blaney (The Clash, Prince, Charly Garcia), was recorded earlier this year in New York City and features drummer Steve Jordan (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin). Emmanuel del Real from Café Tacuba produced and mixed several of the songs.

The collaboration with Café Tacuba was a natural step after the success of Tacuba’s four-song EP of Los Tres covers “Vale Callampa” which brought Los Tres back into the spotlight and introduced the trio to an international audience. Del Real accompanied Los Tres before 30,000 fans in Santiago, Chile and at Vive Latino in Mexico City.

Los Tres, originally formed in Concepcion in the late 1980’s, is Alvaro Henriquez (vocals, guitar, piano), Angel Parra (lead guitar) and Roberto “Titae” Lindl (bass).


“Beyond the 30 Second Spot” audio recording

Listen to a 105-minute discussion

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Panelists Ivan Cevallos, Hunter Heller, Kitty Kolding and Cynthia Nelson

Our panel of national experts discuss

• Challenges of measuring the impact of the 30-second ad spot
• Innovative tools are useful to reach Latinos
• Changes in marketing to Hispanics
• On which market segment are the changes most relevant
• Effects of technology and time shift on consumer behavior
• Role of multi-screens
• Getting started
• Tips for marketing professionals

Click here to find out about Beyond the 30 Second Spot


Click on the play button to listen to “Camino.”


Listen to song – Chile DJ releases new album

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 24, 2007

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DJ Bitman

Chilean DJ Bitman, formerly known as Bitman & Roban, released a new album and a radio single,“Shine,” recently featuring a mix of electronic, funk, hip hop, Latin and lounge music. In “Latin Bitman,” his music matches bilingual lyrics and Latin electronica.

The album follows the 2006 debut of “Musica Para Despues de Almuerzo,” which received airplay on t stations like Indie 103 and KCRW in Los Angeles, KEXP in Seattle and KUT in Austin. Since the release of “Musica Para Despues del Almuerzo,” and in the past year his music has appeared in EA Games’ FIFA 2007 video game and the “La Mujer de Mi Hermano” soundtrack.

DJ Bitman is José Antonio “Toto” Bravo. This is his first release as DJ Bitman, following three releases as Bitman & Roban, “Musica Para Despues del Almuerzo,” “Robar es Natural” in 2002 and “Hurtos” in 2000.

Click on the play button below to listen to DJ Bitman’s song “Shine” from the “Latin Bitman” album:


Reach Hispanics online today with

“Marketing to Hispanics Online” audio recording

Identifying and characterizing the booming Hispanic online market

JoelBary Alex Carvallo Matias Perels

Joel Bary, Alex Carvallo and Matias Perel

Find out about

• The 16 million Latino online users
• Latino online users by gender
• What they do online
• Their language preferences
• How to reach Hispanic urban youth online
• What affects their online behavior
• What influences their purchases

Click here for information on “Marketing to Hispanics Online”


Listen to song, watch video – Singer, designer partner to promote clothing line

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 17, 2007

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Click on image to enlarge

Photo, video and song: SGM Records

When she performs, singer Diana Mera wears From Eye to I shirts and hoodies designed by Honey Tavassoli, a 24 year old born in Iran and raised in Tustin, California known in the fashion industry as Honey T. The two artists established a promotional agreement through which Mera showcases her favorite Hotney T. clothing line items when she performs.

Mera shows off some of the clothing items in the music video “20 Pedacitos” while she sings the song by the same name. Scroll down to watch the music video “20 Pedacitos” and to listen to the song by the same name.

“Besides loving the designs, Honey is wonderful and has created pieces specifically for me when I had photo sessions, she is fabulously talented and like her name, very sweet,” said Mera.


“Latino Family Dynamics” audio recording

Brenda Hurley Liria Barbosa

 Brenda Hurley and Liria Barbosa

Discuss

  • Latino purchasing habits and products they favor
  • Latino family characteristics
  • Latinos and extended families
  • Division of duties, responsibilities within the family
  • Who is the decision maker in the Latino family
  • Who is the information provider in the Latino family

Click here to find out about Latino purchasing habits and “Latino Family Dynamics”


Honey T designs T-shirts, jackets and tank tops with original drawings and paintings of her own inspiration. She then makes her paintings ready to print on the T-Shirts. Honey T original art is pressed in the fabrics that Mera wears, together with her iconic ties and chucks. Honey T clothes, made in the United States, cost between $13 to $40 and are available on the designer’s website.

“We had to look for something original within the simple image Diana has; I thought Honey T’s clothes were excellent because the printed designs in the shirts are unique, she personally draws them, it’s very interesting.” said Jorge Torres, Mera’s publicist. 

Mera, a singer, composer and an actor, was born in Quito, Ecuador. She was raised in Lima, Peru and lived in México, Venezuela, and Switzerland prior to arriving in the U.S. were she now resides. She started her career in television shows such as “Despierta América” on Univisión and “De Mañanita” on Telemundo. Four of her music videos have appeared in VHUNO and MTV Español.  She has appeared on radio and television shows like “El Gordo y La Flaca,” “América en Vivo,” Univisión Radio, Caracol and Cadena Azul and on Cristina Saralegui’s show.

Watch video – WIF, GM select 2007 Acceleration Grant for Emerging Latina Filmmakers winners

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 7, 2007

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Filmmakers Erika Bagnarello and Sarah Duran

Photos: Women In Film
Videos: Xochitl Gonzalez

The national alliance organization of Women In Film (WIF) and General Motors Corporation (GM) recently selected five winners of the second annual WIF/GM 2007 Opening Doors/Abriendo Puertas: The Acceleration Grant for Emerging Latina Filmmakers. Scroll down to watch “Countdown” and “Stuck” short videos courtesy of one of this year’s grant recipients, Xochitl Gonzalez.

The grant, a project of the WIF/GM Alliance, was created to support talented filmmakers from Latina/Hispanic communities and other under-represented groups. The WIF/GM grant is presented to five up-and-coming Latina filmmakers, chosen through an application process overseen by a WIF selection committee of professional filmmakers and entertainment industry executives from the New York-based chapter of WIF, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).

Grant recipients were chosen from among numerous submissions from across the U.S., U.S. territories and three foreign countries. Applicants included women of Brazilian, Cuban, Columbian, Costa Rican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Spanish and Peruvian heritage. This year’s winners are Erika Bagnarello from Heredia, Costa Rica; Sarah Duran, Xochitl Gonzalez and Brenda Zuniga from Los Angeles, California; and Michelle Malley-Campos from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The grant promises recipients the opportunity to learn about the business of filmmaking through a six-day, full-immersion mentoring program, shepherded by members of NYWIFT, including some of the industry’s better known and women filmmakers.

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Filmmakers Brenda Zuniga and Michelle Malley-Campos

“Once again, we are tremendously impressed with the depth of talent among Latina women across the country and in other territories and countries. Women In Film steadfastly believes in mentoring, fostering and supporting exceptional women who want to work in the entertainment industry. And the emphasis of the grant is to support emerging filmmakers from diverse communities. We applaud this year’s winners and look forward to their future contributions to our industry,” said Judith James, chair of the WIF/GM Alliance.

A native of Costa Rica, Bagnarello is a graduate of Florida State University and a former Fulbright Scholar. In 2006, she was awarded an honorable mention in the Latino category of the Directors Guild of America’s Student Awards for her short, The Melting Pot. Her thesis film Inner Sight, won second place in the student category at the 2007 Palm Beach International Film Festival and was chosen to screen at this year’s Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Bagnarello’s current project, Flyways, tells the story of a Costa Rican woman illegally immigrating to the U.S. with her daughter via a cruise ship.


“Emotional Branding: How to capture the heart and mind of the Hispanic consumer” audio recording

Jay Gronlund Mario Quiñones

Emotional Branding” was recorded January 2007 during the Strategic Research Institute 13th Annual Blockbuster Marketing to U.S. Hispanic and Latin America conference in Miami, Florida. Receive a free downloadable copy by completing our Visitor Survey.

Click here for your free copy of Emotional Branding


A graduate of Cal State Northridge, Duran was recently accepted as one of 16 participants in the 2007 Producers Guild of America’s Diversity Workshop for her feature screenplay The Search for Santiago. She was selected to attend the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) 2007 signature program, the Latino Producers Academy, as a feature production fellow. Duran’s first short film, Red Phoenix, premiered at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival and her second short, Girls Night Out, won the grand prize in the 2006 Mercury/NALIP Latino Short Film Challenge. She is working on her first feature-length screenplay which she hopes to direct.

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Filmmaker Xochitl Gonzalez

Gonzalez received an MFA in directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.  She directed two award-winning narrative 35 millimeter shorts, “Countdown” and “Stuck.” Scroll down to watch the her short films. Her films have screened on KCET’s Fine Cut series and at the Film Independent P:I Showcase, Newport Beach Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival and Durango Film Festival. Gonzalez completed screenplays she hopes to direct for a feature film, Dr. Kevin, and a television pilot, The V.A. Spa.

Malley-Campos is a graduate of New York University’s film program. Her senior thesis, the short narrative When Chickens Bark, was was awarded  “Outstanding Achievement” at the 2007 International Student Film Festival. She is working in the Puerto Rican production office for the film, The Argentine, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio Del Toro.

A graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, Zuniga is exhibiting her thesis film, Santa Teresa, at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival and the DC Shorts Film Festival. She is working as a cinematographer and camera assistant in feature film production. Zuniga’s goal is to write and direct feature films.

“By providing the opportunity to attend dedicated workshops and to network with professionals from all aspects of the filmmaking industry,” said Terry Lawler, executive director of NYWIFT, “these grants will provide these women with a broad base of skills and knowledge of how to turn creative ideas into reality.”

Founded in 1973 in Los Angeles, Women In Film is a non-profit organization dedicated to women in the global entertainment industry. Its purpose is to empower, promote, nurture and mentor women in the industry through a network of valuable contacts, events, programs, workshops, finishing funds and scholarships.

The Women In Film/General Motors Alliance was created to support women in the entertainment industry and to expand Women In Film chapter programs across the country.  The multi-year initiative was announced in Los Angeles in January 2005 and is supporting programs such as the Film Finishing Fund, Women’s Film Preservation Fund, Legacy Series, scholarships, mentorships and local WIF chapter award events across the nation. General Motors Corporation is the National Presenting Sponsor of Women In Film.

Click on the play button to watch “Countdown” and “Stuck” short videos courtesy of Xochitl Gonzalez.

Watch video, listen to song – New York band releases first album

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 3, 2007

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Zon del Barrio album cover

Photo: Jerry LaCay
Video: Ed Rodriguez, Diesel Media

New York Latin band Zon del Barrio recently released its debut CD, “Cortijo’s Tribe” with the help of Emusica Records and Barrio Zone Productions. The Spanish Harlem group describes its style as structured on a solid foundation of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with a New York twist and a celebration of Afro-Antillian music.

Led by Latin music historian, writer, composer and musician Aurora Flores, Zon del Barrio’s Cortijo’s Tribe: La Tribu de Cortijo relies on Afro-Puerto Rican music veterans Yomo Toro, the King of the cuatro (the national 10-stringed guitar of the island) and Sammy Ayala, Cortijo alum, singer and songwriter. Hector “Papote” Jimenez, a native New Yorker, is the youngest addition to the band.

Zon del Barrio is a play on words for the musical genre son of Latino communities. Produced by musical director David Fernandez, the CD blends dance rhythms of Cuba and Puerto Rico within a New York setting. According to promotional materials it includes elements of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, funk and reggaetón, raw street plenas and bombas. Cortijo’s Tribe follows the production style of salsa artists Al Santiago whose approach is said to have paved the way for the Fania music explosion of the 1970s.

Zon Del Barrio has shared the stage with Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Oscar D’Leon, Bobby Valentin, Michael Stuart, Larry Harlow, Jimmy Bosch, Andrea Brachfeld, La India, and Chembo Corniel. The band has appeared on Univision during the Latin Grammy Awards, on the morning show “Despierta America” on Telemundo, Fox 5, Manhattan Neighborhood Network and the Vic-Fezensac Salsa festival in Toulouse, France; the Howl Festival in the Lower East Side, the Orchard Beach Salsa Concert Series, the Half Marathon in Battery Park, The River to River Festival, and the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.


 Click on the button to hear “El Negron Bembon


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Click here to purchase Cortijo’s Tribe CD


Listen to Cesar Melgoza discuss 

“Changing Latino Landscape” audio recording

Cesar Melgoza

Presenter Cesar Melgoza, managing director, Latin Force Group

Find out about

• How demographic, social, political and economic factors affect Latinos
• Number of Hispanics in U.S.
• Hispanics as a percent of the mainstream population
• Number of Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico
• Hispanics, including Puerto Rico, as a percent of U.S. mainstream
• Number of Asians and African Americans
• Estimated size of Hispanic market by 2012
• Percentage growth of new Hispanics per year
• Number of counties where Latinos are majority
• Areas of significant Latino growth
• Area of U.S. with a 950 percent Latino growth
• Role of acculturation
• Hispanicity segmentation

Click here for information on the Changing Latino Landscape