Nell Serrano, played by Rodriguez, is a broke and newly single disaster. Five years after leaving her life and career behind, Nell finds herself on a quest to restart both. The twist in her story comes when she lands a seemingly mundane job – writing obituaries. Little does she know that this job, which she initially considers a dead-end (pun intended), becomes the source of unexpected life advice from the most unlikely places. It is adapted by from the pages of “Confessions of a 40-something F**k Up” by Alexandra Potter

Rounding out the cast is including Hannah Simone as Sam, Lauren Ash as Lexi, Rick Glassman as Edward, Joshua Banday as Dennis, and Angela Gibbs as Cricket, adds layers of complexity and humor to the narrative. The chemistry among the cast members is palpable, contributing to the show’s undeniable appeal.

Casey Johnson and David Windsor, the creative minds steering the ship, not only serve as creators but also as executive producers. The series boasts an impressive lineup of executive producers, including Gina Rodriguez, Dean Holland, and Wonderland Sound and Vision’s McG, Mary Viola, and Corey Marsh. The series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.

Season 2 Premieres Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 8:30 p.m. EST

Follow “Not Dead Yet” (#NotDeadYet) on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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Joining the exclusive ranks of Rita Moreno, a Puerto Rican trailblazer, and Lupita Nyong’o, today Oscar nomination of America Ferrera makes a notable dent in the lack of diversity for Latinos in Hollywood.

Ferrera’s nomination not only celebrates her exceptional talent but also symbolizes a positive shift in the industry’s recognition of Latinx performers. Known for her impactful roles in projects like Real Women Have Curves and Ugly Betty, Ferrera has consistently broken barriers and challenged stereotypes.

Ferrera’s journey reflects the increasing acknowledgment of diverse voices in the entertainment world. Her presence in the Oscar nomination list is a testament to the importance of representation and the ongoing efforts to promote inclusivity in the film industry.

In a landscape where Latinx representation remains a crucial topic, America Ferrera’s Oscar nomination stands as a beacon of inspiration, paving the way for more Latinx talent to be recognized and celebrated on the grand stage of the Academy Awards.

This year Latinos were also nominated in various categories either for individual statues, or as part of a team.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Colman Domingo
Rustin

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

America Ferrera
Barbie

AIMATED FEATURE FILM

Robot Dreams
Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Killers of the Flower Moon
Rodrigo Prieto

MUSIC (Original Song)

“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren – Performed by Becky G

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Society of the Snow
Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

The 96th Oscars will be broadcast on Sunday, March 10, 2024 on ABC. Those without access to ABC can still watch the Oscars live with streaming services that offer live television, including Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and FuboTV

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However, a 2023 Music Economics Report from Duetti, a music financing platform for independent artists, reveals that Latin artists’ revenue is the lowest, requiring nearly three times the streams of country artists for the same $1.  

While it may seems that these artists must be raking in the dough through all their music, Independent artists must generate a staggering 5,000,000 streams annually to make the US federal minimum wage. Additionally, Latin artists incurred the highest distribution fees this year, revealing a noteworthy financial challenge within the Latin music industry. Since 2022, earnings per stream for independent Latin artists has declined by a whopping 21% .

Something tells me these statistics will be hard to ignore the next time we jam out to the next Karol G song on Spotify.

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Amazon MGM Studios will release the cinematic original

Watch the Official Trailer:

This Is Me…Now: A Love Story will stream globally on Prime Video on February 16th. This is the same day the new album This is Me…Now will be released, which is currently available for pre-order at https://jenniferlopez.lnk.to/ThisIsMeNowPR 

Directed by: Dave Meyers

Written by: Jennifer Lopez, Matt Walton 

Story by: Jennifer Lopez, Dave Meyers, Chris Shafer

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Fat Joe, Trevor Noah, Kim Petras, Post Malone, Keke Palmer, Sofia Vergara, Jenifer Lewis, Jay Shetty, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sadhguru, Tony Bellissimo, Derek Hough, Trevor Jackson, Paul Raci, Bella Gagliano, Brandon Delsid, Ashley Versher, Malcolm Kelner, Alix Angelis, Danielle Larracuente, Matthew Law and Ben Affleck

Runtime: 65 Minutes

The post Jennifer Lopez closes the loop on her journey through love and self acceptance with “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story” first appeared on .

Cueva, who is also the producer of Angel Baby, takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions as she navigates her way through grief and terror. Meanwhile, Val meets a mysterious neighbor (Chris Browning) desperately searching for the truth, and with the help of Maggie, the local bar owner (Rebecca DeMornay), she gains the strength to face what is tormenting her peace, leaving the audience cheering for her in the final act. 

Angel Baby is a film that, though delivering plenty of jump scares and terrifying musical cues, balances cinema horror with the deeper themes of grief and ultimately, acceptance.

Angel Baby is produced by Cueva of Cave Entertainment, and financed by Fearful Pictures. Cueva founded Cave Entertainment to make ground-breaking female-driven films and television shows focused on Latino, indigenous, and underrepresented voices. With the USC Annenberg

Inclusion Initiative report, released in October 2023, revealing that across 16 years, 3.1% of “Produced by” credits went to a Latino or Hispanic individual with “Women” representing less than 1% overall. Less than one-quarter of one percent (<0.25%) of all speaking roles went to Native American characters across the 16 years studied. In fact, the percentage of Native American roles did not exceed 1% across any of the years evaluated. There was only 1 film with a Native actor in the leading role.

Angel Baby is coming to select Theaters in the US and On Demand Dec 15. The film is distributed by Quiver Distribution in North America and Canada. The screenplay is written by Elisa Manzini (I’ll Be Waiting) and Rebecca Stahl (Everything in Between). Whitney Anderson (Holland, Michigan) and Chris Browning (Bright) also star in the film. Cinematographer is Alvaro Martin Blanco, Production Designer is David Hartwell, Composer is Max Di Carlo, Costume Designer is Elaine Lin.

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When an AI Productivity Monitoring Software deems widow Tita (Laura Patalano) no longer fit for work due to her swelling joints, she reluctantly hires an AI humanoid to fill in for her picking strawberries out in the fields. Yet, as model after model breaks down during the arduous labor, it becomes clear that no AI Humanoid the company provides is capable of executing the same back-breaking work. 

Patalano is endearing and just the right amount of tough in her role as Tita, who navigates both a humorous and heartfelt performance. She is surrounded by an equally engaging cast that convinces us that Caballero’s world in the not-too-distant future could very soon be a reality. 

Written by Luis Antonio Aldana & Miguel Angel Caballero, this film was produced by Helena Sardinha and Rafael Thomaseto, presented at the Tribeca Festival and was made as part of Indeed’s Rising Voices program – an initiative set up to discover, invest in and share stories created by BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers, and has qualified to be considered for a 2024 Academy® Award. Rising Voices was created in collaboration with Emmy® Award-winning writer, creator, and actor Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad Productions, Ventureland and 271 Films.

Miguel Angel Caballero (co-writer/director) is the son of Mexican immigrant farm workers and an award-winning Queer Mexican-American/Chicano writer, director, and producer. His short film, ACUITZERAMO, premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival, won 20 awards internationally, and is screening on MAX. Miguel Angel is an Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellow, Film Independent Project Involve fellow, and the Warner Bros. Discovery 150 Artist Grant recipient. Miguel Angel was one of ten directors selected to participate in the 2022 inaugural Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Accelerator Program and won the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship. 

STARRING

Laura Patalano

Luis Antonio Aldana

Nico Greetham 

Cheryll Umaña

Rocío Lopez

Geoffrey Rivas

Rafael Cobos Delgado

Juan Alfonso

Elia Saldana

Joan Almedilla

Arlene Santana

Christain Jaime Garcia

Kiara Bletran

David Rodriguez Estrada

PRODUCTION: Indeed, Hillman Grad Productions, 271 Flms

DIRECTOR:  Miguel Angel Caballero

WRITERS: Luis Antonio Aldana, Miguel Angel Caballero

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lena Waite, Rishi Rajani, Doménica Castro, Constanza Castro

PRODUCERS: Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto

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Selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as an Oscar-qualified film, The Kill Floor is an emotional story full of tension, grief, and injustice. Yet, like our collective time in lockdown during the COVID-19 epidemic, the audience is left with the comfort of the most enduring of all human emotions: love. Love for a son, a career, a community, and eventually, self love. 

The film was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the meatpacking industry and its workers, particularly in the Latino community. Through the character of Gill, Avila focused on the different stories of the workers. He interviewed meatpacking workers, union representatives, activists, and journalists who covered the stories in real time and created a fictionalized version of events capturing the worker experience while exploring important themes of community and father-son relationships.

“In the meatpacking plant workers I spoke with, I recognized people like my family and friends and their dedication to work. I felt that this story of Latino essential workers was important and necessary to tell. Often, these stories are forgotten. I wanted to call attention to what happened.” – Carlos Avila

Latin Heat was able to catch up with director Carlos Avila to talk about his process in writing/producing and directing his short film and why he felt he needed to tell this story.

Latin Heat: Tell us about some of the stories and experiences of the workers in the meatpacking plants. 

Carlos Avila: Although The Kill Floor is a fictional story, it uses as its backdrop the very real crisis in the meatpacking industry during the early days of the pandemic. COVID-19 spread like wildfire through numerous meatpacking plants. It impacted many workers because that industry was either unprepared to deal with the crisis or uninterested in mitigating the risks posed by the virus if it was to slow down production. We were committed to telling this story with humor, emotion, and vivid characterizations. 

LH: Why focus on the Latino community?

Because Latinos are such a big part of the workforce in these plants, the Latino community was heavily impacted by COVID-19. In the research that I did prior to writing, I interviewed meatpacking plant workers and read many accounts of their experiences. The workers that I interviewed in Vernon, California told me about a worker at the plant who went to extremes to hide his symptoms from his co-workers because he was desperate to work so that he could continue to provide for his family. That gentleman eventually died because by the time he got medical attention he couldn’t be saved. Another story I read was about Saul Sanchez, a meatpacking plant worker in Greeley, Colorado. Mr. Sanchez was in his 70s, and he had worked at a plant there for over 30 years. He was one of the first workers to get COVID-19 at the plant. He was admitted to the ICU and put on a ventilator, and eventually he died. A few days before he passed, he told his family to tell the plant management not to be concerned because he would soon be back to work. There’s some of Mr. Sanchez in the The Kill Floor character, Agustin. Working in the meatpacking industry is challenging on any given day, but during COVID-19, it was particularly perilous. 

LH: What was the writing process like for this film?

CA: As I was writing The Kill Floor, it was very clear to me that there was a tremendous responsibility in telling a story like this. I wanted to dramatize and not sensationalize. I steeped myself heavily in the world of the meatpacking plants through interviews, firsthand observation, and research prior to writing the script. I’m a good listener, and I got so much out of the conversations I had with the meatpacking plant workers and union representatives in Vernon, California, the activists in Crete, Nebraska, and the journalists on both the East and West Coasts who covered the story. I integrated details, events, and perspectives with my storytelling instincts to develop a narrative that reflects a true version of what occurred.

LH: Why did you choose to tell the story through both present day scenes and flashbacks? 

CA:The Kill Floor uses flashbacks in order to provide an emotional dimension to our characters. Because [the film] has a short running time of 27 minutes, I knew I had to be economical in providing a context for the relationships.

The flashbacks made sense in terms of storytelling and being able to convey some understanding of the Gil/Agustin relationship. I wanted the flashbacks to resonate when we finally got to the present-day Gil/Agustin scenes.

Some of the settings for the present-day scenes are the same as in the flashbacks, and yet so much has changed in the characters’ lives and in terms of their relationship. I was less interested in using flashbacks for exposition but more in providing emotional depth. 

LH: What did you learn about the Latino spirit and work ethic throughout the making of this film?

CA: One of the stories that impacted me as I read the newspapers and watched the news was the crisis that was unfolding in the meatpacking plants. Given the nature of meat processing industry — people standing in close proximity to each other — COVID-19 spread quickly through those facilities. I knew that many Latinos were working in the poultry plants in the American South, but as I read and researched more, I was impressed to see how many Latinos worked in meatpacking plants throughout the United States. I was moved by these stories that I was reading. 

It seemed like there was a clash between big business and the dedicated Latino work ethic. These corporations wanted to keep operating regardless of the human cost. They even successfully lobbied the former President and his administration to pass an Executive Order so that they would be declared ‘essential businesses.’ This gave these corporations liability protections if workers got sick. In the plant workers I spoke with, I recognized people like my family and friends and their dedication to work. I felt that this story of Latino essential workers was important and necessary to tell. Often, these stories are forgotten. I wanted to call attention to what happened. My goal was to make a film that would resonate with audiences. I also wanted the film to be a ‘witness’ to what happened. 

LH: Where did this story come from?

CA: In the early days of the pandemic, as with so many other people, I was glued to the news. I was wondering whether we were facing the apocalypse or whether the world would make it through the crisis. I started reading about the COVID-19 crisis happening in the meatpacking plants. When I found out how many Latinos worked in these plants and how Latino communities were so heavily impacted, I knew that I needed to tell this story. Now and then, as a filmmaker, you encounter a story that needs to be told. For me, The Kill Floor was one of those stories.

LH: Why is being Oscar Qualifying important for this and other short films? 

CA: Qualifying for the Academy Awards tells me that our film is of significant merit and worthy of playing alongside the other short films that have also qualified this year. It is a wonderful achievement to be in a category that includes important films from all over the world. The hope, of course, is that this additional visibility for The Kill Floor gives much-needed attention to the subject matter of our film and the role of Latino essential workers during the pandemic. 

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Shura is a compelling short documentary film that transcends its brief runtime to deliver a poignant and inspiring narrative. Co-written, directed and produced by Kayvon Derak Shanian and David Damian Figueroa, this Oscar qualifying film delves into the life of a remarkable woman whose resilience, determination and love for her fellow man can, and does make a difference in the lives of the undocumented, showcasing the profound impact one individual can have on their community and beyond.

The film’s subject, Shura Wallin, who is the co-founder of the humanitarian group The Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans, has spent the majority of her life with a handful of volunteers to save lives on the Arizona border. Living about a mile from the Sonoran desert, Shura travels to the border to fill water tanks and patrol migrant trails on both sides of the I-19 corridor offering help to anyone that may cross her path.

Across the Mexican border in Nogales, she works out of the faith-based El Comedor center, serving meals, distributing supplies to people deported from the U.S. and others contemplating the trek north.

The film stays close to its protagonist, offering a glimpse of a day in the life of an advocate who has dedicated the last years of her life to being of service to others. A black belt in Karate, one can see how her years of training have lent a hand in not only the mental fortitude Wallin possesses, but the physical fortitude it takes to trek over hills and valleys to bring supplies to the many migrants crossing the border.

The cinematography is a standout feature, capturing the essence of Shura’s story with visually striking compositions captured, quite refreshingly, on an iPhone 13 . Co-directors’ Figueroa and Shanian’s keen eye for detail and the thoughtful use of imagery, contribute to the emotional impact of the film, enhancing the audience’s connection to the narrative. Furthermore, the pacing of the documentary is expertly handled, ensuring that each moment serves a purpose in advancing Shura’s story. The concise runtime and unorthodox camera choice does not compromise the depth of the narrative but rather enhances its accessibility, making it an ideal candidate for the short documentary category at the Oscars.

At its core, Shura serves as a testament to the power of one person’s dedication to making a difference. Shura’s unwavering commitment to her cause becomes a beacon of hope, illustrating how a single individual can catalyze change and inspire others to join the fight for justice, equality, or whatever cause they hold dear.

CAST and CREW:

Participating as themselves: Shura Wallin, Pastor Randy Mayer , Rita Henninger Danks, Jaime Brusstar, Steve Feldman and Richard Ramirez

Directors / Writers / Producers Kayvon Derak Shanian, David Damian Figueroa

Executive Producer: Pepe Serna

Running Time: 22 Minutes

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