PART 2: More Is More. 8000+ Attendees, Make New Friends & Learn

The New Global Screen Economy Summit — Opening day, Nov 10

Whether you are seeking financing, representation, creative or business partners, production locations and incentives, AI and technology partners, or are ready to pitch your next film, the in-person meetings and connections that happen organically each year at AFM have been career-changing.

Remember those previous AFM Finance Seminars? This is the 6.0 version. There is MORE. 

The expanded AFM Innovation Hub, in partnership with Marché du Film’s Cannes Next, and the North American debut of The Cinemas Club, will explore the future of theatrical exhibition and moviegoing. Over four days, Wednesday, November 11 through Saturday, November 14, 2026, AFM House.  All of this added newness demands a smart schedule. Download the AFM26 app on your iOS or Android device.

The Summit will explore-and aim to decode the proposed Federal Production Incentive. It will unpack layers of jargony stuff: Creator and Audience-driven studios, emerging IP, fresh ways to find your audience and how to monetize what you’re developing and protect what you already have. It will assess current scenarios transforming our industry. 

Separately ticketed. Standalone Attendee Price or AFM Attendee Rate.  

Presenters include; Jackie Brenneman President & CEO, Independent Film & Television Alliance, Josh Rogin, SVP, Federal Government Affairs, Motion Picture Association (MPA) Tyler Chou, Founder & CEO, Tyler Chou Law for Creators, CreatorArq M&A Advisory, Jordan Lonner, Agent & Co-Head, Motion Picture Literary Department, UTA, Jon Leland Co-Founder and CEO, Popular Demand, Steven Paul, Chairman & CEO, SP Media Group SP Media Group,  Jared Geesey, EVP of International, Angel Studios, Katie Pryor Co-Founder, Film USA & Executive Director, Baton Rouge Film Commission, Samantha Masunaga, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, Josh Rogin.  Brett Rosen, Manager, TFC Management & Productions, Joel Savitt, Founder & CEO, Bamboo Bridge, Wesley Wang, Director/Founder, Wesley Wang Media.

Building on the triumphant 2025 return to Los Angeles a responsive AFM offers attendees much more. The upgrades include additional space to network; the crowded bar and expanded new indoor areas to wheel and deal. 

At the Innovation Hub there will be expanded: demos, ‘fireside chats’ and newly designated arena for AFM attendees to delve into new technologies, live demos, and meet tech innovators developing screen entertainment. 

The post New Global Screen Economy Summit At AFM26 first appeared on .

 LATIN HEAT AT AFM 2026: November 11 – November 14, 2026

By Judi Jordan | LATIN HEAT

This year Latin Heat welcomes back AFM 2026 with a focus on What’s New. What’s Improved. What is More. What To See. And With More To Learn. So Plan Your Best AFM Ever. Building on the triumphant 2025 return to Los Angeles a responsive AFM offers attendees much more.

PART 1: AFM House

As a challenging year in local production winds down, a reboot at AFM 2026 offers an adrenaline shot. From November 10^th to November 14^th the 47^th year of the film market, and the 2^nd year at the location, the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel on the Avenue of the Stars.

Independent and creator filmmakers will meet buyers and encounter partners building slates across the new global screen economy: theatrical, television, streaming, mobile-first, and vertical platforms.

Building on the triumphant 2025 return to Los Angeles a responsive AFM offers attendees much more. The upgrades include additional space to network; the crowded bar and expanded new indoor areas to wheel and deal. 

Across the street CAA’s campus the new AFM House is home to the Innovation Hub expanded with more: demos, ‘fireside chats’ and newly designated arena for AFM attendees to delve into new technologies, live demos, and meet tech innovators developing screen entertainment. 

The expanded AFM Innovation Hub, in partnership with Marché du Film’s Cannes Next, and the North American debut of The Cinemas Club, will explore the future of theatrical exhibition and moviegoing. Over four days, Wednesday, November 11 through Saturday, November 14, 2026, AFM House. 

All of this added newness demands a smart schedule. Download the AFM26 app on your iOS or Android device. https://3301.applinks.guidebook.com/g/#/guides/afm26/?mobile_redirect=1

Pack an umbrella. Practice your pitch. Plan your most amazing AFM — And stay tuned for more coverage of one of the most important film market in the world, brought to you by Judi Jordan and our videographer Christian Rodrigo.

The post American Film Market Offers More In 2026 first appeared on .

EXCLUSIVE: Adrian Grenier’s Faith, KJ Apa’s turn as James Stewart, Renée Zellweger’s directing debut and Michael Keaton’s Sweetwater lead a five-day Central Texas celebration, with Revolution’s Daughter closing the festival.

Latin Heat can exclusively reveal that central Texas is getting a new film festival with some formidable names on the marquee. Adrian Grenier, KJ Apa, James Hong, Martin Freeman, Renée Zellweger and Michael Keaton are among the talents represented in the inaugural Leander Film Festival, launching November 11–15, 2026, with a lineup bringing Hollywood icons, Texas premieres, international filmmaking and emerging voices together for five days of cinema.

From the life of screen legend James Stewart to the extraordinary journey of Alina Fernández, Fidel Castro’s daughter, the program spans biographical drama, science fiction, animation, martial arts comedy and documentary. Screenings at venues including Alamo Drafthouse, Film Alley and AMC will anchor a festival experience that also includes filmmaker conversations, industry programming and opportunities to discover the next generation of storytellers.

For Latino audiences, the inaugural edition offers several compelling connections: Puerto Rican actress Paola Andino in the thriller You Can’t Leave; Entourage star Adrian Grenier, whose maternal grandfather is Mexican, in Faith; Julian Works in JIMMY; and the closing-night documentary Revolution’s Daughter, featuring Cuban cultural powerhouses including Gloria Estefan and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz.

Those connections run through a broader slate packed with recognizable talent and Texas ties. Two-time Academy Award winner Zellweger’s first film as a director comes home to her native state. Keaton steps behind the camera while sharing the screen with Kyra Sedgwick. And KJ Apa takes on one of American cinema’s most beloved figures in JIMMY.

KJ Apa and Julian Works Revisit a Screen Legend’s Wartime Story

With JIMMY, the festival turns its attention to James Stewart, an enduring icon of American cinema whose work includes It’s a Wonderful Life, Rear Window and Vertigo. KJ Apa, best known for starring in Riverdale, portrays Stewart in the biographical drama directed by Aaron Burns.

The cast also includes Julian Works, known for 9-1-1: Lone Star and The Long Game, as Second Lieutenant Martinez, a Mexican American pilot who flies alongside Stewart during World War II. As the film follows Stewart’s twenty combat missions and his return to Hollywood, their bond brings a Latino presence into this pivotal chapter of the screen legend’s life.

Works’ connection to The Long Game also extends to the festival’s industry programming. The Texas-shot drama will be among the productions discussed during the festival’s SB22 panel on Texas film incentives, with local producers including Christian Sosa, an executive producer of The Long Game, attending.

Texas-based writer Justin Strawhand is confirmed to attend the screening and red carpet, while co-star Kara Killmer will attend the closing ceremony. Their participation adds a local connection to a film centered on a performer whose legacy reaches across generations.

Adrian Grenier Brings Faith to Its First Public Screening

The festival will host the first public screening of Faith, featuring Adrian Grenier. The locally shot comedy follows an optimistic teacher who takes over as pastor of a small-town Texas church after his father unexpectedly retires amid tragedy. Grenier plays Tyler, a rival pastor.

Grenier, best known for Entourage and The Devil Wears Prada, also brings a Mexican American connection to the lineup through his maternal grandfather. His family’s history was explored on PBS’s Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Shot locally, Faith brings the actor known to television audiences as Vincent Chase in Entourage into a distinctly Texas setting. Its first public showing gives Leander audiences an early opportunity to discover the project, accompanied by exclusive, previously unpublished images.

Paola Andino Joins an Adventurous Genre Lineup

Paola Andino joins the inaugural lineup in You Can’t Leave, directed by Scott Windhauser and also starring Spencer Boldman. The thriller follows a search for a missing sister into a forest with a sinister hold on those who enter.

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Texas, Andino brings a particularly fitting connection to the festival. Audiences first came to know her as the lead of Nickelodeon’s Every Witch Way, with later credits including Queen of the South and Lisa Frankenstein. Shot in Dallas and produced by Robert Paschall Jr., You Can’t Leave also brings a distinctive screening opportunity: according to festival organizers, Leander is the only festival in the country showing the film during its active theatrical run.

The wider program has plenty for genre fans to explore. James Hong, whose extraordinary career includes Big Trouble in Little China, Kung Fu Panda and Everything Everywhere All at Once, stars in the martial arts comedy Gimme My Money.

Martin Freeman, the Emmy-winning star of Sherlock, Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy and Everett Ross in Marvel’s Black Panther films, brings further international star power to the lineup with Little Bug. Owen Teale, known to Game of Thrones audiences as Alliser Thorne, stars in Something Pointless, while beloved Texas screen veteran Barry Corbin, whose credits include Urban Cowboy and Northern Exposure, appears in Heaven and Hell.

Together, these selections offer the pleasure of seeing performers associated with major franchises, acclaimed television and landmark films working across an adventurous independent program.

Revolution’s Daughter Brings a Powerful Cuban Story to Closing Night

The festival will close on November 15 at AMC with Revolution’s Daughter, Peabody and Emmy-winning director Thaddeus D. Matula’s documentary about Alina Fernández, her escape from Cuba and the life she built beyond the shadow of her father, Fidel Castro.

The film brings a deeply personal perspective to a story shaped by power, exile, family and identity. Its participants include Gloria Estefan, Nilo Cruz, artist José Bedia and poet and art critic Ricardo Pau-Llosa, placing Fernández’s experience alongside voices with profound connections to Cuban culture.

Local Leander producer John Martinez O’Felan’s involvement connects the closing-night selection to a mission he articulated in his 2022 Latin Heat interview: creating more Latino stories and greater opportunities for Latino talent. Having discussed bringing Fernández’s life to the screen through Alina of Cuba, he now helps bring her own voice to the forefront in Revolution’s Daughter, placing a Cuban woman’s account of family, power and exile at the center of Leander’s closing night.

John Martinez O’Felan will attend alongside fellow producers Austin-based Allen Gilmer, Riki Rushing and Joe Lamy adding further Central Texas connections to the closing-night event.

For Leander’s inaugural closing night, the selection brings an internationally resonant story into a festival that is also celebrating the creative life of its own region.

Zellweger and Keaton Bring Star Power Behind the Camera

Few names carry the combination of critical acclaim and audience affection associated with Renée Zellweger. The star of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Chicago, Cold Mountain and Judy enters a new chapter with They, her directorial debut, which will make its Texas premiere at Leander.

The retro-styled animated short gives audiences a different view of an artist whose performances have helped define some of the most memorable films of the past three decades. For the Texas-born actress, its place in the inaugural lineup adds a home-state connection to a significant creative milestone.

Michael Keaton, whose screen career stretches from Batman and Beetlejuice to Birdman and Spotlight, also brings his work as a director to the festival. He directs and stars opposite Kyra Sedgwick in Sweetwater, a 21-minute science-fiction drama making its Texas premiere.

The film uses a futuristic premise to explore intimate emotional territory. Screenwriter Sean Douglas, Keaton’s son, is confirmed to attend, giving festivalgoers a direct connection to the creative team behind one of the lineup’s most prominent selections.

Hollywood Experience, Texas Ambition

Helping drive the inaugural festival is co-founder Sasha Yelaun, a producer whose credits include The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage; Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, featuring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd; The Vanished, with Thomas Jane and Anne Heche; and Hellfire, starring Stephen Lang. His experience bringing established screen talent and independent productions together lends Hollywood industry experience to Leander’s ambitious debut.

Yelaun co-founded the festival alongside Mike Herrera, a Leander City Council member and community arts advocate; Laura Davis, founder of Davis Consulting AI; and Diane Herrera, founder and CEO of CSSI Solutions. The founding team brings together film production, civic leadership, communications and business expertise to help establish a new destination for cinema in Central Texas.

The festival operates under the nonprofit Leander Arts & Film Alliance, which supports film, arts, cultural programming and creative education. Its setting has a cinematic history of its own: Leander is a Film Friendly Texas community, and the city’s Bagdad Cemetery appears in the opening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Five Days of Discovery

The festival begins on Veterans Day, November 11, with a special out-of-competition screening of the animated Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero at the Leander VFW. Across the following days, the program moves between established talent and new discoveries, with Texas filmmaking, student work, international shorts and experimental storytelling sharing the spotlight.

Additional selections include Our House Is on Fire, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Alice Biletska, alongside Texas-connected work such as Tough Enough, Missing Socks and Let Fall the Rain. Alex Hanno’s psychological thriller Bravado will make its Texas premiere, with star Luca Malacrino confirmed to attend. Academy Award-nominated director Jonathan Heap will also attend with Ghosts of ’45, adding another filmmaker conversation to the inaugural program.

Filmmaker Q&As, workshops, panels, networking events and awards extend the experience beyond the screenings. The festival’s Feature Screenplay & Co-Production Pitch Market will offer cash prizes and development packages to selected finalists, creating another avenue for emerging writers.

For its first edition, Leander is bringing together the appeal of cinema’s celebrated names and the excitement of finding something new. Audiences can encounter Zellweger’s first work behind the camera, Keaton’s latest directing effort, Apa’s portrayal of James Stewart, Grenier’s new comedy and a Cuban documentary with a remarkable cultural ensemble, all within the same five-day program.

The inaugural Leander Film Festival runs November 11–15, 2026, in Central Texas. For passes, screening details and festival updates, visit leanderfilmfestival.com.

The post Hollywood Icons and Latino Talent Take Center Stage at the Inaugural Leander Film Festival first appeared on .

By Judi Jordan | LATIN HEAT

Unless you’ve been vacationing on a desert island since May, you couldn’t have missed the roar of acclaim surrounding La Bola Negra. A 20-minute standing ovation at Cannes? Seriously? Cannes is a tough crowd. 

The film subsequently shared Cannes’ Best Director award and crossed the Atlantic to win Toronto’s coveted People’s Choice Award, a recognized gateway to Oscar recognition.

I was curious. Very.

Then came the Netflix screening invitation. I watched. Astonished. Moved. I got it.

A tour de force. 1000% Spanish. The rhythm, the colors, the old soul of this extraordinary land. Both real and surreal, La Bola Negra takes the most basic of places and renders them magical. It shocks. Charms. Intrigues. Stuns. Hurts. Angers. Astounds.

And satisfies.

The icing on the torta is the mysterious true-life thread of Spain’s martyred literary giant Federico Garcia Lorca, a ‘detail’ delicately revealed like Lorca’s phrases, never overplayed.

The Q&A was another revelation.

Two helmers are better than one.

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, collectively known as Los Javis, have created a visually sumptuous, emotionally fearless epic for approximately €15 million. It looks and feels three times the budget.

These are calculated risk-takers committed to authenticity, including casting gay actors to portray gay men. To the observant film aficionado, the comfort between the actors feels natural, not stilted or novel. They wrote a leading role specifically for alternative pop star Guitarricadelafuente, hoping he would accept.

He did.

Playing Sebastián, the singer makes an arresting screen debut opposite Miguel Bernardeau, star of Zorro, whose Rafael is a noble athlete, now soldier—and prisoner. Their romantic connection, wounded souls, beautifully understated, becomes the beating heart of this extraordinary story.

Penélope Cruz delivers her own delicious moments, while Glenn Close contributes another intriguing dimension to a film rich with surprises.

The resulting collaboration between the Javis is especially interesting thanks to their contrasting creative temperaments. It makes for a great Q&A, a character study.

Calvo, the thoughtful, understated, disciplined planner, and Ambrossi, the playful, emotionally instinctive adventurer, are two chefs cooking a feast. They have the ingredients; together they balance tenacity, taste, timing, fluidity and surprise. Waiting for snow or actors it’s paid off.

Ambrossi calls their directing process “catharsis.” Very big on running a happy set, and not ‘dictating’ has rendered astounding results. 

They remain flexible, embracing an actor’s emotional state rather than rigidly adhering to a predetermined schedule. When Guitarricadelafuente first arrived to set, late from a delayed flight, visibly anxious, the directors pivoted, adapting to his emotional state as an opportunity: abandoning a quiet scene for the explosive opening sequence of wartime violence.

Catharsis totalmente.

Cinematographer Gris Jordana’s painterly compositions breathe art into the film’s violence and beauty. Using paintings to shape the heart-stopping visual canvas, the film moves fluidly among Spain’s turbulent early 20th century, the Spanish Civil War and modern life, binding the scars of history on subsequent generations.

The male gaze is unapologetically bold. Los Javis refuse to retreat from the bodies, souls, desire, courage and suffering of men—gay and heterosexual—or from the terrible cost of suspicion, repression and lives lived in shadows.

This is not a movie to watch on a small screen. The lyrical, unflinching cinematography, stunning production design and intimate performances transport us into those shadows.

We become voyeurs. And conspirators.

Netflix wisely gave La Bola Negra a 46-day exclusive theatrical run—the longest in the streamer’s history. Opening in U.S. cinemas October 16, La Bola Negra only hits the streaming platform on December 2. This is a film to be savored, experienced, discussed, pondered. Not merely viewed.

On its first U.S. premiere weekend, La Bola Negra debuted to $277.5k on four screens 2 in LA and 2 in NYC– numbers direct from Netflix Sunday in the first ever official box office grosses shared. It goes wider on 11/6. 

At home in Spain, La Bola Negra has become a must-see for Spaniards of all adult generations. It’s much more than a “gay” film. It’s a look in the rearview mirror—at what we all may have missed.

The ultimate genius of La Bola Negra: beneath its visual extravagance, sensual courage and historical ambition lies a painfully universal truth.

It’s about everything we lose when we deny ourselves the freedom to love—regardless of gender.

The post Catharsis and Crazy Genius: Spain’s Los Javis and the Triumph of ‘La Bola Negra’ first appeared on .

In Los Angeles, a Spanish-language book festival is about much more than books. It is about memory, identity and the right to hear yourself—and your history—reflected in the language you speak.

There are cities where Spanish is spoken.

And then there is Los Angeles.

After Guadalajara, Los Angeles is home to one of the largest concentrations of people from the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is a city where Spanish is not simply a language carried across a border; it is woven into neighborhoods, family histories, music, food, faith, art and the everyday rhythm of life.

That reality gives the annual LéaLA Spanish-Language Book Fair & Literary Festival a significance that extends far beyond the pages of the books gathered inside LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

For four days, September 24–27, the 11th annual LéaLA transformed the historic downtown Los Angeles cultural campus into a gathering place for Spanish-language literature, poetry, music, visual arts, film, entertainment and, perhaps most importantly, memory.

This year’s theme—“The Stories That Unite Us Speak Spanish”—felt particularly resonant at a moment when the Spanish language itself can become a target of political and cultural anxiety.

LéaLA offered a different message: Spanish is not something to apologize for.

It is something to preserve.

It is something to celebrate.

And for thousands of children growing up in Los Angeles, it is something that belongs to them.

A Language Is More Than Words

“After Guadalajara, the biggest majority of ‘jaliscienses’ live in Los Angeles. We want to keep the culture and language alive,” said Marisol Schulz Manaut, director of LéaLA.

That statement captures the larger purpose behind the festival.

Preserving Spanish in Los Angeles is not simply about ensuring that another generation can read a book in Spanish. It is about maintaining a connection between generations—between the grandmother who tells stories in Spanish, the parent who understands the language but may not speak it confidently, and the child who is negotiating what it means to be Mexican American, Latino, bilingual or bicultural in a city where cultures constantly intersect.

At LéaLA, those connections were made tangible.

The festival welcomed 13,780 attendees, while its collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District extended the program into classrooms and brought approximately 2,000 elementary and middle school students from 36 schools into contact with Spanish-language literature and cultural programming.

On opening day alone, more than 700 LAUSD students arrived at LA Plaza.

For many of them, the festival became something of a cultural playground—an environment where Spanish was not merely a language spoken at home or studied in school, but the language of imagination.

Children painted, played, listened to stories and encountered authors whose books and experiences reflected pieces of their own worlds.

And their parents played, too.

Because LéaLA understands something important about cultural preservation: it cannot be imposed. It has to be experienced.

Where Memory Becomes Literature

Memory was at the heart of this year’s festival.

“Our lives are shaped by memories,” Schulz Manaut said. “In the various sessions that make up our literary program, we will explore the role of remembrance and memory in literature.”

That philosophy extended beyond the festival’s conversations.

For the first time, LéaLA introduced “The Voice of Memory,” a writing contest created to preserve the anecdotes, lessons, traditions and memories passed from one generation to another. The winning entries were recognized during the festival’s final day.

It was a fitting addition.

Because oral history is often where cultural memory begins.

Long before a family story becomes a book, it is told around a kitchen table. It is repeated at birthdays and holidays. It is remembered differently by each generation. Details disappear. Others become embellished. But somehow the story survives.

That survival is cultural continuity.

And in a city as large and culturally complex as Los Angeles, preserving those stories becomes an act of belonging.

From Books to Mariachi: A Story About Survival

Perhaps nothing illustrated that idea more powerfully on opening day than the pairing of the documentary Ugly Little Monkeys with a live performance by Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson.

The documentary is based on a book by one of the youth who participated in the youth mariachi group Los Changuitos Feos.  Directors  Enrique Castillo and David Valdez based their documentary on this group, chronicling the extraordinary history of the first youth mariachi group in the United States.

Their story is complicated.

It is a story about young people breaking cultural ground in 1960s America. It is also a story marked by betrayal and trauma after the priest who helped bring the young musicians together was later exposed as a sexual predator.

Yet the story does not end there.

The young musicians survived.

The music survived.

And the cultural legacy survived.

The film’s screening followed by a performance from today’s young musicians of the same group created an extraordinary bridge between past and present: the children who once had to fight for space in American cultural life and a new generation standing on the same stage decades later.

The symbolism was difficult to miss.

The “ugly little monkeys” had grown up.

And their music had traveled.

For LéaLA, it was an especially appropriate story to tell—a reminder that cultural memory is not simply about remembering what happened. It is about deciding what deserves to be carried forward.

A Literary Community Takes Root

The festival’s literary program brought together approximately 30 writers, poets and creators, including Carmen Boullosa, Mónica Lavín, Sara Poot-Herrera, Verónica Gerber, Mónica Nepote, Cecilia Eudave, Benito Taibo, Antonio Ortuño, Julia Santibáñez, Alejandro Rosas, Bernardo Fernández “Bef,” Rodrigo Morlesin and Joselo Rangel, among others.

More than 348 publishing catalogs were represented across 33 exhibition and sales spaces, reinforcing LéaLA’s identity not only as a literary festival but as a true Spanish-language book fair.

That distinction matters.

Los Angeles is often described as a city of entertainment. Hollywood dominates the global imagination of the city. But LéaLA offers another narrative: Los Angeles as a center of Spanish-language intellectual and literary life.

Its programming also reached beyond the festival grounds. Students and teachers engaged with authors including Benito Taibo and Flor Aguilera, while the Cabaret Capricho troupe brought performance into the educational experience.

Ten workshops led by the University of Guadalajara’s Letras para Volar team explored family history, emotions, legends, nature and cultural roots. Educators participated in a workshop focused on identity and vernacular literacies.

The goal was not simply to teach Spanish.

It was to demonstrate what Spanish makes possible.

Building Something Permanent

Perhaps the most consequential developments of LéaLA 2026 were not confined to the four-day festival.

The University of Guadalajara announced a permanent space for its Carlos Fuentes Bookstore, while the establishment of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Institute, to be directed by scholar Sara Poot-Herrera, signals a deeper commitment to creating a permanent intellectual and cultural presence in Los Angeles.

That may ultimately be LéaLA’s most important contribution.

Festivals end.

Books remain.

Institutions remain.

And memories—when they are intentionally preserved—can become part of the foundation for what comes next.

Luis Gustavo Padilla Montes, president of the University of Guadalajara Foundation USA, described LéaLA’s original mission as bringing Spanish-language books and literature closer to Los Angeles and creating a gathering place centered around the language.

By that measure, the mission has evolved from aspiration into reality.

The Importance of Belonging

There is something quietly powerful about watching hundreds of children walk into a cultural institution and discover that their language is not peripheral.

It is central.

That their stories are worth telling.

That the books on the shelves are written in the language their grandparents may have spoken.

That poetry can sound like the conversations they hear at home.

That mariachi can belong on a stage alongside literature.

That Spanish is not merely a language of the past—but a language of the future.

At a time when speaking Spanish can sometimes be treated as evidence that someone does not belong in America, LéaLA offers an entirely different proposition.

You belong. And your language belongs, too.

That is why LéaLA matters.

It is a book fair, yes.

It is a literary festival.

It is a cultural gathering.

But at its deepest level, it is an act of remembrance—and an act of resistance against forgetting.

The stories that unite Los Angeles do, indeed, speak Spanish.

And LéaLA is making sure the next generation continues to hear them.

LéaLA Returns in 2027

The 12th annual LéaLA Spanish-Language Book Fair & Literary Festival will take place September 23–26, 2027, at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles.

For more information, visit LéaLA.

The post LéaLA 2026: “The Stories That Unite Us Speak Spanish” first appeared on .

Mighty Aphrodite Pictures Sets October Shoot

Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts and emerging performer Ben King are set to star in filmmaker Jorge Xolalpa’s new comedy-drama Hello, My Name Is Richard!, with production slated to begin October 19 in Los Angeles, Latin Heat can exclusively reveal.

The film is being produced under Xolalpa’s Mighty Aphrodite Pictures, the Los Angeles-based banner behind the filmmaker’s growing slate of independently produced features.

King will star as Richard Brown, a young autistic man who decides to run for city council, while Roberts is set to play Albert.

Written and directed by Xolalpa, Hello, My Name Is Richard! is built around an unconventional political candidate whose determination to make a difference in his community becomes the catalyst for a story that balances comedy and drama with themes of inclusion, ambition, family and human connection.

Rather than treating Richard’s political aspirations simply as a campaign story, the film centers on the man behind the candidacy—and the personal drive that compels him to step into a world where his voice has not traditionally been heard.

The project represents another collaboration between Xolalpa and NYTA Films, which is financing the production. The companies have developed an established working relationship, with NYTA Films having financed Xolalpa’s previous five feature films.

That continued partnership underscores a production model Xolalpa has increasingly embraced: developing character-driven stories and moving them from script to screen through a combination of independent financing and a consistent creative team.

For King, the role marks a significant leading-man opportunity opposite a veteran performer whose filmography spans decades of film and television. Roberts, an Oscar nominee for Runaway Train, has built one of the industry’s most prolific careers, with hundreds of screen credits across features, television and independent productions.

Xolalpa’s Expanding Slate

Hello, My Name Is Richard! arrives as Xolalpa continues to expand his slate beyond his existing body of independent features.

The filmmaker recently secured an exclusive option agreement to develop the authorized feature film based on the life and legacy of U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén, partnering with producer Jolene Rodriguez on the project.

The Vanessa Guillén film will explore the life of the late Army soldier and the circumstances surrounding her death, a case that generated national attention and contributed to a larger conversation about accountability and protections for service members.

Taken together, the projects illustrate the breadth of Xolalpa’s current development strategy. While the Vanessa Guillén project tackles a real-life story with significant cultural and social implications, Hello, My Name Is Richard! takes a more intimate and comedic route, focusing on an individual pursuing a place in his community and the people surrounding him.

Both, however, share a central component of Xolalpa’s filmmaking: placing characters and perspectives that have historically received limited representation at the center of the story.

For Hello, My Name Is Richard!, that perspective belongs to Richard Brown, whose decision to seek public office becomes both a source of humor and a vehicle for exploring what it means to be seen, heard and taken seriously.

With principal photography now set for October, Xolalpa is moving quickly on what is shaping up to be another independently mounted feature from the filmmaker and Mighty Aphrodite Pictures.

Principal photography on Hello, My Name Is Richard! is scheduled to begin October 19 in Los Angeles.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Eric Roberts, Ben King Set to Lead Jorge Xolalpa’s ‘Hello, My Name Is Richard!’ first appeared on .

By Bel Hernandez Castillo

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has become one of the year’s biggest box office successes, earning $264.1 million and demonstrating once again that audiences will show up for epic storytelling. But beyond the impressive numbers is another story worth celebrating—one that has often been overlooked in Hollywood.

This time, Latinos weren’t simply part of the background. They were cast in meaningful, high-profile roles throughout one of the year’s biggest studio films.

Among the star studded cast lead by Matt Damon, Zendaya, and Anne Hathaway, are Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and John Leguizamo as Eumaeus. Other Latinos cast are Jimmy Gonzales as Cepheus, Jesse Garcia as Menetus and Maurice Compte as the Steward of Menelaus, and Shiloh Fernandez, as First Trojan. Their presence signals a noticeable shift in how major studio tentpole films are beginning to reflect the audiences that have long supported them.

For decades, Latino advocacy organizations, community leaders, and entertainment journalists have argued that inclusion isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s smart business. U.S. Latinos have consistently ranked among the nation’s most frequent moviegoers, yet they have rarely seen themselves represented in proportion to their economic and cultural impact.

The Odyssey offers a compelling example of what happens when that equation begins to change.

No actor has championed Latino representation more consistently than Leguizamo. Throughout his career, he has used his platform—and his production and media ventures—to create opportunities for Latino talent and to connect directly with Latino audiences. Seeing him in a prominent role in one of Hollywood’s biggest releases carries significance beyond the screen. It reinforces the message that Latino actors belong in major studio films, not as token additions, but as integral parts of the story.

The film’s outreach also extends beyond casting. Star Matt Damon, (Odysseus), whose wife is Argentine, has embraced Spanish-language interviews while promoting the film, connecting with Latino audiences in a way that feels authentic rather than performative. Those moments matter. They acknowledge a moviegoing audience that has too often been treated as an afterthought despite its enormous influence at the box office.

Hollywood has spent years discussing diversity. The Odyssey demonstrates what inclusion can look like when it moves beyond conversation and into action.

Christopher Nolan deserves credit for assembling a cast that reflects a broader range of talent without making diversity the headline. Instead, it simply becomes part of telling a richer story. That’s exactly what audiences have been asking for.

The lesson is clear. Casting a wide net that includes Latino and other actors of color in leading and featured roles doesn’t diminish a blockbuster—it strengthens it. It broadens its appeal, expands its reach, and acknowledges the audiences who have long helped make Hollywood successful.

The success of The Odyssey won’t end the conversation about representation, but it provides another data point supporting what many have said for years: when Hollywood intentionally includes Latinos on screen and in its marketing, audiences respond.

Representation isn’t charity.

It’s good storytelling.

And as The Odyssey is proving at the global box office, it’s also good business.

For marketing & box office analysis read our 1st ? The Latino Box Office Effect™ HERE

The post Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Rakes in $264.1 Million Opening Weekend — With Epic Latino Talent Inclusion first appeared on .

By Bel Hernandez Castillo

There is an interesting story unfolding behind Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey—and it has less to do with mythology than with marketing.

For years, Latino actors cast in major studio films have often found themselves promoted almost exclusively through Spanish-language media, unless you are in the very rare of having reached heights of a Jennifer Lopez, participation in the broader publicity campaign has frequently been limited, creating the perception that Latino audiences are a niche market rather than a core part of a film’s success.

With The Odyssey, that appears to be changing.

John Leguizamo, who portrays Odysseus’s loyal swineherd Eumaeus, and Lupita Nyong’o who was born to Kenyan parents in Mexico and claims citizenship in both Mexico and Kenya, have been highly engaged throughout the film’s mainstream marketing campaign. Nyong’o was also on the mainstream talk shows Jimmy Fallon and the Jimmy Kimmel Show promoting the film.

Leguizamo has appeared alongside stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya and the rest of the cast at the New York premiere, participated in national press interviews, and joined promotional events that reach audiences far beyond traditional Latino media.

That visibility matters.

It signals that a Latino actor in a significant supporting role can be an integral part of a blockbuster’s overall marketing strategy—not only the face of its outreach to Spanish-language outlets.  They marketing power in both languages – the whole breath of the U.S. Latino audience, who according to the Latino Donor Collaborative “The U.S. Latino audience is one of the most powerful and significant economic and cultural demographics worldwide”.

Leguizamo was also involved with the promotion of this film through MiTu (NGLmitu) , a digital media company he co-founded and is a key creative force.

The collaboration between Universal Pictures and mitú was a targeted promotional campaign to build buzz for The Odyssey.

The “mitú partnership” utilized several specific creative elements to engage Latino audiences before the film’s July 17, 2026, theatrical release.

Iconic Lines in Spanish: The marketing campaign featured the stars of the movie reciting iconic or dramatic lines from the film in Spanish.

Cultural Creators & Influencers: The campaign utilized in-house mitú creators (such as Claudia Pineda) to highlight the epic themes of the film and connect them to the Latin experience

By discussing The Odyssey through a culturally relevant lens, this connects the film to an audience that has long demonstrated its value at the box office.

John Leguizamo reflect on his own odyssey in Hollywood –  fighting for Latino representation:

The numbers support paying attention. 

U.S. Latinos account for roughly 24% of all domestic movie ticket sales while representing about 19% of the U.S. population. They are America’s most frequent moviegoers, yet Hollywood has often struggled to market major films to them in authentic ways—or to include them meaningfully on screen.

Leguizamo’s involvement in the marketing campaign is particularly significant because it reflects the work of someone who has spent more than three decades pushing Hollywood toward greater inclusion. Since his groundbreaking one-man show Mambo Mouth premiered in 1991, he has consistently challenged stereotypes, explored Latino identity, advocating for broader representation across film, television, and theater. His involvement in initiatives such as NGL (New Generation Latino) and MiTu further demonstrates that his commitment extends well beyond acting.

Christopher Nolan deserves major props. At a time when many corporations have retreated from diversity initiatives, Nolan assembled an international cast that includes people of color in meaningful roles without making diversity the film’s defining message – rather being inclusive. The casting of Lupita Nyong’o has generated public pushback from conservatives, but Nolan has demonstrated the confidence to cast based on his creative vision rather than outside pressure.

Whether The Odyssey ultimately can encourage the big studio adopting the nuanced marketing of films to people of color and including them in their marketing remains to be seen. But it does present an opportunity to test a question Hollywood has been asking for years: When Latino audiences see themselves represented on screen and are intentionally included in a film’s mainstream marketing campaign, do they respond at the box office?  There have been studies by the Latino Donor Collaborative to prove that this is in fact true.  Their 2026 study foud that marketing to and representing U.S. Latinos is not a moral appeal, but a major growth strategy that unlocks significant revenue. Their 2026 data reveals that engaging this demographic is a direct path to company-level financial performance and growth.

That is precisely the question this new Latin Heat column, The Latino Box Office Effect, will explore.

Because representation is only part of the story.

The other part is investigating whether inclusion translates into audience engagement—and ultimately, into box office success.  The Odyssey is the perfect film for the case study.

The post ‘The Odyssey’ May Become Hollywood’s Next Representation Case Study first appeared on .

By Judi Jordan

AFM 2025 Lourdes Diaz AGC Partner/CCO spills on why every indie film needs its own playbook—and how flexibility beats formula

Lourdes Diaz doesn’t do cookie-cutter. As Partner and Chief Creative Officer at AGC Studios, the former Univision Entertainment President has built a reputation for one thing: trusting filmmakers enough to break her own rules. From expanding Latino narratives across broadcast and streaming to backing auteur-driven indies like The Tinder Swindler and Hit Man, Diaz has proven that betting on vision—not templates—wins.

At AFM 2025’s “Crafting the Narrative” panel, on November 13, Diaz opened up about AGC’s unconventional approach to financing, nurturing talent, and why the best decisions often come from throwing out the playbook entirely.

All In, All the Time

Forget passive oversight. At AGC, Diaz and her team are embedded in every frame. “We’re intimately involved in every aspect of every title on this slate,” she said. “I have three kids, and you love your children equally but differently. Some need more hand-holding, others need more space, others need nothing, just a credit card.”

That parent-producer analogy is operational philosophy. “When you’re on the phone with someone from a particular project, you’re in that moment. You’ve got to be present. You can’t bring baggage from the call before or after.”

Why the intensity? “They’re trusting us with their work and they’re trusting that we’re going to help them get it to screens.”

Stay Flexible

Ask Diaz about AGC’s financing model and she’ll give you the most honest answer in Hollywood: there isn’t one. “Every script that comes through has a different set of realities—the non-negotiables, and the things that are fungible,” she revealed. “We work in that place where we’re creatively figuring out what’s the best way to get this to screens and to audiences.”

What AGC does have? Speed and candor. “One of our superpowers is that we are quick to get back to you on whether we love something or we don’t,” Diaz said. Even passes come with intel: the studio tracks projects with potential, keeping doors open as scripts develop and elements attach.

When Netflix Said No, AGC Said Yes

Nothing illustrates Diaz’s flexibility better than Hit Man. The Richard Linklater comedy came to AGC in turnaround—studio-speak for “rejected.”

“We financed it independently,” Diaz recalled. “Glenn [Powell] and Rick [Linklater] put their heart and soul into it. Adria [Arjona] was fantastic. Then it went to a different platform.”

The pivot paid off. By staying nimble, AGC found Hit Man a theatrical release and streaming home. “We remained flexible and did what was right for the movie to get to the widest number of eyeballs yet still protect Glenn and Rick’s vision.”

Actors to Auteurs: Building Careers

For Diaz, the ultimate win isn’t opening weekend—it’s career trajectories. “To move someone from one category to the next—from a writer to director, from an actor to director, from a director to getting a passion project off the ground? You’re part of their history.”

With budgets ranging from $1 million to $150 million, every AGC project shares common DNA: director-led vision. “Every single one of those people put their trust in that director and went on a mission to make the best possible thing.”

Art-Commerce Tightrope

But for Diaz, success defies spreadsheets. “People will forget the plot of a movie, but they won’t forget how they felt after watching it. That’s truly rewarding.”

As AGC continues its expansion—from Univision alum Diaz’s Latino roots to global mainstream dominance—the studio’s secret weapon remains refreshingly simple: stay present, stay flexible, and never, ever use a template.

Because in indie film, the moment you think you’ve found the formula is the moment you’ve lost the plot.

The post Movie Miracles? No Problem: Lourdes Diaz Greenlit “Hit Man” and Broke AGC’s Own Rules first appeared on .

By Judi Jordan

Ah, the American Film Market — AFM is back in California—and the industry breathes a collective sigh of relief. From November 11–16, 2025, the iconic Fairmont Century Plaza takes center stage as the new home of the American Film Market, marking a fresh chapter after two years of post-pandemic wandering in search of the perfect “sweet spot.” The move follows the extensive renovations and rebranding of the longtime Santa Monica Loews Hotel into the Regent Hotel, which left the market without its beloved base.

For 32 [!] years—1991 through 2023, with a brief COVID hiatus in 2020–2021—the Loews was AFM’s heart and soul. Its ocean breezes, walkable Promenade, and industry nostalgia made it more than a venue; it was a ritual. But in recent years, AFM found itself on the move, forced into back-to-back relocations: first to the cramped, dimly lit Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica, then to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The return to Los Angeles, then, feels like a long-overdue homecoming. Let’s be honest—many international buyers and sellers had come to count on that “winter break” by the California coast as much as the deals themselves.

The Fairmont may lack beachfront suites, but what it offers in sophistication and scale more than compensates. With expansive indoor and outdoor meeting spaces designed to host over 260 exhibitors from 70 countries, the venue brings a sense of polish and professionalism back to the proceedings. Its enviable location—steps from the Westfield Century City mall and a short hop from Beverly Hills—will no doubt fuel the kind of serendipitous encounters and offsite meetings that helped make AFM legendary.

To ensure attendees stay focused amid the lure of LA, AFM 2025 promises a thoughtfully curated lineup. This year marks a dynamic collaboration between the American Film Market® (AFM®) and Marché du Film, spotlighting the Innovation Hub and new AI-driven programming designed to spark dialogue and discovery. Add to that a slate of AFM’s signature, information-rich conferences, and the message is clear: the market is not just back—it’s reinventing itself for the next era of global film commerce.

Here are just a few examples, for full attendance details:   https://americanfilmmarket.com/ 

Finance I – From Packaging to Payback: Investment, Incentives & International Markets

Wednesday, Nov 12 | 9:30AM – 10:30AM 

Fright Club: The Power Players Behind Modern Horror

Thursday, Nov 13 | 4:30PM – 5:30PM 
Speakers include Jake Carter, Agent, UTA, Jacob Jaffke, SVP, Oddball Entertainment (MaXXXine, Pearl); 

J.D. Lifshitz, Founder, BoulderLight Pictures (Weapons, Barbarian); Raphael Margules, Founder, BoulderLight Pictures (Weapons, Barbarian). 

AI in Action: The Platforms Transforming Filmmaking – From Creation to Distribution

Friday, Nov 14 | 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM

Latinos Navigating Hollywood: Challenges and Opportunities

Friday Nov 14 | 3:30PM – 4:30PM 

Speakers include Rafael Agustin, Writer (Jane the Virgin); Yolanda Macias, Chief Motion Pictures Officer, Cineverse

Robert Munoz, President, Mucho Mas Media; Anthony Nardolillo, Director (7^th & Union, Chicago Med); Patricia Riggen, Director (G20, Dopesick)

For more info: https://americanfilmmarket.com/

The post Welcome Home: The American Film Market Rebounds to Industry Relief first appeared on .