By Julio Martinez
In the new series The United Space of America, producers Elaine Del Valle and William D. Caballero arguably have boldly done what no other or few filmmakers have done before. The two New Yorkers have made a pair of astronauts of color — one Latino, one Black– the leading characters in their latest project.
An animated mixed-media web series that blends social commentary and current events with witty satire with a sci-fi backdrop, The United Space of America features Paco Del Pluto and Cornelius Cosmosis, two elderly astronauts from Brooklyn who return to Earth after three decades of being stranded in space. They arrive just in time to witness their homeworld’s destruction during a recent presidential election. Disgusted, the spacemen leave their planet to search for a more civilized world to call home with the help of an intergalactic social worker named Galazandria.
The recently premiered series, which makes fun of the extreme right and left political camps, is available on BRIC TV. The Emmy Award-winning public cable TV and digital network serves Brooklyn, New York. The funny thing is the political comedy series was only born when the producers’ other more serious media concept couldn’t make the cut at the nonprofit network.
“William and I created the series out of necessity,” reveals Del Valle. She and Caballero were initially pitching a different proposal through The Gotham Film & Media Institute, formerly the Independent Film Project, where the producer pair met BRIC TV executives. Says Del Valle, “The project we were originally pitching did not fit into BRIC’s budget restraints, so we came up with this animated series that makes fun of the far left and the far right.”
The concept was inspired by the political climate that has dominated the U.S. recently. “I created The United Space of America because I was frustrated and comically amused by the absurdities of today’s overly-zealous ‘patriots’ who inhabit both the extreme ends of the political sphere in America,” explains Caballero, who is also the series writer. “By showcasing these buffoons as caricatured alien ambassadors, whose polarized ideologies are easily scrutinized and dismantled by a pair of crotchety elderly astronauts, the show allows us all to laugh at ourselves, whether liberal or conservative.”
The producers believe The United Space of America can also point to the seriousness of the nation’s political divide and its potential consequences. “The series shows that these extreme views can be ridiculous and possibly harmful,” states Del Valle.
Both producers star in the series. Caballero voices the two astronauts, Paco and Cornelius, seemingly his first acting gigs according to his IMDb page.
“I play the role of inter-galactic social worker, Galazandria, who is trying to find a place for our two astronauts as they search out the galaxy for a place to live,” says Del Valle, who also voiced several characters in the Nickelodeon series Dora the Explorer.
The new space animated comedy also suggests a commonality of nature between the astronauts’ human race and other beings populating the universe. Del Valle says, “Ultimately, they discover one painful truth: the same political and social problems plaguing America today are abundant throughout the cosmos.” She adds, “Caballero’s probing of this reality is really insightful and very humorous.”
This is not the first time Del Valle and Caballero team-up. They collaborated in the 2015 short film The Smallest Step, produced under Del Valle Productions and directed by Caballero and which won them both Telly Awards. They also co-directed the series Gran’pa Knows Best, which aired on HBO Latino.
These two filmmakers are examples of what many Latinos in Hollywood and media, in general, are doing when it comes to the stories and the inclusion of Latinos in TV. They are creating their own projects from beginning to end, wearing various creative and executive hats as needed, and making their projects happen with media companies of different sizes.
Del Valle is a seasoned theatre, TV and film thespian who has become a well-known casting director, too. She garnered critical acclaim as actress and playwright of her one-woman show, Brownsville Bred, which depicted her true New York-Puerto Rican coming-of-age story in Brownsville, Brooklyn. She studied acting at Carnegie Hall under the tutelage of noted acting teacher Wynn Handman and has demonstrated a passion for more accurate and fair portrayals of Latino in film, TV and stage, which has also led her to work behind the scenes. As a writer, she sold her original pilot, The System, to CBS. As a director and producer, she is a WarnerMedia 150 artist, and Sundance Lab alumna whose short films have been on HBO Max.
As a casting director, Del Valle has led the original casting of Comedy Central’s Alternatino and PBS Kid’s Alma’s Way, both of which highlight multiculturalism in NYC. She is currently casting the Daytime Emmy Award-winning series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, also on PBS.
She is currently guest-starring in the new ABC series Queens.
Caballero is a multimedia filmmaker who recently won a 2021 Creative Capital Award. He is also a Guggenheim Fellow. His animated films, featuring 3D-printed and composite figures have bee screened at the Sundance Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art and premiered on networks like HBO, PBS and Univision. His director and producer credits include the award-winning short Victor & Isolina and the doc short How You Doin’ Boy? Voicemails from Gran’pa.
The United Space of America:
Cast: William D. Caballero, Elaine Del Valle, Victor Cruz, Leopold Nunan, Cammie Middleton and Ron Nery Jr.
Executive Producers: Kecia Élan Cole, Kuye Youngblood, Aziz Isham
Producer: Elaine Del Valle
Co-Producer: William D. Caballero
To watch the series visit BRIC TV.
