The biker drama Mayans M.C. will keep on riding on television. FX has ordered the fourth season of the series starring JD Pardo (East Los High) and Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica).
Mayans M.C. is one of few dramas currently on American TV featuring a mainly Latino cast that includes Clayton Cardenas, Michael Irby, Carla Baratta, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral and Danny Pino. Emilio Rivera, Sarah Bolger and Sulem Calderon also star in the series.
A spin-off of the Golden Globe-winning Sons of Anarchy, the Latino series was created and is executive produced by Elgin James and Kurt Sutter. It follows Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (Pardo), a newly patched member of the Mayans M.C. charter on the California/Mexico border. Once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp, EZ and his brother Angel (Cardenas) are closer than ever after uncovering the truth behind their mother’s murder while their father Felipe (Olmos) struggles to reconcile the choices he and his sons have made.
The renewal announcement is good news for the show, arriving just days before the end of its third season. Produced by 20th Television and FX Productions, the current season wraps up May 11.
“Elgin James, his creative collaborators, this incredible cast and crew delivered on another epic season of Mayans M.C.,” says Nick Grad, FX president of original programming. “Through three seasons, Mayans has told stories that resonate well beyond the border where the club thrives and survives, inviting fans inside their world and giving them a seat at the table.”
The show’s creator promises to dig deeper into the Mayans‘ characters in the season set to premiere in 2022. “I am deeply indebted to everyone at FX and 20th for allowing us to continue to tell the stories of the characters that Kurt (Sutter) and I created and whom our cast and crew took to new heights in season three,” says James, the executive producer. “In season four we look forward to diving deeper into each character’s truths, exploring the danger of the combustible world they inhabit, and for each writer, cast member and crew to stake out our place as storytellers.”
Among the show’s writers stands out Bryan Gracia (Chicago P.D.) and Debra Moore Muñoz (Westworld).
Mayans M.C. has received nominations for the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Award, California on Location Awards, Golden Trailer Awards and Imagen Foundation Awards.
Featured Photo: ‘Mayans M.C.’ (Credit: FX)
Supported by his loving Latino family, Victor seems to be finding his way. Season two of the Hulu series starts June 11.
By Roberto Leal
Hulu’s Original TV series, Love, Victor, takes a sensitive, considered and often humorous exploration into the journey of Victor Salazar’s search for his true sexual identity. Michael Cimino (Annabelle Comes Home, Training Day) portrays Victor with a nuanced naivete and wholesome earnestness that makes him a sympathetic and likeable character.
Teenage angst has been the subject matter of countless movies and TV shows. Films like Romeo & Juliet, Rebel Without a Cause, Sixteen Candles, Clueless and Twilight. TV shows like Square Pegs, Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s Creek and East Los High have chronicled the trials and tribulations of the teen years ranging from alienation, not fitting in, dysfunctional family life, not having enough money, having too much money and falling in love with a 108-year old vampire. But the times have changed.
After Stonewall, gay liberation, gay pride parades, Queer Nation, LGBTQ and the legalization and almost total societal acceptance of same-sex marriage, we now have a plethora of films and TV shows exploring the problems of teens questioning their sexuality and the dilemma of coming out of the closet.
MEET THE SALAZAR FAMILY
Victor’s story begins when his family hastily and mysteriously relocates from Texas to Atlanta. Atlanta? Why? Well, the official press release-like explanation is that Victor’s father, Armando, James Martinez (Run All Night, God Friended Me) has found new employment in The Peach State. But we find out the real reason is Armando’s wife, Isabella, Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty, Delicious Meals) had an affair with her boss. Armando beats him up and feels obligated to leave Texas and yank the clan to Georgia. I don’t know. In Texas, if a husband beats up his wife’s lover they give him a parade, the keys to the city and write a Country and Western song about him sung by Willie Nelson.
Isabella Ferreira (Orange Is the New Black, Beyond My Skin) plays Pilar, Victor’s younger sister. Pilar is suffering from her own separation angst from her life and friends back in Texas and tends to act out. Little brother, Adrian, Mateo Fernandez (Love, Victor) takes it all in stride and is wise (but thank you, writers) not obnoxiously precocious beyond his tender years. Kudos have to be given to the creators and writers of Love, Victor, Becky Albertalli, Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker for framing Victor’s story around a close-knit Latino family in a positive light. Martinez’s Armando is a patient, even-handed, understanding father to his family. Armando makes Ward Cleaver look like the evil villain Fagin from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.
Ortiz as Victor’s mom, Isabella, adroitly weaves through a web of emotions as she deals with her son’s emergence from out of the closet, her troubled marriage and unhappy daughter, Pilar. Ferreira’s portrayal of Pilar, Victor’s younger sister, is a delicate, emotional tight-rope walking act as she balances her bitterness about leaving Texas, disappointment with her mother, social insecurities and worship of her older brother, Victor. Fernandez turns little brother Adrian into the sweet, unassuming kis brother you just want to go for ice cream and a day at the park.
Cimino, who is of Italian/Puerto Rican heritage, is surrounded and in the warm, family embrace of his co-stars. The Salazars’ family chemistry is a definite plus in Love, Victor.
Love, Victor is based on the continuation of a previous film, Love, Simon, also by the creative team of Albertalli, Aptaker and Berger, with a similar premise. The main character, Simon, played by Nick Robinson (Jurassic World, Everything, Everything) has been magically teleported to Love, Victor and is now Victor’s mentor. As the new kid at the upscale Creekwood High School, Victor has a brief romance with Mia, a pretty African-American girl nicely played by Rachel Wilson (This is Us, The Americans). Mia is struggling with her sense of betrayal and abandonment by a mother who has disappeared and a father who is more interested in professional advancement at the expense of her happiness.
Bebe Wood (The Real O’Neals, The New Normal as Lake, George Sear (Will, When Fate Calls)as Benjie and Anthony Turpel (9-11, This is Us) as Felix round out a fine supporting cast.
LOOKS AIN’T EVERYTHING BUT IT SURE HELPS
Everyone in Love, Victor looks like they stepped out of a fashion magazine. Not an untucked shirt or wrinkled skirt in sight. The show’s production values are first-rate thanks to the cinematography of Mark Schwartzbard Jp Wakayama and production design by Cece Destefano.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Victor Salazar crossed a threshold when he came out of the closet and began his journey to discover his true sexual identity. There have been inevitable setbacks, conflicts, heartaches and disappointments. But aided by his mentor, Simon, his Creekwood High School pals and his loving Latino family, he seems to be finding his way.
But what lies ahead for Victor? Will he return to his native Texas and live and thrive in his true identity in one of the large, vibrant LGBTQ communities in Dallas, Houston or Austin? Will Victor have to navigate the sexual identity landscape defined by terms like no-binary and pansexual?
Regardless of where the storyline for Love, Victor takes us, it will be interesting to see his anticipated transformation when he emerges from his chrysalis and takes flight.
Season 2 of Love, Victor airs on Hulu on June 11.
Featured Photo: Michael Cimino in Love, Victor (Credit: Hulu/Mitchell Haddad)
Journalist Valerie Castro has joined The News with Shepard Smith, CNBC’s nightly newscast.
With 14 years of experience in journalism, the Emmy Award-winning Castro is one of several new hires and promotions at CNBC, a pay television business news channel based in New Jersey and owned by NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal.
The News with Shepard Smith is a relatively new TV show hosted by Shepard Smith, formerly of Fox News. Launched in late September 2020, the program airs at 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
“As we continue to expand our general news coverage and build on our industry-leading business news team, I’m excited to announce the addition of two new correspondents to CNBC’s roster and the promotion of two of our veteran producers,” said Dan Colarusso, senior vice president of CNBC Business News.
Castro’s new job ensures that she’ll stay with the NBCUniversal family. She most recently served as the anchor for The Report, a news program produced by NBC News for the now-defunct mobile video platform Quibi. She had already collaborated occasionally with The News With Shepard Smith in the past few months.
Before joining NBC, Castro was a general assignment reporter for WCBS in New York. Prior to moving to the East Coast, the Colorado native spent five years at the CBS affiliate KCNC in Denver, where she covered high-profile stories like wildfires, floods and winter snowstorms. She was also there for the Aurora Theater shooting and extensively reported on court hearings following that tragedy, according to a press statement from CNBC.
Castro’s LinkedIn profile says she also worked for Hubbard Broadcasting in two New Mexico cities, first at KOBF-TV in Farmington and later at KOB-TV in Albuquerque.
Castro has a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she also obtained a minor in history. She is fluent in Spanish and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She
CNBC’s other hire is Kristina Partsinevelos, a general assignment reporter for Business Day covering stocks and the reopening of the American economy, among other topics.
Also, Maria Boden was promoted to executive producer of The Exchange and Power Lunch and Marc Gilbert to executive producer of TechCheck, a program about opportunities and risks in the technology sector.
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has launched a program for women of color filmmakers, a group that is heavily underrepresented in Hollywood.
The Latino Lens: Narrative Short Film Incubator for Women of Color will offer Latina and other women of color filmmakers the opportunity to create original short films in four months. It will provide production grants, training and other support from preproduction to completion of projects. Sponsored by Netflix, the program will select four U.S.-based directors and writers. Applications are now being accepted.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Netflix for our new program Latino Lens: Narrative Short Story Film Incubator for Women of Color to promote historically underrepresented voices,” says NALIP Projects Director Liliana Espinoza. “With both NALIP and Netflix being supporters of inclusive representation in the industry, we are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate and amplify intersectional narratives”.
Few women of color are among the top feature films and television projects in Hollywood, according to recent surveys. There were just 13 women of color among the directors of the 1,300 top movies from 2007 to 2019 reported the 2019 USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “This is less than 1% of all directing jobs,” says the study, which notes that women of color account for more than 20 percent of the U.S. population. The vast majority of directors are white men. “The ratio of white male directors to underrepresented female directors was 92 to 1,” states the USC report.
Television also suffers from glaring disparity despite some recent progress. “While the shares of episodes directed by women and African Americans reached new highs, Latinos and women of color continued to be severely underrepresented despite their sizable and growing presence in the population,” stated the Directors Guild of America based on its latest Episodic Television Director Inclusion Report published in February. The study surveyed 4,300 episodes produced in the 2019-20 season.
The NALIP short film incubator for women of color aims at helping to reduce that gender and women disparity in Hollywood. It will also offer mentorship. The incubator will produce and feature four short narrative scripts, according to the nonprofit association.
The completed shorts will be showcased at NALIP’s Latino Media fest in October of this year during Latino Heritage Month. The incubator’s participants will also participate in other events of the producers’ group, including its annual Median Summit and Diverse Women in Media Forum.
“NALIP has long advocated for Latinx creators, and we’re excited to support their latest effort to identify and uplift stories told by Latinx women and women of color,” said Pete Corona, Netflix director of drama development. NALIP’s latest program is supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, which reportedly plans to invest $100 million over the next five years in organizations working to improve the representation of minorities and women in the TV and film industries, as well as Netflix programs for up-and-coming talent worldwide. NALIP and Netflix have not disclosed the total funding amount for the new Narrative Short Film Incubator for Women of Color.
The deadline to submit applications for the new program is May 23. To get more information and apply, click here.
Featured Photo: Donald Tong from Pexels
All-Star Filmed Concert Premiers April 28th
Calling all fans of samba, bossa nova, son jarocho – and jazz. An extraordinary filmed concert of an all-star evening of Afro-Latin jazz and música veracruzana will stream starting April 28, 2021, when the Soraya presents Fandango at the Wall —The Shape Shifter Sessions. The night features multi-Grammy Award-winning Arturo O’Farrill, special guests Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez, The Villalobos Brothers, and master son jarocho musicians who recorded remotely in Vera Cruz and Tijuana. Sound awesome? It is!
“Arturo O’Farrill and his ensemble were on our original 2020-21 season before it was canceled,” said Thor Steingraber, Executive and Artistic Director of The Soraya. “I was excited when Arturo suggested filming the concert instead. By the time it came together, the winter COVID spike had begun, but they were undaunted. I’m impressed by their fearlessness.”
And music lovers will be impressed by the global talents this lively filmed concert brings together. Mexican-born pianist, composer and educator Arturo O’Farrill has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte. In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music.
In December 2010, Arturo traveled with the original Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Cuba, returning his father’s musicians to his homeland. He travels to Cuba regularly as an informal Cultural Ambassador, working with Cuban musicians, dancers, and students, bringing local musicians from Cuba to the US and American musicians to Cuba.
Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez (In the Heights, Hamilton, and Wicked) possesses one of the most influential and versatile contemporary voices of our time. Equally, at home on the big and small screen, she has appeared in Across the Universe, ABC’s drama thriller Quantico and CBS’s breakout hit Madam Secretary. Mandy can be heard as the voice of Mei in Disney’s Mulan 2. Ms. Gonzalez is an exciting talent whose bountiful vocal gifts are delivered with a winning elegance.
The Villalobos Brothers have been acclaimed as one of today’s leading contemporary Mexican ensembles. Their original compositions and arrangements masterfully fuse and celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music.
The ensemble’s virtuosic performances have delighted audiences worldwide. They’ve shared stages and recording studios with legendary musicians, including Grammy winners Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Antonio Sánchez, Regina Carter, Eduardo Magallanes, Dan Zanes, Sierra Hull, and Ana Tijoux. The Villalobos Brothers deliver a powerful message of love, brotherhood and social justice with brilliance and cadence. It is they, who in 2018, joined forces with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra for the Fandango at the Wall project. This ambitious undertaking, produced by Kabir Sehgal, united legendary international musicians for a live concert at the Tijuana-San Diego border wall, which resulted in a live album and this documentary film by Taylor Krauss.
A musical evening like no other, Fandango at the Wall —The Shapeshifter Sessions will begin streaming for the general public on Wednesday, April 28 at 4 pm (PT), 7 pm (ET) at www.shapeshifterlab.com/livestream/fandango-alja
The Culmination of NBCUniversal’s Emerging Director Program
By Bel Hernandez
Director Juan Avella is at the helm of tonight’s episode of NBC’s The Blacklist, the Primetime Emmy Award series starring Golden Globe-nominee James Spader and Megan Boone.
One of those unique dramas with longevity, The Blacklist is currently in its eighth season and it was recently announced that there will be a ninth. A big part of the show’s popularity is the cast, particularly Raymond “Red” Reddington, played by Spader. Reddington is an ex U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who now helps the FBI catch global criminals he once worked with.
Avella directed “The Russian Knot,” the 15th episode of the season. In this episode, the FBI Task Force hatches a plan to steal a Soviet-era cipher machine needed to decrypt coded messages. Reddington faces his most formidable enemy, Elizabeth Keen (Boone). Aligned with her mother, infamous Russian spy Katarina Rostova, Elizabeth must find out why Reddington has entered her life and what his endgame is.
For a young director to find himself directing such a high-profile show is not the norm. However, as part of NBCUniversal’s landmark Emerging Director Program, it is an opportunity given to every participant to break into episodic television directing.
As part of the preparation to direct, the emerging directors must “shadow” two episodes of the chosen TV show. This progress helps both the director and the cast and crew of the TV show get to know the young directors so when it is their turn to direct there is a sense of familiarity and trust.
In an exclusive interview for Latin Heat, Avella explained how getting to direct an episode of such an iconic and fan-loved show like The Blacklist would not have been possible without having been a part of the NBCUniversal’s Emerging Director Program.
“There is a lot of diversity programs out there that help, but this is pretty much one of the only ones that give you an episode [to direct], and that’s just huge,” Avella was happy to recount.
He holds a screenwriting MFA from the AFI Conservatory, where he won the William J. Fadiman Award for excellence in screenwriting for his crime feature Bolichicos. Such script was the recipient of the 2019 TFI Sloan Film Fund grant from the Tribeca Film Institute and was included in The Black List’s 2019 inaugural LatinX List.
Avella is excited to be on his way to emulating some of the directors who served as an inspiration to him as a young child and during his pursuit of a directing career. His recently adapted short film Hijo por Hijo has been optioned by Epic Pictures and Avella hopes to be soon directing his screenplay.
One can say that the opportunity to direct such a high-profile show is truly a testament to Venezuelan filmmaker’s ability as a director.
Avella is repped by The Gersh Agency.
Comedienne and actress Kiki Melendez will star in a new TV stand-up series to be filmed in English and Spanish in the Dominican Republic May 5.
The bilingual New York-born Melendez (Hot Tamales Live!/Showtime) will headline Broads Abroad and Reinas de la Risa, two shows—the first in English, the second in Spanish—that are part of a three multicultural, female-led series.
Slated to be held at Barceló Bávaro Grand Resort in the tourist town of Punta Cana, the shows will be produced by Latin Hollywood Films and Maverick Entertainment, with the latter also distributing. Melendez is co-creator and Sarkis Semerjyan (Kiki Mobile/FYI) executive produces.
Broads Abroad will showcase a trio of US comediennes, Vicki Barbolak (America’s Got Talent/NBC), Crystal Powell (AGT/NBC) and Melendez. The show will be hosted by actress Jessica Camacho (All Rise/CBS) and feature actor Rene Rosado (The Connors/ABC) as a special guest.
CARIBBEAN QUEENS
The other show, the Spanish-language Reinas de la Risa, will feature female comics from the Caribbean region including Cheddy García, Zulema Cruz, Jaquelio Estrella, Jinita Luciano and Melendez. Actor Anderson Mercedes (Botija) will host. Comedian and actor Jochy Jochy (Bemberé) will open with a repertoire of jokes and also serve as producer.
“With this series, I wanted to continue to give talented women a platform to reach audiences worldwide,” says Melendez, the co-creator and producer.
The series will include a show starring African American comediennes. Black Girl Magic will feature Brooklyn Jones, Alycia Cooper, Just Nesh, Kelly Kellz and Ashima Franklin, with the latter also hosting.
All three specials will be directed by Ramon Monchi Herrera (Locos por la Playa) and produced by Erica Barrabi and Julia Carias Linares. Also, Douglas Santiago, Thomas Echavarría and Armando Guareno will join as associate producers.
“In these specials, we are merging two genres—travel and comedy—to create a perfect entertainment mix for these trying times,” says Semerjyan, the executive producer, in an apparent reference to the COVID crisis. The production will follow international pandemic guidelines, according to the filmmakers.
WOMEN FRONT AND CENTER’
“Maverick Entertainment is proud to support women in comedy,” says Doug Schwab, president of Maverick Entertainment. “We look forward to releasing these stand-up specials showcasing multicultural women front and center.”
Maverick has worked with Melendez before, distributing the comedienne’s Hot Tamales Live! which she co-starred with Loni Love and Eva Longoria.
The three one-hour specials will be filmed back-to-back with an audience consisting of resort guests. The shows are expected to be ready for distribution in August, although it isn’t clear if they will be packaged together or separately.
Featured Photo: Kiki Melendez (Credit: Latin Hollywood Films)
In the year of the coronavirus, Alejandro Fernandez released a hit-producing album he couldn’t support with concerts in large venues in the U.S. Now that the pandemic is easing up, the top-selling mariachi singer announced he will tour American cities in September and October.
The Hecho en México concert, inspired by the award-winning album of the same title, will play in nearly 20 cities in the U.S. including Reno, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Houston, Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami and Los Angeles.
A Latin Grammy winner, Fernandez has sold more than 35 million records worldwide and scored number-ones on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums in each of the past four decades, including his latest work Hecho en México. This album debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top Latin Album chart and marked the singer’s return to the mariachi format. It also earned him a Latin Grammy for Best Ranchera/Mariachi Album, the fourth award he has received from the Latin Recording Academy. The album also won Fernandez a Grammy nomination for Best Regional Mexican Music Album.
Hecho en México has produced four consecutives number one radio hits in the U.S. and Mexico with “Caballero,” “Te Olvidé,” “Decepciones” and his current single “Duele” featuring the also Latin Grammy winner Christian Nodal.
As live touring shut down in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fernández got involved in raising awareness about health and other causes. He partnered up with Univision’s Dr. Juan Rivera to share vital information about health and COVID-19 on TV and social media. He also helped raise funds for the artist community impacted financially by the coronavirus crisis. Fernández released a rendition of singer/songwriter Joan Sebastian’s classic song “Eso y Más,” using the proceeds to help out-of-work musicians. He donated 100 percent of the proceeds to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund in the U.S and MúsicaMéxico COVID-19 in Mexico.
In October 2020, the singer lived streamed his concert América a Una Sola Voz (America Together in One Voice), which was reportedly viewed by more than 150,000 fans in 19 different countries in the Americas. With the U.S. presidential elections around the corner, in the show Fernandez reminded his fans of the importance of voting. He also joined a coalition of artists for the “Vota Por Nosotros” (Vote For Us) get-out-the-vote campaign airing on Estrella Media.
In accepting his Latin Grammy last November, the singer dedicated the award to the victims of recent hurricanes in southern Mexico and donated one million Mexican pesos, about $50,000, to the Mexican Red Cross to help with the relief efforts. Most recently, Fernandez joined Mana’s lead singer Fher Olvera as the face of the “We Are Home” campaign calling for humane immigration reform for the millions of Latino immigrants living in the U.S.
Fernandez’s U.S. concert is presented by Live Nation Entertainment. Opening for Fernandez will be the American Latin pop duo Ha*Ash integrated by the sisters Ashley Grace and Hanna Nicole Pérez. Tickets are already on sale.
Featured Photo: Alejandro Fernández (Credit: Bernardo García)
Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (A Private War, Cartel Land) has released the trailer of The Boy From Medellín, a documentary about top-selling reggaeton artist J Balvin.
The Amazon Original film follows the Latin Grammy-winning singer, whose real name is Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin, as he prepares for what may be one of the most important performances of his career—a sold-out stadium show in his hometown of Medellín, Colombia. But political unrest explodes in the streets just days before the concert date and J Balvin must wrestle with his responsibility as an artist to his country and his legions of fans around the globe.
The film captures the artist behind the scenes in a tense time of his life, compounding his struggles with anxiety and depression that have plagued him for years. The Boy From Medellín was shot entirely in a dramatic week leading up to the concert.
J Balvin is a reggaeton superstar who has reportedly sold more than 35 million records worldwide. He has won four Latin Grammys, five Billboard Latin Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and four Latin American Music Awards. He has also been nominated twice for the Grammy Award.
The doc will be available globally on May 7 on Amazon Prime Video. The film was directed and produced by Heineman and exec produced by Fabio Acosta, Scooter Braun, Allison Kaye, Scott Manson, Jennifer McDaniels, Jenna Millman, Juan Diego Villegas and J Balvin himself.
Top Featured Photo: J Balvin in ‘The Boy From Medellín.’ (Credit: SCV JB Concert Doc Project, LLC)
By Bel Hernandez
The 93rd Academy Awards will go down in history for many reasons this year. It was the first partially virtual Oscar telecast. There was a record number of nominations and wins for the Black community and, for the first time ever, a spectacular presence of Asian and Asian-American talent, both in front and behind the camera. Missing in the diversity Oscar equation were U.S. Latinos in most categories.
Asians Make History
The presence of Asians and Asian-Americans was indeed impressive this year, with many firsts.
Minari, the story about a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm searching for the American dream, received five Academy Award nominations. Lee Isaac Chung received a nomination for best director; Steven Yeun, became the first Asian American to be nominated in the best actor category, while Yuh-Jung Youn, took home the Best Supporting Actress golden statuette.
Chloé Zhao, director of Nomadland, made history as the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for directing and the second woman to win the Best Directing award in nearly 100 years.
Riz Ahmed now holds the distinction of being the first Muslim to be nominated for an Oscar as a lead actor in Sound of Metal.
Latino Oscar Wins
Oscar wins for Latinos came mainly in the behind-the-camera categories, where they were part of the creative teams.
(Photo: ABC)
Carlos Cortes was part of the win for the Oscar award for sound to Sound of Metal. The team also included Jaime Baksht, Phillip Bladh and Michelle Couttolenc.
Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Viola Davis’ personal make-up artist, received an Oscar for Best Make-up, the first Latino to do so. His two partners, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson, also became the first African Americans to win the Oscar for their work as hairstylists for Ma’ Rainey’s Black Bottom. [Featured photo]
In the press room, Lopez-Rivera, when fielding questions about diversity, commented, “We look forward to the time when these questions [of diversity] are moot.”
Although nominated, there was no win for El agente topp (The Mole Agent), the documentary from Chile El agente topo (The Mole Agent)
The only two Latino presenters were EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) actress Rita Moreno. She presented the Best Picture Oscar to the producers of Nomadland. While Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, who many don’t know was born in Puerto Rico, presented the lead actor and actress award at the end of the show to Anthony Hopkins for Best Actor in The Father and Francis McDormand for Best Actress in Nomadland.
It was a different kind of night at the Academy Awards. The first time the Oscars aired from various venues, the Dolby¨ Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center¨in Hollywood, and international locations via satellite. The usual star-studded event, with not as many A-list actors in attendance. However, we still got a glimpse of the designer gowns as the stars walked the red carpet, still following safe distancing as required. Instead of an orchestra and dance numbers, there was celebrity DJ Questlove “scratching” us off to and back from commercials. But what was all too familiar was the scant presence of U.S. Latinos on the Oscar nomination ballot.
— Featured Photo: Nomadland’s Peter Spears, Frances McDormand, Chloe Zhao, Mollye Asher and Dan Janvey (Photo: ABC) T
