Balvin, a world top-selling artist from Colombia known as the Prince of Reggaeton, will appear on Nick News: Kids, Immigration and Equality on Thursday. According to Nickelodeon, the half-hour special will delve into compelling stories of immigrants, including young people and families who are searching for a better life in this nation.

The show will be hosted by CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas and showcase personal immigration stories and messages of hope from the Colombian singer and other featured guests such as comedian Samantha Bee from Canada, television host Padma Lakshmi from India and professional basketball player Ben Simmons from Australia. Also appearing on the children’s show will be Nancy Pelosi, the California congresswoman who is the current speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Every immigrant’s story is individual, and yet in the U.S, it is a collective experience many can relate to,” says Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson, vice president of news programming at Nickelodeon and executive producer of Nick News. She adds that more than 25 percent of children in the U.S. under the age of 18 have a parent or grandparent that is an immigrant. “As we take time to acknowledge the many contributions immigrants have made to the United States, Nick News: Kids, Immigration and Equality aims to platform the stories of these remarkable individuals and families to highlight our shared history and showcase that despite our perceived differences we are more alike than different,” says Laguerre-Wilkinson. 

Balvin is one of the biggest stars of reggaeton, a hybrid reggae and hip hop that’s in Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean region and whose influence has gone global. With five albums under his belt, including one with also reggaeton star Bad Bunny, Balvin is known for hits like “Ginza,” “6 AM,” “Ay vamos,” “Bobo”, “Safari”, “Sigo extrañándote” and “Mi gente,” with the latter topping the Global Top 50 on the music streamer Spotify and reaching one billion views on YouTube. His collaboration with Cardi B and Bad Bunny on the 2018 hit single “I like it” won him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. His most recent album is Colores. 

Nick News: Kids, Immigration and Equality will start with the story of early immigration from Europe, detailing the hope for a better life that drove many families to permanently settle in the U.S. It will also talk about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and the “Dreamers.” The segment presents the powerful stories of three young community advocates, Luz Chavez-Gonzales of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Kamau Chege of Seattle, Washington, and Estefany Pineda of East Boston, Massachusetts, their search for the so-called “American dream.”

Enrique Acevedo, a 60 Minutes+ correspondent, will take viewers to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a town that over 100 years ago it welcomed European immigrants which fueled its coal mining industry. Fast forward and the town faced challenges when some members of the community took issue with, and sought to stop Latino immigrants moving to the area in the late 1990s.  

However, Joe Maddon Jr., manager of the Los Angeles Angels, a Hazleton native, sought to turn the page on the divisiveness that overtook his community and help his town heal through the creation of the Hazleton Integration Project, HIP, a community-based center that aims to unite the multicultural residents of Hazleton by offering a myriad of programs, including English as a second language, a series of virtual STEM afterschool classes, sports programs and many others. The organization’s programs are highlighted through the stories of five kids whose families have emigrated to Hazleton from the Dominican Republic and who have found much-needed resources and a sense of community at HIP.

Additional segments include a mention of former President George W. Bush’s new book, Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants, which is a collection of 43 portraits of immigrants painted by Bush. It highlights the inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and their contributions to the U.S.

Nick News: Kids, Immigration and Equality, the segment will air Thursday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT). Following its premiere on Nickelodeon, the show will be available on Nick.com, Nick App and Nick On Demand beginning June 18 and on the Nickelodeon YouTube channel on June 22. 

Featured Photo: J Balvin (Credit: kodeak01/Wikipedia)

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Nickelodeon is rebooting its award-winning series iCarly for the streamer Paramount+ with three of its major original stars reprising their roles and adding rising Afro-Latina child actor Jaidyn Triplett to the cast.

Ten-year-old Jaidyn (Black-ish) is joining returning stars Miranda Cosgrove (Carly Shay), Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay) and Nathan Kress (Freddie Benson). In the original series, Carly and her best friends hosted a teen webcast and dealt with everyday issues and adventures of people their age. The series ran from 2007 to 2012 winning a dozen awards, including four Kids’ Choice Awards in the USA and another three in Australia, as well as seven Primetime Emmy nominations.

In the new iCarly, the teen webcasters are all grown up. The 13-episode season picks up nearly 10 years after the original show ended, and finds Carly and her friends navigating work, love and their family in their twenties. 

Jaidyn, the youngest member of the main cast, plays Millicent Benson, Freddie’s snarky and social media-obsessed step-daughter. She is a master at manipulating her dad in order to get what she wants, and despite only having a few subscribers on her web channel, Millicent sees Carly as a direct competitor.

“Being on the iCarly set has always felt like a second home to me and it’s so awesome to be back with my pals Jerry and Nathan,” says Cosgrove. “We served up spaghetti tacos over 10 years ago, and I can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up next with Nickelodeon for Paramount+!”

In preparation for her role, Jaidyn has said in media interviews she binged on the original series and later was pleased to meet the stars of the original show as they started working on the series revival. 

When the new iCarly intro was recently unveiled, Jaidyn apparently liked what she saw and heard. She posted the video on Instagram: “Don’t you just love the theme song? I Can’t get it out of my head.” The tune, titled “Leave It All to Me,” is sung by Cosgrove and Drake Bell, another Nickelodeon star who starred in The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh.

iCarly adds another prominent credit to Jaidyn’s growing career. The 10-year-old actress was born in Ohio to Nory Triplett, who is Puerto Rican, and Joshua Triplett, who is African American. The Tripletts move to Los Angeles when shortly after 2-year-old Jaidyn started her acting career, starring in national commercials. She slowly broke her way into Hollywood, amassing a dozen TV credits and another dozen in film. Jaidyn has been featured in Showtime’s The Affair, ABC’s Station 19 and Black-ish and Netflix’s Family Reunion. She has appeared in the films Major Deal and A Stone Cold Christmas. 

The original iCarly series was created by Dan Schneider.

The new iCarly series is produced by Nickelodeon Studios and Awesomeness (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Trinkets, PEN15). The pilot was written by Ali Schouten (Diary of a Future President, Champions, Merry Happy Whatever), who also serves as executive producer, and Jay Kogen (Nickelodeon’s School of Rock, The Simpsons, Frasier). iCarly’s Cosgrove also serves as executive producer and her co-star Trainor serves as producer along with Alissa Vradenburg. The pilot was directed and executive produced by Phill Lewis (One Day at a Time, The Neighborhood). The original iCarly series was created by Dan Schneider.

Production of the new iCarly series for Nickelodeon Studios and Awesomeness is overseen by Shauna Phelan, senior vice president of live-action scripted content, and Zack Olin, senior vice president of live action.

Featured Photo: Actress Jaidyn Triplett (Credit: Jeremy David Creative) / ‘iCarly’ Poster (Credit: Nickelodeon)

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The all-new series, already in pre-production, reimagines the classic animated 1990s series about the lovable toddlers whose everyday life happenings amount to great adventures in their imaginations and little world. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, the all-new Rugrats is a Paramount+ Original Series. It is expected to premiere on the latter streaming service this spring.

Morales (Dead to Me) will play Betty, the mother of the fraternal twins Phil and Lil, a former wrestler and a feminist. The Cuban-American actress is part of the latest all-star roster joining Rutrags: Ashley Rae Spillers (Vice Principals) and Tommy Dewey (The Mindy Project) as Tommy’s parents; Tony Hale (Arrested Development) as Chuckie’s father; Anna Chlumsky (Veep) and Timothy Simons (Veep), as Angelica’s parents; Nicole Byer (Nailed It!) and Omar Miller (Ballers) as Susie’s parents; and Michael McKean (Better Call Saul) as Grandpa Lou Pickles.

The new additions join the original voice cast members of the series: E.G. Daily as Tommy, Nancy Cartwright as Chuckie, Cheryl Chase as Angelica, Cree Summer as Susie and Kath Soucie as both Phil and Lil.

MOMS & DADS
Rutrags may center on the kids but their parents are also indispensable.

“The all-new Rugrats is packed with comedy, music and adventures that only babies can embark upon, and the role of the grown-ups is an essential piece of the series,” says Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon Animation president.

Morales will be a new voice for her character, Betty.

“This incredibly talented group of actors provides a fresh and very funny take on these iconic roles, combining humor with heart to bring the characters to life in a whole new way,” said Liz Paulson, Nickelodeon’s senior vice president of talent and casting.

The original Rugrats TV series launched in 1991 and has been a successful media franchise with three films and a toy line. It’s won four Daytime Emmy Awards, six Kids’ Choice Awards. It also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A SXSW STANDOUT
Morales is an award-winning actress who has scored recurring roles in series like White Collar, 90210, Parks and Recreation and Santa Clarita Diet. She has worked in the films Battle of the Sexes, Stuber and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in the latter as a voice actress.

More recently, the Florida-born actor played Michelle Gutierrez in six episodes of the series Dead to Me and other roles in Mr. Mayor and Quibi’s Home Movie: The Princess Bride. Her feature directorial debut Language Lessons, about a teacher of an adult Spanish class who strikes an expected friendship with a student, premiered at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. That romantic drama earned her the Audience Award to Narrative Spotlight at the SXSW Film Festival. She has also received nominations for other works to the Imagen Foundation Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Created by Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo and Paul Germain, the all-new Rugrats is executive produced by Eryk Casemiro (Rugrats) and Kate Boutilier (Rugrats) with Dave Pressler (Robot and Monster) and Casey Leonard (Breadwinners) serving as co-executive producers, Rachel Lipman (Rugrats) as co-producer and Kellie Smith (The Fairly OddParents) as line producer. Production is overseen by Mollie Freilich, senior manager of current series animation at Nickelodeon. Casting is overseen by Paulson.

Featured Photo: Natalie Morales. Courtesy: Catie Lafoon/Nickelodeon

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By Justina Bonilla

Nickelodeon is a pioneer of children’s television, especially with trailblazing Latino themed programs, such as Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Tiana, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and The Casagrandes. Another animated Latino oriented program to join this esteemed class of Nickelodeon programming, is Santiago of the Seas, by one of Nickelodeon’s newest showrunner, Niki Lopez.

Lopez gained attention within the animation industry as an up and coming talent and in 2018 was recognized as a part of Variety’s esteemed list of 10 Animators to Watch. Recently, she was also listed in Animation Magazine’s Rising Stars of Animation in April 2020.    

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lopez had a profound love and fascination with animation, especially on television. As a child Lopez loved television especially Nickelodeon, identifying as a “Nick Brat”. Her favorite Nickelodeon programs including Rocko’s Modern Life, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.  

At a young age, Lopez unknowingly began crafting her talent for animation by doodling on paper a world of characters with backstories. She carried on this talent into her education, obtaining her BFA in Illustration from the private Ringling College of Art and Design of Florida. After working as a graphic designer for an ad agency and as a freelance Inker and colorist, she went to pursue her passion for animation with Nickelodeon.

In 2010, Lopez began her career at Nickelodeon as an intern, aka a “Nicktern”. From this experience, she became a full-time production assistant for two years on the animated show Kung fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. She then worked for five years on a variety of animated shows, including The Fairly OddParents as a color designer.

At Nickelodeon, Lopez was inspired by the “Edgy and fun shows the preschool team was working on and it’s open-door pitching policy,” Lopez said. Taking advantage of that, Lopez pitched a few ideas which were turned down. This would lead her to fine tune the pitch that would make her a first-time showrunner on Santiago of the Seas.

Santiago of the Seas, centers around 8-year-old Santiago Montes, a brave and kind-hearted pirate and his swashbuckling adventures. The series is created by Niki Lopez, Leslie Valdes and Valerie Walsh Valdes (Dora the Explorer) is set to premiere later this year on Nick Jr. as a 20-episode preschool program with a mix of education in Latino-Caribbean culture (Puerto Rico, Dominican, and Cuban) with a Spanish-language curriculum.

Although Puerto Rico is a United States territory, with well known Puerto Rican celebrities (Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Bruno Mars), many still do not know much about the Puerto Rican culture. What Dora the Explorer and The Casagrandes have done by representing the Mexican culture, Lopez hopes to do the same with Santiago of the Seas for Latino-Caribbean culture.  

One of the ways Lopez highlight the culture is by introducing the deliciousness of Puerto Rican Food. Santiago of the Seas audiences will be introduced to piragua, a shaved ice Puerto dessert and other mouthwatering Puerto Rican foods will make an appearance, such as bacalaito (fried codfish), arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), and Mofongo (fried plantains).

“Santiago of the Seas as an opportunity empower more underrepresented voices. Not just from one perspective, it’s diverse, and that includes the Afro-Latino perspective,” Lopez siad. “The cultural influences that exist in Puerto Rico wouldn’t exist if we didn’t include the African side. All that is being shown through the show.”

Stressing the importance of children seeing authentic voices they can relate to, Lopez worked to, “Make sure the characters are aspirational. And that when little kids see the show and see these characters, [they] see themselves in them. They see a friend.”

“Little kids are agent of change,” Lopez noted. “And, it is our responsibility as content creators to give them the tools and the examples to go out there and care about the community. [To] stand up for what’s rights and learn to respect everybody.” She talked about her instilling in the kides a need to be “good people”. Especially now, “We need to champion kindness…it’s so important,” Lopez told us.

Pouring her heart and soul into Santiago of the Sea, Lopez has created an animation gem waiting to glisten. With the amount of sincerity and talent she possesses, there is no doubt this rising star will shine through, going where her imagination can take her.

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In entertainment today, we are seeing more Latinos in front and behind the camera, most notably in animation, especially in Latino orientated programs. This class of Animation Latinos includes a diversity of talent, such as director/animator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of life and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera), creator/animator/writer Diego Molano (Victor and Valentino), producer Pilar Flynn (Elena of Avalor) and writer/producer Valentina Garza (The Simpsons and Bordertown). Among these talents, is a rising force in animation, better known as the trailblazing and groundbreaking Chicano cartoonist, Lalo Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, one of the leading voices in contemporary Chicano art, has one of the most diverse portfolios in animation, including, activist, writer, producer, cultural consultant, book illustrator, Jefe-in-chief of Pocho.com, and most notably, editorial cartoonist. He has used his art to advocate for Latino culture, while also taking an unapologetic stand on injustices in American politics and society.

Over his nearly thirty-year career, Alcaraz’s distinct art has gained an array of recognitions, including five Southern California Journalism Award for Best Cartoon in Weekly Papers awards and honors from The California Chicano News Media Association, the Los Angeles City Council, and the United Farmworkers of America.

Last year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum asked Lalo to donate pieces of his cartoon art, to add to their collection, including his gun-control, I Stand With Emma piece, due to its cultural and historical significance. For the first time in his career, Alcaraz was named a finalist in the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning. Many of his media contemporaries believed that the Pulitzer recognition was well overdue, including author, writer, and journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Gustavo Arellano. Arellano noted, “[Alcaraz] is a genius who doesn’t get the praise he truly deserves. A Pulitzer nomination is just the start!”

Born in 1964, in San Diego, California, Alcaraz grew up in between America and Mexico, gaining a unique dual-cultural perspective, which would heavily influence his art. At a young age, the observant Alcaraz noticed the lack of representation of Latinos in the television shows and cartoons he would watch. He also noticed biased against Latinos, in his case Mexicans, being treated with disdain. The lack of representation and understanding of our culture in America inspired a young Alcaraz to want to draw his culture, family, and friends and put these images out into the world to be seen.

Jokingly, Alcaraz acknowledged that he has been drawing for so long, “I have been drawing since I was in the fetus”. His drawing talent was an inherited gift, with many of his family members, including his grandfather showing such talent, who, “…reportedly drew up building plans for his rancho, and also drew caricatures of people”. Schoolmates of Alcaraz, showed an early interest in his art, wanting him to draw cartoons of themselves.

Another major influence in Alcaraz’s life was satire. He loved to make fun of everything. Two early influences on him were the edgy Mad Magazine, which he would read non-stop and the early groundbreaking years of Saturday Night Live. From these comedic pillars of American satire, he learned early on the power of satire language, heavily displayed in his editorial animation.

Eventually, Alcaraz became a part of the artistic community of San Diego’s El Centro Cultural de La Raza, the non-profit organization, known for its mission“…to create, preserve, promote, and educate about Chicano, Mexicano, Latino, and Indigenous art and culture”. Through this non-profit, he would meet his mentors, muralist Victor Ochoa and artist David Avalos.

As a student at San Diego State University (SDSU)’s student newspaper, The Daily Aztec is where Alcaraz started what would become his signature editorial cartoon style. In 1987, graduating from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Environmental Design, “With Distinction”. After SDSU Alcaraz continued his education at the University of California, Berkley. At Berkley, he became was one of the founders of the poltical satire group the Chicano Secret Service, sharpening his satire wit. Later, he earned his master’s degree in Architecture from Berkley, in 1991.

During his initial years in Los Angeles, Alcaraz spread his artistic diversity to include writing for the innovative variety Chicano comedy sketch show, Culture Clash (1993-1996). He also continued his editorial cartoon art with outlets including, LA Weekly (1992-2012) with his La Cucaracha comic strip and The Hispanic Weekly Report.  

In 1994, Alcaraz, gained massive recognition for his art, after exposing the Disney corporation in an editorial cartoon for their financial support of the divisive anti-immigrant Governor Pete Wilson of California (1991-1999) for his reelection campaign. During this campaign, he supported the controversial anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Prop 187 prevented undocumented immigrants from accessing basic non-emergency social services from health care to public education.

Frustrated with Disney trying to profit from the Latino markets in America and Latin America, while also giving money to a state administration that would discriminate and disproportionality impact Latinos in California, Alcaraz drew his first iconic piece, Migra Mouse. Migra Mouse, portrayed Mickey Mouse as a US border patrol agent, gaining a massive response, which propelled his cartoons and Chicano art to a new audience.    

Continuing to work as a editorial cartoonist, Alcaraz was referred by his friend and colleague Arellano, for his extensive knowledge and creativity, to work with him as a consulting producer and writer on the Mark Hentemann Latino animated show, executive produced by Seth MacFarlane, Bordertown (2016). Hentemann praises Alcaraz’s work as “…a great combination of artist and writer, cutting to the core of issues and exposing hypocrisy all with a single image. He’s an important voice in our cultural debate.”

In 2013 Alcaraz took Disney on again, after they tried to trademark the phrase “Dias de los Muertos”, for the Pixar film that would eventually become Coco (2017). Frustrated that Disney would try and trademark a cultural Mexican holiday, he drew Muerto Mouse. Muerto Mouse is a skeleton monster with the trademark Mickey Mouse ears, with the phrase “…coming to trademark your cultura!”. Disney pulled their trademark application. A few years later, Disney brought Alcaraz on board to be a cultural consultant for Coco. Coco won an Oscar award-winning animated film and the highest-grossing film in Mexico of all time and has made $800 million worldwide to date. 

Building an impressive resume in amination, Alcaraz became a cultural consultant and writer for Nickelodeon’s successful animated series The Loud House (2016-present). Alcaraz was kept on by Nickelodeon in his cultural consultant and writer roles for The Loud House spinoff show, The Casagrandes (2019-present). The Casagrandes is the first animated show of its kind to take a positive multigenerational and multicultural view of a Latino American family. 

At this point in his career, Alcaraz has come full circle, from a child who watched cartoons on television wanting to see Latinos on television, to helping create television shows with positive Latino characters and storylines. He currently also co-hosts the Pocho Hour of Power Radio Show on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, which he has been doing for over 10 years. He is currently working on four animated series and is in development for two others, on of which is about a young Latina. He starting his own production company, and continues his legendary editorial cartoons. He continues to push for more visibility of Latinos in media and wants to bring others along with him, seeing himself as, “The Chicano employment program”.

Though many might see a nearly 30-year entertainment career as impressive, Alcaraz is just getting started. This new and exciting chapter of his career is kicking open the door for Chicano and Latino artists in animation, which will no doubt cause a ripple effect for representation in other aspects of entertainment.

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Submissions Open Now Through Aug. 1, at KidoftheYear2020.com

Kid of the Year TV Special, Hosted by Trevor Noah and Produced by TIME Studios, will Simulcast on Nick and CBS in December 

Nickelodeon, TIME and TIME for Kids today announced that submissions have opened for the first-ever Kid of the Year honor, a multiplatform initiative recognizing extraordinary young leaders who are making a positive impact in their communities.  Now through Aug. 1, parents, teachers, friends and more, can nominate a kid (aged 8-16) who is doing incredible and inspiring things to make the world a better place.  Five honorees will be featured in a TV special—hosted by Trevor Noah (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah) and simulcast on Nick and the CBS Television Network in December–with one kid ultimately being recognized as TIME Kid of the Year and featured on a cover of TIME with a companion story in TIME For Kids.

The Kid of the Year TV special will also feature stars from entertainment, sports, and pop culture surprising the honorees, as well as musical performances.  Each of the finalists will receive funds to further their respective causes and have the opportunity to serve as a Kid Reporter for TIME for Kids with exclusive access to a Nickelodeon event.  For official submission rules and additional information about the initiative, visit KidoftheYear2020.com.

Said Noah, “In the unprecedented times that we are living in today, it has been inspiring to see humanity come together to help one another, and I’ve been especially drawn to the stories of kids using their creativity to bring resources to their communities.  After all, the person who’s going to bring us a better tomorrow is a kid who’s out there doing it today!”

Nickelodeon’s Kid of the Year TV special is a co-production of TIME Studios, Day Zero Productions, Mainstay Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. Executive Producers include Andrea Delbanco (TIME for Kids), Ian Orefice and Mike Beck (TIME Studios), Trevor Noah and Haroon Saleem (Day Zero Productions), Norm Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt, and Sanaz Yamin (Mainstay Entertainment) and Rob Bagshaw, Paul J. Medford, and Stacey Carr (Nickelodeon). Production of Nickelodeon’s Kid of the Year is overseen by Rob Bagshaw, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Content.

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After several well-attended protests, media interviews, significant coverage in print and television, institutional diversity reports that provided indisputable numbers of the near exclusion of Latinos in film, and an ongoing social media campaign against Paramount Pictures in 2018 for having the worst studio record in hiring Latinos in front and behind camera, the NHMC is now urging the U.S. Latino community to see the Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies film in large part because of its all-star, nearly all-Latino cast.

“Media has a profound impact on how people think and behave, and NHMC firmly believes that equity in media can only happen if film studio executives and those who greenlight blockbuster movies – like Dora – recognize that hiring Latinos is a profitable business imperative,” said Alex Nogales, president, and CEO of the NHMC. “Paramount Pictures could no longer ignore that the U.S. Latino population is 18.9%, has an estimated purchasing power of $1.5 trillion dollars, and buys 24% of all movie tickets nationwide. By casting a nearly all-Latino cast, Paramount has taken its first step, in 105 years since it was founded, to diversify its nearly all-white workforce. It is my hope that Paramount continues to take representation seriously by diversifying all of its upcoming television, film and animated projects.”

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a movie that Latinos need to support,” says the incoming president and CEO Brenda Castillo. “The plot is positive, bilingualism is embraced, and the characters are not stereotyped as thugs, drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members or all things that are bad in our society. Dora is a Latina superhero, and because of that, not only Latinas – but all women – should celebrate this film for its focus on a strong, competent woman as its lead. Please go see this movie so other film studio executives can realize that movies featuring Latinos and our rich culture can be a big, blockbuster hit.”

On February 22, 2019, nearly three months after NHMC’s last protest against Paramount Pictures, and two days before the NHMC’s 22nd Annual Impact Awards Gala, Paramount chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos announced the creation of a historic initiative – one that would promote diversity and inclusion across storylines, vendors, shooting locations and crew, in all film, television and animated projects. Read Gianopulos’ memo to Paramount employees here.

“Who said that pressure doesn’t help change minds?”, concluded Nogales.

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Nickelodeon announced that Eugenio Derbez (Overboard, Instructions Not Included) will be the voice of Dr. Santiago, the Casagrandes patriarch. The main crux of the story is the Santiago family: Dr. Santiago, a physician living and working in Peru, and the father of 11-year-old Ronnie Anne, voiced by Izabella Alvarez (Westworld) and Bobby, where Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) lends his voice.

Also part of the main cast are Ken Jeong, who voices Mr. Stanley Chang, a friend, and patient train conductor, and Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), voicing Mrs. Becca Chang, a quirky, smart and funny zoologist and wife to Stanley.

The Casagrandes features two multi-generational families, the Santiago’s and the Chang’s — two families with active and incredible children. In an exclusive interview with EW, Derbez spoke of his enthusiasm:

“It’s outrageous and funny and has heart. This is what a Latino kid show should look like, big fun and mainstream with some Latin spice. I’m grateful to Nickelodeon for asking me to be a part of it.”

The Casagrandes brings forth many funny and touching stories of the daily life that every kind of family can relate to.

“We’re thrilled to have Eugenio, Melissa, and Ken on board to make these characters as relatable and funny as can be,” said Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s EVP of Animation Production and Development.

Rounding out the cast in this wonderful and diversely cast animation include Leah Lei Gold (Legion) as 12-year-old Sid Chang, Ronnie Anne’s new friend, and Lexi Sexton as Adelaide Chang, Sid’s 6-year-old little sister.

Nickelodeon’s The Casagrandes is set to premiere in October 2019.

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