Los Angeles — A star studded gala event to celebrate the Unusual Suspects Theatre Company’s celebration of 30 years of empowering youth through the arts, takes place on Friday, October 27 at The Ebell theater in Los Angeles. It promises to be an unforgettable evening filled with entertainment, inspiration, and community spirit. 

The 30th year celebration will highlight decades of the institution supporting, educating and transforming young lives through the power of theater and storytelling.

Honorees include actor and activist Diego Tinoco (On My Block, Netflix; Knight of the Zodiac, Sony), who will be receiving the The Future Generation Impact Award; activist and philanthropist power couple Olga Segura (Co-founder of The Latinx House and Poderistas) and Ryan Gall (Co-founder of Global Citizen Festival) will be honored with The Humanitarian Impact Award; and The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company’s Chair of their Board of Directors, Sara Scott will be receiving the Outstanding Community Advocate Award. 

The evening will be hosted by actress/comedian Veronica Osorio (The Laundromat) and actor/comedian Erik Escobar (Last Comic Standing).

“I’m truly so honored as the new executive director of The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company to come together with our USTC family and board of directors as we celebrate this extraordinary 30 year milestone, said Abiram Brizuela, Executive Director of The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company. “This is not just a celebration of our organization’s legacy, but an exciting look into our ambitious future through the lens of our young artists’ work” 

The 30th Anniversary Fundraiser Gala will feature a red carpet, auction, live music, and most importantly, celebrity actors Paola Lázaro (The Walking Dead), Shakira Barrera (Glow), Gabriela Ortega (Huella) and Jorge Diaz (Paranormal Activity), will perform a play composed from a series of four monologues written by The Unusual Suspects Theater Company students and will be directed by Academy Award nominee Carlos Lopez Estrada (Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon).

The event will also reveal The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company’s exciting new project, DEVISE, a magazine produced in editorial partnership with Stage Raw which showcases articles, interviews, and advertisements geared toward the nurturing and support of the next generation of artists. With a projected circulation of 30,000+ per issue both digital and in-print, DEVISE aims to bridge the generational gap between theatre-makers and audiences, distributing it free to spaces for all youth interested in the theatre scene in Los Angeles. 

For 30 years, The Unusual Suspects, founded by actress Laura Leigh Hughes, has been dedicated to providing underrepresented youth from underserved communities in Los Angeles with a safe space to explore their creativity, build self-confidence, and develop critical life skills. Through theater and storytelling, the organization has empowered thousands of young people to find their voices and share their unique stories. The Unusual Suspects introduces youth to writing, directing, acting and producing original content, and provides access to live theatre performances. 

The 30th Anniversary Gala is brought together by The Unusual Suspects Theater and their Board of Directors and is being produced by Edward Enriquez-Cohen of Olive Productions and Publicity. 

The 30th Anniversary Gala is brought together by The Unusual Suspects Theater and their Board of Directors and is being produced by Edward Enriquez-Cohen of Olive Productions and Publicity. All proceeds will directly support The Unusual Suspects’ programming, allowing them to reach even more young people and make a lasting impact. 

For more information about The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company and to purchase tickets for the 30th Anniversary Fundraiser Gala, please CLICK HERE.

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The nonprofit project The Latinx House has joined forces with film industry entities to launch the Adelante Directors Fellowship, a program to help Latina and non-binary Latinx directors gain experience to open new doors in TV and moviemaking.

The Latinx House partnered up with the Sundance Institute’s Women at Sundance program, Netflix and Shondaland created the year-long program with the purpose is to support selected directors’ professional development and establish a pipeline to support independent filmmakers as they level up in their careers and learn more about directing on a series, according to a press statement from Netflix. 

Three Latina and non-binary Latinx directors will be chosen this year and announced in early summer.

The program includes the opportunity to shadow an episode of a series, a grant to support the artist for the duration of a six-week period while shadowing, a two-day orientation with masterclasses and support from The Latinx House.

Shondaland, the production company founded by multiple-Emmy nominee Shonda Rhimes and which is behind the current series Bridgerton and Inventing Anna, will be providing shadowing opportunities as part of the program on some of their productions. The company’s IMDb page shows a dozen projects in development and on TV mini-series in production.

“It’s essential that the industry dedicates the resources needed to develop a strong pipeline of Latina and non-binary Latinx directors,” says Olga Segura, producer and co-founder of The Latinx House. Her production credits include the films Waiting for the Barbarians, starring Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson and Mark Rylance. “We are so excited to be working with Women at Sundance, Netflix, and Shondaland, allies who can help us build opportunities for talented creators,” says Segura. She added that it is critical for her organization to work with like-minded partners in Hollywood to accelerate change in the industry. “We hope that this fellowship is just the beginning and will inspire even more studios and companies to open doors for Latinx directors,” she stated.

A project of the national nonprofit Justice for Migrant Women, The Latinx House dubbed itself as a “gathering place for people who appreciate and support the Latinx community and who celebrate Latinx excellence in film and entertainment.” In addition to Segura, the group’s co-founders include social entrepreneur Mónica Ramírez and filmmaker Alexandra Martinez Kondracke, whose TV credits include the series Hung and The L Word.

For Adella Ladjevardi, associate director of Women at Sundance, partnering up is key for inclusion. “Women at Sundance continues to support filmmakers from underrepresented communities and recognizes the impact that can be made by working together with our partners to build a more inclusive community of creators,” she says. “Providing a shadowing opportunity is one of many ways we hope to increase access and exposure for Latina and non-binary Latinx directors.” The Sundance Institute produces the annual Sundance Film Festival.

A recent 2021 study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that of the 1,300 top-grossing films released between 2007 and 2019, there were only 12 individual Latino directors represented. It also reported that only 3 out of the 1,447 directors were women of Hispanic/Latina origin. Additionally, the survey found that only 5 percent of characters in feature films were Latino, with roles often perpetuating damaging stereotypes. There are more than 62 million Latinos in the United States. Accounting for 18 percent of the population, Latinos are the largest minority in the U.S.

“We know that great representation on-screen begins with who’s behind the camera,” says Bela Bajaria, head of Global TV at Netflix. 

Tom Verica, Shondaland’s head of creative production, says his company “is committed to finding ways to ensure equal representation both in front of and behind the camera.” 

Applicants for the Adelante Directors Fellowship will be recruited by The Latinx House and Sundance Institute.

For more information about the program, people can write to info@thelatinxhouse.org. 

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