The event of the summer not to miss is the upcoming Farmworker Justice Awards’ 40^th Anniversary — Los Angeles, which will celebrate 40 years of working to improve their health and well-being of farmworkers and their families. It will be held on September 14, 2021 at the prestigious venue LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, located in downtown Los Angeles. This year’s Farmworker Justice Awards are being presented by Pepsico.

The gala awards will recognize individuals, businesses, and other organizations that have demonstrated leadership, commitment, dedication, and sacrifice to address the ongoing plight that farmworkers face each day in America. They also provide an opportunity for supporters and contributors from the business, legal, and nonprofit communities to help bring attention to the important work being done by FJ on behalf of the people who labor on farms and ranches to feed America. 

Honorees for the evening include Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Bel Hernandez, Founder/CEO of Latin Heat Media and Chair of the Farmworker Justice Advisory Council; Richard Montañez, Author, Motivational Speaker, Corporate Executive, and former farmworker, and John Echeveste, CEO of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

The eclectic list of supporter includes Hollywood celebrities, social justice community advocates, and corporate America leaders. The evening will be hosted by Jordi Vilasuso (The Young and the Restless) with Farmworker Justice President Bruce Goldstein and UFW Co-founder and Dolores Huerta, Foundation President Dolores Huerta delivering the keynote remarks. 

A live auction will conducted by the incomparable Charo and David Damian Figueroa, Farmworker Justice Awards’ Director of Development. Multimedia artist Yolanda Gonzalez‘ exclusive paintings and sculptures will available for sale, which will benefit the organization. 

“It’s been an incredible honor to see Farmworker Justice reach this milestone of 40 years,” said Goldstein. “This past year has been challenging for us all, but especially for our farmworkers, who, despite being deemed essential workers, have had their rights challenged and their lives put at risk because of lack of protections. When considering the 40th anniversary of Farmworker Justice, it’s important to acknowledge the strides we’ve made, while being aware of the work that is yet to be done.”

Presenters will include actress/educator Dr. Alma Martinez, actresses Julie Carmen (Windows on the World, Milagro Beanfield War), and Pepe Serna (Flamin’ Hot, Scarface) and Antonia Hernandez the CEO of the California community foundation and the Honorable Gloria Molina, first woman and Latina elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will also be presenting.

In attendance will be actors Annie Gonzalez and Pepe Serna, both who recently finished filming the Flamin’ Hot movie which was directed by Eva Longoria. Also in attendance are actors Enrique Castillo (Weeds, Blood In Blood Out),  Emilio Rivera (Mayans MC), Karina Noelle Castillo (NCIS, The Good Doctor), Naomi Gonzalez (Selena: The Series), Laura Patalano (Gentefied), JM Longoria (Miracles From Heaven), and Dyana Ortelli (Coco). Singer/performer Catie Waters, and Yvette Gonzalez Nacer (Vivo, In The Heights) will also join.

“I am very proud and honored to stand in solidarity with my friends at Farmworkers Justice, who work so tirelessly and heroically to assure fair and decent working and living conditions for our farmworkers who provide the food that feeds our families,“ said honoree John Echeveste.

The beautiful outdoor campus of La Plaza de Cultura Y Artes will come alive with the decorations of Ricardo Soltero. “We have retained the services of a renowned scenic designer, Ricardo Soltero, who will be designing the stage and entire campus of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes for our celebration. Soltero is scenery director and stage-set designer for the annual Hollywood Forever Dia de Los Muertos celebration,” said Figueroa, who is also producing the event.

Farmworker Justice will be held Tuesday, September 14th at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 501 N. Main Street, Downtown, L.A. Reception and Arts Program will commence at 6 PM to 9:30 PM (PST). Organizers will be observing both California and City of Los Angeles latest pandemic guidelines for events. Masks and proof of vaccination will be required. Tickets are still available: CLICK HERE.  

For sponsorship opportunities: ddfigueroa@farmworkerjustice.org 

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By Bel Hernandez

The lead actors for Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, the true story about the janitor who invented the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, were announced today. Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez will play the central characters.

Flamin’ Hot is a rag to riches story about a son of Mexican immigrants based on Richard Montañez’s autobiographical book “A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie.” It revolves around Montañez’s work as a janitor at the Frito Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California. It was there he came up with the idea to infuse Cheetos with the unique flavor, inspired by the Mexican grilled corn on the cobb known in Spanish as elote.  At work, Montañez would ask for the throwaway batch of uncheesed Cheetos. He would take them home and experiment adding chili and lime.  

Garcia (Narcos: Mexico, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series) landed the lead role of Richard Montañez. The indie film Quinceañera, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, set the actor’s Hollywood career in motion, leading to his first major leading role in a film. 

For her part, Gonzalez will play Richard’s wife Judy Montañez. A self-identifying Chicana, Gonzalez is best known in her role as the fiercely intelligent and beautiful Linda Solis in Netflix’s Gentefied. Most recently, she was cast in the ABC pilot Bucktown. The actress was also one of the original dancers on Jamm X Kids on the WB.

In a town where books becoming films may take up to twenty years, it took Montañez about five. He took meetings with established Latino and non-Latinos producers and eventually signed on with award-winning film and TV producer Devon Franklin‘s company Franklin Entertainment (Miracles From Heaven).

“It has been my biggest priority to make sure we are telling Richard Montañez’s story authentically,” said Longoria. “I am so happy to have two extremely talented and fellow Mexican-Americans on board in these pivotal roles. Jesse and Annie have a deep understanding of our community and will be able to help tell this story of great importance for our culture.”

Linda Yvette Chavez has joined the production, adding revision to Lewis Colick’s penned screenplay. Chavez is also currently adapting I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter for America Ferrera’s directorial debut. 

Searchlight is producing Taylor Friedman as VP of production and Zahra Phillips as director of development. Montañez himself will also serve as executive producer. 

The film is set to begin shooting this summer in New Mexico.

The post Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez Lead Cast of ‘Flamin’ Hot’ first appeared on .

Exclusive To Latin Heat

By Luis Reyes

“The triumphant journey of Richard Montañez from Pepsico plant janitor into the echelon of the same company’s elite corporate suites is material more than suited for a Hollywood script. It is a story of triumph over adversity and a rise from marginalized obscurity into the brightness of celebrity.”

Enrique Castillo review of A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie — April 1, 2014 on latinheat.com.

In a town where books becoming films may sometimes take up to twenty years or longer, Montañez began meeting with established Latino and non-Latinos producers about five years ago, which eventually led to a deal with award-winning Film & TV producer DeVon Franklin’s  (Miracles From Heaven) production company Franklin Entertainment.  

Montañez’s middle son Steven had contacted producer DeVon Franklin who had offices at Fox Studios and was just coming off the success of Miracles from Heaven. “Devon is a humble, capable young man, and has experience with inspirational movies,” Montañez explained. “I wanted Flamin’ Hot to be a movie that inspires, gives people hope and brings people together.”  

Franklin also expressed to Montañez that it was a love story toward corporate America in which the CEO of a company took a chance and changed the game in corporate America.  With that, “Franklin and my son Steven and I aligned,”  Montañez declared.

With DeVon on board as producer, a bidding frenzy ensued amongst Hollywood studios.  DeVon reviewed the offers and it was mutually decided they would go with Fox Searchlight because of the company’s track record with films with diverse casts. 

A Boy, A Burrito and a Cookie details how a son of Mexican immigrants, working as a janitor at the Frito Lay plant came up with the idea to infuse Cheetos with the unique flavor inspired by the Mexican grilled corn on the cobb — an elote — spiced in chili and lime.  At the plant, Montañez would ask for the throwaway batch of un-cheesed Cheetos, then he would take them home and experiment with added chili and lime on the Cheetos to get the taste just right.  

When PepsiCo President Roger Enrico put out a call for fresh ideas for the company, Montanez phoned Enricoon the East coast, his secretary amused that the janitor was calling the President of the company, put him through.  Enrico informed Montanez that he had two weeks to prepare a presentation, as he would be coming to California to hear his idea. Montañez and his wife went to the library and looked up marketing presentations which they proceeded to copy.  Two weeks later Montanez presented his idea to the CEO, and with that he changed the face of snack foods in America with his Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. 

Flamin’ Hot, the movie is now on a fast track for production and on August 26th it was announced that actress/producer and TV director Eva Longoria would be making her feature film directorial debut as the director of Flamin’ Hot.

 “I was hired at Frito lay as a janitor in 1977, worked on the idea in 88 and it didn’t hit the market until 1990 and it blew up,” recalls Montañez during an exclusive interview with Latin Heat. 

It was a billion-dollar idea that catapulted Montañez up the corporate ladder where he currently serves as Executive Vice President of Multicultural Sales and Community Activation. His success in his executive position at Pepsico has led to his being  nicknamed the “godfather of Hispanic branding.” 

Richard was born in Southern California and was the eleventh child born to his parents.  “The house we eventually lived in is now part of the Ontario Airport,” he recounts. He spent his early years in insular farm labor camps where Spanish was his first language. He was later bused to all-white schools (desegregation school busing) and the frustration of not being able to catch up linguistically let him to finally abandon his high school studies altogether and go to work. 

“You must understand there was no bilingual education at the time and there was a lot of separation and discrimination”. He jokingly refers to his speaking a “cartoon English.”

The film is based on his memoir, A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie published in 2013.  Flamin Hot is scripted by Lewis Colick (Ladder 49) and will have a three-story arc, first with Montañez as an 8-year-old boy in a farm winery labor camp, followed by his teenage years and then his time at Frito Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga plant when he was hired as a janitor and his successful invention of the Hot Cheetos was born.

“It took me a long time to understand what had taken place in my life,”  Montañez relays.

 When his mom sent him to school on the first day of 3rd grade with a burrito for lunch, he was embarrassed. It was back in the 1960s. “Very few people had seen a burrito,” he writes in his memoir. “There I was with this burrito and with everyone staring at me. I put it back in my bag and hid it.”

The next day, when he asked his mom to make him a bologna sandwich and a cupcake like the other kids, she instead packed him two burritos, one for him to eat and one for him to use to make a friend. By the end of the week, the eight-year-old entrepreneur was selling burritos for 25 cents each.

“I learned at that moment that there was something special about being different, that there was a reason that we all just couldn’t fit into the same box,” Montañez writes. “My mom said to me, ‘This is who you are’.  The next day I shared the burrito and I realized it’s OK, and I fell in love with my culture.” he recalls during the interview.

Now a sought after motivational speaker as well, the author/entrepreneur started receiving calls from Hollywood producers expressing interest in his story and that’s when Montañez began thinking, “maybe there is something there.”

He entertained the idea and discussed it with his wife Judy, as he has always done. This is the reason why the film story is also about his grandmother, his mother and his wife Judy, he wanted to honor the importance of the Latina in the family life and culture. 

“All three pushed me. My wife filled out the job application [for the Frito Lay plant] for me. She has always been my inspiration. When I’m down, she pulls out the original job application to remind me of how far we’ve come,” he adds. “No way we can do this movie without honoring Latinas and that is another reason for Longoria’s involvement as a director,” he states.

“Eva Longoria came to the production meeting prepared and blew everyone away with her vision and presentation. She related to me her experiences as a Chicana, she sold it with her passion,” He exclaims. “No question in my mind, no question about it.”

To date, the most successful box-office Latino themed films, La Bamba, Spy Kids and Selena have emphasized the American dream, family empowerment, and music stardom. Flamin Hot is the classic rags to riches underdog story and the American dream. “But the movie is not just for Latinos.  I see it as starting off like La Bamba and transitioning into the Wolf of Wall Street” Montañez explained.

Montañez has plans to produce other movies as well. “What do I know about the movie business? Nothing, but look, I am doing it, producing a movie.” 

His goal is to open doors for Latinx in Hollywood in light of the recent USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report that found Latinos vastly underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera.  

“My story in Hollywood will bring other people along. I was able to do it and changed the numbers somewhat on corporate boards and marketing departments,” Montañez enthused.  “I didn’t kiss anybody’s ring and did not get anyone’s permission.  One needs to break ranks and go for it and do it,” he emphasizes.

“The ball is rolling on the movie now that we have our director, casting is underway and things are moving quickly.” 

Latin Heat will keep you updated with all the latest news and info on Flamin Hot as production progresses.

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