Project extended Through May 15th

Los Angeles, CA — Academy Award®-nominated actor Edward James Olmos announced that the Youth Cinema Project (YCP) has added additional shows and talent to their YCP Live Reads line-up. The live stream script reading sessions will continue through Friday, May 15, 2020 due to overwhelming participation from the Hollywood Latinx community.

YCP introduces elementary, middle, and high school students to the art of filmmaking and bridges the achievement and opportunity gaps by creating lifelong learners and the entertainment industry’s multicultural future. The program is implemented in public schools across California.

YCP Live Reads has added Mondays to their current schedule. Live virtual readings will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 1pm PST through Friday, May 15, 2020 on the Youth Cinema Project website, and can be found on social media with the hashtag: #YCPLiveReads.

“The response and outpouring of support to the readings from both talent and the community has been tremendous,” said Edward James Olmos.  “The kindness that we have seen is incredible, and we are thrilled that we can do this for our YCP students.  We know how important storytelling and creativity are for them, especially during these extraordinary times, while they are dependent upon virtual classrooms and distance learning.”

VIdeo from founder of Youth Cinema Project

#YCPLiveReads Schedule:

Wednesday, April 22

• Queen of The South – Hemky Madera, Veronica Falcon, Idalia Valles, Alejandro Barrios, Alimi Ballard and Vera Cherny.

Friday, April 24 – A double feature

• Multi-Show Mash-Up En Espanol – Cassandra Ciangherotti (Los Espookys), Bernardo Velasco (Los Espookys), Isabella Gomez (One day at A Time), Bruno Bichir (Party of Five)
• Napoleon Dynamite/The Sinner/Rambo Last Blood Collab – Efren Ramirez, Eddie Martinez and Fenessa Pineda.

Monday, April 27

• The Casagrandes – Izabella Alvarez and Carlos Alazraqui.

Wednesday, April 29 

• Broke – Jaime Camil, Pauley Perrette, Natasha Leggero and Izzy Diaz.

Friday, May 1

• East Los High – Danielle Vega, Alicia Sixtos, Vannessa Vazquez, Andrea Sixtos, Tracy Perez, Jorge Diaz and Gilbert Saldivar.

Monday, May 4

• On My Block – Jason Genao, Diego Tinoco, Jessica Marie Garcia, Julio Macias and Paula Garces.

Wednesday, May 6

• Little America – John Ortiz, Jearnest Corchado, Melinna Bobadilla and Gustavo Gomez.

Friday, May 8

• Elena Of Avalor – Aimee Carrero, Jenna Ortega and Joseph Haro.

Monday, May 11

• Selena: The Series – Christian Serratos, Gabriel Chavarria, Ricardo Chavira, Seidy Lopez and Noemi Gonzalez.

Wednesday, May 13

• Mayans – JD Pardo, Emilio Rivera, Carla Baratta and Frankie Loyal

Friday, May 15

• Narcos Mexico – Alejandro Edda, Fernanda Urrejola, Teresa Ruiz, Mayra Hermosillo, Andres Almeida, Jesse Garcia and Alberto Zeni.

The series began on April 8, 2020 with talent from Devious Maids, Genteifed, Spanish Aqui Presents and Vida participating. 

Video from Edward James Olmos here. 

The post Latino Film Institute Extends #Ycplivereads first appeared on .

Submissions Now Open At LatinoFilm.org 

Los Angeles, CA – The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) is back for its second year after a five year hiatus. This year LALIFF has announced they plan to spotlight U.S. Latinx content creators. The news was met with an enthusiastic response on social media, as the lack of U.S. Latino content creators has been noticeably absent at major film festivals across the U.S.

LALIFF it is set to return July 31-August 4 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.  Co-founded by Academy Award^® nominee, Golden Globe^® and Emmy^® winner Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica, Stand and Deliver) and run by Executive Director Rafael Agustin (Jane The Virgin), the platform agnostic festival which showcases film, television, digital, music and art – will this year put a major emphasis on U.S. Latinx talent.  CAA, Egeda and AltaMed return this year as sponsors.

“LALIFF has become the preeminent destination for Latinx storytellers and this year we want to spotlight our homegrown U.S. community of filmmakers, musicians, students, TV writers, visual artists, digital producers and podcasters,” said festival co-founder Olmos.

LALIFF is programmed by two leading women with distinct pedigrees:  Artistic Director Diana Sanchez (who is an International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival®) and Director of Programming Dilcia Barrera (who is a Programmer, Feature Films at the Sundance Film Festival).   Submissions are now open at www.latinofilm.org.

This year LALIFF has established a paid internship which will be awarded to a high school student who has shown great academic improvement and displayed extraordinary filmmaking excellence. The Youth Cinema Project (YCP), which evolved from the festival’s youth program, announced that this year it will go to a Santa Ana High School student from the Santa Ana Unified School District.

LALIFF and YCP are programs of the Latino Film Institute (LFI), which this year added Dr. Ana-Christina Ramon (co-author of the highly influential Hollywood Diversity Report) to its Board of Directors.  

“As the largest minority group in the U.S. and one whose buying power outpaces other groups, Latinos are still severely underrepresented in film and TV. My goal is to provide the data necessary to enact meaningful change and motivate those in the industry to make content that is authentic and representative of how the majority of Latinos and other people of color live and work in America,” Said Ramon

To further expand efforts to be in the forefront of our industry, LFI this year has added LatinX In Animation as one of its signature programs.  Championing the growth of diversity in animation, the LatinX in Animation team will continue monthly networking events as well as take on developing an Animation curriculum for YCP and building out LALIFF Animation at this year’s festival.

About LALIFF

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) was founded in 1997 by producer, director, actor and activist Edward James Olmos and independent producers, Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez, and Kirk Whisler. LALIFF is a non-profit 501c (3) organization with the mission to support the development and exhibition of diverse visions by Latinx creators.  

The post LALIFF is Back With a Focus on U.S. Latinx Content Creators first appeared on .