Peter Lanzani to Make Directorial Debut with Biopic About Argentine ‘80s Rock Icon Luca Prodan

Peter Lanzani is set to make his directorial debut…

The 32-year-old Argentine actor, singer and former child model – star of some of the greatest films and series to come out of Argentina of late, including Argentina, 1985, El Angel, The Clan, 4X4, and Un Gallo Para Esculapio – will helm a biopic of Argentine ‘80s rock icon Luca Prodan.

Peter LanzaniLanzani will also play Prodan.

Two other movers and shakers on Argentina’s film-TV scene, Argentina’s Armando Bo, an Academy Award winner for the screenplay of Alejandro González Inárritu’s “Birdman, and Luis Ortega, the multi-awarded director of Lulu and El Angel, will serve as executive producers.

The bio pic will center on the early years of Prodán, an extraordinary figure on Argentina’s ‘80s rock scene, educated like British king Charles III at Scotland’s Gordonstoun boarding school, a Virgin music exec in London and founder in Argentina of Sumo, whose combination of Joy Division-style rock, post-punk funk and reggae-ska took Buenos Aires youth by storm.

Highly cultured, though a gentleman with flashes of punkish aggro on stage, even by the time that Prodán hit Argentina in 1981 he had developed two addictions: Gin and heroine. The combination left him dead in 1987 at the age of 34.

Lanzani will co-direct the film with Martín Fisner, an assistant DP on El Marginal. Rodolfo Palacios, Sergio Olguín, Lanzani and Fisner are writing the screenplay.

The big question is what through line they will drive between ‘70s class-bound, punk-energized Britain and an Argentina of the early ‘80s emerging from a bloody dictatorship.

The biopic is set up at Bo’s Rebolución, behind his 2012 Sundance hit, The Last Elvis, and his second feature as a director, Animal, and Bo’s About Entertainment, founded in 2020 to focus on high quality entertainment for broad audiences such as El Presidente Season 2, for Prime Video.

Ortega will produce out of El Despacho, launched in 2020 in Buenos Aires by Ortega, Esteban Perroud and Palacios to develop original ideas, independent formats and big scale work, whose auteur work stands out in the international market.

Its first project, directed by Ortega, The Jockey, starring Úrsula Corberó and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, is now in post-production.

Residente Partnering with Alexander Dinelaris to Co-Write the New Film “Porto Rico”

Residente is bringing on the drama…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and songwriter, whose real name is René Pérez Joglar, has teamed up with Academy Award-winner Alexander Dinelaris to co-write the new film Porto Rico.

ResidentePorto Rico is a historical drama based on the life of Puerto Rican revolutionary, José Maldonado Román, known as Águila Blanca, set on the island in the late 19th century. Maldonado Román fought against colonialism by leading a gang of ex-convicts to vindicate Puerto Rico as it sought its identity as a country.

“It has been amazing to work with Alex,” said Residente in a statement about the screenwriter he was introduced to by Alejandro Gonzalez-Iñarritu. “It took me a while to find a great writer because I was looking for someone who not only is talented but also connects with the subject matter. I found both in Alex, an amazing writer who is highly skilled at dialogues as was evident in Birdman,” he added.

Residente and Dinelaris found they shared a special cultural connection via Puerto Rico, the island where both Residente and Dinelaris’ grandmother were born. Dinelaris’ passion for his ancestral land helped cement the partnership.

“When Rene and I were introduced, I knew about him but wasn’t familiar with his body of work. When he sent me a treatment of his idea for Porto Rico, I was immediately hooked,” Dinelaris said. “My grandmother was from Ponce but I never got to meet my family there. I’ve always felt a connection to Puerto Rico, it’s where I often go to get away— and where I wrote Birdman and Still Life. I relish the opportunity to explore its history, my history.”

Along the way, Dinelaris has familiarized himself with Residente and his music, which helped him make the “easy decision” to partner with the artist. He said, “He and his work are defined by his courage, conviction, and artistry; which is also what I admire about Alejandro, who has been my mentor, brother, and partner.”

He continued, “I think we have an opportunity to tell a unique story and shed light on a corner of history that until now has been undiscovered by a large part of the world. It’s a story about the spectacular courage and resilience of someone unwilling to bend the knee at any price. I think that’s a story that now more than ever deserves to be told.”

The duo is already at work on the screenplay with plans to share bigger development news in the near future. In the meantime, Residente shared an update on how the story is shaping up.

“The writing sessions have been amazing so far, Residente said. “We’ve been taking our time shaping the story and focusing on being not only clever or interesting but also writing dialogue that generates an emotional connection, similar to how I create music.”

Porto Rico will be the first film from 1868 Studios, a multi-year joint venture between Residente and Sony Music Entertainment’s Premium Content Division that creates, produces, and globally distributes original content projects across multiple formats. Residente, who leads all creative aspects, focuses on properly representing cultural narratives on-screen, including Latinx stories, and most importantly for him, behind the camera.

Residente is a multiple award-winning Puerto Rican rapper, writer, filmmaker, and activist who has earned more Latin Grammys than any other artist as of 2022. In addition to music, he has gained recent success as a screenwriter and director. His projects include a self-titled documentary released in 2017 followed by the doc Rubén Blades Is Not My Name a year later.

Dinelaris is best known for his award-winning work as the screenwriter of Birdman, and as co-producer of the Academy Award-winning film, The Revenant. Additional credits include Benjamin Millepied’s film Carmen as well as writing and directing the film adaptation of his play, Still Life.

Mexico Enters Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Bardo” Into Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film Race

Alejandro G. Iñárritu is back in the Oscar race…

Mexico has selected the 59-year-old Mexican five-time Academy Award winner’s Bardo as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, BardoThe immersive work stars Daniel Giménez Cacho as a renowned Los Angeles-based Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who, after being named the recipient of a prestigious international award, is compelled to return to his native country, unaware that this simple trip will push him to an existential limit.

The film had its world premiere in its three-hour original version in competition at the Venice Film Festival in early September.

Netflix recently dropped a trailer for the film, which opens theatrically in Mexico on October 27, followed by a limited theatrical release in the U.S., Spain and Argentina on November 4 before rolling out in a global expansion on November 18.

The film will debut December 1 on Netflix.

The work reunites Iñárritu with a number of his longtime collaborators including co-writer Nicolás Giacobone, who also took credits on Birdman and Biutiful.

Bardo — whose full title is Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths — marks Iñárritu’s first film to be shot in Mexico since Amores Perroswhich also represented Mexico at the Academy Awards and was nominated in 2000.

The film also features production design by the designer Eugenio Caballero, who previously won an Academy Award for his work on Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, and costume design by Anna Terrazas (The DeuceRoma).

Outside of the best international film category and its foreign language predecessor, Iñárritu previously won Oscars for Carne y Arena (2018), The Revenant (2016) and Birdman (2015) and was nominated for Babel (2007).

Mexico has garnered eight nominations to date with Roberto Gavaldón’s Macario (1960), Ismael Rodriguez’s The Important Man (1961), Luis Alcoriza’s The Pearl Of Tiayucan (1963), Miguel Litten’s Letters Of Marusia (1975), Iñárritu’s Amores Perros (2000), Carlos Carrera’s El Crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Iñárritu’s Biutiful (2010).

Cuaron won the country its only Oscar in the category with Roma in 2018.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Next Film to be Titled “Bardo”

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s next film has an official name…

The 58-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning film director, producer and screenwriter’s upcoming project will be titled Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)

Alejandro G. Inarritu

The news comes as the five-time Oscar winner wraps production on the film in Mexico City.

The feature penned by Iñárritu and longtime collaborator Nicolás Giacobone is billed as a nostalgic comedy set against an epic journey. A chronicle of uncertainties where the main character, a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker, returns to his native country to face his identity, familial relationships, and the folly of his memories, as well as the past and new reality of his country.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Bardo

Daniel Jimenez Cacho and Griselda Siciliani star in the film, which marks Iñárritu’s return to his native country, 20 years after Amores Perros.

Bardo comes on the heels of his Oscar winners The Revenant and Birdman, as well as his virtual installation Carne y Arena.

Oscar nominee Darius Khondji photographed the indie produced by Iñárritu, with Oscar winner Eugenio Caballero serving as production designer and Anna Terrazas as costume designer.

Cash Money Records Signs Luis Armando as First Artist in New Latin Division

Luis Armando is makin’ (cash) money moves…

Cash Money Records has officially announced the creation of a Latin music division with the launch of the Puerto Rican emerging artist.

Luis Armando

Cash Money was founded by brothers Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams in 1992. The new Latin division is a joint venture with Taste Music Group and major label support from Republic Records and Universal Music Latin.

“Urban Latin music is taking a similar course as we saw with Hip Hop during the 80s and 90s as it grew, evolved and fought to be accepted in the mainstream,” says Slim.

“It’s not just reggaeton anymore, it’s now evolving its subgenres (such as Latin Trap) and making them popular culture. At Cash Money we saw all that from the start in Hip Hop and we’re excited to adapt our lessons in helping develop Latin talent that also stands grounded in the Hip Hop world from day 1. With the guidance of various long-time Latin music experts such as Carlos Rivas, who is Cash Money’s Latin A&R, as well as our counterparts at Republic and Universal Latin we’re excited to venture into this new space as a label.”

As one of Hip-Hop’s reputable record labels, Cash Money has been home to some of the industry’s biggest names including DrakeLil’ Wayne, and Nicki Minaj. Now, the label believes it can transfer its know-how to the Latin market.

“Slim and Baby have the ability to spot talent like no other, they’ve proven that for many years,” Vernon Brown, Cash Money’s long-time attorney, and business manager, tells Billboard. “There’s a big confidence and commitment behind anything they touch. I think the ability to now bring Latin artists and see the merge is only going to be a positive result for any artist.”

Luis Armando, who was raised in Ohio, is the label’s first-ever recording Latin artist, making his debut with “Chica Mala” in collaboration with reggaeton veteran Ñengo Flow.

“We want our artists to be consistent, talented, and ready to work,” Slim says. “Someone who has that passion and drive and a vision of how great they want to be. If they’ve got that attitude, we’ll give it a shot. We believe in the new talents. Luis Armando is our first, but we’re excited to discover and help develop more talent as we move forward.”

The melodic urban fusions with tropical rhythms heard in “Chica Mala” puts Armando’s fresh musical proposal in the forefront.

Armando Bó Developing Two Projects for Television: “Las Malas” & “Cromanon”

Armando Bó has lined up two Argentina-themed television projects…

The 41-year-old Argentine screenwriter and film director, who won an Oscar for co-writing Birdman, has unveiled his first television slate since launching his own production company, About Entertainment, earlier this year.

Armando Bó,

Bo is developing two series based on well-known Argentinian stories.

About Entertainment has acquired the rights to Las Malas, the 2019 autobiographic novel by Camila Sosa Villada. And, Bo’s company is also developing Cromanon, based on true events of the tragedy that took place at the venue in Balvanera, Argentina in 2004.

Las Malas (Bad Girls) tells the story of a 19-year-old trans woman who moves to the big city and joins a group of trans sex workers that create a unique community. This story of self-discovery has two sides: one is realistic, harsh, and hostile; the other is fantastical, united, and thoughtful. Throughout their journey these ‘bad girls’ will take care of each other as a family.

Cromanonis a coming-of-age series that follows a group of teenagers surrounded by the catastrophic true events that took place in Argentina on December 30, 2004, when a fire broke out at the venue, during a rock concert, killing 194 teenagers and injuring over a thousand others. This unnatural tragedy was a breaking point for a generation and changed the culture of a whole country, as never before had so many young people died in a single incident.

Bó is the showrunner, director and executive producer of the eight-part dramedy series El Presidente, which launched in June on Amazon Prime Video.

He shared the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with Nicolás GiacoboneAlejandro G. Iñárritu, and Alexander Dinelaris for Birdman. The quartet also won the Golden Globe

He followed by writing/directing and producing Animal.

Karla Souza to Star in Amazon’s FIFA Gate-Inspired Drama “El Presidente”

Karla Souzawill be acting presidential…

The 33-year-old Mexican actress and How to Get Away with Murder star is set to star in Amazon’s FIFA drama El Presidente.

Karla Souza

Andrés Parra (Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal) and Paulina Gaitán (Diablo Guardian) also star in the eight-part series, which is produced by Oscar‐winning director Pablo Larrain’s production company Fabula (A Fantastic Woman), Narcosproducer Gaumont and Argentine producer Kapow.

Birdman’sArmando Bowill direct and executive-produce the series, which is inspired by the real-life characters and events behind the 2015 “FIFA Gate” corruption scandal.

The series explores the scandal from the angle of a small‐time Chilean football club president who rises from obscurity to become a key player in a $150M bribery conspiracy. Set against the backdrop of cities across Latin America, the U.S. and Europe, the series explores the sports scandal that rocked the world through the story of Jadue (Parra), a small‐time Chilean football club president who rose from obscurity to become a key player in a $150M bribery conspiracy at the hand of the infamous president of the Argentine football association, Julio Grondona.

It will air on Amazon’s SVOD service in more than 200 countries and territories.

El Presidente will show the world, with loads of irony, how the most beloved sport of all is in fact a multimillionaire business run by a ridiculous mob we have never seen before: the Football Mafia,” added Bo.

Souza’s previous credits include Everybody Loves Somebody and 31 días.

Guillermo del Toro Announces Scholarship for Aspiring Mexican Filmmakers

Guillermo del Toro is ready to help the next generation of Mexican filmmakers…

The 53-year-old Mexican writer-director, who won two Oscars earlier this month, has returned to his hometown of Guadalajara with some news.

Guillermo del Toro

After his romance-fantasy film The Shape of Water took home four Academy Awards last Sundayincluding best picture and director, del Toro attended the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where he’s imparting a series of free master classes to thousands of fans.

Following the first class on Saturday, the festival inaugurated a state-of-the-art cinema named after del Toro, and then organizers announced the creation of the Jenkins-Del Toro International Film Scholarship, a $60,000 annual award for an aspiring Mexican filmmaker to study abroad at a prestigious film institute.

“If we change a life, if we change a history, we change a generation,” said del Toro, whose genre filmmaking has inspired a new generation of talent in Mexico.

Del Toro and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) regularly produce films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers.

“The first push is very important,” said del Toro, who will oversee a jury that awards the scholarship at the Guadalajara film fest each year.

del Toro also announced that his At Home with Monsters exhibit will hit museums in Guadalajara and Mexico City next year. The exhibit features 500 drawings, paintings and concept pieces from del Toro’s works, including creepy life-size sculptures of monster figures. The collection, to be curated by Oscar-winning production designer Eugenio Caballero (Pan’s Labyrinth), bowed in 2016 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Guillermo del Toro Wins Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for “The Shape of Water”

It’s turned out to be a monster night for Guillermo del Toro

The 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker had a nearly perfect night, picking up his first-ever Academy Awards for his romantic fantasy drama The Shape of Water.

Guillermo del Toro

del Toro, who co-wrote, directed and produced the film, was named Best Director, an award he was predicted to win throughout awards season.

Additionally, del Toro’s The Shape of Water took home the night’s top prize, Best Picture.

The romantic fable was conceived by del Toro as a tribute to the monster movies he loved as a child, updated to tell a story about tolerance and compassion that could speak to a contemporary audience.The film ultimately took home four Oscars, the most of any nominee.

“As a kid enamored of movies growing up in Mexico, I thought it would never happened, but it happened,” said del Toro, in accepting the Best Picture award.

del Toro, who missed out on being 3-for-3 when he lost in the Best Original Screenplay category, urged other young filmmakers to take inspiration from his win, and “use the power of fantasy to tell stories about things that are real in the world.”

The award was presented by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, who famously announced the wrong Best Picture winner last year, naming La La Land instead of actual winner Moonlight.

He’s the latest Mexican filmmaker to take home multiple awards in the same night… Alejandro González Iñárritu previously scored three Oscar wins in 2015 for Birdman: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

One year earlier, Alfonso Cuaron took home two Oscars for his film Gravity: Best Director. and Best Film Editing.

Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s Dia de los Muertos-themed animated film Coco won best animated feature and its featured tune, “Remember Me,” won Best Original Song.

And, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film went to A Fantastic Woman, from Chile, the story of a transgender person struggling in the aftermath of the death of a lover.

The film edged out Ruben Östlund’s Swedish satire The Square and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Russian fable Loveless.

Directed by Sebastián Lelio and written by Lelio and Gonzalo Maza, the film marks the first Chilean entry for the foreign language Oscar since Pablo Larraín’s No, and the first ever Academy award for Lelio, in his follow-up to the acclaimed film Gloria.

At Sunday’s ceremony, the film’s star Daniela Vega became the first openly transgender person to present an award at the Oscars.

Here’s a look at all of this year’s Academy Award winners.

BEST PICTURE
The Shape of Water

ACTRESS
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

ACTOR
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

DIRECTOR
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Allison Janney, I, Tonya

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 

ORIGINAL SONG (PRESENTED TO SONGWRITERS)
Remember Me, from Coco (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Shape of Water, Alexandre Desplat 

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Blade Runner 2049, Roger A. Deakins 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Get Out, Jordan Peele 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me By Your Name, James Ivory 

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
The Silent Child 

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 

FILM EDITING
Dunkirk, Lee Smith 

VISUAL EFFECTS
Blade Runner 2049 

ANIMATED FEATURE
Coco

 SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Dear Basketball 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Fantastic Woman (Chile) 

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Shape of Water 

SOUND MIXING
Dunkirk 

SOUND EDITING
Dunkirk, Richard King and Alex Gibson 

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Icarus 

COSTUME DESIGN
Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Darkest Hour, Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick

Emmanuel Lubezki Partners with Kind for “No More Deaths” Campaign

Emmanuel Lubezki is using his talents to spread a message of empathy…

The 53-year-old Mexican cinematographer, a three-time Academy Award winner, has partnered with Kind to produce a video for the granola bar company’s new campaign.

Emmanuel Lubezki

Lubezki, of Birdman, Gravity and The Revenant fame, personally interprets the difference between nice and kind through the eyes of volunteers from No More Deaths.

Diverting the focus from the many militia groups on the Mexico-US border, Lubezki’s short, More Than Nice, follows volunteers from the humanitarian group as they walk through the Sonoran Desert leaving jugs of water for migrants attempting to cross.

Their objective is not to encourage nor deter people from crossing, but simply to save lives. Although seemingly small, the group’s actions make a real difference for those in desperate situations facing harsh natural conditions.

“I was struck not just by the incredible courage but also by the tremendous empathy that these volunteers had, going out of their way to protect the well-being of fellow human beings they may never meet,” said Lubezki for Kind’s website.

The issue hits home not only for Lubezki, but also for KIND CEO Daniel Lubetzky – both are Jewish-Mexican immigrants who have used their respective platforms to connect people, expand understanding and strengthen communities.

To learn more about No More Deaths visit: www.nomoredeaths.org KIND is inviting people to share their own take on the difference between nice and kind by submitting a written essay, photo or video.

A panel of judges, made up of entrepreneurs, creatives, journalists and activists will select three winners who will receive $25,000 to donate to the charity of their choice, along with resources, including cash prizes and photography/videography gear to help fund their next creative project.