Julio Torres Signs Deal with Ars Nova to Identify, Develop & Commission Projects from Rising Comedy Artists

Julio Torres is hoping to cultivate new comedic talents…

The 36-year-old Salvadoran writer, comedian and actor has agreed to a deal with Ars Nova, the Off-Broadway, non-profit theater in New York City, that will see them partner to identify, develop, and commission full-length projects from early-career comedy artists.

Julio Torres,The collaboration further expands Ars Nova’s two-decade commitment to new comedy at a time when support systems for NYC-based artists have decreased.

Under the partnership, Torres and Ars Nova will look to provide comedians with opportunities for development and production outside of the traditional model of sketch shows and 10-minute sets. They’ll offer funding up front to create brand new, uniquely theatrical shows, while providing mentorship and development resources to the artists involved, the first set for a commission being Ars Nova Vision Residency Alum River L. Ramirez. Others will be announced at a later date.

To celebrate the alliance, the Problemista star will return to the Ars Nova stage on October 26 to host Showgasm. — the theater’s variety-show-meets-party that serves up comedy, burlesque, and more. In addition to the newly commissioned Ramirez, Showgasm. will feature performances by Spike Einbinder, Macy Rodman, and Max Wittert, among others. Tickets are Name Your Price starting at $5 with every dollar going directly to the artists involved.

“This is such a dream—I get to guide Ars Nova into commissioning shows from my brilliant friends, starting with the unique and powerful River L. Ramirez, who has been an inspiration of mine since I met them years ago doing open mics,” said Torres in a statement to Deadline. “Many years ago, John Early introduced me to Ars Nova where I had my first solo show. I’m proud that now I get to put the spotlight on others and give them the resources they need to translate their talent and experience into formal commissions by a welcoming theater.”

Added Founding Artistic Director Jason Eagan, “Julio is a singular talent whose groundbreaking work in comedy and television continues to redefine our culture. We’re ecstatic to have him actively in our community again and inspired by his desire to help the next wave of comedy talent break barriers, by getting their work made and seen. Placing this partnership alongside our ongoing comedy residency program CAMP, led by Matt Gehring and Mahayla Laurence, further cements Ars Nova’s commitment to its comedy, music, theater, and everything-in-between, mission.”

A Brooklyn-based comedian, writer, filmmaker and actor, Torres is best known for his Emmy-nominated and WGA-winning writing on Saturday Night Live, the Peabody and GLAAD Award-winning HBO series Los Espookys, which he co-created with Fred Armisen and Ana Fabrega, and his forthcoming directorial debut Problemista, a comedy he wrote and stars in alongside Tilda Swinton, which premiered at SXSW and will premiere theatrically in 2024, having been one of the many titles pushed out of 2023 amidst the strikes from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

First performing on the Ars Nova stage in 2014, Torres has also been seen on shows like High MaintenanceSearch Party and Shrill, the Ed HelmsPatti Harrison indie Together Together, and on assorted late-night shows, where he’s performed stand-up. His next television series, Fantasmas, will premiere on HBO next year.

Torres previously wrote, produced and directed the comedy special program Pervert Everything for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. They teach performance and public speaking at The Brick Aux in BK, perform experimental comedy at Littlefield in BK, and have been commissioned for original musical and dance-based performances by Baryshnikov Arts Center, Gibney, Ars Nova Vision Residency program, and Moma PS1. Named one of Comedy Central’s Up Next Comedians for 2018, Ramirez has additionally written for High Maintenance and The National Lampoon Radio Hour.

Fred Armisen Earns Two Peabody Award Nominations

Fred Armisen is celebrating two special award nominations…

The full list of nominations for the 83rd annual Peabody Awards have been revealed, with the 56-year-old half-Venezuelan American actor, television creator and comedian earning two nods.

Fred ArmisenArmisen’s IFC series Documentary Now!, which Armisen co-created with Bill Hader, Seth Meyers and Rhys Thomas earned a nod. The series offers some comic relief in our documentary-saturated times, parodying the form with insightful sendups of Grizzly ManThe September IssueMy Octopus Teacher and more, with every episode hosted by Helen Mirren.

Meanwhile, Armisen’s Los Espookys, which he co-created with Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega, also earned a nod. 

A primarily Spanish-language comedy (with English subtitles), the series centers on eccentric friends who turn their passion for horror into a peculiar business—scaring people for a fee— in a series that weaves together elements of magical realism and the absurd to create a comedy like no other.

The Peabodys are honoring 2022’s most compelling and empowering stories across broadcasting and streaming media.

The group this year nominated a total of 69 TV, podcast/radio and web/digital programs in the categories of entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service and interactive programming.

Winners will be announced May 9, with a ceremony to take place June 11 at the Beverly Wilshire, the Peabodys’ first in Los Angeles.

Here’s the full list of this year’s nominees:

ENTERTAINMENT

Abbott Elementary
A group of passionate Philadelphia public school teachers battle budget restrictions, a rival charter school, and their own (mostly) incompetent principal, forging friendships and an occasional love match in this sweet mockumentary sitcom from creator and star Quinta Brunson.

Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios (ABC)

Andor
The Star Wars franchise gets a new perspective, focusing on thief-turned-Rebel spy Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. Taking place during a time before the first Star Wars film when a Rebel Alliance is forming in opposition to the fascist Galactic Empire, the series explores themes of Fascism and how resistance movements emerge from the strangling weight of authoritarian repression.

Atlanta
Creator-star Donald Glover finishes his four-season masterpiece about a group of friends that includes rapper Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles and his manager cousin, “Earn” Marks, along with their friends Darius and Van. The final two seasons are particularly inventive as the characters find themselves in new situations and consider their relationships to each other and their hometown.

Bad Sisters
A delicious blend of dark comedy and thriller from creators Sharon Horgan, Brett Baer, and Dave Finkel, Bad Sisters follows the lives of the Garvey sisters, who are bound together by the premature death of their parents and a promise to always protect each other.

Better Call Saul
This Breaking Bad prequel is much more than the sum of its parts, and that’s evident in its capstone season, which concludes the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, Jimmy McGill, played perfectly by Bob Odenkirk, into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.

Bob’s Burgers
This long-running, witty animated series is gentle and full of heart. Over its thirteen years on the air, Bob’s Burgers has quietly depicted a truly progressive vision of a working class family, giving us both realistic and aspirational portraits of parenting life, teenage life, and queer life, as well as lessons of acceptance and resiliency.

Documentary Now!
Created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, Documentary Now! offers some comic relief in our documentary-saturated times, parodying the form with insightful sendups of Grizzly ManThe September IssueMy Octopus Teacher, and more, with every episode hosted by none other than Helen Mirren.

Los Espookys
Eccentric friends turn their passion for horror into a peculiar business—scaring people for a fee— in this bilingual series that weaves together elements of magical realism and the absurd to create a comedy like no other.

Mo
The title character toggles among two cultures, three languages, and a pending asylum request while hustling to support his Palestinian family in Houston, Texas, in this dramedy co-created by star Mo Amer, based on his own life, and Ramy Youssef.

Our Flag Means Death
This is, indeed, a historical queer pirate rom-com. The series follows Stede Bonnet, a Barbadian aristocrat played by Rhys Darby, as he leaves his life behind to become a pirate, leads a crew, and falls in love with the notorious Blackbeard (Taika Waititi).

Pachinko
A sweeping American drama series based on Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel, Pachinko starts with an intimate story about forbidden love but widens out to include epic journeys among America, Japan, and Korea, encompassing no less than war and peace, love and loss, and triumph and reckoning.

Reservation Dogs
The Reservation Dogs teens continue to pursue their California dreams while struggling to mend their relationships with each other and facing down more grown-up problems, from dying loved ones to making a living, in the masterful second season of TV’s first all-Indigenous series.

Severance
This bold, topical sci-fi thriller series stars Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries, where employees have undergone a “severance” procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. But he soon discovers a darker conspiracy behind this cutting-edge experiment.

Somebody Somewhere
Bridget Everett created and stars in this quiet gem of a dramedy, which follows her character Sam through small-town Kansas life as she grieves her sister’s death and works a soul-deadening job, but also finds salvation in a new friendship with a fellow outcast, in the music they make together and in the community they find.

Sort Of
This poignant comedy about nonbinary millennial Sabi, created by and starring Bilal Baig, turns in a second season that deepens relationships, widens Sabi’s world, and continues to deftly balance humor and pathos.

The Patient
From The Americans producer Joel Fields and creator Joe Weisberg comes this psychological thriller about a therapist (Steve Carell) held prisoner by his patient (Domhnall Gleeson), who reveals himself as a serial killer with a sincere desire to get better. Taut writing highlights the tense relationship between the two as themes of mental illness, personal responsibility, and religious morality are explored.

We’re Here
In this uplifting and timely reality series, three drag queens spread love and connection across small-town America through the art of drag, putting on shows with local drag enthusiasts, queer people, and allies, and changing lives along the way.

ARTS

Fire of Love
Miranda July narrates this dramatic documentary about the doomed relationship between obsessive French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft and their shared passion for capturing spectacular imagery of stunning—and deadly—volcanoes.

DOCUMENTARY

Aftershock
After the deaths of two young women from childbirth complications, their families galvanize activists, birth workers, and physicians to face America’s grave maternal health crisis in this eye-opening film.

Batata
This unprecedented film spans ten years in the life of Syrian migrant worker Maria, a Muslim woman, and her journey from days of farming potatoes to life in a refugee camp in Lebanon, demonstrating the spirit of a woman who puts family above all else.

Children of the Taliban
In this affecting documentary, viewers meet four children—two boys and two girls—living in Kabul, Afghanistan, and learn how dramatically their lives have changed since U.S. troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban came to power. While the girls face the obvious serious difficulties under the patriarchal regime, some of the most chilling footage shows how young boys are radicalized.

The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone
This short documentary spans most of the 22-year life of Georgie Stone, a young Australian trans activist, revealing her memories as she grows up, affirms her gender, finds her voice, fights to change laws and public perception, and becomes a role model for other trans kids throughout the world.

George Carlin’s American Dream
This two-part documentary from Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio illustrates how legendary comedian George Carlin evolved from late-night-standup hack to a wordsmith, a countercultural hero, and, ultimately, a truth-teller who used dark humor to illuminate key issues of our time like sexual assault and climate change. Archival footage of Carlin himself, as well as extraordinary access to his diaries and letters, helps to paint a complete portrait of a man who wouldn’t settle for anything less than expressing his authentic voice.

Independent Lens: Missing in Brooks County
Migrants go missing in the rural area of Brooks County, Texas, more than anywhere else in the United States, and activist Eddie Canales is the one who helps their families find them. PBS’ documentary profiles Canales in this subtle, specific, and alarming take on U.S. immigration.

Independent Lens: Writing with Fire
Fearless journalists staff India’s only all-female newspaper in an intensely patriarchal landscape, painting a portrait of courage and hope. Filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh spent four years in India’s Uttar Pradesh state capturing the women’s daily work lives as well as the larger context in which they operate: India’s caste system and its far-right religious movement.

Lucy and Desi
Director Amy Poehler explores the surprising story of how Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, a woman and a Cuban man, became TV’s most powerful couple in the 1950s, transformed numerous aspects of television production, and pioneered the American sitcom as we know it.

Mariupol: The People’s Story
This terrifyingly crucial feature-length documentary tells the story of the essential coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol through those who lived there as it was destroyed by Russia.

POV: Let the Little Light Shine
This captivating documentary tells the story of a South Side Chicago neighborhood where a high-performing, largely Black elementary school is threatened by the forces of gentrification—a story that reflects larger struggles with the historical impacts of institutional racism and the ways demographic shifts affect education.

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was more than an “old” lady who was too tired to go to the back of the bus, as this documentary demonstrates, delving deep into the Civil Rights icon’s historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott beyond her traditionally assigned role in school textbooks.

The Territory
This immersive, awe-inspiring documentary looks at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers.

We Need To Talk About Cosby
Writer/director W. Kamau Bell weighs the life and legacy of Bill Cosby as a peerless groundbreaker and dominant cultural force against his crimes as a convicted sexual predator through difficult and candid conversations with comedians, journalists, and survivors in a potent examination of problematic artist versus art.

NEWS

60 Minutes: The Declining Mental Health of America’s Kids
This 60 Minutes report delves into the mental health crisis striking kids across America and explores its root causes: the isolation and fear of the pandemic and the addiction and toxicity of social media.

ABC News Digital: Buffalo: Healing From Hate
Through four in-depth video profiles, ABC News Digital tells the personal stories of those killed in the mass shooting at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, spending time with their families to paint tender and detailed portraits of those lost and making sure their lives and legacies are not forgotten after the onslaught of news coverage.

Frontline: Crime Scene Bucha
FRONTLINE, The Associated Press, and SITU Research teamed up on an exclusive visual investigation into Russian war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha during a month-long occupation, drawing on hundreds of hours of closed-circuit television footage, intercepted phone calls, and a 3-D model of the town to map the deaths of 450 people in the soldiers’ “cleansing” operations.

Frontline: Michael Flynn’s Holy War
Truly terrifying in its implications, this FRONTLINE episode asks how Michael Flynn went from being an elite soldier overseas to waging a “spiritual war” in America, emerging as a leader in a far-right movement that puts its brand of Christianity at the center of U.S. civic life and institutions, attracting election deniers, conspiracists, and extremists around the country.

Frontline: Putin’s War at Home
This report takes a deep, documentary approach to profiling the defiant Russians risking imprisonment as they push back against President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on criticism of his war on Ukraine, with extraordinary footage from inside the country.

Frontline: Ukraine: Life Under Russia’s Attack
FRONTLINE provides a dramatic and intimate look inside the Russian assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, following the displaced families trying to survive underground, civilians caught in the war, and first responders risking their lives.

The Gap: Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect
A year-long investigation by local Minneapolis-St. Paul’s KARE 11, revealed systemic failures to treat people with mental illness who were declared incompetent in court and resulted in state-wide reforms that were deemed lifesaving by the mental health community and lawmakers.

Guns in America
Faced with repeatedly reporting on the endless cycle of mass shootings across America, PBS NewsHour raised the bar, providing context while also telling empathetic stories across different segments throughout the year dealing with victims, survivors, and their communities in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Inside An Armed Bank Raid in Lebanon
In a gripping piece that illuminates complex issues, VICE News reports from inside an armed bank raid for 16 hours in Lebanon as desperate bank customers demand their own savings despite the country’s limits on how much people can withdraw from their accounts amidst a crushing economic crisis.

Myanmar: The Forgotten Revolution
A team of courageous filmmakers spent more than a year inside the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, bringing viewers inside a largely ignored and forgotten civil war in which more than 20,000 people have been reported dead and thousands are fighting a military coup that removed their elected government.

No Justice for Women in the Taliban’s Afghanistan
Women’s lives drastically changed after the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. VICE takes viewers inside a justice system tipped against women facing physical and sexual abuse and the underground shelters where women turn to escape violence at home for a devastating look at the country’s inequality.

One Day in Hebron
American Al Jazeera host Dena Takuri returns to Hebron, the once-vibrant Palestinian city where her father was born and raised to see what Israel’s military occupation has done to his hometown: segregated streets, traumatized residents, shuttered businesses, and the remaining Palestinians erecting nets to catch the trash thrown at them by settlers.

The Price of Care: Taken by the State
This local news investigation from ABC10-KXTV in Sacramento uncovered how the California Department of Developmental Services gained conservatorship powers over hundreds of adults with disabilities, only to separate them from their families and neglect them in care facilities. The reporting resulted in changes to California’s conservatorship laws, adding protections and additional funding to enact them.

Shimon Prokupecz: Unraveling Uvalde
After the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012, the CNN team led by Shimon Prokupecz relentlessly pursued the glaring, unanswered questions about the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas school shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers. A gut-wrenching interview with one surviving teacher underscores the horrific question, “Why didn’t anyone help sooner?”

CHILDREN’S & YOUTH

El Deafo
El Deafo uses unique sound design to take viewers inside the experience of a young girl named Cece (voiced by Lexi Finigan, who is also deaf) as she loses her hearing and finds her inner superhero in this animated series based on the graphic novel by Cece Bell.

N*Gen: Next Generation Television
Africa’s first science TV show for kids was filmed across Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and Uganda with the goals of promoting girls and women in STEM, increasing trust in science, boosting knowledge about climate and health, and giving people critical thinking tools to fight misinformation.

PODCAST/RADIO

Kabul Falling
Afghans themselves tell the story of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August of 2021 in this eight-part series.  Released one year after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the podcast documents the shockwaves that reverberated throughout the country as thousands of Afghans were forced to leave their lives behind for a hellish journey to survive.

Nine days in a Michigan abortion clinic, as election looms
As Michigan voters were about to decide whether to codify abortion and broad reproductive rights in the state constitution, Michigan Radio illuminated what was at stake. With a rare degree of access to the Northland Family Planning clinic, reporter Kate Wells guided listeners through every step of the abortion process and its emotional complexity.

Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Host Emily Hanford investigates a widespread method of teaching kids to read that was proven ineffective by scientists decades ago, but continues to hold sway over schools across the country because of the influential authors who promote it and the company that sells their work.

Still Newtown
A portrait of a community coming together after unspeakable tragedy, this 11-episode podcast chronicles Newtown, Connecticut, twenty years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting left 20 children and 6 adults dead. From dealing with the overwhelming outpouring of stuff sent their way—letters, stuffed animals, donated clothing—to building a permanent memorial, Still Newtown shows us what happens, in touching everyday detail, after the news trucks go home.

Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s
Investigative journalist Connie Walker delves into her own family history and uncovers the trauma passed down through generations as part of one of Canada’s darkest chapters, the residential school system for indigenous children, showing the ways that personal secrets and national shame reinforce one another.

Stories of the Stalked
Artist, filmmaker, and dancer Lily Baldwin hosts this six-part podcast in which she takes a true-crime approach to her own experience with being stalked, showing the terror of being relentlessly pursued by someone who claims to love you, the difficulty of reporting it to police, and the uncertainty of knowing when the ordeal is really over.

The Divided Dial
On the Media presents this thorough five-part series about how one side of the political spectrum came to dominate talk radio, and how one company, Salem Media Group, is launching a right-wing media empire.

The Wealth Vortex
The second season of the podcast The Heist, “The Wealth Vortex” follows entrepreneur ReShonda Young’s efforts to address America’s longstanding racial wealth gap by opening the first Black-owned bank in the country in 20 years—and the many obstacles she faces along the way.

This American Life: The Pink House at the Center of the World
On the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, public radio’s seminal storytelling program had exclusive access inside the clinic at the center of the legal case, Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, showing what happened as patients and staff received the news.

INTERACTIVE & IMMERSIVE

ContraPoints
Through her YouTube channel, ContraPoints, Natalie Wynn defies the reductive quality that rules most of the internet, developing a following of more than 1 million subscribers by producing long, beautifully produced video essays that dissect trending topics and social phenomena. From “Canceling” to “Cringe,” “Incels” to J.K. Rowling, Wynn explores all sides of an argument, treating different perspectives with equal parts seriousness and shade.

Coronavirus in the Classroom
As schools weighed how to reopen safely during the pandemic, The New York Times worked with engineering experts to visualize the flow of air inside a New York City classroom, designing an augmented reality experience to show how improved ventilation could help reduce exposure to coronavirus.

Life is Strange: True Colors
“Life Is Strange: True Colors” is a game that follows a 21-year-old, bisexual Asian-American woman, Alex Chen, who has spent the last eight years in foster care and is investigating her brother’s death. Largely about grief and trauma, the game is also joyful, affirming the true importance of empathy through Alex’s supernatural ability to sense and manipulate others’ emotions.

Lucy and the Wolves in the Walls
Through the endearing and earnest narrative of Lucy and her quest to find the source of mysterious happenings in her house, this wonderful interactive VR fable based on the book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, which continues in Lucy’s extended life across platforms, invites us along to explore the fine line between imagination and reality and reminds us of that liminal space of possibility that we occupy as children.

Motto
This interactive novella designed for mobile uses thousands of tiny videos to tell the thousand-year tale of a kindhearted spirit named September, resulting in an experience that’s part ghost story, part scavenger hunt.

Reeducated
China’s systemic detention of Uyghurs and other minorities is well-documented, but there exists no photographic evidence from inside the camps, which limits journalistic coverage. This New Yorker VR project combines the testimony of three brave survivors, hand-drawn illustration, and immersive video technology, showing the conditions inside prison cells, classrooms, torture rooms, and a makeshift operating room, and illuminating the atrocities of harrowing life.

The Uncensored Library
Meticulous and artistically-rendered, this Minecraft build serves as a monument to press freedom and an innovative back door for censored content. Because Minecraft is often freely accessible in countries where other media is blocked, more than 20 million gamers in 165 countries have been able to access information about threats to press freedom in their own countries as well as censored articles from independent journalists from oppressive countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, and Vietnam.

Un(re)solved
Drawing on more than two years of reporting, thousands of documents, and dozens of first-hand interviews, this FRONTLINE multiplatform investigation of lives cut short examines a federal effort to grapple with America’s legacy of racist killings through the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.

Unpacking
This zen puzzle game transforms the mundane experience of unpacking items out of boxes after a move into an extraordinary storytelling device, allowing the player to get to know the main character at an intensely intimate and personal level without ever seeing her over 21 years of her life and eight different moves.

PUBLIC SERVICE

Frontline: American Reckoning
A powerful and compelling examination of America’s ongoing struggle with systemic racism and social injustice through the lens of an unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold chapter in the Civil Rights Movement. With rarely seen footage from more than 50 years ago, the program illuminates the urgent need for meaningful change and reckoning with our nation’s past while highlighting one family’s search for justice.

Frontline: Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes
Exclusive and harrowing evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine’s Kyiv suburbs, unearthed by FRONTLINE and The Associated Press, can be traced up the chain of command to one of Russia’s top generals—and might help build a case against Russian President Vladimir Putin in court.

“FRONTLINE: The Power of Big Oil”

The fossil fuel industry has sowed doubt about climate change in America and stalled climate policy, even as scientific evidence grows more certain, all as part of a concerted effort, as documented by this three-part series.

“Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March”

This hour-long documentary reveals how, in the aftermath of the 2021 spa killings of 6 women of Asian descent, the Asian American community in Atlanta came together to fight back and to contend with a racial reckoning in the courts, in the voting booth, and in the streets.

Joe Rodríguez & Javier Nuño Receive Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Nomination

Joe Rodríguez & Javier Nuño are celebrating their latest recognition…

The Guild of Music Supervisors has announced the nominees for its 11th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, with the Latino music supervisors earning a nod.

Joe Rodríguez & Javier Nuño

Rodríguez and Nuño were nominated in the Best music supervision for film budgeted under $5 million for their work on Netflix’s Mexican Spanish- language musical drama film I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí), which was written and directed by Fernando Frías de la Parra.

Last year, Rodríguez and Nuño were named to Variety’s Music Supervisors to Watch after rocketing from obscurity by providing the soundtrack to Fred Armisen, Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega’s cult HBO hit Los Espookys.

The Guild of Music Supervisors Awards nominations recognize the craft of music supervision in film, television, games, advertising and trailers.

The awards will be presented virtually on April 11.

Here’s a complete list of nominees:

FILM
Best song written and/or recorded for a film
“Turntables” from All In: The Fight for Democracy
Writer: George “George 2.0” A. Peters II, Janelle “Django Jane” Monáe, Nathaniel Irvin III
Performed By: Janelle Monáe
Music Supervisor: Andrew Gross

“Love Myself” from The High Note
Writer: Greg Kurstin, Sarah Aarons
Performed By: Tracee Ellis Ross
Music Supervisor: Linda Cohen

“Make It Work” from Jingle Jangle
Writer: John Stephens
Performed By: Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose
Music Supervisor: Julia Michels

“Carried Me With You” from Onward
Writer: Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth
Performed By: Brandi Carlile
Music Supervisor: Tom MacDougall

“Hear My Voice” from The Trial of Chicago 7
Writer: Celeste Waite, Daniel Pemberton
Performed By: Celeste
Music Supervisor: Peter Afterman, Alison Litton

Best music supervision for film budgeted over $25 million
Jonathan Leahy – Bill & Ted Face The Music
Becky Bentham – Eurovision
Julia Michels – Jingle Jangle
Tom MacDougall – Soul
Angela Leus (uncredited) – Trolls World Tour

Best music supervision for film budgeted under $25 million
Season Kent – Happiest Season
Linda Cohen – The High Note
Dan Wilcox – I’m Your Woman
Kevin Edelman – I Still Believe
Dawn Sutter Madell – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best music supervision for film budgeted under $10 million
Tracy McKnight – The Half Of It
Liz Gallacher – Military Wives
Robin Urdang – Palm Springs
Susan Jacobs – Promising Young Woman

Best music supervision for film budgeted under $5 million
Jessica Moore – Babyteeth
Greg Danylyshyn – Burden
Dondrea Erauw, Michael Perlmutter – The Cuban
Joe Rodríguez & Javier Nuño – I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí)
Adèle Ho, Graham Kurzner – Yellow Rose

TELEVISION
Best song written and/or recorded for television
Title: “Build It Up”
Songwriter: Ingrid Michaelson
Artist: Ingrid Michaelson
Program: Little Fires Everywhere
Episode: #108 “Find a Way”
Music Supervisor: Mary Ramos

Title: “Memorized”
Songwriters: Taylor Goldsmith, Siddhartha Khosla
Artist: Blake Stadnik
Program: This Is Us
Episode: #401 “Strangers”
Music Supervisors: Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe

Title: “One Less Angel”
Songwriters: Thomas Mizer, Curtis Moore
Artist: Darius de Haas
Program: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Episode: #301 “Strike Up the Band”
Music Supervisor: Robin Urdang

Title: “The Way It Used to Be”
Songwriters: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Artists: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Program: Watchmen
Episode: #106 “This Extraordinary Being”
Music Supervisor: Liza Richardson

Title: “The Whole of the Moon”
Songwriter: Michael Scott
Artist: Fiona Apple
Program: The Affair
Episode: #511
Music Supervisor: Michael Hill

Best music supervision – television drama
Ashley Neumeister – American Soul – Season 2
Thomas Golubić – Better Call Saul – Season 5
Amanda Krieg Thomas, Alexis Martin Woodall, Ryan Murphy – Hollywood – Season 1
Sarah Bromberg, Stephanie Diaz-Matos – P-Valley – Season 1
Liza Richardson – Watchmen – Season 1

Best music supervision – television comedy or musical
Andrea von Foerster – Daybreak – Season 1
Manish Raval, Alison Rosenfeld, Tom Wolfe – High Fidelity – Season 1
Kier Lehman – Insecure – Season 4
Robin Urdang – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Season 3
Matt Biffa – Sex Education – Season 2

Best music supervision – reality television
Robin Kaye, Ashley Viergever – American Idol – Season 4
Cathy Duncan – America’s Most Musical Family – Season 1
Matthew Hearon-Smith – Legendary – Season 1
Meryl Ginsberg – The Masked Singer – Season 3

Best music supervision – television movie
Mandi Collier, Frankie Pine – Patsy & Loretta
Liz Gallacher – The Sleepover
Marius de Vries – Stargirl
Warren Fischer, Laura Webb, Lindsay Wolfington – To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

DOCUMENTARIES
Best music supervision for a documentary
Liz Gallacher – Belushi
Aminé Ramer – Crip Camp
Ian Neil – Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan
Chris Robertson – Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President
Ed Gerrard – Mr. Soul!

Best music supervision in a docuseries
Jon Ernst – Cheer (Note: Everyone on the committee is aware of current legal allegations going on against some of the cast members of the show. However, we decided to push this docuseries through, because the Doc Committees’ job was to analyze the music supervision done in this docuseries.)
Willa Yudell – Helter Skelter: An American Myth
Rudy Chung – The Last Dance
Dan Wilcox – Street Food: Latin America

TRAILERS
Best music supervision in a trailer
Mike Lynn – Judas And The Black Messiah
Brian Murphy – Jungleland
Gregory Sweeney – Land
Chase Casanova – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Mike Lynn – Pieces of A Woman

ADVERTISING
Best music supervision in advertising (synch)
David Lapinsky – Procter & Gamble “The Choice”
Andy Hamm – Apple “A Journey Into The Valley Of Fire – Shot on iPhone”
Mike Ladman – New York Times “Life Needs Truth”
Mike Ladman – Facebook “Never Lost”
Andrew Kahn, Morgan Thoryk – Zillow “The Real Value of Home”

Best music supervision in advertising (original music)
Rebecca Grierson – JaxJox “The All-In-One Interactive Studio”
Andrew Kahn, Morgan Thoryk – Xfinity Mobile “Go Your Own Way”
Jessie Kalikow – Apple – “The Magic Of Mini feat. Tierra Whack”
Jonathan Wellbelove – Apple iPhone 12 Pro – “Make Movies Like The Movies”
Mike Ladman – Hennessy “Maurice And The Black Bear School”

VIDEO GAMES
Best music supervision in a video game
Karyn Rachtman – “BEYOND BLUE”
Eric Craig – “Cyberpunk 2077”
Cybele Pettus – “FIFA 21”
Eric Kalver – “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2”
Mary Ramos – “Wasteland 3”

HBO Renews Fred Armisen’s Spanish-Language Series “Los Espookys” for Second Season

There’s more espooky time in Fred Armisen‘s future…

HBO has ordered a second season of Los Espookys, its half-hour primarily Spanish-language comedy series from the 52-year-old half-Venezuelan American actor/comedian and Saturday Night Live alum and Lorne Michaels‘ Broadway Video.

Fred Armisen

Created and written by Armisen, Ana Fabregaand Julio Torres, the series is set in a strange and dreamy version of a present-day Latin American country and follows a group of friends turning their love for horror into a peculiar business.

“It’s a really fun, original, delightful show,” says HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys.

Fabrega and Torres star along with Cassandra CiangherottiBernardo Velasco and Armisen.

Armisen, Michaels, Andrew Singer and Alice Mathiasexecutive produce; Fabrega, Torres and Nate Youngco-executive produce. 

Fernando Friasdirected the entire first season. 

The series is produced by Broadway Video in association with AntigravicoMás Mejorand the Oscar-winning Chilean production company Fabula.