Diego Luna to Receive 2021 Platino Award of Honor

Diego Luna is being celebrated for his platinum career.

This year’s seventh edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) will honor the 41-year-old Mexican actor, director, producer and festival organizer with the Platino Award of Honor.

Diego Luna

An itinerant award show by design, this year’s Platinos will be held on October 3 in Madrid.

Luna will be the youngest recipient of the career achievement honor, joining previous winners Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez, often simply referred to as Raphael, one of Spain’s most iconic entertainers of the 20th century; Adriana Barraza, the Oscar nominated Spanish-English-language crossover star of Alejandro Iñárritu’s Babel and Amores Perros; Oscar and three time Primetime Emmy nominee Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver); Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory); and Primetime Emmy (The Burning Season) and BAFTA (“Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) nominee Sonia Braga.

A child actor who excelled from an early age, Luna’s first film appearance was in Javier Bourges’ 1991 Mexican Academy Award-nominated short The Last New Year.” He appeared in several telenovelas throughout the ‘90s, joined on screen for the first time by his longtime collaborator and close friend Gael García Bernal in El abuelo y yo in 1992. Alternating between film and television over the next decade, his international breakout came with García Bernal and Spain’s Marbel Verdú in Alfonso Cuarón’s seminal coming-of-age road trip film “Y Tu Mamá También.”

Shortly after, Luna began his Hollywood career appearing alongside Bon Jovi in John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos and in Salma Hayek’s Oscar-winning biopic Frida.

In the decades since, Luna has continued to work on both Latin American and U.S. productions while also taking turns as a producer, writer and director. He also, again with García Bernal, launched the nomadic documentary film festival Ambulante, as well as their own production label, first Canana in 2005 and now La Corriente del Golfo.

Most recently, he created and hosts the Amazon Original conversation series Pan y Circo and is starring in the Disney+’s Andor, a spinoff series following his Rogue One: A Star Wars Story character Cassian Andor.

He was also recently confirmed as a voice actor for Netflix’s upcoming animated series Maya and the Three, where he will team with frequent collaborator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life).

Last year’s ceremony was, like so many, forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic. But this time around, the Platinos are planning an in-person event to celebrate the best offerings from the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American screen industries.

At 11 nominations each, the two standout titles are Fernando Trueba’s Colombian drama Memories of My Father and Jayro Bustamante’s Guatemalan thriller La Llorona.

The Platino Awards are promoted by EGEDA (Spain’s Entity for the Rights Management of Audiovisual Producers) and FIPCA (the Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers) and have the support of the Ibero-American film academies and institutes as well as numerous sponsors in Europe and Latin America.

Luna Launches Branded Entertainment Studio, Gloria

It’s all guts and Gloria for Diego Luna

The 35-year-old Mexican actor/director/producer and his business partners Pablo Cruz and Eric Bonniot have officially launched the branded entertainment studio, Gloria.

Diego Luna 

Luna and Cruz, along with Gael Garcia Bernal, are also co-founders of the Mexican production and distribution company Canana.

Based in Los Angeles and Mexico City, Gloria is working on projects in both English- and Spanish-speaking markets.

“The Latino community is hugely influential and we want to work with brands to tell stories that are relevant and real,” said Luna, who was recently cast in Star Wars: Rogue One.

Gloria’s upcoming projects include a feature-length branded documentary and it is currently in production on a six-part web series for Mexico’s largest department store chain.

Among the talent working with Gloria are Gravity co-writer Jonas Cuaron and Alonso Ruizpalacios, the award-winning director of Gueros.

As for Luna, has had a busy year so far. Along with being cast in Star Wars: Rogue One, he directed the Danny GloverMaya Rudolph road movie Mr. Pig.

Garcia Bernal to Direct His Second Feature Film, “Chicuarotes”

Gael Garcia Bernal is ready to head back behind the camera…

The 36-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer will helm a “very dark comedy” titled Chicuarotes.

Gael Garcia Bernal

The film is set amid the lakes in Mexico City and centers around teens who “want to become economically superior to what they are,” he said during the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event dedicated to nurturing emerging Arab filmmakers.

Bernal said his sophomore feature, which follows his 2007 directorial debut Deficit, is being written by Mexican scribe Augusto Mendoza, who co-penned Diego Luna’s feature film debut Abel and Luna’s upcoming Mr. Pig.

Bernal and Luna are partners in Canana, the Mexico City/L.A. production house Luna founded with Bernal and Pablo Cruz and which has become a powerhouse producer for a new generation of Mexican helmers.

“All I can say in a broad way is it’s about kids and that the lake is a paradise; it’s an incredible place with the axolotl,” said Garcia Bernal. The axolotl is an odd-looking ancient salamander with a flat head and spiked feet.

“It’s paradise but these teens want to buy into the whole narrative of progress; to be economically superior to what they are. It’s ridiculous what we go through as humans to become richer,” Garcia Bernal mused.

He’s developing it through Canana with plans to start shooting next year.

During the Doha masterclass in Doha Bernal called his experience directing Deficit, which is a drama about an upper-class Mexican brat, an experiment that just didn’t happen.” He added: “but it gave me a strong sense of vengeance. I want to direct a film next year, one way or another.” Since Deficit Bernal has shot five shorts.

Luna & Garcia Bernal Partner with A&E to Bring Mexican Medical Drama “Niño Santo” to the U.S.

Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal may soon have their first American television series.

A&E Network has teamed up with the Mexican actors/filmmakers and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV for Niño Santo, based on the Mexican spiritual medical drama series executive-produced by Luna and Garcia Bernal.

Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna

The project has been put in fast-track development with an order for multiple scripts. A+E Studios is producing with Amblin TV and the original show’s producer Canana.

Niño Santo centers on a group of young doctors who are sent to vaccinate the locals in a remote village, where they encounter an unusual cult headed by an enigmatic faith healer. The curiosity of the doctors leads them to become involved with this group in the name of science. As they witness Niño’s “miracles,” they begin to weigh scientific impossibility against the possibility of faith.

The creative and producing team of the original series will be involved in the adaptation. Mauricio Katz and Pedro Peirano, who created the Mexican series with Pablo Cruz, will write the script.

“We are in constant pursuit of projects featuring great characters, compelling drama and the outstanding storytelling uniquely suited to the A&E brand, and Niño Santo fits all of those criteria,” said A&E EVP and General Manager David McKillop. “What sets this apart from other format adaptations is that we have the original creative team in place guiding the process to ensure their authentic vision remains intact for the American audience.”