Jessica Marie Garcia Signs with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Jessica Marie Garcia has new representation…

The 36-year-old Cuban & Mexican American actress has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Garcia currently recurs on the NBC comedy series Lopez Vs. Lopez opposite George and Mayan Lopez, as cousin ‘Yesika’. Before that, she starred on Netflix’s “Most-Binged Original” hit series On My Block as the spitfire ‘Jasmine Flores’, a role that earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for Best Summer TV Actress and an MTV Movie & TV Award nomination.

She also appeared in Gina Rodriguez’s Disney+ series Diary of a Female President as ‘Camila,’ as well as recurring on Shonda Rhimes’ How To Get Away With Murder playing ‘Rhonda’ opposite Viola Davis. Additionally, she starred in all four seasons of the Disney Channel original series Liv and Maddie as ‘Willow Cruz.’

Her feature film Avenge the Crows, in which she plays ‘Peaches,’ a tough inner-city gang member, starring alongside Danny Trejo and Lou Diamond Phillips, is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. You can see her earlier work on shows including ABC’s The Middle, as the tough wrestlerette, ‘Becky,’ and as ‘Sierra Cruz’ on ABC Family’s Huge.

Garcia is also a member of the all-female ensemble cast of Betch: A Sketch Show, streaming now on Paramount+. She has also lent her voice to both seasons of the Love in Gravity podcast, which received special recognition at the 2023 GLAAD Awards. She additionally voiced ‘Renee Montoya’ in the hit original audio drama Batman Unburied for Spotify and voiced ‘Ami’ for the audio original book The Honeymoon Crashers by the writing duo Christina Lauren.

Garcia is branching out with her production shingle, where she has been writing and producing, most recently with her film Illegally Brown, directed by Gabby Revilla Lugo, which was recently on the festival circuit. She also shot the film What To Expect with director Gabriela Garcia Medina.

Justina Machado to Star in Netflix’s First Original Medical Procedural “Pulse”

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Justina Machado’s pulse is on the rise…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican actress has been cast as the first series regular on Pulse, Netflix’s first medical procedural original.

Hailing from first-time creator Zoe Robyn, who serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside veteran.

The show’s first two episodes will be directed and executive produced by Kate Dennis.

Pulse will feature a mix of medical cases and office romances. In it, while the staff of Miami’s busiest Level 1 Trauma Center navigate medical emergencies, young ER doc Dani Simms is unexpectedly promoted to Chief Resident amidst the fallout of her own provocative romantic relationship.

Machado plays Natalie Cruz, a brilliant and politically-savvy doctor, who oversees both administration and medicine in her role as the Chair of Surgery and Emergency Medicine.

Bradley Gardner, Emma Forman and Michael Klick also executive produce the series, which is slated to begin production in March in Albuquerque.

The greenlight for Pulse comes after Robyn and Cuse worked with a writers room last year to craft scripts.

Machado recently starred in the Amazon/Blumhouse series The Horror Of Dolores Roach based on the popular Spotify podcast of the same name.

She previously headlined Netflix/Pop’s acclaimed One Day At a Time reboot and recently guest starred on NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez.

Machado will next star in the independent feature The Throwback from director Mario Garcia.

The Gersh Agency Signs Jaime Camil

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Camil has new representation…

The Gersh Agency has signed the 50-year-old Mexican actor, singer and producer for representation in all areas.

Camil is best known for starring in all five seasons of The CW’s telenovela satire Jane the Virgin.

He is coming off of Apple TV+’s acclaimed musical comedy Schmigadoon!, which ran for two seasons.

Up next, the actor will be seen recurring on the second season of NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez, also taking on a guest arc on the upcoming season of Acapulco for Apple TV+.

Additionally, he’s set to narrate and executive produce Desde La Raíz, a Roku series exploring the origins of Mexican products like coffee, chile, corn and mezcal.

Previously, Camil starred in and executive produced the CBS comedy series Broke, starred as the lead villain opposite Zoë Kravitz in Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Kimi, and hosted and executive produced the game show Lotería Loca for CBS.

He also played Mexican musical icon Vicente Fernández on Netflix’s El Rey, Vicente Fernández, which spent five weeks in the streamer’s Global Top 10 TV (Non-English) when it debuted in 2022, peaking at #1 worldwide and #2 in the U.S. in that time period.

Before making a splash in the English-language market, Camil was already a bonafide star in his native Mexico and all across Latin America for his work in Spanish-language projects both in TV and film. Some of his hits include the telenovela La Fea Más Bella (Ugly Betty), Por Ella Soy Eva and Qué Pobres Tan Ricos, to name a few.

George Lopez to Serve as a Presenter at This Year’s Golden Globes Awards Show

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

George Lopez is readying for his golden hour…

The 62-year-old Mexican American stand-up comedian and actor appears on the first list of presenters for Sunday’s 81st Golden Globe Awards.

Lopez, who currently stars on television in Lopez vs. Lopez and recently appeared on the big screen in Blue Beetle, will be joined by Amanda Seyfried, Angela Bassett, Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams, Julia Garner, Justin Hartley, Michelle Yeoh and Will Ferrell.

Jo Koy is hosting the Golden G lobes, which will honor the year’s best in motion pictures and television. The ceremony will air beginning at 8:00 pm ET/5 p.m. PT live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

More presenters will be announced.

Among this year’s Golden Globe nominees in 26 categories, 2023’s box office champ Barbie from Warner Bros leads all films with nine, followed by Universal’s Oppenheimer with eight and Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Searchlight’s Poor Things with seven apiece. In the TV races, HBO’s final go-round with Succession has nine noms, the most-ever for a series, scoring mentions in all categories in which it was eligible.

This year’s Globes — it’s first time back on CBS since 1982 — include two new awards categories: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in Motion Pictures and Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television.

Longtime Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is planning, hosting and producing this year’s awards after the Globes’ assets, rights and properties were acquired by Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association back in June.

Aaron Dominguez to Star in the Indie Action Thriller “Red Dirt”

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Aaron Dominguez is hitting pay dirt…

The 29-year-old Latino actor, who stars on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, will star in Red Dirt, an indie action thriller from director Crash Buist that has been handed an interim agreement from SAG.

Dominguez is among a cast that includes Melissa Fumero, Alejandro Edda, Sebastian Chacon and Carlos Pratts.

Written by Buist, Jonathan Medina and Lauren Senechal, the film is a family-driven revenge tale about two brothers, Miguel (Dominguez) and Dom (Edda) who are thrust back together after years apart when their family is murdered by cartel gangsters in a New Mexico border town. The brothers are the only surviving members of a family that dies crossing the border between Mexico and the United States. Upon doing so, they’re found and cared for by a white couple, Brent and Margaret. The backdrop of their struggle arises with the opposing realities of where they were born and where they are raised. This is reflected in the choices they make as the younger Miguel becomes a cop, and his older brother, Dom, is forced to work in the world of drug trafficking.

Buis and Senechal are producing under their Sthenic Studios banner, alongside Medina. Jamie Ember and Marisa DeFranco handled casting.

In a statement accompanying the project announcement, Buist shared that he’s been “humbled and inspired by the level of talent and innovation in the New Mexico film community, and there is no richer backdrop for the world of Red Dirt.”

Co-writer and producer Senechal praised the film’s “truly…special” cast and the “depth, gravity, and creativity” they’ve brought to their work.

Added Medina: “Beyond excited to bring this latine-led story to life, and support SAG-AFTRA, my fellow writers, crew, teamsters, and everyone involved in our amazing business. The interim agreement works, so we can too!”

Recently appearing in the films Sitting in Bars with Cake and The Inspection from Amazon and A24, respectively, Dominguez is also known for a starring role in the first season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Among other upcoming projects for the actor is a reimagining of the 1986 horror classic Witchboard from filmmaker Chuck Russell, which sees him starring alongside Madison Iseman and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Known for starring on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Netflix’s comedy series Blockbuster opposite Randall Park, Fumero has also been seen of late on George Lopez series Lopez vs. Lopez, also getting behind the camera to direct episodes of shows like Primo, Shea Serrano and Mike Schur’s hit comedy for Amazon Freevee.

Edda will next be seen starring in Kevin Costner’s Western epic Horizon: An American Saga, having previously been seen in film and TV projects like American Made, The Forever Purge, Narcos: Mexico and Snowfall.

Most recently seen starring in Amazon’s hit series Daisy Jones & The Six and comedic thriller Emergency, Chacon will next appear alongside Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Peter Gallagher and Enrico Colantoni in the thriller Humane.

NBC Renews George Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” for Second Season

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

George Lopez isn’t leaving his new home just yet…

NBC has renewed Lopez vs. Lopez, the family sitcom starring the 62-year-old Mexican American comedian/actor and his daughter Mayan Lopez, for a second season.

Lopez vs. Lopez began its broadcast run airing on Friday nights where it drew strong ratings for its time slot.

In April, NBC announced that the final three episodes of the season would air on Tuesday, taking over the American Auto slot after that show wrapped its second season.

With the move, Lopez vs. Lopez scored the coveted lead-in from Night Court, in an effort to get even more eyeballs on the series as NBC made plans for its 2023/24 season.

The first season has averaged about 2M total viewers per episode and a 0.27 rating among the 18-49 demographic. According to Nielsen, it is the highest-indexing adcast series for English-dominant Hispanic households.

After 35 days of delayed viewing, Lopez vs. Lopez has the highest portion of long-tail viewing among all NBC comedies on Peacock.

Lopez Vs. Lopez, which comes from creator/showrunner Debby Wolfe, is a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection and all the pain and joy in between. Starring George Lopez and his daughter Mayan, the comedy tells the story of a working-class old-school Latino who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time. It’s old vs. new, father vs. daughter, Lopez vs Lopez.

It also stars Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal. Wolfe is the first Latina to co-create and showrun a network sitcom for a 22-episode first season.

Melissa Fumero to Appear on Upcoming Episode of NBC’s “Lopez vs. Lopez”

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Fumero has landed a special guest-starring role…

The 40-year-old Cuban American actress and former Brooklyn Nine-Nine will appear on the May 2 episode of George Lopez and Mayan Lopez’s NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez.

Fumero will play Natalia, a Latina mother who mistakes Mayan for white.

But Fumero isn’t the only guest star on the episode.

Danny Trejo will play Danny Martinez of Martin-E.Z. Movers, who is George’s rival and biggest competitor.

Additionally, Judge Marilyn Milian and Erik Griffin will appear in the episode, with character details not yet revealed.

Fumero is best known for starring as Amy Santiago opposite Andy Samberg in NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Recently, she voice acted in Samberg’s adult animated Comedy Central series Digman! and HBO Max’s adult animated series Velma. In 2022, she appeared in the IFC comedy film Barfight! and the Netflix comedy Blockbuster.

Her other prominent credits include One Life to Live, Gossip Girl, Royal Pains, CSI: NY and The Mentalist.

As a director, she has worked on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Grand Crew, Gordita Chronicles and the upcoming Freevee comedy Primo.

Trejo is a prolific charcter actor with film credits including Desperado, Heat, the From Dusk Till Dawn series, Con Air and Spy Kids.

In television, he’s appeared in Sons of Anarchy, King of the Hill, Breaking Bad, The Flash, American Gods and The Book of Boba Fett.

Milian has been the judge presiding over the syndicated arbitration reality series The People’s Court since 2001 and in the fall will launch “Justice for the People With Judge Milian.”

Lopez vs Lopez is produced by Universal Television in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts.

Mayan Lopez Signs with Agency for the Performing Arts (APA)

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Mayan Lopez has new representation…

The 26-year-old Mexican American actress, writer and producer has signed with the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA).

Lopez is the co-creator, writer, producer, and star of the NBC comedy series Lopez vs Lopez.

She and her real-life father George Lopez, who also co-created the series with Debby Wolfe, play fictionalized versions of themselves on the show, which airs Friday nights at 8:00 pm.

Lopez vs. Lopez is a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection and all the pain and joy in between. It follows a working-class, old-school Latino (George Lopez) who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter (Mayan Lopez) as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time.

In December, NBC announced that it gave the freshman series a full-season, 22-episode. The series does well on broadcast for a Friday primetime spot.

Season 1 is averaging about 2M same-day viewers per episode, which leads nicely into the rest of NBC’s Friday lineup.

Lopez has been honored as part of the LA Times’ inaugural LA Vanguardia class.

Pioneering Comedians Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong Getting Their Own Biopic

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Art will soon imitate Cheech Marin’s life…

The 76-year-old Chicano comedian, actor, musician and activist and his former comedy partner Tommy Chong, best known as Cheech & Chong, will be getting the big-screen treatment.

The pioneering comedians, whose 1978 film Up in Smoke has transcended cult status, are partnering with Todd Lieberman’s Hidden Pictures, Underground and Five All in the Fifth Entertainment on a feature biopic about the comedy duo.

Cheech and Chong came to prominence in the ’70s and ’80s, becoming synonymous with stoner culture by riffing on and lifting up the counterculture of the time, from hippies to (of course) cannabis. Their combined output included successful stand-up shows, comedy albums and low-budget feature films, including Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980) and Nice Dreams (1981).

Kristian Mercado, who most recently made his feature debut with the 2023 South by Southwest entry If You Were Last, will direct from a screenplay by Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan.

Marin, who worked with Hidden Pictures for Shotgun Wedding, and Chong will executive produce along with David Glickman.

“We are excited to show the world how two dudes from completely different backgrounds got together, changed comedy and made cannabis mainstream!” said Marin and Chong.

Marin currently appears on the big screen in Champions. He also recently appeared on George Lopez’s new series Lopez vs Lopez.

Harvey Guillén Joining Cast of George & Mayan Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” Series

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Harvey Guillén has landed a primo role…

The 32-year-old Mexican American actor has joined the cast of NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez as a family member.

Guillen, known for his scene-stealing role in What We Do In The Shadows, Chelsea Rendon and Jessica Marie Garcia will portray cousins on the series.

Guillén will portray Miguel, Mayan’s (Mayan Lopez) pseudo-intellectual cousin who spends his time getting his doctorate in Chicano studies and bragging about the TED talk he gave on the cultural significance of the Hot Cheeto.

Rendon will portray Luna, Mayan’s free-spirited cousin who travels the world in a camper and loves #vanlife, even if her only roommate is her porta-potty.

Garcia will portray ”Yesika” or @Hellyesika on all her socials. She is Mayan’s fabulous Tik Tok-dancing social media influencer cousin who does everything for “the Gram” including giving Mayan a taste of the glamorous life.

Lopez Vs. Lopez, which hails from The Conners duo Bruce Helford and Debby Wolfe, is a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection, and all the pain and joy in between.

George Lopez and Mayan Lopez star alongside Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez and Matt Shively with Laci Mosley and Aparna Nancherla recurring.

Season 1 currently airs Friday night at 8 p.m. via NBC.

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