Luis Guzmán Launching Own Production Company ‘Mascot Camp Productions’

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Guzmán is expanding his resume…

The 66-year-old Puerto Rican actor is launching his own production company, Mascot Camp Productions.

Mascot Camp has already formed a partnership with Rescue Dog Productions, Matthew Dwyer and Michael Hollingsworth, to finance the first two years of productions, consisting of plans to make six feature films and four television series.

The company plans to get the ball rolling with the release of two feature films: Enough, a feature film about a trans man and his family; and 6 Rounds, which tells the story of how a gun and the six bullets inside it changed a town forever.

Guzmán, John LaBrucherie, Dwyer and Hollingsworth will all be executive producers.

“I’m excited to take this journey with an amazing group of talented individuals,” said Guzmán. “Born out of friendship and family this team is ready to create visual stories that will uplift and inspire. Our partnership with Rescue Dog Productions gives us the opportunity to tell the stories we want to tell in the way it should be told.”

Guzmán and LaBrucherie aim to establish a production company that will create uplifting stories that impact not only the industry but larger communities and cultures. The team includes his co-founder, Manny Padilla, Christopher Cope of Orbital Studios and Raleigh Studios, Michele LaBrucherie, Cemi Guzmán, founder of Dark Rabbit Productions, and Hector Kron.

“The aggressive production plan in place is meant to immediately impact the current viewing environment. Ten original stories that matter. This rollout is designed to maintain our presence on the air year round. Our strength is in our numbers and our diversity. Through inclusion and outreach we have already began the development beyond this two year plan. The mascots are coming and we are here to stay,“ John LaBrucherie said.

Guzmán has had a prolific career for the past few decades, making him one of the most recognizable character actors of modern times.

In addition to his appearance in the hit Netflix series Wednesday, he has logged credits in countless TV series like Code Black, Hightown, Shameless and Perpetual Grace, LTD.

He has also starred in films like Boogie Nights, Traffic, Punch-Drunk Love and Carlito’s Way.

Luis Guzmán to Star in Rian Johnson’s Peacock Series “Poker Face”

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Guzmán is playin’ poker…

The 66-year-old Puerto Rican actor will star in Peacock’s Poker Face, a mystery drama series starring Natasha Lyonne, hailing from Rian Johnson, his T-Street banner and MRC Television.

Guzman is among a roster of new cast additions that includes Cherry Jones, Hong Chau and Reed Birney.

Details of their roles, as well as plot details of the 10-episode anthology-like series are being kept under wraps.

In addition to Lyonne, the four join previously announced cast members Adrien Brody, Angel Desai, Audrey Corsa, Benjamin Bratt, Charles Melton, Chloe Sevigny, Clea DuVall, Danielle MacDonald, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Jasmine Aiyana Garvin, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Leslie Silva, Lil Rel Howery, Niall Cunningham, Nicholas Cirillo, Nick Nolte, Ron Perlman, S. Epatha Merkerson, Shane Paul McGhie, Simon Helberg, Stephanie Hsu, Tim Blake Nelson and Tim Meadows.

Johnson is the creator, writer and director of Poker Face and will also executive produce alongside T-Street partner Ram Bergman and the company’s television president Nena Rodrigue. Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman (Prodigal Son, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) serve as showrunners and executive producers. Lyonne also will serve as an executive producer via her Animal Pictures. The company’s Maya Rudolph and Danielle Renfrew Behrens will co-executive produce.

Guzmán is best known for his roles in Steven Soderbergh’s films such as Out of Sight, The Limey, and Traffic, and in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love.

On television, he has had key roles on Showtime’s Shameless, Epix’s Godfather of Harlem and Perpetual Grace, LTD.

Luis Guzmán to Star in Jacquelyn Quinones Feature Directorial Debut “Miles Away”

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Guzmán is miles away…

The 65-year-old Puerto Rican actor has joined the cast of Miles Away, an upcoming indie from writer, director and producer Jacquelyn Quinones.

Produced by Quinones, Miles Away is a dramedy that explores a day in the life of a rideshare driver, with short vignettes of passengers all feeding into the story of the driver learning to deal with no money, a thankless job and a sister with mental illness.

Andre Royo, Noel Gugliemi, Alberto Frezza, Norma Maldonado, Henri Esteve, Jennifer Bartels, Eddie Martinez, Jessica Sarah Flaum, Marilyn Camacho and Charo Toledo round out the cast of the Puerto Rican filmmaker’s feature directorial debut, in which she also appears.

“Excited to be part of this project. Jackie Quinones is a new voice for a new generation. Her work personifies the social and cultural diversity reminiscent of the now and necessary for the future,” said Guzmán. “She is an insightful creative, her work transcends stereotypes. Miles Away finds a unique harmony toeing the line of conventional storytelling and inventive hybrid genre narratives focusing on social change.”

Guzmán is an Independent Spirit Award nominee who has garnered nearly 160 screen credits over the course of his five-decades and change in entertainment.

He can currently be seen in the Starz drama Hightown and will next appear in Tim Burton’s Netflix series Wednesday, among other projects.

The actor is also known for turns films like Top Five, We’re the Millers, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, He’s Just Not That Into You, Yes Man, School for Scoundrels, Fast Food Nation, Waiting…, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, Anger Management, Punch-Drunk Love, Boogie Nights and Traffic, among many others.

Additional television credits include Ultra City Smiths, Shameless, Godfather of Harlem, Code Black, Roadies, Narcos and Oz.

Alfred Molina to Make Directorial Debut with “Lilian”

Posted on July 31, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Alfred Molina is going behind the lens…

The 66-year-old half-Spanish Golden Globe– and Emmy-nominated actor has been set to make his feature directorial debut on Lilian, an adaptation of the Jill Gascoine novel.

The film focuses on Jessica, who survives a battle with cancer, leaves her husband and grown children in England to visit a friend in the United States, in hopes of rediscovering the joy of life. Once there, she unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with another woman.

Amy Lowe Starbin is writing the script. The indie film is being backed by Cannonball Productions.

The plan is to begin production in Los Angeles in the fall.

While Molina has been a stalwart actor in Boogie Nights to Feud, Frida and many other productions, he has always kept an eye on the director’s chair, hoping he might one day occupy it.

“I’ve always known that I eventually wanted to direct,” he said. “When I was young I was moved by the films of Carol Reed—that’s what started this journey in fact—that was the first time I realized there was a guiding hand behind the camera. The idea of being that guiding hand has always interested me. When I read the novel Lilian years ago it touched me deeply—I started seeing the film and feeling the characters’ journeys—and like that I knew that I wanted to direct this film. The stories that I love are those that begin quietly, perhaps even predictably, and then through some action or motive they reveal a crack, a fissure, through which something escapes but also through which we can enter.

Lilian is such a beautiful story about a woman getting on in years who finds the spark of love and passion again after losing hope and a clear idea of her purpose,” he said. “I’m going to focus all of my energy and passion into bringing this story to life with a wonderful group of artists that I know and trust.”

Guzman to Star in CBS’ Medical Drama Pilot “Code Black”

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Guzman is breaking the code…

The 58-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast as a lead opposite Maggie Grace in the CBS pilot Code Black.

The medical drama, written by Michael Seitzman and directed by David Semel for ABC Studios, is based on Ryan McGarry’s feature documentary of the same name.

The project is set in the busiest and most notorious emergency room in the nation and revolves around four residents who are getting their first taste of ER medicine and the medical staff who mentor, teach and terrify them.

Guzman will portray Jose Santiago, the affable but tough and strong, no-s**t, seen-it-all, senior nurse at the ER who is responsible for the four new residents. As he puts it, “for the next three years I’m your mama…and your mama knows when you’re lying, crying or dying.”

Guzman, a favorite of director Steven Soderbergh, who cast him in Out of Sight, The Limey, and Traffic, has starred in Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love. He also starred in the HBO original series How to Make It in America.

Guzman to Star in Lucha Libre-Inspired Comedy “Aztec Warrior”

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Luis Guzman will be masking his acting talents in the near future…

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican actor has signed on to star in Aztec Warrior, a Lucha Libre-inspired action comedy from Pantelion Films.

In the Scott Sanders-directed film, Guzman will play the Warrior who goes up against his rival El Diablo, to be played by Mexican comedian/actor Eugenio Derbez.

Terry Crews, Nadine Velazquez and Desperate Housewives’ Lupe Ontiveros are set to co-star in the film.

Guzman, who starred in Boogie Nights and HBO’s How To Make It In America, most recently appeared on the big screen in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

Filming on Aztec Warrior is set to begin next month in New Orleans.

Guzman Journeys Into His First 3D Film

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

He’s one of Hollywood’s most beloved Latino character actors… But, Luis Guzman has never appeared in a 3D film… until now!

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican actor is starring in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

“It’s my first 3D film and, truthfully, it looks stupendously good. Just like my role!” says Guzman with a chuckle to EFE. “I think that 3D is important today and it will be part of the future of movies, but I also think that they’re never going to replace us actors.”

Starring Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens, the family adventure film centers on Sean Anderson (Hutchgerson), who partners with his mom’s boyfriend (Johnson) a mission to find his grandfather, thought to be missing on a mythical island.

It’s been almost two decades since moviegiers first saw Guzman’s shady-looking face in Carlito’s Way (1993), the film in which he played Al Pacino’s bodyguard. Since then actor has become an ongoing presence in Hollywood with his scene-stealing roles.

“I think that part of my secret is that I do good work, I have a good heart and I’m a good person,” Guzman told Efe. “I get along well with people and I have great respect for directors, producers and actors. Hollywood has given me so much love.”

Guzman’s film credits include Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, Out of Sight and Traffic. He most recently starred in the two seasons of HBO’s How to Make It in America.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, open this Friday in theaters nationwide.

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