America Ferrera to Receive SeeHer Award at This Year’s Critics Choice Awards

America Ferrera has earned a special honor…

The 39-year-old Honduran American award-winning actress will receive the annual SeeHer Award at the 29th annual Critics Choice Awards during next month’s ceremony.

The award honors a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries.

Previous recipients include Viola Davis, Gal Gadot, Claire Foy, Kristen Bell, Zendaya, Halle Berry and Janelle Monáe in 2023.

Ferrera had a huge year co-starring in the year’s biggest box office blockbuster, Warner Bros’ Barbie, as well as Dumb Money. She received the Groundbreaker Award earlier this month at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema & Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements.

She’s also was nominated for the Critics Choice supporting actress award as part of Barbies haul of a leading 18 nominations. Winners will be revealed in a ceremony set to air January 14 on the CW with Chelsea Handler hosting.

Ferrera, an Emmy winner for Ugly Betty, has acting credits that include Real Women Have Curves, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Superstore. She also directed and executive produced both Superstore as well as Netflix’s Gentefied, and she is making her feature directoral debut with the adaptation of the bestselling novel I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

As an activist, Ferrera helped launch Poderistas, a digital lifestyle community and nonprofit to empower Latinas, and Harness, a community of artists, influencers and leaders focused on art and storytelling that creates a more equitable world.

She has been a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention and March for Our Lives among other events.

Tanya Saracho Teams Up with America Ferrera & Gloria Calderón Kellett to Launch DEAR Hollywood to Bring Greater Representation of Latinx Voices

There’s a new project near and DEAR to Tanya Saracho’s heart…

The Mexican-American actress, playwright, dramaturge and screenwriter has teamed up with America Ferrera and Gloria Calderón Kellett joined the Untitled Latinx Project and HARNESS that they respectively co-founded to create DEAR Hollywood.

Tanya Saracho

Saracho, Ferrera and Calderon Kellet, three of the most dynamic creators in Hollywood, brought together two of the most preeminent advocacy organizations to further advance Latinx representation and equity in the industry.

With the acronym standing for Demanding Equal Access and Representation, DEAR Hollywood aims to bring greater representation of Latinx voices, stories, talent and creativity on both sides of the camera and on set and in the corner offices in the film and TV industry.

Planting the flags of equity and education, and set for a soft launch this month, the newly minted organization today unveiled its self-declared, and what should be self-evident, “five pillars”:

  1. No stories about us without us
    2.Greenlight our projects
    3. Represent all aspects of our lives and culture
    4. Put a limit on repeating levels
    5. Hire us for non-Latinx projects

To reach those more than reasonable goals, the plan is that over the next year, DEAR Hollywood will liaison with at least five studios and networks, which means streamers too, to secure a commitment to the pillars above as a pathway to systemic and evolutionary shift in the way the industry sees, treats and works with the Latinx community. A varied community, who, it might be noted, make up a not insignificant portion of the U.S. population, and hence significant consumers of the media industry.

“The entertainment industry has admired the problem of Latinx exclusion for long enough,” Ferrera told Deadline of the impetus behind DEAR Hollywood with the Vida and One Day At a Time EPs. “It is time for all of us to turn our good intentions into real action and build true solutions that empower and resource Latinx storytellers,” the Superstore star added on the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month.

A long-time activist, Ferrera co-founded HARNESS in 2016 with Wilmer Valderrama, and Ryan Piers Williams with the goal of using the power and platform of the big and small screen to foster a more just world.

“The rich talent and multi-dimensional experiences within our community are more than worthy of being reflected in their authenticity and full humanity,” Ferrera noted of the goals of the new group. “There is great opportunity for our entire industry in the genuine empowerment of Latinx creators. I am thrilled and honored that Harness is partnering with Untitled Latinx Project to incubate and launch this incredible creator-led initiative to uplift Latinx communities in the stories we see on screen and hire more Latinx talent throughout the entire film and TV industry.”

“It has been one year since we wrote the letter to Hollywood to kick off this initiative and frankly, we haven’t seen the type of response we had hoped for,” exclaimed ULP leaders Saracho and Calderón Kellett bluntly Friday.

“While announcements of diversity, inclusion and equity programs abound, without intentionality and clearly defined action steps, they have little value,” the showrunning duo added. “We are thrilled to work with Harness and eager to collaborate with industry leaders and partners, so we can all move the needle towards Latine inclusion and representation together.”

As well as Saracho and Calderón Kellett, the 2019 formed ULP’s high profile membership includes Leah Benavides-Rodriguez, Tawnya Benavides-Bhattacharya, Linda Yvette Chávez, Valentina Garza, Jenniffer Gómez, Julia Ahumada Grob, Silvia Olivas, Evangeline Ordaz, Sierra Teller Ornelas, Carolina Paiz, Ilana Peña, Dailyn Rodriguez, Gladys Rodriguez, Lindsey Villarreal, Debby Wolfe and Michal Zebede.

Wilmer Valderrama Signs First-Look Deal with CBS Television Studios

Wilmer Valderrama has a new deal…

The 38-year-old Colombian and Venezuelan American actor’s production company, WV Entertainment, has signed a two-year first-look deal with CBS Television Studios.

Wilmer Valderrama  

WV Entertainment’s first-look agreement is for scripted and unscripted projects, with a strong emphasis on diversity.

“As someone who immigrated to the United States at 14 years old, I am immensely passionate about this opportunity to create engaging and culturally relevant projects with CBS Television Studios,” says Valderrama.

Valderrama’s production company has produced several projects, including The Hollywood Puppet Show, Handy Manny for Playhouse Disney, and Douglas Family Gold for Oxygen.

On the feature side he produced and is voicing the upcoming animated film Charming alongside John H. Williams, producer of the Shrek franchise.

Valderrama’s philanthropic endeavors include Harness, a group he launched recently with America Ferrera and Ryan Piers Williams, which is dedicated to connecting communities through conversation to inspire action and power change. Valderrama also serves on the board of Voto Latino and is co-chair of their artist coalition. He is also the spokesperson for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and is the founder of their Ready 2 Lead program, which educates and empowers Latino youth.

In 2013, Valderrama was honored with an ALMA Award for Outstanding Social Activism.

Chávez Jr. Retains Middleweight Title

It’s a case of “like father, like son,” as Julio César Chávez Jr. continues his march toward greatness with another victory…

The 26-year-old Mexican boxer—the son of retired boxing champion Julio César Chávez—stopped Andy Lee in a late surge Saturday night at the Sun Bowl in El Paso to remain undefeated and retain his WBC middleweight title.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Chávez punished Lee in the seventh round with powerful body shots, upper cuts and left and right hands before referee Laurence Cole stepped in to stop the fight at 2:21 of the round. Most of the pro-Chavez crowd of 13,467 at the Sun Bowl roared their approval.

Chavez is now in line to fight lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez for the true WBC championship. Martinez owns the WBC diamond belt. Top Rank, which promotes Chavez, announced via Twitter that the fight would be September15 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Chavez (46-0-2, 32 KOs) started slowly and was outworked by Lee (28-2, 20 KOs) in the first two rounds. But then his powerful punches began to wear down Lee, an Irish boxer who stood two inches taller than Chavez.

Chavez actually landed fewer punches than Lee, 121-116, but connected on 46% of them, while Lee landed just 29%. Chavez connected on 113 power punches to Lee’s 87.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

“In the first round, I was a little cold,” said Chavez. “But then you saw I put my face out to see if he could hit me and he never hurt me.”

Chavez was asked by HBO‘s Larry Merchant how he could follow in the footsteps of his famous father, who is considered perhaps the greatest fighter in Mexico’s history.

“I’m happy to carry on the name,” Chavez said. “And I force myself every day to make history in the world of boxing and every day I’m doing better.”

Chavez said he was suffering from leg cramps from the start of the bout.

“From the first round my legs were bothering me, and I could’ve knocked him out earlier,” Chavez said. “No excuses, but I could’ve knocked him out earlier if it wasn’t for my legs.”

Chavez is now relishing the challenge of facing Martinez, who is No. 3 on most pound-for-pound lists and is 49-2-2 with 28 KOs. At 37, Martinez is 11 years older than Chavez.

“With my legs that night I’m going to knock him out and shut his mouth,” Chavez said.