Gina Rodriguez Among the Latinos Invited to Join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Gina Rodriguez is joining the club…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued 928 invitations to new members, the Oscar-granting body announced Monday, including an invite to the 33-year-old actress and Jane the Virgin star.

Gina Rodriguez

The number is higher than the 774 invitations sent out in 2017. As the Academy has sought to diversify its ranks, it invited in 683 new members in 2016 and 322 in 2015 in an effort to include more women, people of color and international filmmakers.

In addition to Rodriguez, who has starred on the bog screen in the films Deepwater Horizon and Annihilation, this year’s potential Latino members include Rodriguez’s Jane the Virgin co-star Jaime Camil, Javier Bardem’s actor brother Carlos Bardem, Alice Braga, Melonie Diaz, Eugenio Derbez and Like Water for Chocolate author Laura Esquivel.

Forty-nine percent of the class of 2018 are female, and, should all accept membership, that will bring overall percentage of women in the Academy to 31 percent. Thirty-eight percent of the new invitees are people of color, which, should they all accept, would bring their overall percentage of the Academy to 16 percent.

Each of the Academy’s 17 branches draws its own list of new members, and candidates must be sponsored by two members of the branch they will be invited to join. The general requirement is that a candidate must have “demonstrated exceptional achievement in the field of theatrical motion pictures,” although each branch has its own specific requirements. Actors, for example, must have a minimum of three theatrical features under their belt, while directors must have a minimum of two helming credits. Academy Awards nominees are automatically considered for membership, although an invite is not guaranteed.

Here’s a look at the Latino invitees:

Actors
Damián Alcázar – “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” “El Crimen del Padre Amaro”
Carlos Bardem – “Assassin’s Creed,” “Che”
Diana Bracho – “A Ti Te Queria Encontrar,” “Y Tu Mamá También”
Alice Braga – “I Am Legend,” “City of God”
Javier Cámara – “Talk to Her,” “Sex and Lucia”
Jaime Camil – “Coco,” “Pulling Strings”
Tantoo Cardinal – “Wind River,” “Dances With Wolves”
Elpidia Carrillo – “Nine Lives,” “Predator”
Ricardo Darín – “Wild Tales,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Natalia De Molina – “Kiki, Love to Love,” “Food and Shelter”
Rossy De Palma – “Broken Embraces,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”
Eugenio Derbez – “Overboard,” “How to Be a Latin Lover”
Rosana DeSoto – “La Bamba,” “About Last Night…”
Melonie Diaz – “Fruitvale Station,” “Be Kind Rewind”
Verónica Echegui – “Let Yourself Go!,” “Katmandú, un Espejo en el Cielo”
Paulina García – “The Desert Bride,”Gloria”
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo – “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Murder on the Orient Express”
Daniel Giménez Cacho – “Zama,” “Blancanieves”
Ernesto Gómez Cruz – “El Crimen del Padre Amaro,” “El Imperio de la Fortuna”
Blanca Guerra – “Santa Sangre,” “El Imperio de la Fortuna”
Javier Gutiérrez – “Assassin’s Creed,” “Marshland”
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez – “Bordertown,” “El Norte”
George Lopez – “Rio,” “Real Women Have Curves”
Mía Maestro – “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “Frida”
Carmen Maura – “Volver,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”
Ángela Molina – “Broken Embraces,” “That Obscure Object of Desire”
Jordi Mollà – “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” “Blow”
Eduardo Noriega – “Vantage Point,” “Open Your Eyes”
Rubén Ochandiano – “Biutiful,” “Broken Embraces”
John Ortiz – “Kong: Skull Island,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Pedro Pascal – “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” “The Adjustment Bureau”
Gina Rodriguez – “Annihilation,” “Deepwater Horizon”
María Rojo – “Under the Same Moon,” “Esmeralda Comes by Night”
Emma Suárez – “Julieta,” “The Mosquito Net”
Daniela Vega – “A Fantastic Woman,” “The Guest”

Cinematographers
Céline Bozon – “Félicité,” “Black Heaven”
Benjamín Echazarretta – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Gloria”
David Gallego – “Siete Cabezas (The Sacrifice),” “Embrace of the Serpent”
Dana Gonzales – “Shot Caller,” “Incarnate”

Costume Designers
Gabriela Diaque – “Babel,” “Amores Perros”
Caroline Eselin – “Moonlight,” “The Paperboy”
Mariestela Fernández – “La Dictadura Perfecta (The Perfect Dictatorship),” “El Infierno (Hell)”
Lala Huete – “El Greco,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Graciela Mazón – “The Flowers of War,” “Nacho Libre”
Luis Sequeira – “The Shape of Water,” “Mama”

Designers
Cecilia Montiel – “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Desperado”

Documentary
Claire Aguilar – “The Interrupters,” “Last Train Home”
Everardo González – “La Libertad del Diablo (Devil’s Freedom),” “Drought (Cuates de Australia)”
Carla Gutierrez – “RBG,” “When Two Worlds Collide”
Tatiana Huezo – “Tempestad,” “The Tiniest Place”
Gema Juarez Allen – “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name,” “Soldado”
Pedro Pimenta – “A Ilha dos Espíritos (Island of Spirits),” “Memories of Dreams”
Maria Augusta Ramos – “Morro dos Prazeres (Hill of Pleasures),” “Justice (Justiça)”
Bernardo Ruiz – “Kingdom of Shadows,” “Reportero”
Juan Carlos Rulfo – “Those Who Remain,” “In the Pit”

Executives
Tony Vinciquerra

Film Editors
Felipe Lacerda – “Secrets of the Tribe,” “Garapa”
Elena Ruiz – “Eva,” “The Orphanage”
Soledad Salfate – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Gloria”
Ana Lozano – “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Volver”

Music
Carlinhos Brown – “Rio,” “Capitães da Areia”

Producers
Lisa Cortés – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Shadowboxer”

Public Relations
Dora Candelaria
Fabian Castro
Melissa Martinez
Alicia Ramirez-Wyld

Short Films and Feature Animation
Sofia Carrillo – “Cerulia,” “La Casa Triste (The Sad House)”
Pedro Collantes – “Serori,” “Eskiper”
Sergio Pablos – “Rio,” “Despicable Me”
Ruben Perez – “The Boss Baby,” “Penguins of Madagascar”
Carlos Fernandez Puertolas – “The Boss Baby,” “Home”
Gini Cruz Santos – “Coco,” “The Good Dinosaur”
Cesar Velazquez – “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”

Sound
Antonio Diego – “Duck Season,” “Amores Perros”
Nelson Ferreira – “The Shape of Water,” “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”
Ruy Garcia – “Novitiate,” “Y Tu Mamá También”

Visual Effects
Nelson Sepulveda – “Kong: Skull Island,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”

Writers
Guillermo Calderón – “Neruda,” “The Club”
Laura Esquivel – “Like Water for Chocolate,” “Chido Guan, el Tacos de Oro”
Mateo Gil – “Realive,” “Open Your Eyes”
Gonzalo Maza – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Gloria”
Gibrán Portela – “The Untamed,” “La Jaula de Oro”
Fernando E. Solanas – “A Journey to the Fumigated Towns,” “La Guerra del Fracking”

Members-at-Large
Robert Alonzo
Jordi Casares
Mary Ramos

Esquivel’s “Like Water For Chocolate” to Get Television Adaptation

There’s no water shortage for Laura Esquivel

The 66-year-old Mexican author’s popular novel Like Water For Chocolate is getting a television adaptation.

Laura Esquivel

Endemol Shine Studios, the scripted division of Endemol Shine North America, has acquired the rights Esquivel’s best-selling novel Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua Para Chocolate) to adapt as a global television franchise.

The classic story is being developed as an English language series with plans to adapt it in other languages, as well.

Like Water for Chocolate was first published in 1989 by Esquivel, a first-time Mexican novelist and quickly became a global sensation. The use of magical realism alongside a raucous family drama made the book an instant classic.

Like Water For Chocolate

To date, Like Water for Chocolate has sold 3.5 million copies in the U.S. through publishers Knopf Doubleday (English) and Vintage Espanol (Spanish). The novel spent a year and a half on the New York Times Bestseller list and has been published in 45 languages.

In 1992, a film based on Esquivel’s screenplay adaptation of the novel was successfully released in Spanish, earning critical acclaim and numerous honors. The film earned 11 Ariel Awards from the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures, including the Ariel for Best Picture and at the time became the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever released in the United States. It also was the Mexican entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards.

“It fills me with joy to know that Like Water for Chocolate will be brought to television screens throughout the world by a studio that bets on quality in producing content for each of its projects,” says Esquivel. “Of all the companies that offered to create the series, Endemol Shine Studios stood out in sharing a vision of Like Water for Chocolate closest to my own: leading from the heart.”

“The opportunity to adapt this beloved novel is a privilege, added Endemol Shine Studios President Sharon Hall. “Laura’s epic love story has all the ingredients of a breakthrough drama.”

Santoro to Star in the Indie Drama “Dominion”

Rodrigo Santoro is ready to establish a little dominion of his own…

The 38-year-old Brazilian actor has signed on to star in the indie drama Dominion.

Rodrigo Santoro

The film, which also stars John Malkovich and Rhys Ifans, is based on the last day of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’ short life at the White Horse Tavern in New York. Thomas died at the age of 39 of pneumonia but was a voracious drinker.

The film is being shot in black and white by Steven Bernstein, the cinematographer on Monsterand Like Water for Chocolate, from his own script.

Santoro, who reprised his role as Xerxes in this year’s 300: Rise of an Empire and was the voice of Tulio in Rio 2, will portray the bartender at the White Horse, a pivotal role as a character who continues to communicate with Thomas throughout the film. Diego Luna was previously linked to the role.

The tavern, which opened in 1880, became a well-known Bohemian hangout in New York in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and is still a going concern on Hudson and 11th St.

“It’s not a biopic at all, but rather a testament to the man and his legacy,” says producer Richard Gladstein.

Santoro will next star alongside Will Smith and Margot Robbie in the heist movie Focus and just wrapped The 33, the film about the Chilean miners.