Rodriguez & Brewster’s “Furious 7” Becomes Universal Pictures’ First-Ever Billion-Dollar Film

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster have a billion reason to celebrate…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican-American actress and 34-year-old Brazilian-Panamanian actress’ latest film, Furious 7, has become Universal Pictures’ first-ever billion-dollar movie, and the entertainment company’s leader talked online about the notable moment for the 103-year-old studio.

“Today marks a significant milestone in our history,” NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer wrote in a blog post as the setua-sequel raced past that global-boxoffice milestone in just its 17th day in release.

The actioner, also starring Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, has banked an estimated $265.3M domestically and is expected to win again this weekend both at hone and overseas, making it three consecutive winning frames.

Early Friday matinee estimates show that Furious 7 is on track to make $8M-$8.5M for a three-day estimate of between $25 million and $26 million. It still is commanding the Imax screens in its third weekend. The film took in about $2.9M Thursday on 4,022 total runs. The actioner, which stopped production after Walker died in a November 2013 car crash, initially was supposed to bow last summer, but that date had to be overhauled. With the extra time, Universal was able to pick the perfect distribution date and implement a strong marketing campaign with two of the most social powerhouses on the Internet: Diesel and Dwayne Johnson.

Picking the April 3, 2015, distribution date meant the film was able to enjoy four weeks of play both on Imax and in the nation’s theaters until May 1, when Marvel/Disney releases mega-sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Furious 7 is the first film since last year’s Transformers: Age of Extinction to top $1 billion worldwide and already is No. 20 on the all-time list.

Guerra Wins StandUp NBC and Earns NBCUniversal Talent Holding Deal

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Nick Guerra’s star is rising in Hollywood…

The Latino stand-up comedian has been declared the winner of the 11th annual StandUp NBC comedy showcase.

Guerra’s victory comes with a one-year talent holding deal with NBCUniversal.

The showcase, held at the Hollywood Improv in Los Angeles, capped a talent search to find the funniest comics of diverse backgrounds in the country. Comedians were evaluated on the originality of their material, delivery, cast-worthiness and overall performance.

“There are two things every comedian needs for his career to stay alive – recognition of talent and car repair money,” said Guerra. “I’d like to thank NBC for continuing to show me support and for the new transmission.”

Guerra competed on the most recent season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He was a writer, actor and assistant director on the second season of mun2’s Pitbull’s La Esquina and also performed on Comedy Central’s Gabriel Iglesias Stand Up Revolution and Nuvo TV’s Stand Up & Deliver and the Stand Up & Deliver Cabo Relief Special.

Guerra will be joined by other 2014 finalists on the StandUp NBC College Tour, including Aisha Alfa, Darcy Michael, John Nguyen, Langston Kerman, Katrina Braxton, Lavar Walker and Ricarlo Flanagan.

Mendiola Named President of mun2

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Ruben Mendiola is taking the helm at mun2…

The Latino business executive has been named president of NBCUniversal’s cable network aimed at a young Latino audience.

Mun2 is the first cable network for young Latinos with shows and music videos in Spanish and English, including I Love Jenni, Welcome to Los Vargas, Combate Americas and Reventón.

Mendiola will report to Joe Uva, chairman of Hispanic Enterprises and Content at NBCUniversal.

Mun2 had been without its top executive since EVP and general manager Diana Mogollon departed at the end of February.

Mendiola comes from Comcast Cable where he was SVP and general manager of Multicultural Services.

Before that, he served as the general manager of Latino Programming and Spanish Business Development at Dish Network, VP of Programming and Operations at Fox Sports Latin America and programming director for Pay TV at Grupo Televisa.

Mendiola is a graduate of Universidad Iberoamericana A.C. in Mexico City where he earned his degree in Corporate Law.

Azcárraga Jean to Receive NATPE’s Tartikoff Legacy Award

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Emilio Azcárraga Jean is being heralded for his impact in the world of television…

The 45-year-old Mexican businessman, the head of Grupo Televisa, has been named one of the recipients of the 11th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award.

Other honorees include veteran producer James L. Brooks, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and NBCUniversal exec Lauren Zalaznick.

“We are honored to celebrate this extraordinary group of talented people who have made such remarkable contributions to the world of media,” said NATPE President & CEO Rod Perth in a statement. “We’ve chosen each of them because they’ve raised the bar of achievement, and are some of the absolute best in their fields of our business.”

The Tartikoff Award is intended to recognize television professionals “who exhibit extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision in the process of creating television programming.”

He became the CEO of Grupo Televisa at the age of 29, after the death of his father. He’s widely credited from turning Televisa from a near-bankrupt business into the prosperous company it is today

Azcárraga Jean, ranked as the seventh richest in Mexico with a fortune estimated at $2.3 billion as of March 2011m is also a Board Member of Teléfonos de Mexico, Univision and Banamex.

He’ll receive the award at next year’s NATPE Television Market and Conference, taking place on January 27-29 at the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach.

Conde Joining NBCUniversal as an Executive Vice President

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Cesar Conde is switching networks…

The 39-year-old Peruvian and Cuban American executive is set to join NBCUniversal as an Executive Vice President reporting to Chief Executive Officer Steve Burke.

Conde comes to NBCUniversal from Univision, where he served as President since 2009.

In this newly created role, Conde will focus on business development, strategic priorities and special business projects across the NBCUniversal portfolio of assets.

He’ll also oversee the International Group led by the newly appointed Chairman Kevin MacLellan. Conde will be a member of the NBCUniversal Executive Committee.

“Cesar is an impressive business executive with both traditional and emerging media expertise,” said Burke. “His experience leading multiple domestic and international businesses will be instrumental in maximizing all the opportunities to grow our portfolio.”

While at Univision, Conde served in a variety of senior executive capacities since joining the company in 2003, and is credited with transforming it into a leading global, multi-platform media brand. Under his leadership, Univision’s main broadcast network became the number one network in America regardless of language for the first time in the company’s 50-year history in July 2013 and experienced record ratings and profitability for that same year. During Conde’s tenure, Univision Networks’ portfolio grew from three broadcast and cable networks to 14 broadcast and cable networks. Additionally, he recently announced the launch of the company’s first-ever English language network, Fusion, a joint venture with Disney’s ABCNews.

This Year’s ALMA Awards to be Broadcast Live on MSNBC

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and NBCUniveral have announced a partnership to air the 2013 ALMA Awards live on MSNBC with programming on MSNBC, mun2 and digital platforms including mun2.tv and Telemundo.com.

The ALMA Awards will be live for the first time since its inception in 1995.

The awards show, held during National Hispanic Heritage Month, will celebrate the contributions of Latinos in the entertainment industry with a look back at this year’s outstanding achievements; tributes to career excellence, outstanding causes and philanthropy; and inspiring music performances and acts.

The barrier-breaking awards show, which stands for the American Latino Media Arts, is the only nationally televised primetime English-language program celebrating Latino contributions to entertainment and media.

In addition to the live special, MSNBC will also present a one-hour news special discussing issues impacting the Latino community. The special will draw on the most important issues that the Latino community and the country are facing, such as immigration reform and education, as well as the causes featured by the honorees of the awards tributes.

The ALMA Awards will be broadcast live on Friday, September 27 at 10:00 pm ET on MSNBC.

Brillon Lands Talent Holding Deal with NBCUniversal

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Brillon could be appearing on a television sitcom in the near future…

The Bronx-born Puerto Rican comedienne has landed a one-year talent holding deal with NBCUniversal after sharing top honors with comedian Jon Laster at NBCUniversal’s ninth annual Stand-Up for Diversity comedy showcase.

Held recently at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, the event was the culmination of a four-city search for diverse comics.

Brillon is a regular on the New York comedy scene, performing at Caroline’s Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory, Standup New York, The Comic Strip and Gotham Comedy Club.

Selected finalists also earned the chance to join the touring company of the Stand-Up for Diversity College Tour. The 2012 finalists — in addition to Brillon and Laster — included David Smithyman, Arvin Mitchell, Rob Haze, Dominican American comedian Vladimir Caamano, Kortney Shane Williams, Ryan Sickler, Latina comedienne Reyna Amaya and Mo Amer.

Martin to Leave Broadway’s “Evita”

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Ricky Martin will be taking his final bow on Broadway in early 2013…

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actor will play his final performance as Che in the current revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Evita on January 26, 2013.

Argentine actress Elena Roger, who stars as Eva Perón, and Michael Cerveris, who plays Juan Perón, will also leave the cast, according to producers.

In his role, Martin – who recently won the title of “Sexiest Man on Broadway” in a poll by Broadway.com – created a character with a charming presence that remained commanding throughout the show.

“Evita 1 of the most amazing cycles of my career,” Martin tweeted this morning. “Discipline and growth…Thanks so much for your applause.”

Fans who came to the musical to see their idol up close on stage for two-and-a-half hours surely helped to make Evita a hit. The show broke the Broadway weekly box office sales record after only six performances. It has broken its own record six times since, earning $1,586,362 for eight consecutive performances.

A soundtrack album, released in June, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s cast album chart and was the top selling iTunes soundtrack in Argentina. The album has sold 10,000 copies to date in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

But it’s definitely not the last you’ll see of Martin…

The former Menudo member, who appeared earlier this year as Spanish teacher David Martinez on Glee, recently signed a deal with NBC/Universal‘s Universal Television to star in his own series. He has tweeted about plans to get back into the recording studio to make new music and he’s also planning to write a children’s book, according to his publicist.

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