Melissa Fumero Taking Part in NBCUniversal’s New “The More You Know” Social Justice, Equality and Equity PSAs

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Fumero is helping people get in the know…

NBCUniversal will launch a new series of its popular The More You Know PSAs that tackle systemic racism and speak up for social justice, equality and equity, with the 38-year-old Cuban American actress and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star among the artists taking part.

Fumero joins a roster of NBC talent that includes Dulé Hill, James Roday Rodriguez and Kelly Clarkson, among others.

The campaign was developed in collaboration with social and racial justice organizations Fair Count, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Action Network and the National Urban League, and focuses on standing up against injustice, teaching children about equity, and the importance of voting and completing the census, especially for how it impacts the Black community and communities of color.

The campaign kicked off this week on NBC’s Today with a spot on teaching children about inclusion and acceptance. The campaign will be rolling out over the next few weeks, with spots now available on TheMoreYouKnow.com and YouTube.

The More You Know site also includes comprehensive resources and educational guides.

“For over 30 years, ‘The More You Know’ has sought to bring light to the nation’s most pressing social issues,” said Craig Robinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, NBCUniversal, “and we hope this new iteration will continue to educate, encourage and inspire people of all ages to take an active role in improving the world we live in.”

In addition to Fumero, Hill, Roday Rodriguez and Clarkson, stars participating in the campaign include: Carlos Adyan (En Casa con Telemundo), Freema Agyeman (New Amsterdam), Notah Begay III (NBC Sports), Gizelle Bryant (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Kandi Burruss (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Victor Cruz (E! News), Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell), Ester Dean (Songland), Ryan Eggold (New Amsterdam), Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster), Damon Hack (Golf Channel), Zuri Hall (Access Hollywood), Ana Jurka (“En Casa con Telemundo and Titulares y Más), Aneudy Lara (100 Días Para Enamorarnos), Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Organized Crime), Wendy Osefo (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Jeimy Osorio (Telemundo), Nina Parker (E! News’ Nightly Pop), Nichole Sakura (Superstore), Jocko Sims (New Amsterdam), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us”), Justin Sylvester (E! News’ Daily Pop), Elyfer Torres (Enemigo Íntimo) and Reno Wilson (Good Girls).

Sammy Colon Named the Winner of Telemundo’s “La Voz”

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Sammy Colon is voicing his excitement…

The 32-year-old Puerto Rican singer has been crowned the winner of the second season of Telemundo’s La Voz.

Colon, a member of Carlos Vives’ team, not only won the highly coveted trophy. He also takes home a $200,000 cash prize and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.

After Telemundo paused production on the show due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the grand finale, which aired Sunday night, comes less than a month after the network resumed the show with coaches Alejandra Guzmán, Vives, Luis Fonsi and Wisin, and the remaining 28 contestants to kick-off “Los Enfrentamientos” or Cross Battles.

Ultimately nabbing the most audience votes, Colon takes the title, followed by finalists Jose Class (Team Fonsi), Sugeily Cardona (Team Guzman), and Andrea Serrano (Team Wisin).

“Thank you to everyone who voted at home,” Vives said during the show. “Sammy is very deserving of this title. Thank you for believing in this boricua.”

Colon dedicated his win to all the 80-plus contestants who formed part of the competition.

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Colon is the second winner of La Voz U.S., following the winning voice Jeidimar Rijos of Team Fonsi on the inaugural season in 2019. Colon also became the second Puerto Rican to win the competition.

Telemundo Renews Kate del Castillo’s “La Reina del Sur” for Third Season

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Kate del Castillo’s reign will continue…

Telemundo has renewed La Reina del Sur for a third season with the 47-year-old Mexican actress set to reprise her iconic role as Teresa Mendoza.

“I love playing Teresa Mendoza and am proud of the success of La Reina del Sur, the series that unleashed a new genre in Spanish language television,” del Castillo said. “Each season, Teresa Mendoza’s character evolves and gets more interesting. She is a very human character with her own flaws and imperfections. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of fun playing her, and I’m curious to see what will happen in this new season. She’s a woman I learn from in every season and every episode, who continues to surprise me.”

The first season of the series, based on Arturo Perez-Reverte’s novel, launched in 2011 and returned for a second season in 2019.

The second season picked up eight years after the events of the season one finale with Mendoza pregnant and unsure of her future. When La Reina returns, it emerged that she’s disappeared into the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program and is currently living in Italy under the name of Maria Dantes with her daughter Sofia.

Last year, del Castillo said she “hated” the fact that she had to have a double for Mexico-set scenes of the narco drama after she became a major player in the El Chapo saga, helping to set up a meeting between Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán and Sean Penn in 2015.

But she’ll now be able to return to Mexico if the series films there.

“La Reina del Suris a high-level production that has taken us to shoot all over the world season after season. But yes, if the story takes us to Mexico next season, I will be there. I’m so excited,” she added.

Showrunner Marco Santana, who’s also president of Telemundo Global Studios, said that the company was currently in the script and overall development phase of the new season.

“We are working with an incredible group of writers to bring to life the continuation of a thrilling and involved story that we are all very excited for,” he told Deadline. “We have filmed La Reina del Suraround the world. It’s a story that travels through different locations, and season three won’t be an exception. We are planning for, and are hopeful that, by the time we begin production in 2021, restrictions due to the coronavirus will have eased.”

The third season will start production early next year, as long as production can resume as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The third season will be a co-production between Telemundo Global Studios and Netflix; Telemundo holds rights in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, while the streamer airs the series globally.

La Reina del Suris Telemundo’s most successful ‘Super Series’, used to differentiate it from its traditional long-running telenovelas.

“It is the show that propelled the network to the top of the charts and kicked off Telemundo’s Super Series franchise as the most successful Super Series in the network’s history,” said Ronald Day, EVP, Entertainment, Telemundo Networks. “It was the show that redefined Hispanic media and set a new standard in our content offering. There is a tremendous fan base for the first two seasons and for Teresa Mendoza, the iconic character played by Kate del Castillo, so we knew we had to bring her back. This is a series that resonates with the new Latino of today who craves for contemporary cutting-edge narratives coupled with strong characters in a premium-level production. The first two seasons were wildly successful on linear and across all platforms, so as we continue to look at all new IP through an omnichannel lens, it made a lot of sense to bring La Reina back.”

“The return of La Reina del Surcomes at a great time when we continue to shape a new era in Hispanic media with content exclusively made for Latinos living in the US looking for culture-centric stories that are both American and Latino,” Day added.

Anuel AA to Speak at This Year’s LatinFest+

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Anuel AAis ready to talk the talk…

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican rapper and singeris set to speak at this year’s LatinFest+ by Billboard and Telemundo, taking place from April 20 to 23 in Las Vegas.

He’ll participate in a panel titled “Viva Live with Anuel,” where he’ll talk about the making of his upcoming new album to be released under Sony Music Latin.

Anuel earned his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albumschart with his 2018 debut album Real Hasta la Muerte(on the list dated July 28).

After the global success of hits like “Ella Quiere Beber,” “Secreto,” and “China,” his new single “KEII” opens at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songschart (dated February 22), earning him his first top 10 debut of the year on the tally and his 14th top 10 overall.

The new single, which is Japanese for “respect,” adds his 14th top 10 on the list, following “Me Gusta,” his collaboration with Shakira(No. 6 peak).

Other stars confirmed so far to participate at Latinfest+ include Ozuna, J Balvin, Rosalia, Carlos Vives, and Los Tigres del Norte. Sech, Lunay, Manuel Turizo, Natanael Cano, Cazzu, Mariah, Myke Towers, and Jhay Cortezwill also participate as part of the “On The Rise: The New Generation of Urban Men and Women” panel.

Formerly known as Billboard Latin Music Week, the three-day event and panel series, which has been revamped and expanded in a partnership with Telemundo, will unite Latin music’s top artists and industry leaders. The inaugural Latinfest+ also marks the 30th anniversary of Billboard’s Latin Music Conference, the longest-running and biggest Latin music gathering in the world.

Registration for 2020 LatinFest+ is already open at http://latinfestplus.com.

Armando Espitia Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Armando Espitia is ready for Hollywood…

United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed the 29-year-old Mexican actor in all areas.

Espitia most recently starred in Heidi Ewing’s drama I Carry You With Me, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Awardand Grand Jury Awardin the Next!categories.

Espitia first came to prominence with his leading role in Amat Escalante’s Cannes Film Festival title Heli and also starred as the lead in Nuestras Madres, which opened at Cannes in Critics’ Weekwhere it picked up the Caméra d’Or.

Additionally, he has appeared in several features including Ayúdame A Pasar La Noche,and Open Cage.

On the television side, his credits include Amazon’s Diablo Guardián, Telemundo’s El Recluso as well as History Channel’s Texas Rising.

He also founded the theater company Conejo Con Prisa.

HBO Max Developing Claudia Forestieri’s “The Gordita Chronicles”

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Claudia Forestieri is getting personal on her next project…

HBO Max has put in development The Gordita Chronicles, a coming-of-age kids and family comedy from the half-Dominican writer, Josh Berman’s Osprey Productions, Zoe Saldana’s Cinestar Pictures and Sony Pictures Television, where Osprey is under a deal.

Written by Forestieri, The Gordita Chronicles, loosely inspired by Forestieri’s life, centers around a Latina reporter looking back on her childhood as a chubby, willful and reluctant Dominican immigrant growing up with her eccentric family in 1980s Miami.

Berman and Chris Kingexecutive produce for Osprey Productions. Zoe Saldana, Mariel Saldanaand Cisely Saldanaexecutive produce for Cinestar Pictures. Forestieri is co-executive producer. Sony Pictures Television is the studio.

Forestieri was a producer for Telemundo’s L.A. affiliate where she earned five local Emmys and a GLAAD Media award for her work covering the Latino community. She is an alumnus of HBO’s Access Writing Fellowship, NALIP’s Latino Writers Lab and NBC’s Writers on the Vergeprogram. Forestieri is a writer on the upcoming Selena: The Seriesfor Netflix and previously wrote on Freeform’s Good Trouble.

Saldana is next set to star and executive produce From Scratch, a limited series from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshinefor Netflix.

Mauricio Ochmann Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mauricio Ochmann has new representation…

The 42-year-old Mexican American actor and telenovela star has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for representation in all areas.

Ochmann’s credits include El Señor de los Cielos and its spinoff El Chema, the latter being the highest rated television show in Telemundo history.

His feature film credits include Hazlo Como Hombreand Ya Veremos, both of which have been hits in Mexico, grossing around $10 million each.

His next U.S. release will be Y Como Es El, a two hander with Omar Chaparroreleasing in April via Pantelion/Lionsgate.

The actor is currently shooting in Mexico on Salvador Espinosa’s Netflixoriginal Ahi Te Encargo.

Alongside acting work, Ochmann is moving into directing, having helmed English language short Diaz. He’s now developing his feature debut.

Ochmann and his wife Aislinn Derbez, also an actor, run their production company A Toda Madre Entertainment, which has several features in development, including one with Sony Pictures.

Rosalia to Appear at This Year’s LatinFest+

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Rosalíais hittin’ the fest…

The 26-year-old Spanish singer-songwriter is set to take part in the 2020 LatinFest+, which is produced by Billboardand Telemundo.

The Grammy nominee for Best New Artist will be part of a superstar Q&A taking place the week of April 20-23 in Las Vegas.

Hailed as one the breakthrough artists of the world last year, Rosalía was the only newcomer to secure a spot on Billboard’s year-end Top Latin Artistschart and one of only six female acts to claim a spot on the 50-deep male predominant list. She has steadily populated the Latin charts captivating the industry with her flamenco genre-bending sonority and stylistic musical collision making her a trailblazer of the genre.

Her second-studio album, the flamenco-pop-urban tinged El Mal Quererdebuted at No. 10 on the Top Latin Albumschart and Rosalía has claimed four titles on the Hot Latin Songs chart, including “Con Altura,” with J Balvinand El Guincho, which peaked at No. 13 and won best urban song at the 2019 Latin Grammyawards.

Formerly known as Billboard Latin Music Week, the now substantially bigger weeklong event and panel series will unite Latin’s top artists, including Los Tigres del Norte, Ozunaand J Balvin, to celebrate Hispanic music and entertainment at large.

The inaugural Latinfest+ also marks the 30th anniversary of Billboard’s Latin Music Conference, the longest-running and biggest Latin music gathering in the world.

Latinfest+ will be an immersive, weeklong experience for the Latin entertainment industry, artists, executives and fans and will include superstar conversations, industry panels and workshops, celebrity fireside chats, live concerts, fan experiences and live activations of some of Billboard’s most celebrated franchises, including On the Riseand Growing Up Latino.

The full-run week of activities culminates with the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will air live April 23 on Telemundo. Finalists for the awards will be announced in February.

Registration for 2020 LatinFest+ is officially open at http://latinfestplus.com.

Elyfer Torres Signs with United Talent Agency

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Elyfer Torres has new representation…

The 22-year-old Mexican actress, who rose to acclaim as the breakout star of Telemundo’s Ugly Bettyre-make Betty EnNY, has signed with Ryan Muckenthaler and Ali Benmohamed at United Talent Agency (UTA) for representation in all areas.

Torres was also recently named Best New Actress at the Produ Awards at Mipcom Mexico. She’s close to wrapping her second television series, Enemigo Intimo, for Spanish language powerhouse Telemundo Global Studios.

The actress is relocating to Los Angeles in January 2020 to pursue English language film and television opportunities.

Torres also recently signed with Los Angeles and London based management/production company Avatar Entertainment, where she will be repped by Val Valdez and Larry Robinson.

Rounding out her team, Torres has also recently signed with lawyer Maria Suarezat Hanson Jacobson & Teller.

Manager Val Valdez says, “[Torres] is probably the hottest Latino star under the age on 25 years old and her talent is only exceeded by her tireless work ethic.”

Paola Ramos Joins Vice News as Correspondent

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Paola Ramos is joining the Vicesquad…

The Latina journalist is joining Vice News as a correspondent, starting this week, in the first notable new hire by Jesse Angelo since he joined the company as head of news and entertainment in June.

Ramos has previously written for Vice.com and hosted Latin-X, a Vice series focused on under-reported stories about the Latinx community.

In her new role, Ramos will work across platforms. Two key venues for her work will be Vice and Vice News Tonight, which are both set to relaunch on new networks after a multi-year deal with HBO wound down a few months ago. Vice, a documentary series, will debut on Showtime next spring, and Vice News Tonight will start airing on the Viceland cable network in early 2020.

“Paola is an extraordinary talent and has done some incredible reporting in her career. The depth of her coverage on the Latinx community goes beyond the typical stories of immigration and the crisis at the border, and taps into underrepresented issues that matter to Millennial and Gen Z viewers,” Angelo said. “She connects with audiences in ways that make her exactly the type of person we want to tell Vice News stories.”

A regular contributor to Telemundo and MSNBC, Ramos is the former Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton and a former political appointee in the Obama White House. She holds degrees from Barnard Collegeand Harvard’sKennedy School.

Next year “will go down in history as one of the most consequential years of our lifetime and I cannot think of a better platform to inspire and mobilize young people across the country,” Ramos said. “I look forward to telling stories that impact our generation, to uncovering untold truths and to shedding light on the voices that are on the front lines of change.”

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