BEVERLY HILLS, CA: The Imagen Foundation, the first organization to honor the entertainment industry for its production of positive Hispanic images through its annual Imagen Awards (now in its second decade), has scored another first by recognizing more than 60 individuals (creative, business executives, talent) as the most powerful and influential Latinos in the entertainment industry. The following honorees were honored at the organization’s inaugural luncheon, a premier event, held during the final day of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Oct. 15.
Gerald Alcantar (Vice President, Diversity Development, Fox Entertainment Group) oversees Fox Entertainment Group's strategies to enhance its leadership and growth through recruitment and employee development.
Alfonso Arau (Director) has had a long and fruitful career both in front of and behind the camera and is one of the most prominent filmmakers of the Latino community in Hollywood. A renowned writer-producer- director-actor in theater and films for the past 20 years, his directing credits include A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and Picking Up the Pieces with Woody Allen.
Guillermo Arriaga (Writer) is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and producer. A native of Mexico City, Arriaga collaborated with film director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu in the making of Amores perros (1999), one of the most awarded films in the history of international cinema. The duo collaborated on a third movie, Babel, which went on to win Arriaga an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best original screenplay in 2006.
Jonathan D. Avila (Vice President/Counsel, Chief Privacy Officer, The Walt Disney Co.) supervises data privacy law counseling and compliance for the domestic and international operations of Disney’s offline and online businesses.
Javier Avitia (Senior Vice President, Business Affairs CBS Paramount Int'l Television) has been with Paramount Pictures for 11 years and previously served four years as Senior Legal Counsel for Univision. He volunteers as a recruiter and interviewer for Harvard University and serves on the Board of Directors of The Imagen Foundation.
Nestor Barrero (Vice President, Employment Counsel, NBC Universal) is actively involved in providing preventive legal advice and training for managers and advising on internal policies and procedures affecting the NBC Universal and Telemundo television stations.
Darlene Caamano Loquet (President, NALA Films) produced the company's first film, The Air I Breathe, starring Andy Garcia and Sarah Michelle Gellar, to be released in early 2008. Her latest production is In The Valley of Elah, directed by Paul Haggis and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon.
Carlos Carreras (Latin Talent United Talent Agency) heads one of the world's largest full service talent and literary agencies. His expertise and influence is in Spanish entertainment and works toward elevating the presence of Latino talent in film and television.
Natalie Chaidez (Writer/Producer) received a full scholarship from the late Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, publisher of the Hollywood Reporter, which enabled her to finish her last year at UCLA’s film school. Her illustrious credits include such television programs as Heist, Judging Amy, New York Undercover, Profiler, and the Emmy-nominated Heroes.
Cynthia Cidre (Writer) is recipient of Imagen’s 2007 Norman Lear Award, and one of the most sought after and award-winning screenwriters of our time whose career began when she won a nationwide search for new writing talent. Her film and television credits include The Mambo Kings, the Emmy-nominated A Killing in a Small Town, and most recently wrote the pilot for Cane, a drama about a wealthy Cuban family with a rum and sugarcane empire in South Florida.
Juan Carlos Coto (Writer/Producer). His television credits include Standoff, Invasion, Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Hotel, Spycraft: The Great Game, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, and The Dead Zone, among others. He also served as a consultant for the TV film, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, was story editor for The Pretender and developer of Mortal Kombat: Conquest.
Christina Davis (Senior Vice President, Drama Development, CBS Entertainment). Since joining CBS, Davis has been involved in the development of CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The Unit, Ghost Whisperer, Jericho and the new crop of dramas that debuted this fall: Cane, Viva Laughlin and Moonlight. Her greatest moment in entertainment has been working with her mentor Nina Tassler.
Raul De Quesada (Assistant General Manager and Senior Vice President Marketing,
Communications & Creative Services, Fox Sports International) is responsible for the planning and execution of strategic integrated marketing campaigns for all Fox Sports International channels. His areas of expertise are international business and television, a result of his many years of experience in the field and an unmatched knowledge of the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets.
Marlene Dermer (Executive Director, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival) is also programmer, and member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which she co-founded with George Hernandez and Edward James Olmos. Since its inception in 1997, the festival has exceeded 27,000 attendees, and secured major corporate sponsorships. Dermer is also co-founder and executive director of Latino Public Broadcasting and serves on its Board of Directors.
Lourdes Diaz (President, VOY Pictures) is responsible for the company's multiplatform visual products and the packaging of visual content to traditional film and television outlets. Most recently, she was founder and president of Agua Entertainment, where she developed and produced films for theatrical and television distribution. Diaz also developed and managed multi-year studio deals for Green Moon with Warner Bros., Telemundo, Sony International Television, and HBO.
Hector Elizondo (Actor) is an award-winning actor whose successful career includes film, television, theater, and radio. He first gained recognition on the New York stage for his performance in Steambath, which earned him an Obie Award. He earned four Emmy nominations and an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance on CBS' Chicago Hope. He has appeared in at least a dozen Garry Marshall films, among them Pretty Woman, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Moctesuma Esparza (Filmmaker/Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, entertainment executive, and entrepreneur. Among his many notable productions are Selena, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez and The Milagro Beanfield War. Esparza is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's Medallion of Excellence.
Stephen Espinoza (Entertainment Attorney) is an attorney with the law firm of Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman & Cook, one of the premier entertainment and media law firms in the country. He represents a broad range of TV and film producers and directors, as well as a diverse group of talent, including an impressive list of up-and-coming Latino talent.
Jean Fuentes (Senior Vice President, Human Resources Fox Television Stations) oversees the community relations efforts of the Fox Television Stations Group, which is comprised of 35 owned and operated stations located throughout the country, and responsible for assisting senior management in the human resources policy development and implementation as well as consulting in all human resources disciplines.
Kathryn F. Galan (Executive Director, NALIP) was a news media consultant and independent producer prior to joining NALIP in 2001. She worked for seven years at Atlantic Entertainment, first in the acquisition of international films, then as head of production. In 1989, she joined the new Hollywood Pictures division of the Walt Disney Co. as a VP of production. She produced Daybreak for HBO, Squanto for Disney and French Kiss through her production company with Meg Ryan, Prufrock Pictures.
Nely Galan (Creator/Producer) is a media entrepreneur who launched her company Galán Entertainment with the mandate of creating multi-platform content specializing in the Latino market. Her company has since successfully produced over 600 episodes of programming in both English and Spanish. Galán credits her success to the great mentorship of entertainment great Jerry Perenchio, owner of the radio station in New York where, at 23, she embarked on her career in entertainment as the nation’s youngest station manager.
Alexis Garcia (Agent, Endeavor Talent Agency). Garcia's expertise is in independent and international film finance and sales. He earned his Bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in English and Theatre from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and his Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law
Phil Gonzales (Vice President, Communications, CBS Entertainment) oversees the network’s publicity efforts on behalf of its primetime series, specials, movies and mini-series as well as late night and daytime programming. In 1996, Gonzales was a senior member of the Warner Bros. TV marketing team that received the Publicists Guild Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Award for best television campaign for their work on Friends.
Diego Gutierrez (Writer) of Flaco Films, was one of the writers for NBC’s Latino-themed Kingpin, a six episode mini-series that featured a mostly Latino cast and behind-the-camera creative team. Amid the controversy the mini-series received from Latino media watchdogs because of its drug trafficking premise, Gutierrez defended his stance that the show portrayed both sides of the human element—good and bad—and has opened the doors for Latinos in the industry by demonstrating that Latinos can entertain with great stories and superb acting.
Helen Hernandez (President & Founder, The Imagen Foundation). Under her leadership, Hernandez has led the Foundation's Imagen Awards for the past 22 years. The Imagen Awards, which have become one of the most prestigious awards in the entertainment industry, were presented this year at The Walt Disney Concert Hall. Hernandez was raised in Azusa, Calif., and began her professional career as a labor union official before going into entertainment where she worked for Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio at Embassy Communications. Helen has three grown children and two grandchildren. She has been recognized by the United States Congress in the Congressional Record for her work on behalf of the Latino community in the entertainment industry. She was recently named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the top Latinas in entertainment.
Silvio Horta (Executive Producer/Writer), one of Hollywood's brightest screenwriting talents, is currently the creator/executive producer of ABC's Emmy-winning comedy Ugly Betty. A native of Miami, Horta grew up being forced to watch Spanish language telenovelas with his Cuban-American family, not realizing that decades later he would be adapting the popular Columbian telenovela Betty la Fea, as Ugly Betty for American television.
Leon Ichaso (Writer/Director), a native of Cuba, is an award winning writer/director whose latest milestone is director of the biopic El Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony as Puerto Rican salsa singer Hector Lavoe. Other milestones include Pinero, starring Benjamin Bratt, the Showtime biopic Hendrix, among others.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Producer/Director/Writer) is an award winning Mexican film director, who at the age of 27 became one of the youngest directors in Mexico. In collaboration with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, their feature film, Amores perros, garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as many other awards from festivals and film societies around the world. His most recent project, Babel, earned him the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture and Academy Awards in numerous categories, including a Best Director Award.
Emilio Kauderer (Composer) is a music composer who performed as a classical pianist in his native Argentina. In addition to producing the soundtrack for several films, including Plata dulce and Asesinato a distancia, he also composed the music score for The Patriots, Friends & Lovers and A Place in the World, an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film. Kauderer still receives accolades for Luis Avalos' Latino musical Paquito's Christmas, which appeared at the Washington Opera and the Pasadena Civic Center, and featured Placido Domingo's grandson Dominic.
John Leguizamo (Actor) is a prolific actor and comedian, who began his career while still in high school where he wrote comedy material and tested it out on his classmates. His stage credits include Mambo Mouth, which he wrote and performed seven different characters, and went on to win both an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Award. His film credits include To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Executive Decision, Moulin Rouge, and Empire which he co-produced. Among his numerous television roles, he played a doctor on ER during the 2005-2006 season.
Cheech Marin (Actor/Director/Writer) is an actor, writer, director, musician, art collector and, above all, a humanitarian. As part of the duo Cheech and Chong, he participated in a number of comedy albums and feature film comedies. After he and Tommy separated, he starred in a number of films, most notably Born in East L.A., Tin Cup, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. He made the transition to television, co-starring opposite Don Johnson in the hit show Nash Bridges in which they played San Francisco police detective partners.
Jose Martinez (Entertainment Attorney), based in New York and Los Angeles, has represented writers, directors, and producers in all aspects of production, finance, acquisition, and distribution. He also represents film distributors, and advises on formation, financing intellectual property, acquisitions, and sales of real estate, as well as trial counsel. A Los Angeles native, he received a Bachelor's degree in political theory from UCLA and his JD from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.
Lucinda Martinez-Desir (Vice President, Market Development, HBO) joined HBO in 2003. As director of Strategic Partnerships, she was responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of all network national subscriber acquisition efforts as it pertains to mobile and segment marketing. She was also instrumental in the launch of HBO en Español. During her tenure at Comedy Central, she was a key player in one of the industry’s most successful subscriber growth spurts for a basic cable network—from 48 million subscribers in 1998 to over 80 million by the end of 2002.
Robert Mendez (Senior Vice President, Diversity, Disney ABC Television Group) oversees all business affairs and legal aspects of Buena Vista Television and Buena Vista Productions. Of his career in the entertainment industry, Mendez says it has offered new challenges and made the journey rewarding. Mendez earned his Bachelor's degree from Pomona College and his Juris Doctor from University of California, Davis School of Law.
Edith Mendoza (Vice President, Comedy Development, CBS Entertainment) is responsible for developing new comedies, which have recently included Two And a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Out of Practice, and Still Standing. Her previous positions at CBS include manager/comedy development, supervisor/comedy development, as well as a former assistant to executive vice president Wendi Trilling. She began her career as a CBS page while earning her Bachelor’s degree in communications from UCLA.
Belinda Menendez (President, NBC Universal Int'l Television Distribution). President since May 2004, Menendez, who has more than 20 years in the industry, oversees international free, pay, and new media television licensing for NBC Universal's current and library film and television product, outside of the United States and Canada.
Vibiana Molina (Vice President, Business Affairs, Twentieth Century Fox Television)
started her career as an entertainment lawyer with the prestigious Manatt, Phelps & Phillips law firm. She moved on to become VP of business affairs at Turner Network Television and then VP of business affairs for Gavin Polone’s Pariah Productions. Raised in Redondo Beach, she attended UCLA undergrad with a degree in political science and received her law degree from Columbia University.
Peter Murrieta (Writer/Producer) is executive producer at It’s a Laugh Productions, the production company responsible for the live-action sitcoms on the Disney Channel. These include That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana and Cory in the House. Murrieta’s big break came with his first pilot, Greetings From Tucson, based on his life growing up in Tucson, Ariz. With a mostly Latino cast, critics applauded the show (which aired on The WB during the 2002-2003 season) as “a welcome addition to TV’s largely white landscape.”
Alex Nogales (President & CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition). With 39 years of experience in the industry, Nogales’ background includes that of an executive, producer, writer, and director in both television and film. A tireless advocate, Nogales has been involved in the signing of Memorandums of Understanding with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and has helped integrate the employment, procurement, programming, governance and philanthropy in television.
Christina Norman (President, MTV) was appointed president of MTV in 2005, where she oversees the company’s day-to-day leadership, strategy, and management. She previously served as president of VH1, and executive VP of music programming and talent for MTV and MTV2.
Armando Nunez, Jr. (President, CBS Paramount Int'l Television) is considered one of the international television industry's most successful executives. In his current role, Nunez has oversight of all international distribution, sales and marketing for programming assets from King World, CBS News, CBS Paramount Television's network and syndicated areas as well as the largest library of television product.
Edward James Olmos (Actor), a native of East Los Angeles, is an award-winning multi-talented actor, producer, writer, director and chairman and founder of Latino Public Broadcasting. His big break came with his portrayal of the narrator "El Pachuco" in the play Zoot Suit. When the play moved to Broadway, Olmos received a Tony nomination and subsequently took the role to the filmed version in 1981. His role on the television series Miami Vice earned him a Golden Globe and an Emmy. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in the movie Stand and Deliver.
Lupe Ontiveros (Actress) is an award-winning actress dedicated to her craft. From the moment she joined the ranks of film extras, Ontiveros knew what her true calling was. Experiences that have tested her endurance and a commitment to her work include learning about her mother's death during the intermission of the play Zoot Suit and having to complete the show about a family's joyous reunion. The second was flying to New York to receive an award immediately following her father's funeral in Texas. As an artist these experiences took her to the maximum moments of agony and ecstasy, and the words "the show must go on" took on a whole new meaning for her.
Kenny Ortega (Director/Choreographer) is an Emmy Award-winning producer, director, and choreographer, who earned fame as a choreographer for such classic films as Dirty Dancing and music videos such as Madonna's Material Girl. Among his many accomplishments, Ortega has choreographed many major events and more recently, choreographed Disney's critically acclaimed High School Musical and its sequel.
Viviana Pendrill (Vice President, Targeted Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures) joined Warner Bros. in 2003. Her responsibilities include researching and developing motion picture marketing strategies for a variety of niche audiences, including Hispanic, urban and teen, among others. Pendrill founded and formerly co-owned the Hispanic advertising agency, Casanova Pendrill Publicidad, Inc., where she served as vice president and creative director and where her work garnered such awards as the Clio, Belding, and Se Habla Español.
Lourdes Portillo (Director/Producer/Writer) is a screenwriter and filmmaker whose award-winning films have been much studied and analyzed, particularly by scholars in the field of Chicano studies. Born in Mexico, Portillo was raised in the United States. She learned about documentary filmmaking while working for a company that made educational films in Los Angeles. After graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute, she began her career as a producer and director.
Santiago Pozo (CEO, Arenas Entertainment), founder and chief executive officer of Arenas Entertainment, is considered one of the foremost authorities on entertainment and film marketing to U.S. Latino audiences. Additionally, Arenas is also involved in the production and distribution of films targeting the Hispanic audience.
Rick Ramirez (Vice President, Emerging Markets, Fox Entertainment Group). Soon after his arrival in California from Texas, Ramirez signed on with Phil Roman Entertainment and found a mentor in Roman, honing his skills in the areas of production, development, and business affairs. In his current position, Ramirez is involved in research, business development and strategic planning, along with some publicity and marketing aspects.
Gabriel Reyes (President and Founder, Reyes Entertainment). Reyes Entertainment is a leading communications firm specializing in public relations, marketing, and event production for the Latino media markets. A leading Hispanic market expert, Reyes specializes in bilingual campaigns in both Spanish and English-language media. Reyes was the founding publicist for Latina Magazine and remained its sole publicist for five years. One of Reyes’ strongest suits is his unparalleled network of contacts in the areas of entertainment, media, business, government, and community groups that allow him to offer his clients enhanced career visibility and opportunities.
Jose Rios (Vice President, News, KTTV and KCOP) is an award-winning broadcast journalist. As vice president of news, he is responsible for all newscasts, newsgathering, and production. Since joining KTTV in 1992, Rios has expanded the daily newscasts, was instrumental in KTTV’s exclusive and unprecedented live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Rodney King beating trial in Simi Valley, and also developed Los Angeles’ only full-time investigative news unit, the Emmy Awarding-winning Fox Undercover, among other accomplishments.
Jose Rivera (Writer) is president of Paper Rain Productions, Inc., and the first Puerto Rican to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his adaptation of Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries). An award-winning playwright, he has had several of his plays translated into multiple languages. His next project is writing and directing the screenplay Celestina, loosely adapted from his play Cloud Tectonics, which will be produced by Brazilian director Walter Salles.
Phil Roman (Phil Roman Entertainment) drew his way from a comic strip in the high school paper to become one of the top animators in the highly competitive field of animation. His most vivid memory is walking onto the Walt Disney Studio lot for the first time in May 1955, thus fulfilling a childhood dream. At his own company, Film Roman, Inc., he executive produced the Emmy-nominated Garfield & Friends, King of the Hill, and three-time Emmy winner The Simpsons. Under his new company, Phil Roman Entertainment, he has executive produced several TV specials and video series. Ever grateful to his mentors, Roman has established internship programs for high school students and young adults to work in the animation studio, giving them an opportunity to fulfill their own dream of being part of the industry.
Martin Sheen (Actor) is an award-winning actor, who was born Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez in Dayton, Ohio. He is perhaps best known for his role as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now and as President Josiah Bartlet on the critically acclaimed television drama series The West Wing, a role for which he received a Golden Globe and two SAG awards, as well as six Emmy nominations. Sheen is well known for his support of liberal political causes. He supported the 1965 farm worker movement with Cesar Chavez in Delano, Calif., and has supported causes for PETA and other organizations.
Jimmy Smits (Actor) is a Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor who is perhaps best known for his long running roles on L.A. Law and NYPD Blue, as well as his role on The West Wing as a congressman and successful presidential candidate. The Brooklyn born actor currently plays the main character on CBS' primetime serial, Cane. Smits is one of the founders of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications, and entertainment industries.
Nina Tassler (President, CBS Entertainment) is recipient of numerous awards, including the 2005 Imagen Creative Achievement Award. Selected as one of the Top 50 Hispanic Women in Business by Hispanic Magazine, she provided insight into what very well may be among the secrets of her success when she advised women to "embrace your heritage and reach out to all people, take advantage of the dual nature of our heritage, adapt and evolve."
Steve Tellez (Agent, Creative Artists Agency). Currently a motion picture and television talent agent at CAA in Los Angeles, Tellez graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business with a minor in music from California State Polytechnic University in 1976. Tellez is a member of the Country Music Association and a board member of the Academy of Country Music. He also serves on the board of governors for the Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood.
Esteban Torres (Chair of the National Latino Media Council & former U.S. Rep.). Torres heads the NLMC, a group of 14 national civil rights organizations championing Latinos in the television and film industry advocating for greater visibility and positive presentation in the media. An Arizona native, he grew up in East Los Angeles, which he later represented as a congressman. Elected to Congress in 1982, he represented the 34th Congressional District that stretched from East Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Valley. In 1999, Torres retired from the U.S. House of Representatives after a distinguished 16-year career.
Frida Torresblanco (Producer) is a multi-talented producer/composer whose works include Gaudi Afternoon, Pan's Labyrinth, Black Sun, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, and Chronicles. Her upcoming projects include Mexico '68, The Memory of Running, and The History of Love.
Joseph Tovares (Executive Producer). An executive producer at WGBH Boston, Tovares oversees a variety of multi-platform productions. A veteran documentary television producer and executive producer, he currently serves as the executive producer of La Plaza, the Emmy Award-winning Latino production unit, in addition to supervising a number of other public affairs, arts, and culture and science projects. A native of Texas, Tovares has worked for a number of media companies and has served as a consultant for a number of organizations.
Walter Ulloa (Chairman and CEO, Entravision Communications) has served in this position since its founding in 1996. His foresight and vision in recognizing the importance of the Hispanic market to our nation's economy and his dedication in helping to bring Spanish-language programming to the nearly 20 million Hispanics who live and work in the fast growing U.S. Hispanic markets, earned Ulloa Imagen's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
David Valdes (Producer). Award-winning Valdes is one of the industry's most respected film producers. Before finding his niche as a producer of motion pictures, he worked in all television formats including movies-of-the-week, series, commercials, and music videos. Among his extensive television credits, Valdes directed the series Moonlighting, starring Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis.
Jeff Valdez (Co-Chairman, Maya Entertainment, Founder, SiTV). Valdez's accomplishments are a dream come true for the youngest of nine children who was born in the housing projects of Pueblo, Colorado. One of the first to recognize that Latinos wanted to see themselves in English-language TV programs beyond the traditional Spanish-speaking stations, Valdez created, hosted and produced a local Los Angeles TV series and a myriad of other projects, leading the Los Angeles Times to dub him "the Ed Sullivan of Latino talent."
Luis Valdez (Founder & Artistic Director, El Teatro Campesino) is a playwright and film director who has been called the father of Chicano theater. El Teatro Campesino, a touring farm workers’ theater troupe, produced one-act plays, often without stage, script, or props, but which sparked the Chicano theater movement. He has written, co-written, and directed many plays depicting the Hispanic experience, among them Zoot Suit and the box office hit movie La Bamba, which he directed.
Reynaldo Villalobos (Director/Cinematographer). Villalobos, a Los Angeles native, is a director of photography whose famous works as a cinematographer include Twentieth Century Fox's Nine to Five, Paramount's Urban Cowboy, Warners' Risky Business, and Embassy Pictures' The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, among others. His work as a cameraperson includes Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Jumpin' Jack Flash. His television credits include L.A. Law, Sinatra, Remington Steele, L.A. Doctors, and Tour of Duty.
Antoinette Alfonso Zel (Sr. Executive Vice President, NBC Universal/Telemundo/Mun2) is responsible for leading seven key strategic areas of the company’s operations and managing over 20% of Telemundo’s total employees, both at the company’s headquarters in Florida and at its satellite office in Los Angeles. During her two-year tenure, Zel has been a catalyst in Telemundo’s recent resurgence in market position, brand profile and new strategic alliances and businesses. She has been effective in turning around formerly non-performing assets and areas to positions of strength and revenue generation. She is a vocal advocate of the need to elevate the identity of the Hispanic population with quality digital and broadcast content, music, and marketing solutions.
More information regarding these remarkable individuals is available on the Imagen Web site: www.imagen.org.
HOLLYWOOD: How about that Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan (and dance partner Mark Ballas) scoring a perfect score (30) in the fourth episode of Dancing With the Stars, and then getting a 28 in the fifth show. Wow! The perfect score for the couple’s Paso Doble in the fourth show is said to be the earliest anyone has had a perfect score in the show’s history.
Bryan, who rose to fame in The Cheetah Girls movies and subsequent albums, has also starred in The Bold and the Beautiful, and is set to star in the upcoming The Cheetah Girls 3.
The actress and recording artist, who was born Reba Sabrina Hinojos in Yorba Linda, California revealed in a recent interview that while she is proud of her Hispanic background, she changed her last name to Bryan to honor her deceased brother.
YORBA LINDA, CA: Also from this Orange County community is nine-year-old Hailey Rose, who has scored a column in this blog. So, be sure to check out Hailey’s Corner for some delightful stories that she has written for your enjoyment.
NEXT POST: Coming Soon. Stay Tuned.