LATINO PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNOUNCES THE RESULTS OF THE TENTH ANNUAL 2008 OPEN CALL

Final Selection Awards Sixteen Projects for Funding

Los Angeles, CA (November 14, 2008) – Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), a non-profit organization funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, announced its tenth annual Open Call newly funded programs. The funding initiative invites independent producers to submit proposals for funding on Latino-themed programs or series.

“We salute this outstanding group of producers, including a record number of women, who bring us compelling projects from Texas to California, from Puerto Rico to El Salvador. By covering a wide range of issues and documentary genres that convey the richness and diversity of the Latino experience, these stories will capture the imagination of a broad national audience,” said Patricia Boero, Executive Director, LPB.

Every year LPB invites independent filmmakers to submit proposals in various stages, from research and development, to production, post-production and outreach. All proposals are reviewed by a selected group of public television professionals, local stations programmers, independent filmmakers, academics, and executives from other funding organizations.

This year sixteen (16) proposals were selected for funding. Emerging filmmakers comprise 42% of total funded producers; mid-level producers make up 42%; veteran filmmakers constitute 16%. As far as funding history, 62% of awarded programs have never been funded by Latino Public Broadcasting before – a direct result of an extensive outreach program for independent filmmakers throughout the nation.

The funding category breakdown is as follows: Research and Development – 19%; Production – 44%; Post-production – 31% and Outreach – 6%. The final slate of programs represents filmmakers from different regions within the U.S. including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York and California.

The 2008 awarded projects (alphabetically) are as follows:

Animas Perdidas
Producer: Monika Navarro
Category: Post-Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary that tells the filmmaker’s personal journey to explore transnational identity, as she follows her recently deported uncle in Mexico, who had spent most of his life in the U.S. and served honorably in the U.S. Navy.

Beautiful Sin
Producer: Gabriela Quiros
Category: Post-Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary that follows three infertile couples in Costa Rica as they cope with the country’s unique ban on in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Cruz Reynoso: A Man for all Seasons
Producer: Abby Ginzberg
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary that chronicles the life and work of Cruz Reynoso, including his commitment and struggle for equality and justice, working in the fields as a youth and presiding on the California Supreme Court.

A Death in Mexico
Producer: Xochitl Dorsey
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary that examines the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Brad Will, an American video journalist, during the 2006 civil unrest in Oaxaca, Mexico.

¿Donde Estan? The Disappeared Children of El Salvador
Producers: Maria Teresa Rodriguez/Katherine Pyle
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A documentary about three children, now adults, who were separated from their families during the Salvadoran civil war and now search to reclaim their lost identities.

Give Us Your Retired, Your Rich, Your Americans
Producer: Anayansi Prado
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary exploring American retirees who are moving to Panama, and the social, economic and environmental impact and challenges of that reverse migration.

Las Marthas
Producer: Cristina Ibarra
Category: Research and Development
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A documentary about bi-cultural teenage debutantes staging their border interpretation of the Mount Vernon colonial pageantry in Laredo, Texas, to honor George Washington.

Latin Music USA
Producer: WGBH/Elizabeth Dean/Adriana Bosch
Category: Post-Production
4 Episodes/60 Minutes

From Latin Jazz to Salsa to Tejano and Latin Pop, this four-hour series tells the story of the rise of new American music forged from powerful Latin roots and explores the influence of Latin music in jazz, hip hop, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

Making Viva Max
Director/Producer: Jim Mendiola/Faith Radle
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

The story of how a big Hollywood movie, Viva Max, invades a sleepy Texas town for a few weeks, and the unintended social change that resulted.

Mariachi High
Producer: Ilana Trachtman
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

This film tells the story of growing up Mexican American, by capturing a year in the lives of four teenagers who form part of a competitive high school mariachi band.

Mexican Pipe Dream
Producer: David Ruiz Marquez
Category: Research and Development
1 Episode/90 Minutes

The story of one man’s quest to overcome the hardships of his troubled youth in order to follow his dream of becoming one of the world’s most respected big wave surfers.

New Muslim Cool
Producer: Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Category: Outreach
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A one hour documentary that follows a Puerto Rican-American Muslim hip-hop artist and his family facing life in post-9/11 America.

Now en Español
Producer: Andrea Meller
Category: Research and Development
1 Episode/90 Minutes

The film follows the lives of five dynamic women who dub Desperate Housewives into Spanish, and chronicles the ups and downs of being a Latina actress in Hollywood.

Our Women, Our Struggle
Producer: Melissa Montero
Category: Post-Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

A documentary that chronicles the lives of three women, Isabel Rosado, Lolita Lebron, and Dylcia Pagan, who dedicated their lives to Puerto Rican independence.

The Third Root
Producer: Reed Rickert
Category: Post-Production
1 Episode/90 Minutes

A feature length documentary that follows Mexican guitarist Camilo Nu on a journey to discover the rich cultures embodied in the under-recognized roots of Mexican music.

Two Trinities
Producer: Sandra Guardado
Category: Production
1 Episode/60 Minutes

The film follows Ole Anthony and the Trinity Foundation in their quest to expose televangelists who prey on the poor and desperate using the lure of a “heavenly lottery”.

About Latino Public Broadcasting

Created in 1998 by Edward James Olmos and Marlene Dermer, Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a non-profit organization funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. LPB’s mission is to support the development, production, post-production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural television that is representative of or addresses issues of particular interest to U.S. Latinos. These programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. Mr. Olmos is presently LPB’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. For more information please visit www.lpbp.org.

CONTACT
Luis Ortiz, Managing Director
Latino Public Broadcasting
818-847-9656
luis.ortiz@lpbp.org

About Us
Latino Public Broadcasting is the leader of the development, production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to the public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. LPB provides a voice to the diverse Latino community on public media throughout the United States. Latino Public Broadcasting is a registered 501(c)(3), EIN: 95-4776447.
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