WATCH out Harlem girls, because two of the biggest Hollywood hunks will be shooting in your neck of the woods soon. Boricua Benicio del Toro and Denzel Washington will begin production of “Tru Blu,” a film based on the life of 1970s heroin kingpin Frank Lucas. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “King Arthur”), the film depicts the rise and fall of Lucas (played by Washington), who built a dynasty by smuggling drugs into the United States in the caskets of soldiers killed in Vietnam. Cornered by detective Richie Roberts (Del Toro), Lucas turns informant. Cameras start rolling in October.
REALITY BITES
One of the wackiest (but probably the most practical) of all the reality shows is coming to a Spanish-language TV station near you. “Gana la Verde,” (“Win the Green,” as in green card) entitles the winner not to a recording deal or cash prize, but to a year’s worth of attorneys to advise the winner on how to get U.S. residency.
Players vying for the coveted prize will have to go through hurdles – possibly even more disturbing and dangerous than crossing the Rio Grande – like jumping between moving cars, swallowing bugs and more.
The show began airing last month on the Los Angeles based KRCA, Ch. 62 and in Liberman Broadcasting’s
Dallas, Houston and San Diego stations.
Most of the contestants have work or student visas or have submitted resident applications. The Spanish-language reality show however, does not guarantee the green card. Only the U.S. government can do that.
MOCK-JOCK
Twenty-nine-year-old Cubano and Bronx native Agustin of Babylegs Entertainment will soon be directing
34-year-old Boricua radio shock-jock Luis Jimenez. Filming of the Spanish-language independent flick “El Vacilón, The Movie” will start September in various local neighborhoods.
The comedy is about Jimenez trying to get a Hollywood movie deal.
“The film will have everything his audience has . . . wished was on air and couldn’t be because of the FCC,” says Agustin.
PUMP UP THE VOLUMES
Bookspan, which owns and operates Book-of-the-Month Club and Literary Guild, has launched Círculo de Lectores (Reader’s Circle). It’s their second Hispanic book club. The first, Mosaíco, was launched in 2001 for adults. Unlike Mosaíco, Círculo offers over 140 family titles, ranging from children’s books to an assortment of Spanish translations of American fiction and non-fiction books.
Among the authors Círculo will highlight are Isabel Allende, Sandra Cisneros and Jorge Ramos, as well as classic writers, like Cervantes and Pablo Neruda.
SITE TO BEHOLD
Folks interested in local Latin cultural events have a new funky Web site to call their own. Launched early
this month, http://www.nymosaic. com will be a one-stop shop “for everything young and bilingual New York.”
Founded by Columbia University buddies Claire Frisbie, 23, and Nuria Net, 22, NY Mosaíco will cover culture, music, film, restaurants and bars and lounges.
Featuring a mix of underground events, the site has an eclectic listing of concerts, art exhibits, festivals
and literary happenings. A photo blog will allow users to send in their pics.
“We are gearing the site to the cosmopolatino – and you don’t have to be Latino to be a cosmpolitano,” says Net. The site – which took a year to plan and design – is all volunteer-based.
A launch party will be held at Bembe, 81 S. Sixth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at 9 p.m. on August 12. The party is free and open to the public.
TARGET: HISPANICS
Adweek is putting the finishing touches on the premiere issue of Marketing y Medios, an English-language monthly trade magazine that will cover advertising and business news for companies targeting the growing U.S. Hispanic population. A Web site will also launch with the print version.
Twelve staffers are busy writing pieces on the beauty, entertainment and health industries – areas where Hispanic consumers overindex other populations.
While the Hispanic market makes up 13 percent of the U.S. population, with buying power in the billions – it is still very much a mystery to most companies.
Adweek’s new title will attempt to unravel issues like the Spanish-dominant consumer versus the English-dominant and the differences between new Latin American immigrants versus the more acculturated, among other topics. The mag launches with an initial circulation of 18,000.
CONGRATS
Nina Diaz, who has been promoted to senior vicepresident of MTV news and documentaries. Diaz is the creator of MTV Cribs. Also, kudos to Julio Lopez-Brito, who has been named COO of HITNet and will serve as vice president of HITN, Inc. Lopez-Brito joins HITN from Crossroads Media Partners, LLC.