Fundraising Expert Roland Palencia Lends his Expertise to Help Latina Filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA – July 3, 2012 – Writer/Director and actress Fanny Veliz raised production funds to shoot her first feature film, Homebound last year, through the increasingly popular internet crowd funding method. Now in post production and in need of an additional $35,000 Veliz turned to Roland Palencia, creator of Icoco (Infinite Connected Communities), who proposed an innovative concept – an online fundraising webathon party that will take place on August 4, 2012 from 5:00pm to 10:pm. Palencia has raised millions of dollars for over twenty years from private foundations, city, county, state and federal government , individual donors and corporations. Now Palencia brings his expertise to the filmmaking community. “The idea is to coordinate up to 50 parties with different themes, all connected through a webcast, to take place simultaneously to benefit Homebound,” explained Palencia. “The goal is to raise at least $35,00 for completion funds.” What unites Veliz and Palencia goes deeper than just raising funds for a film, it is about empowering the community to fund and tell Latino stories Hollywood chooses to neglect.
“I’m committed to helping transform the image of Latinos in the media by telling stories that aren’t usually told,” says Veliz. “We are all used to seeing stories demeaning immigrants, portraying us as gang bangers, and other outlandish stereotypes. This film shows an alternative American Latino experience. Homebound is an American story, a human story told with an American Latino cast.”
Homebound tells the story of Richard Lynn, a successful young Latino business professional who returns to his small hometown in Texas to help his dying father. His father insists he take over the family business, a bar. Secretly, the young man wants to burn down the bar because he blames it for the death of his own mother and the illness of his father. In the process he rediscovers his childhood’s small town and falls truly in love for the first time.
The film features a cast of seasoned actors which includes Enrique Castillo, whose work in such films as El Norte, Mi Family and the cult classic Blood In Blood Out have made him a fan favorite among Latino audiences and his role in Showtime’s Weeds has made him a hit among mainstream audiences. Texan born Julia Vera, who has built a career as a character actress in film and television for over twenty years is not only an actress in Homebound, she is also an invested in the film as an associate producer. Richard Lynn is played by a dynamic young actor, Jeremiah Ocañas who not only plays the lead, but as one of the producers signed on his home town of El Campo, Texas, where the film was shot. El Campo served as the prime location and its citizens helped facilitate permits, meals, lodging, a source of talent pool for minor roles and the extras, and even a helicopter needed for the shoot. Veliz, in addition to her producing and directing duties, also plays the female lead in the film. Homebound producers are currently looking for organizations, companies or individuals nationwide that would like to be host a Homebound webathon party event. Hosts would either utilize an existing event or create a new event to raise each $1,000 to be donated to the production. Each host will receive a Homebound Party toolkit to take them step by step on how to tailor the event to the Homebound theme. It will include giveaways, signage and full instructions on how to connect to the all the other parties via a webcam.
On August 4th, Spreecast a social video platform that lets people broadcast together will connect each Homebound “party”. Using only a browser and a webcam, the Homebound parties will be connected to up to 50 interactive face-to-face live events bringing Latino Hollywood to you.
Party goers will get a first peek at select Homebound clips, and will have the opportunity to interact with cast and crew members who will be in attendance at the Los Angeles Homebound Party and conducting live interviews. In addition surprise celebrity guests, who will be announced as they are confirmed will be stopping by to support the film and join the party nationwide via the webcast.
In keeping the community theme,Veliz has enlisted the help of two of Hollywood top Latino organizations as sponsors. Latin Heat Entertainment, which for twenty years has served as the voice for Latinos in Hollywood through their magazine and now TV and internet productions and the non-profit organization Nosotros, which was founded in 1970’s by the late actor Ricardo Montalban.
Veliz and Palencia want to create a fundraising blueprint that will serve as an invaluable marketing and fundraising tool for small films and indie filmmakers. To sign up to host a Homebound Webathon Party in your city email contact@homeboundmovie.com. For more information on the film Homebound go to www.homeboundthemovie.com; for Latin Heat Entertainment www.latinheat.com
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