Tonight is the night for the 30th Annual Imagen Awards. This year’s high profile nominees which include Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin), Rosario Dawson (Top Five), George Lopez (Spare Parts), Zoe Saldana and Diego Luna, two of the voices in The Book of Life, will make the Imagen Awards Hollywood’s most coveted meeting place for Latinos in the industry.
Founder Helen Hernandez
It’s always hard to predict the winners of an award shows, so this is not a prediction rather my wish list of who should win in my world. I won’t do the whole list, as the Imagen Awards is pretty comprehensive, and thank goodness for that. We need to recognize what Latinos are doing from the big studio projects like The Book of Life to the smallest of independent content like Best Web Series: Reality or Informational. So let me get started. (Chime in with your choice in the comments)
Best Picture
Ana Maria in Novela Land (Fluency Studios)
The Book Of Life (Reel FX/20th Century Fox)
Lake Los Angeles (Small Form Films)
McFarland (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) [A TIE]
Spare Parts (Pantelion Films) [A TIE]
Studio film McFarland got it so right, and the casting was solid. Big star Kevin Costner heads an all Latino cast and lots of opportunity for Latino talent to shine. The script was good and not condescending (usual from a big studio film). The big marketing budget helped get the word out and audiences responded.
Indie film Spare Parts also got it so right. With now big budget this production nevertheless delivered big time. The talent beginning, with George Lopez leading this cast, was overlooked for an individual Imagen…for one Carlos PenaVega. The practically non-existent marketing budget was a downfall for this film. For Latinos audiences “If you market it, they will go”. The practically non-existent marketing dollars hindered this film to find it audience…or rather not find its audience.
Spare Parts
Best Actor – Feature Film
George Lopez, Spare Parts (Pantelion Films)
Diego Luna, The Book of Life (Reel FX/20th Century Fox)
Roberto “Sanz” Sanchez, Lake Los Angeles (Small Form Films)
Michael Steger, Ana Maria in Novela Land (Fluency Studios)
Loved George Lopez in Spare Parts, but Roberto Sanchez in Lake Los Angeles was spectacular.
Best Actress – Feature Film
Rosario Dawson, Top Five (Paramount Pictures)
Edy Ganem, Ana Maria in Novela Land (Fluency Studios)
Zoe Saldana, The Book of Life (Reel FX/20th Century Fox)
Vannessa Vasquez, Sins of a Call Girl (Plus Entertainment/Cine Latino Network)
Didn’t see Sins of a Call Girl…but I heard a lot of great things about Vannessa Vasquez work and I love her in East Los High. I did see Edy Ganem and that would the the only one of these projects I saw. I saw so it wouldn’t be fair to pick. However, it doesn’t seem right to have to pick from voice actors (Zoe Saldana) competing with on-camera actors. So let me just say that I really enjoyed Edy Ganem in Ana Maria in Novela Land.
Best Director
Georgina Garcia Riedel, Ana Maria in Novela Land (Fluency Studios)
Gonzalo Gonzalez, Seduccion (Plus Entertainment/Cine Latino Network)
Sean McNamara, Spare Parts (Pantelion Films)
Baldemar Rodriguez, In Search of the American Dream (Adelante Productions/Definition Productions/Adelante Pictures)
My vote the only Latina director here!
Best Supporting Actor – Feature Film
Luis Guzman, Ana Maria in Novela Land (Fluency Studios)
Esai Morales, Spare Parts (Pantelion Films)
Carlos Pratts, McFarland (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
All these gentlemen were great, but going with the Carlos Pratts the young up and coming talent.
Best Primetime Television Program – Drama
Castle (ABC Studios)
East Los High (Hulu and Wise Entertainment)
Forever (Lin Pictures in association with Warner Bros Television)
The Fosters (ABC Family)
Gang Related (ABC/20th Century Fox Television)
Law and Order: SVU (Universal Television and Wolf Films)
Looking (HBO)
Major Crimes (The Shepard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros Television)
This is easy for me East Los High is one of the freshest show on any distribution platform. It has the Latino voice thru and thru. Creator/producer Carlos Portugal is a winner in this respect making sure the voice of this show is real, and it has paid off (Hollywood take note). From producers, to writers to the beautiful young Latino talent on camera, and drama that goes on makes this show a hit.
Best Primetime Television Program – Comedy
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Universal Television)
Cristela (ABC/20th Century Fox Television)
Jane The Virgin (The CW)
Modern Family (ABC/20th Century Fox Television)
The Mysteries of Laura (Berlanti Productions and Kapital Entertainment In Association with Warner Bros Television)
Ivonne Colle, Gina Rodriguez & Andrea Naveda
You want to know which is THE freshest show on TV? Jane the Virgin. That is not just my opinion it is the opinion of almost every notable television critic. This show is a winner all around. Beginning with the heart of the story, Jane played by Gina Rodriguez, and the rest of the cast Andrea Navedo, Ivonne Coll, Jaime Camil, Justin Baldoni and all the wonderful cast who all make this the fun ride that it is. I can’t wait for season two!!!
Best Primetime Program: Special or Made-for-TV-Movie
American Crime (ABC Studios)
Wonderful drama with excellent actors. Multi-layered characters and a great vehicle to let the talents of Benito Martinez, Johnny Ortiz, Richard Cabral and Elvis Nolasco really show their acting chops!
Best Supporting Actress – Television
Maria Canals-Barrera, Cristela (20th Century Fox/ABC)
Ivonne Coll, Jane The Virgin (The CW)
Melissa Fumero, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Universal Television)
Terri Hoyos, Cristela (Hench In the Trench/ABC)
Andrea Navedo, Jane The Virgin (The CW)
Constance Marie, Switched At Birth (ABC Family/ABC Studios)
Raini Rodriguez, Austin & Ally (Disney Channel)
With all these great nominees, this category truly a nail biter. They all deserve to win. Too many friends her to pick from. They should all walk away with an Imagen.
Best Young Actor – Television
Xolo Mariduena, Parenthood (NBC/Universal Television)
Rico Rodriguez, Modern Family (ABC/20th Century Fox Television)
Diego Velazquez, The Thundermans (Nickelodeon)
Love Rico Rodriguez in Modern Family. Rooting for you!
Best Young Actress – Television
Paola Andino, Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon)
Lilimar Hernandez, Bella and the Bulldogs (Nickelodeon)
Isabela Moner, 100 Things To Do Before High School (Nickelodeon)
Fatima Ptacek, Dora and Friends: Into the City! (Nickelodeon)
Wow! Lots of young up and coming Latino talent in this category, but my pick is Fatima Ptacek. I have seen her in various project and she is excellent in all.
Best Variety or Reality Show
Brain Games (National Geographic Studios)
Cesar 911 (ITV Studios America in association with Leepson Bounds)
La Voz Kids (Telemundo)
Vice (HBO)
Hmmm….don’t know these shows and have only heard of La Voz Kids and Cesar 911, which is my pick because Cesar Millan is awesome.
Best Children’s Programming
Dora and Friends: Into the City! (Nickelodeon)
Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon)
Nick News with Linda Ellerbee (Nickelodeon)
For this category, I say, which ever wins is a good thing for Nickelodeon!!
Best Documentary/Film or Television
Inside American Crime (ABC Studios)
Children of Giant (PBS/Latino Public Broadcasting)
Finding Gaston (Chiwake Films)
Shame on me. I didn’t see any of these. So it would not be fair to chime in here.
Best National Informational Program
America By The Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: Surviving Year One (The Futuro Media Group in association with PBS and the World Channel)
America By The Numbers with Maria Hinojosa: The New Mad Men (The Futuro Media Group in association with PBS and the World Channel)
American Latino TV (LATV Networks/LATV/GDMX)
Reportajes Especiales (ESPN Deportes)
Voces (PBS/Latino Public Broadcasting)
Love American Latino. Love anything Maria Hinojosa does, and Voces is a gem. I’m good with any of these three winning!
Best Local Informational Program
#LAPREPA (Time Warner Cable Deportes)
Life Connected: Hispanic Heritage Special (NBC4-Southern California)
Palmetto Scene: East Coast Migrant Head Start (South Carolina Educational Television)
VISTA L.A. (KABC-TV/ABC7 Los Angeles Planning Dept)
Well, I think Vista LA is the most Imagen Award winning informational program, they have probably won 20 years in the 30 year existence of the Imagens. So any of the others winning would be good for me.
Best On-Air Advertising
AARP (Alma Advertising Agency)
Jessica Suarez PSA (Vegas PBS)
Best Theatrical Short or Student Film
Casey (Desert Monsoon Media LLC)
El Coyote (Javier Barboza)
Dentro de La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Bilingual Foundation of the Arts & Barnsdall Gallery Theatre)
Ni-Ni (American Film Institute)
May the best short film win!
Best Web Series: Comedy
Los Cowboys (Corral360)
Oh Noah! (Thirteen/WNET New York Public Media)
Under Covers (Arrow & Key Productions)
Los Cowboys is awesome. When have you seen a webseries about U.S. Latino urban cowboys! This is a fresh show with beautiful, horse riding, horse wrangling people sharing thier passion for horses and the art of Charreria by first, second and third generation Latinos and Latinas.
Best Web Series: Reality or Informational
Los Cowboys (Corral360)
Newsbreaker En Español (Ora Media)
Who am I? (OWN Digital)
Hands down it I choose Newsbreaker En Espanol. Love the idea of the quick dose of news and it is done so well by host Naibe Reynoso. Reynoso’s Emmy award winning talent makes this online series stand out.
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