Tue June 11 - 1:00 PM
AT&T Untold Stories Talk: Hispanic Creators and Their Role in Driving Change
Free Talks
| 60 MINUTESJoin Liz Hernandez as she explores the pivotal role Hispanic creators play in amplifying underrepresented voices and addressing social issues through their work. Through thoughtful discussion, panelists Joel Ramirez, Armida Lopez, and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon will share personal insights and experiences navigating the intersection of storytelling and social advocacy while challenging stereotypes.
Panelists: Joel Ramirez, Armida Lopez, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Moderator: Liz Hernandez
Panelists
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Alfonso was born and raised in Laredo, Texas on the US/Mexico border. He received his BFA from NYU and his MFA from AFI. He began his career as personal assistant to Martin Scorsese, Nora Ephron, Robert De Niro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. He has gone on to direct second unit for Ms. Ephron, Inarritu, Scorsese, Kevin Macdonald, Ryan Murphy and Ben Affleck (on the Academy Award-winning "Argo"). He has directed acclaimed episodes of Glee and American Horror Story, as well as numerous national commercials for the likes of T-Mobile and Chevrolet (Super Bowl). He was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Directing For a Miniseries for "American Horror Story: Coven," as well as for Outstanding Miniseries as the show's Co-Executive Producer. He also directed the pilot for Fox's "Red Band Society" which was picked up for series. He just finished work on his second feature, Me & Earl & the Dying Girl for Indian Paintbrush, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the US Dramatic Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2015.
Liz Hernandez (Moderator)
Liz Hernandez is a Mexican American Emmy-nominated television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. Liz started her entertainment career as a radio host on the Power 106 FM nationally syndicated show, Big Boy’s Neighborhood. After hosting for 10 years, she moved on to TV entertainment news as a host a correspondent for Access Hollywood, E! News, and MTV. Her career has been built on storytelling and the power of words. She continues to connect with community as the Founder and Creator of WORDAFUL, a video and live event series that focuses on the importance of how we communicate with others and ourselves. As of 2022, Liz has returned to radio as the morning show host for 94.7 FM The Wave.
Joel Ramirez
Joel “chicanojoel” Ramirez is a Chicano creative, storyteller and director whose motto is “More Brown Stories”. He Wrote, directed and produced his short Film “Piñata Love'' on a shoestring budget using gorilla style shooting to tell an innocent metaphor layered brown love story. Joel has been working in advertising for 10+ years as an art director working with clients such as: Redbull, T-Mobile, Verizon, Youtube, Clinique, GymShark, Red Lobster, Luke Combs and T Mobile. Currently Joel is working remotely on experiential events remotely from New Mexico and launching a graphic novel that combines chicano culture with Japanese anime to recreating stories from his elders that reflect old and current issues in his community.
Armida Lopez
Armida López is an Indigenous/ Latina filmmaker and actor born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador. In her work, she is an intentional advocate for diversity and inclusion especially for Central American representation. As an actress, she has starred in films such as El Chicano with George Lopez and Boss Level with Mel Gibson. López wrote and directed a short film entitled "Made in America", based on the immigration of her mother and herself to the United States from El Salvador. The film has won five awards through the Film Festival circuit in 2020 including three Telly awards For Best Writer and Director and an Emmy nomination for Best Director. Along with her film accomplishments, the number one newspaper in El Salvador, El Diairio De Hoy, featured her in a full article highlighting her life and journey in Hollywood.
* Rush Tickets available at venue except for
Beacon Theatre
Beacon Theatre
Rush will be offered when advanced tickets for a screening or event are no longer available at venues
other than Beacon Theatre.
The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.
The Rush system functions as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately one hour prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Rush Tickets are the same price as advance tickets and are payable upon entry.
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