The SAG Awards season will kick off with a new take on the traditional nominations announcement, honoring the outstanding film and television performances of 2020, on Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 8 a.m. (PT).

This year due to Covid the SAG Awards Eligibility Period included two additional months, January 1, 2020 – February 28, 2021

Throughout these challenging times, our industry and our union members have proven their creativity and resilience in discovering new methods of
storytelling while adapting to new safety protocols and procedures. We embrace that spirit as we re-imagine the SAG Awards with a one-hour
special that highlights and expands on our signature I am an Actor opening and honors the outstanding performances of the past year.

The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards production team includes Executive Producer Kathy Connell, with Avalon Harbor
Entertainment and Hazy Mills Productions. Connell, Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner will also again serve as executive producers.

A complete list of SAG Awards Key Dates can be found HERE

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By Latin Heat News Services

Actress Roselyn Sánchez  and singer Carlos Rivera will return as co-hosts of the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards on Thurs., Nov, 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT)

Rivera previously joined as emcee during the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, while Sánchez returns for the fifth time, after hosting the 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.

The Latin Recording Academy has also announced the roster performers for the awards ceremony that includes Latin Grammy current nominees and past winners Bad Bunny, Pedro Capó, Alejandro Fernández, Karol G, Kany García, Los Tigres del Norte, Christian Nodal and Fito Páez. 

Other confirmed performers for the Thursday, Nov. 19 event are current nominees Anuel AA, Calibre 50, Julio Reyes Copello, Alex Cuba, Guaynaa, Víctor Manuelle, Ricardo Montaner, Debi Nova, Nathy Peluso, Raquel Sofía, and Sebastián Yatra.

Co-host Sánchez of Without a Trace fame returns for the fifth time, after hosting the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th annual Latin Grammy Awards. Mexican singer Rivera, who rose to fame as the winner of the third generation of the television contest La Academia, previously joined as emcee during the awards’ 18th edition.

With the theme “Music Makes Us Human,” the telecast will be anchored from Miami, featuring performances from multiple cities around the world. “The show will be a celebration of musical excellence and the power of music to bring us together, through diverse stories of hope, community and a renewed sense of purpose,” said the Academy in a press release.

The Latin Grammy Awards will air on Univision on Thurs., Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. CT). The broadcast will also air on the cable channel TNT in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and on Televisa on Channel 5.

The Latin Grammy Award show, in which the majority of the categories are awarded, will precede the telecast. This long-established ceremony will be a virtual production, featuring remote performances and the ability for all nominees to participate.

Due to the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards will not have a live audience or a red carpet. The Latin Recording Academy, Univision and its production teams will adhere to strictest safety guidelines and protocols, according to the awards’ organizers.

Featured Photo Credit: Roselyn Sanchez Facebook

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By Justina Bonilla

Nickelodeon is a pioneer of children’s television, especially with trailblazing Latino themed programs, such as Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Tiana, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and The Casagrandes. Another animated Latino oriented program to join this esteemed class of Nickelodeon programming, is Santiago of the Seas, by one of Nickelodeon’s newest showrunner, Niki Lopez.

Lopez gained attention within the animation industry as an up and coming talent and in 2018 was recognized as a part of Variety’s esteemed list of 10 Animators to Watch. Recently, she was also listed in Animation Magazine’s Rising Stars of Animation in April 2020.    

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lopez had a profound love and fascination with animation, especially on television. As a child Lopez loved television especially Nickelodeon, identifying as a “Nick Brat”. Her favorite Nickelodeon programs including Rocko’s Modern Life, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.  

At a young age, Lopez unknowingly began crafting her talent for animation by doodling on paper a world of characters with backstories. She carried on this talent into her education, obtaining her BFA in Illustration from the private Ringling College of Art and Design of Florida. After working as a graphic designer for an ad agency and as a freelance Inker and colorist, she went to pursue her passion for animation with Nickelodeon.

In 2010, Lopez began her career at Nickelodeon as an intern, aka a “Nicktern”. From this experience, she became a full-time production assistant for two years on the animated show Kung fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. She then worked for five years on a variety of animated shows, including The Fairly OddParents as a color designer.

At Nickelodeon, Lopez was inspired by the “Edgy and fun shows the preschool team was working on and it’s open-door pitching policy,” Lopez said. Taking advantage of that, Lopez pitched a few ideas which were turned down. This would lead her to fine tune the pitch that would make her a first-time showrunner on Santiago of the Seas.

Santiago of the Seas, centers around 8-year-old Santiago Montes, a brave and kind-hearted pirate and his swashbuckling adventures. The series is created by Niki Lopez, Leslie Valdes and Valerie Walsh Valdes (Dora the Explorer) is set to premiere later this year on Nick Jr. as a 20-episode preschool program with a mix of education in Latino-Caribbean culture (Puerto Rico, Dominican, and Cuban) with a Spanish-language curriculum.

Although Puerto Rico is a United States territory, with well known Puerto Rican celebrities (Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Bruno Mars), many still do not know much about the Puerto Rican culture. What Dora the Explorer and The Casagrandes have done by representing the Mexican culture, Lopez hopes to do the same with Santiago of the Seas for Latino-Caribbean culture.  

One of the ways Lopez highlight the culture is by introducing the deliciousness of Puerto Rican Food. Santiago of the Seas audiences will be introduced to piragua, a shaved ice Puerto dessert and other mouthwatering Puerto Rican foods will make an appearance, such as bacalaito (fried codfish), arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), and Mofongo (fried plantains).

“Santiago of the Seas as an opportunity empower more underrepresented voices. Not just from one perspective, it’s diverse, and that includes the Afro-Latino perspective,” Lopez siad. “The cultural influences that exist in Puerto Rico wouldn’t exist if we didn’t include the African side. All that is being shown through the show.”

Stressing the importance of children seeing authentic voices they can relate to, Lopez worked to, “Make sure the characters are aspirational. And that when little kids see the show and see these characters, [they] see themselves in them. They see a friend.”

“Little kids are agent of change,” Lopez noted. “And, it is our responsibility as content creators to give them the tools and the examples to go out there and care about the community. [To] stand up for what’s rights and learn to respect everybody.” She talked about her instilling in the kides a need to be “good people”. Especially now, “We need to champion kindness…it’s so important,” Lopez told us.

Pouring her heart and soul into Santiago of the Sea, Lopez has created an animation gem waiting to glisten. With the amount of sincerity and talent she possesses, there is no doubt this rising star will shine through, going where her imagination can take her.

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According to Nielsen, well over 6,000 talent accounts published over 164,000 pieces of social content for the 2018 television season, which drove 170 million engagements for television programs. Celebrities now drive close to 60% of all social engagement for television programs which is essential to the insights for networks, marketers, and talent seeking to capitalize on the social impact of talent.

As talent like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian change how they engage with fans, Nielsen will continue to invest in improvements to its Social Content Ratings solution to help marketers keep pace with the shift to engage with changing consumers.

“As the producer of two of the world’s largest reality competition formats, America’s Got Talent and American Idol, we work with our talent to create extremely high levels of social engagement that keep our fans connected to these brands,” said JR Griffin, Vice President of Digital Marketing and Business Development, Fremantle, U.S. “By leveraging Nielsen’s Social Content Ratings, we are able to accurately measure our talent’s social influence and refine our strategies in real-time in order to create the most impactful campaigns.” 

About Nielsen

Nielsen is a global measurement and data analytics company that provides the most complete and trusted view available to consumers and markets worldwide. For more than 90 years Nielsen has provided data and analytics based on scientific rigor and innovation, continually developing new ways to answer the most important questions facing the media, advertising, retail, and fast-moving consumer goods industries.

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Also honored: Documentarians Chelo Alvarez Stehle and Jessica Congdon; and Costume Designer Mayes C. Rubeo

Chelo Alvarez Stehle was honored with The Best Documentary in the Humanitarian category for her shattering filmSands of Silence Waves of Courage about personal stories of sex traffic survivors.

Casting Director, Victoria Thomas (Fences, Hidden Figures, Roman J. Israel), was honored with the Diversity Award for her casting of Kathryn Bigelow’s unrelentingly honest film, Detroit, with 80 percent unknown actors in lead roles. Diversity isn’t just ethnicity – it’s about the vision to look to see things differently.
Jan Creamer was honored with The Otilia Animal Advocacy Award. At the awards luncheon, Creamer showed a heart wrenching film about the work her organization, Animal Defenders International, does to rescue wild animals from circuses.
Lisa Szilagyi was honored with the Career Achievement Award for creating Aurelia Foundation that works to help young adults with special needs aging out of the school system.
TheWIFTS Foundation International Visionary Awards, now in its 10th year, marking a total of 300 Awards given to ‘singular women as individuals,’ is held alternatively in Los Angeles and in London.
A past recipient of theWIFTS Elizabeth Grant’s Entrepreneur Award, Carmen is currently Clinical Professor of Yoga Therapy for Mental Health at Venice Family Clinic, a program she created and launched through Loyola Marymount University but she’s still very active as an actress, co-starring with Eddie Olmos and Ryan Guzman in the upcoming Windows on the World and opposite Peter Fonda in You Can’t Say No.
For a complete list of winners go CLICK HERE.
The Women’s International Film & Television Shorts Showcase (TheWIFTSS) was founded in 2008 by Elspeth Tavares. With the same aims and objectives in mind, TheWIFTSS recognizes women producers, directors and cinematographers worldwide in film and television who create ‘Shorts’ as a ‘Showcase’ of their talents as they pursue their individual dreams as filmmakers.

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