Posted by Elena del Valle on January 15, 2010
Migration from the Mexican Mixteca A Transnational Community in Oaxaca and California (Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, $29) is a 268-page paperback book about migrant communities in Mexico’s Mixteca region of Oaxaca and San Diego in California. Twenty women and twelve men contributed eight chapters to the book. Edited by Wayne A. Cornelius, David Fitzgerald, Jorge Hernández Díaz, and Scott Borger the book is based on surveys and interviews with migrant workers and potential migrants conducted by a team in both countries in 2007 and 2008.
The editors strive to show how some Oaxaca-based and California-based natives of the town of San Miguel Tlacotepec have built parallel communities in spite of the international divide. They examine the efficacy and impact of border enforcement, how undocumented status affects health and education, and how modern telecommunications are providing the tools for transborder migrant networks.
The eight chapters are: San Miguel Tlacotepec as a Community of Emigration; Strategies for Success: Border Crossing in an Era of Heightened Security; Setting Down Roots: Tlacotepense Settlement in the United States; Long-Distance Lives: International Migrant Networks and Technology in the United States and Mexico; Going to School, Going to El Norte: Migration’s Impact on Tlacotepense Education; Lucharle por la Vida: The Impact of Migration on Health; Between Here and There: Ethnicity, Civic Participation, and Migration in San Miguel Tlacotepec; and The Economics of Migration: Agriculture, Remittances and Investment.
Wayne A. Cornelius, director emeritus, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS)
Cornelius is director emeritus, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS), University of California-San Diego as well as Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Theodore E. Gildred Chair in U.S.-Mexican Relations at that university. Fitzgerald, associated director, CCIS is author of A Nation of Emigrants: How Mexico Manages Its Migration. Borger is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, San Diego. Hernandez-Diaz is professor of anthropology at the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca.
![](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/hmpr_migrationmixteca-150x150.jpg)
Click here to buy Migration from the Mexican Mixteca
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Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 13, 2010
![hmpr_oecdus](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hmpr_oecdus-300x178.jpg)
Click on image to enlarge
Graphic: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
With an additional 85,000 jobs lost in the United States last month there is no doubt that joblessness has become the leading and most serious indicator of our nation’s economic crisis. According to a recent The New York Times article, as of December 2009 most unemployed Americans remain in that state for 29 weeks, the longest since the government began tracking that data in 1948. In order just to keep pace with new arrivals into the workforce the country needs 100,000 new jobs a month. There simply are not enough jobs. Worst of all there is no prospect of enough new jobs developing anytime soon. Are things getting better elsewhere?
At the end of last week the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which tracks changes in 29 countries announced its composite leading indicators or CLIs for November 2009 point to “stronger signals for recovery than last month’s assessment.” Researchers calculated CLIs for 29 OECD countries and 9 zones.
Analysts at the Paris-based organization interpret the new data to indicate an upward movement in the index of industrial production for the seven countries they examined, except Canada and the United Kingdom. The release also indicates that the CLIs for those major seven countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States) moved above their long-term trend, indicating “an expansionary outlook relative to trend.” The organization’s data for major non member countries economies points to a recovery.
Specifically, the CLI for the OECD area increased by 1.0 point in November 2009 and was 8.2 points higher than in November 2008. The CLI for the United States increased by 1.0 point in November, 6.8 points higher than a year earlier. The Euro area’s CLI increased by 1.1 point in November, 10.9 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Japan increased by 1.2 point in November, 5.4 points higher than a year ago.
The CLI for the United Kingdom increased by 1.2 point in November 2009, 10.7 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Canada increased by 1.0 point in November, 9.4 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for France increased by 1.2 point in November, 11.9 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Germany increased by 1.4 points in November, 12.3 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Italy increased by 0.9 point in November, 13.8 points higher than a year ago.
The CLI for China increased 0.2 point in November 2009, 7.6 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for India is remained the same in November and 4.3 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Russia increased by 1.0 point in November, 3.4 points higher than a year ago. The CLI for Brazil increased by 0.8 point in November, 1.3 points lower than a year ago.
What these numbers mean to everyday people in practical terms is anyone’s guess. For now, it seems to offer a small glimmer of hope that the famous V shape of the economic trend is moving up and away from the bottom in some countries.
OECD provides a forum for member governments to compare policy experiences, “seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and coordinate domestic and international policies.” The OECD-Total covers 29 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. The Euro area (only Euro area countries that are members of OECD) covers 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovak Republic and Spain. The Major Five Asia area covers China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea.
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 11, 2010
Chocolate brownie, dark chocolate tablets and cocoa powder
Photos: Simon & Baker, National Confectioners Association
When I think of chocolate my mouth waters. I, like millions of people around the world, especially in the West, think this derivative of the cocoa bean delicious. It is interesting to note that western nations seem to be the most fond of chocolate. While 85 percent of cocoa is imported from West Africa 70 percent of the profit from chocolate sales is made in western countries; and 80 percent of the chocolate market is controlled by only six companies such as Nestle, Mars and Cadbury, according to the World Atlas of Chocolate website.
Could weather play a role? According to Chocolate.org, chocolate is consumed by more people in the winter than in other seasons. This might explain why 16 of the top 20 chocolate consumers are European; they are said to eat 40 percent of the chocolate produced. In the United States, sales of chocolates are more or less even nationally with the exception of the southern states in summer where sales drop slightly. Peak chocolate periods, as might be expected, are Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Halloween and Easter.
In 2009, in spite of the economic hardships faced by so many people across international boundaries, chocolate sales increased. Perhaps not unexpectedly chocolate candy sales in China and the Ukraine rose 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Both countries have exhibited steady sales increases since 2005 and some market researchers believe the growth will continue through 2013.
“It’s clear that despite economic trouble this year, the world’s chocolate lovers didn’t deviate from their favorite treat. Chocolate is a small, affordable indulgence for shoppers who are cutting back on spending elsewhere. Even in countries not known for chocolate consumption, sales are on the rise,” said Marcia Mogelonsky, global food and drink analyst at Mintel, an international supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence.
Chocolate truffles
Last year, in Great Britain chocolate sales grew 5.9 percent while in the United States there was an increase of 2.6 percent in chocolate sales compared to 2008. Chocolate sales in Argentina rose 1.8 percent from the previous year; and sales of the brown treats went up 3.2 percent in Belgium. The sales increase in the United States may be the result of inflation, population growth, and new product development, according to Susan Whiteside, spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association, a trade organization dedicated to “advancing and promoting the interests of the confectionery industry and its consumers.”
“We agree with the Mintel findings that chocolate sales in the United States increased (last year). Sales for the period ending November 1 (2009) increased 2.8 percent while unit sales dropped slightly,” said Whiteside, who explained by phone that a 1 to 3 percent annual total revenue increase is normal in this market regardless of what may be happening in the economy.
Perhaps people concerned, depressed, anxious or just waiting to see how and when international economic woes will settle down are turning to chocolate for solace. To take advantage of the trend chocolate makers offered the same or a greater number of chocolate products in 2009 compared to 2008. According to the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, companies released more new products than they did in 2008.
Swiss shoppers spend the most for chocolate per person per year, spending the equivalent of $206. Belgians and Brits spend $90 and $106. Consumption of chocolate in the Americas is more moderate with individuals in the United States spending $55 each, and Argentinians buying an average of $35 per year of chocolate candy.
While revenue from chocolate sales in the United States increased the actual number of chocolate products sold decreased (the difference was made up by an increase in the price of chocolates), according to Whiteside. Perhaps because of the price increases representatives from United States chocolate makers Hershey’s (who also make Cadbury in the United States), Nestle’s and Ghirardelli did not reply to email and telephone request for comment.
According to a July 2008 Mintel survey, 78 percent of respondents to a United States survey buy chocolate for themselves and 47 percent bought the sweet treat for others in the past year. The most common reason (two thirds of respondents) they gave for purchasing chocolate was because they had a craving. Two thirds of respondents bought dark chocolate, half bought premium brand chocolate, 16 percent bought sugar-free and 13 percent purchased organic chocolate.
In recent years Americans have been purchasing an ever growing number of premium chocolate products from brands like Ghirardelli, Ferraro and Lindt. In the United States, consumers prefer milk chocolate but their preference for dark chocolate is increasing. This change in the market might be explained by the aging adult population’s preference for stronger flavors, according to Whitewise.
Target Latinos effectively by understanding how they shop
“Hispanic Holiday Shopping Patterns” audio recording
![hmprmanueldelgados.jpg hmprmanueldelgados.jpg](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/images/ads/hmprmanueldelgados.jpg)
Manuel Delgado, CEO Agua Marketing, gives a presentation and participates in an extended Q&A discussion about
- Hispanic shopping patterns national survey
- Why Latino consumers may be more desirable than general market shoppers
- Hispanics holiday shopping patterns and behaviors
Click here for information on “Hispanic Holiday Shopping Patterns” audio recording
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 8, 2010
Alice in Alice in Wonderland
![hmpr_alice2](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hmpr_alice2.jpg)
The Red Queen
Photos, video: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
With the exception of Edward Scissorhands and Bettle Juice, I’m not much of a Tim Burton (film director) fan. His dark quirky style makes me want to run away from the theater. And Alice in Wonderland is a bit of an acquired taste. Having said that, Disney’s soon to be released Alice in Wonderland in 3D looks colorful and intriguing in the trailers (no screener was available). It makes me think of Cirque du Soleil. Scroll down to watch a trailer.
A scene from Alice in Wonderland
The cast includes familiar faces like Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Marton Csokas, Tim Pigott-Smith, Lindsay Duncan, Geraldine James, Leo Bill, Jemma Powell, Mairi Ella Challen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.
Linda Woolverton based her screenplay on the Lewis Carroll classics Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. In the modern day tale, a 19-year-old Alice returns to the fantasy world she first encountered as a young girl to find her childhood friends, the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat and Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter.
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 7, 2010
Information provided by our Event Partner
![hmpr_towsesny1851](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/hmpr_towsesny1851.gif)
Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo New York, NY – March 22-26, 2010
Good Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the glue which bonds your content, brand, and audience together in the online world, and is the difference between your customers finding you or not.
Search Engine Strategies New York, has put together a comprehensive agenda for even the most novices of web developers and online marketers. Realizing the value of good content, how to identify useful keywords, and develop link building will set your website on the path to a number one rank on the leading search engines.
SES New York provides one of a kind access as the year’s largest search industry conference.
* Networking with more than 5,000 marketers from over 40 countries across every industry.
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* New product demonstrations and technical insight from more than 100 industry leading vendors and service providers on our expo hall floor.
* Targeted training workshops and site clinics for your specific questions.
* Keynotes from the most exciting speakers in the sector, including Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist for Google and David Meerman Scott, Author, World Wide Rave.
Sessions include. For a complete agenda visit: http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/newyork/agenda.php?utm_source=hmpr
New Affiliate Opportunities & Strategies
Deep Dive Into Analytics
Search & the Integrated Marketing Mix
Paid Search 101
Social & the Marketing Mix
See more at www.SearchEngineStrategies.com/newyork.
HispanicMPR readers receive a 15% discount when using NY15MPR.
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 6, 2010
![hmpr_onlinegrowth](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_onlinegrowth-300x265.jpg)
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While broadband internet access from home increased among whites, blacks and Hispanics, Latinos showed the most significant increase in internet use from 2006 to 2008. Although there are fewer Latinos online than whites in 2008, 10 percent more Latinos were online than two years before. Internet use among Latino adults reached 64 percent during that time. That growth outstripped that of whites (4 percent) and black (2 percent) visitors to the internet during the same time period, according to Latinos Online, 2006-2008: Narrowing the Gap, a recent report.
The researchers who authored the report believe the growth was mainly because of an increase in Latinos online who have in the past been absent from the virtual world such as foreign-born Latinos, poorly educated Latinos, and Latinos with an income below $30,000 a year.
They believe that from 2006 to 2008 the increase in the likelihood of having a home connection among internet users was minimal. At the same time, rates of broadband connection increased significantly for Hispanics, whites and blacks. In 2006, 63 percent of Hispanics with home internet access had a broadband connection; in 2008, 76 percent had broadband access. Whites with a broadband connection went from 65 percent to 82 percent, a 17 percentage point increase, and black access to broadband went from 63 percent in 2006 to 78 percent in 2008.
The authors of Latinos Online are Gretchen Livingston, senior researcher, Pew Hispanic Center; Kim Parker, senior researcher, Pew Social and Demographic Trends Project; and Susannah Fox, associate director, Pew Internet and American Life Project.
They derived their findings from a compilation of eight landline telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet and American Life Project from February to October 2006, and from August to December 2008. The Pew Hispanic Center surveyed 7,554 adults, and the Pew Internet and American Life Project interviewed 13,687 adults.
Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the nation. The Pew Internet Project conducts original research that explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life.
Reach Hispanics online today with
“Marketing to Hispanics Online” audio recording
Identifying and characterizing the booming Hispanic online market
![Matias Perels](/images/hmprMatiasPerels.jpg)
Joel Bary, Alex Carvallo and Matias Perel
Find out about
• The 16 million Latino online users
• Latino online users by gender
• What they do online
• Their language preferences
• How to reach Hispanic urban youth online
• What affects their online behavior
• What influences their purchases
Click here for information about “Marketing to Hispanics Online”
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 4, 2010
![hmpr_jam4l](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_jam4l.jpg)
Marked 4 Life album cover
Photos, song: HardKandy Records Inc.
L.J. (Stephen Sebastioa) and D-cypl (Chris Collins) were born in Livingston, New Jersey into broken homes. Little did they know that years later life would bring them together. L.J. began rhyming in the Portuguese section of Newark he called home with his friend Vic at the age of 15. D-cypl loved music since he was a little boy and began rhyming when he was 14. Scroll down to listen to Bandeiras Remix, a song from Marked 4 Life, their debut album.
![hmpr_ja](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_ja.jpg)
L.J. and D-cypl
In 2000, L.J. and D-cypl teamed up. That same year they met Murdock, a rap entrepreneur that influenced their music, before L.J. went off to college. Two years later, soon after L.J. and D-cypl got together again, they got a break from a record label. They were featured in In The Name of Hip Hop Vol.1. The duo believe in “brotherhood, kindness, and truth.”
Click on the play button to listen to Bandeiras Remix.
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 28, 2009
Dave Isay, founder and president, StoryCorps
Photos: Griot Initiative
Are you Hispanic and living in a city the United States or Puerto Rico? Are you comfortable with the idea of an audio recording? Is there a past experience you yearn to share with a friend and others you may never meet? If you answered yes to all these questions, you may want to participate in StoryCorps Historias, an ongoing national program for Latinos developed by Dave Isay of StoryCorps and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The program, launched in New York City September 2009, will be in Miami, Florida January 7-30, 2010.
Part of the program’s outreach is done by partnering with local radio stations, cultural institutions and community-based organizations to collect recordings from 21 locations. In Miami, StoryCorps is partnering with WDNA-FM 88.9 Public Radio, which plans to air some of the local stories. Selected interviews will also air on Latino USA, an English-language news program broadcast in 31 states and NPR’s Morning Edition.
Maggie Pelleyá, general manager of WDNA-FM 88.9 Public Radio
“Miami is the gateway to the Caribbean as well as Central and South America, and everyone has a story of how they arrived here, how they work, how they raise their families, and how they consider Miami their home,” said Maggie Pelleyá, general manager of WDNA-FM 88.9 Public Radio. “WDNA is proud to host this opportunity to share the stories of many who consider Miami as the Magic City.”
According to a StoryCorps representative, participants are free to discuss anything they like, in English or Spanish, such as a favorite memory or important life questions. The StoryCorps Historias website lists some ideas and suggested questions for those seeking inspiration.
“StoryCorps reminds us of our shared humanity; by listening to our stories, we walk in the shoes of others and recognize how much we have in common,” said Isay, founder and president, StoryCorps in a press release about the upcoming Miami program. “We are proud to work with WDNA to help create a growing portrait of our nation’s fastest-growing minority group by preserving the stories of Latinos throughout the country.”
As part of the process, each participant, asked to donate $25, receives a broadcast quality copy of his or her recording. The fee will be waived for those who cannot afford to pay. A facilitator assists participants in the recording session. There are two bilingual facilitators in the program.
At the end the organization plans to select 1,000 recordings to collate together. Those recordings selected for broadcast and archiving in the Library of Congress will be edited and shortened with the participants permission. Also involved in the national initiative are Latino Public Radio Consortium, Latino USA and the U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project.
![hmpr_mobilebooth](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_mobilebooth.jpg)
A StoryCorps MobileBooth
Residents of San Francisco, California; Eastern Puerto Rico; Taos, New Mexico; Alamosa, Colorado; Austin and Houston, Texas; and Boston, Massachussets already participated in the program this year. In addition to Miami, the Mobile Booth, where the recordings take place, will visit: Yuma and Phoenix, Arizona January 4, 2010; San Juan, Puerto Rico January 20, 2010; Los Angeles, February 8, 2010, and Fresno, March 22, 2010 in California; as well as Washington, DC April 2010; Albuquerque, New Mexico May 17, 2010; Chicago, Illinois May 17, 2010; Brownsville, May, 2010, and San Antonio, June, 2010, in Texas; San Diego, California July, 2010 and Granger, Washington at a date to be determined.
StoryCorps plans to collect 120 stories in Miami. Its MobileBooth will be parked at the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade County College for four weeks. Details can be found on the organization’s website, StoryCorps.org.
In addition to Historias, StoryCorps has three other initiatives: Griot, designed to preserve the voices, experiences, and life stories of African Americans; Memory Loss Initiative for people affected by memory loss; and 9/11 Initiative to honor and remember the stories of survivors, rescue workers, and others personally affected by September 11.
StoryCorps is an independent non-profit whose mission is to “honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.” According to promotional materials, StoryCorps has one of the largest archives of American voices ever created. Each week, StoryCorps broadcasts air on NPR’s Morning Edition. Other funders include The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, and Joe and Carol Reich.
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 21, 2009
Jude Law, Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey, Jr. on the set
Photos, video: Warner Bros.
That eccentric British detective is at it again. This time Robert Downey Jr. plays the famous fictional character and Jude Law his faithful sidekick. The latest reincarnation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is brought to the screen this Christmas Day by Director Guy Ritchie in the simply titled Sherlock Holmes, a Warner Bros. release. Scroll down to watch a film clip.
After a string of brutal, ritualistic murders, Holmes and Watson arrive in time to save the latest victim and uncover the killer, Lord Blackwood. He has terrorized inmates and jailers with his seeming connection to dark and powerful forces. As he approaches his scheduled hanging, Blackwood warns Holmes that death has no power over him. And when, by all indications, Blackwood makes good on his promise, his apparent resurrection panics London and confounds Scotland Yard. Fortunately for fans of the detective to Holmes, the game is afoot.
“He was probably the first superhero, an intellectual superhero,” said Downey Jr. “He was, and probably still is, one of the most recognizable icons on Earth, so much so that a lot of people actually thought that Sherlock Holmes was a real person. The more you look into Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, the more you see what a rich character Sherlock Holmes is. He’s very adept at so many things: he plays violin, he’s a martial artist, a boxer, an expert single stick fighter and a swordsman of sorts. He has a strong moral code in helping good guys catch bad guys, so he has dedicated his life to being a consulting detective. He doesn’t do it to show everyone how smart he is, or that he has figured everything else out when they haven’t; he’s actually a crusader.”
A scene in Sherlock Holmes
“We’ve tried to take him back to what we believe to be his origin, which is essentially a more visceral character,” said Guy Ritchie, who has been a Holmes fan since childhood. “We’ve tried to integrate that and make him more streetwise. He is inquisitive about chemistry, martial arts, and the human condition. Yet he managed to percolate through all the different echelons of English society, which was tremendously complex. But then, as now, Sherlock Holmes is unique; there’s really no one else like him. I think that’s why his appeal has stuck. And while our story is rooted in London of the 1890s, we have tried to make it as contemporary as we possibly can.”
Although a spokesperson indicated by email that “The studio will not be sending screeners for this film,” according to promotional materials, Holmes and Watson fight to bring down “a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.” Other cast members include Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, and Kelly Reilly in the dark looking story. Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg are responsible for the screenplay.
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 18, 2009
![](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_fallingawake.jpg)
A scene in Falling Awake
Photos, video: Mega Films, IFC Entertainment
IFC Entertainment and Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) are partnering to promote Falling Awake, a new film due to be released January 2010. The marketing partnership will be between IFC Film, part of IFC Entertaiment, and Mega Films, the film division of SBS. Scroll down to watch a 60-second video clip of Falling Awake.
IFC Films is scheduled to release the new movie in late January in New York and Miami with a simultaneous release nationwide on demand while SBS is scheduled to promote the film with a multi-million dollar advertising and promotion campaign on the company’s television, radio and online outlets.
Jonathan Sehring, president, IFC Entertainment
“SBS and IFC together are a potent team and are ideal partners for the release of Falling Awake,” said Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Entertainment, in a press release. “Our combined areas of expertise should ensure this terrific film finds the widest possible audience.”
Falling Awake, Mega Films’ first English-language production, stars Jenna Dewan (Step Up), Nicholas Gonzalez (Melrose Place) and Andrew Cisneros. The film was directed by Agustin (Gabriel, El Vacilon) and produced by Andrew Adelson. The executive producers were Steven Molasky, Dean Valentine, Brad Friedmutter and Raul Alarcon, (president, chief executive officer and chairman of SBS).
According to promotional materials, the movie sets out to illustrate the story of Jay (Andrew Cisneros), a young Latino musician in the Bronx who struggles to find his identity in a home crowded with family members and a neighborhood of loyal friends and dangerous enemies. His determination to find himself grows after he meets a beautiful Brooklynite, Alessandra (Jenna Dewan).
At the same time he is dealing with life issues like the loyalty he feels to his friends, his brother (Nicholas Gonzalez), who recently returned home from the war, and the expectations of his frustrated, angry father (Nestor Serrano). As Jay fights to break free of the cycles of anger and violence that grip his life, he finds that only love can give him a chance at happiness, and comes to a new understanding that helps him take the long, uncertain leap into his future.
![](https://www.hispanicmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/hmpr_agustin.jpg)
Agustin, director, Falling Awake
“It is fantastic to have the opportunity to work with a company like IFC Films that understands the strength and reach of SBS and Mega Films within the 40 million strong U.S. Hispanic market. I think the coming together of our audiences is precisely what Falling Awake is about,” said Agustin.
Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), is one of the largest publicly traded Hispanic-controlled media and entertainment companies in the United States. The company owns or operates 21 radio stations, Mega TV, and LaMusica.com.
IFC Entertainment consists of multiple brands devoted to bringing specialty films to IFC Films, IFC Festival Direct, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a distributor of independent films. Its day and date distribution model, IFC In Theaters, releases independent films simultaneously in theaters, on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC which in turn is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation.