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HBO Latino hosted an intimate gathering to celebrate and preview the premiere of Gilberto Santa Rosa’s “40 … y Contando” on Thursday September 13th, 2018. The celebration took place at Latin restaurant, Jimmy’s, in Midtown Manhattan.
Guests arrived eagerly on time and filled out the room quickly while sipping piña coladas and Puerto Rican rum. While some iconic salsa anthems blasted on the speakers, fans from all generations gathered and enjoyed.
After a little dancing and the excitement built up, “El Caballero de la Salsa”, the gentleman of salsa, as Gilberto Santa Rosa is known, made his anticipated entrance. With his elegant poise and patient attitude, he took the time to take pictures with fans, friends and family that were enthusiastic to see him.
As soon as he settled in, the crowd gathered to watch the fifteen minute preview of the HBO Latino special that will air on September 14th 2018 at 8 pm. It will also be available on HBO Go and HBO Now.
The clip offered insights into one of the greatest names in the business as well as personal anecdotes of a long and eventful 40 year journey. Everything from Lost in Translation jokes in Japan, to unfaithful husbands begging for his help to gain their wife’s love back, was shown in the video. Laughter filled out the room constantly and everyone cheered in celebration when the preview ended.
“If I were to be born again I would be a singer again,” said Santa Rosa after explaining that he now understood and agreed on why people say that.
Santa Rosa made final remarks thanking all the very diligent and amazing female executives of HBO Latino who planned and organized the event, the Puerto Rican Secretary of State, and assured all his fans that these were the first, but certainly not the last 40 years of his career.
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According to a study conducted by Columbia University in 2014, Latinos were better represented in the mainstream media in the 50s than they are today. The report cited a “narrower range of stories and roles” – something that Shayla Rivera, one of the three stars of HBO Latino’s Entre Nos: Part 2, reiterated on the red carpet before the premiere.
Shayla Rivera, Puerto Rican comedian, mother, ex-rocket scientist, and one of three stars of Entre Nos: Part 2.
The second installation of the purely Latino-comic special, and the first original comedic content aired by HBO Latino, revolves around three distinctly different yet equally successful comedians. In watching the premiere, I found, surprisingly, that though my roots are Latina, I did not have to relate to the comedians’ nationalities to understand and relate to the humor. Much of the sketches were spoken in English with some “Spanglish,” yet I found that the non-Spanish speakers were left all but confused.
The special really did illuminate the gaping void in Hollywood and in comedy. Latinos in media are almost always the sassy, spunky, comic relief – but Entre Nos depicted them as also nerdy, goofy, and most of all, intelligent. This is a realm that is starkly misrepresented and extremely difficult to ignore; when asked to name Hollywood’s big name Latinos/as, most people are not so quick to answer.
Mexican-American comedian Frankie Quiñones getting some laughs before the premiere.
Entre Nos: Part 2 is a spontaneous and hilarious addition to this Hispanic Heritage Month, and more importantly, to the continued efforts of diversification in Hollywood. Shayla Rivera, Vladimir Caamaño, and Frankie Quiñones, are no doubt Latinos, no doubt native Spanish speakers, but moreover, they are comedians just like Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Sarah Silverman. And they deserve the same recognition. There is an overwhelmingly large fount of Latino talent that is just waiting to be discovered, and HBO Latino achieved what I’m sure will be the first of many successes for the Latino community.
HBO Latino presented Entre Nos: Part 2, a special featuring three Latino comedians, at Cinepolis on October 12 as part of the New York Latino Film Festival (NYLFF).
The special is the first original comedic content aired on HBO Latino, and features three comedians who were ecstatic about the project from its conception.
Caamaño, Rivera, and Quiñones at the red carpet before the premiere.
Shayla Rivera, Puerto Rican comedian, mother, and ex-rocket scientist, prides her comedic style as “the truth.” On the red carpet, Rivera spoke about the conception of her philosophy: “My biggest inspiration when I first started in comedy was George Carlin. I would sit there with my dad and we would laugh, and I would see how, honestly, the funniest thing out there is what we all do but we don’t talk about. That’s the truth. If you shined a light on the thing that we do behind closed doors, people will just laugh with you.”
Vladimir Caamaño, one of Variety’s Top 10 Comics to Watch, is a “true New Yorker,” he says. He has performed at almost every comedy club in the city, and has been for years. His comedy sketch in Entre Nos centers around making fun of the rich. At the panel after the premiere, Caamaño claimed that since poverty is not a choice, neither is being rich, and that coming from the “other side” gave him a good perspective with which to create a comedy sketch.
Rivera and Caamaño at the panel discussion.
Frankie Quiñones has been dubbed a “one-man variety show.” He has introduced and perfected multiple personas in his routines throughout his comedy career, and has performed overseas for troops in Japan, Europe, and the Middle East.
Rivera, Caamaño, and Quiñones shared similar opinions on the importance in displaying multi-faceted Latino comedians.
“There is so much Latino talent out there, completely untapped,” Rivera said.
When asked about the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Latinos both in Hollywood and in comedy, she said, “They think I can only play a maid, or only play a nanny, or the hot, sassy, whatever…which is not true. I can play a scientist, I can play a judge. What I found is that it is not as much our problem as it is their perception. And they still haven’t really understood that we’re all different, we all have different tendencies – like they are.”
The special, hosted by comedian Ben Gonzalez, will premiere on all HBO platforms on October 13 at 9:30 p.m.
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