"East Los High" a HUGE hit on HULU!

Have you seen it yet???  OK, I'll admit, I was slow on the trigger to tune in.  You see, I was eager to support the show because it's Latino written, directed, acted and produced.  And typically, Latino shows and movies need a lot of love to succeed in mainstream today.  Also, I was excited to see many of my friends who got cast on "East Los High." 


But I just couldn't pull myself away from watching my mainstream shows on my Hulu queue.  Then one Sunday, tired of my mainstream shows on my Hulu queue, I pulled the trigger and watched the first episode of "East Los High."  Uhmmm, where did my Sunday go?  I binged watched like 6 episodes!!! Can you say Hooked!  I couldn't get enough of the show!  And trust me, you will get hooked, don't be fooled by the title "East Los High."   


You see, although I'm a Latina, I did not go to East Los High or even grown up in East LA, more like Hermiston High in a rural cowboy town of Oregon...so other than my Latin heritage, I too thought, "can I relate to a show about East LA teens?"  DON'T be fooled my fellow blog readers, let me ask you, do you like the TV shows "Scandal", "Nashville", "Chicago Fire"?  Well here's a doozy, this show is right in that league, with it's storylines, acting and juicy cliff hangers.  So GOOD!  What I realize now, is that this show IS MAINSTREAM entertainment...can you say egg on my face. 


So after being sufficiently hooked consuming as many episodes as I could in my free time (24 episodes...phew!) I attended NHMC's MediaCon where the co-creator, Carlos Portugal, was speaking on a panel about "East Los High"...My lucky day!!  After the panel, I immediately went up to Carlos, and embarrassingly so, gushed to him about my enthusiasm for the show and that I would like to blog about it to help him get viewers to tune in.  Needless to say, he does not need my help garnering attention, this show is doing just fine, actually more than fine on Hulu garnering super high ratings and breaking records.  But he was gracious enough to agree - thank you Carlos :)   Click here for my interview with Carlos Portugal.

Kikey Castillo and Carlos Portugal at NHMC's MediaCon 

Another key player in "East Los High," who not only is my friend but a phenomenal casting director is Blanca Valdez, who cast the entire series.  As an actress, I wanted to know the low down and dirty on the casting process.  Hold a sec, are you thinking what I thinking???  "Hey, why wasn't I on this show?"  Don't worry, I did ask her...she's my friend after all :)  Needless to say, I think Kikey Castillo will be on Blanca's shortlist from now on - love ya Blanca!   Click here for my interview with Blanca Valdez. 

Blanca Valdez and Kikey Castillo at "8 Ways to Say I Love My Life!" play at Casa 0101 

Still want more?  How about an interview with the writers of "East Los High" - written by Elia Esparza of Hola LA! and Latin Heat Entertainment: 'East Los High' Opens Doors for Latino Writers



Watch on Hulu at: www.hulu.com/east-los-high
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EastLosHigh

Coca-Cola Tour: Adelante Los Angeles

What did I do with my Saturday?  

I joined more than 300 Southern California Latinas and attended the Coca Cola Tour: Adelante Los Angeles Forum. A wonderful event created to ignite a national movement to improve our lives.  

The Adelante Tour is created by Latina inspirational speaker and media entrepreneur Nely Galán (“The Swan”, “Celebrity Apprentice”), in association with Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence (CMI), the leading national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education, and community support for women entrepreneurs and Coca-Cola.  

Sounds fun right? Well it got better!

Bel, Elia and I arrived bright and early in the morning at the beautiful Casa del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica on the beach, overlooking the beautiful ocean.  Equally beautiful was the conference room - very luxurious.  

Casa del Mar Hotel on the beach

the conference room but not wedding decorated

Before the event even started we were treated to red carpet pictures, what a great way to kick off the day. At least for me it is :)

Elia Esparza, Kikey Castillo and Bel Hernandez 

Kikey Castillo

After a decaf cup of coffee and eyeballing the beautiful continental breakfast spread (can't have sugar right now) we found our seats and readied ourselves for whatever was to come.  

Naibe, Kikey, Bel and Elia

During the day we got to hear from very inspirational, wise and empowering women.  The three key speakers were:

Sandra Cisneros, acclaimed novelist, poet, educator and Latina advocate who has been awarded the MacArthur Genius Award, will lead the Begin (Empieza) segment of the Program. 

This mujer is COOL, she is very spiritual and metaphysical in a mother earth sort of way. She spoke my language. 

Nely Galán first generation Latina and self-made media mogul, who was the first Latina president of a U.S. TV network (Telemundo), Emmy Award-winning producer of over 600 episodes of television in Spanish and English, including the hit reality series “The Swan” and the only Latina to appear on Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump.  She will lead the Continue (Sigue) segment of the program. www.nelygalan.com

Whoa, I love this woman! What a tour de force...what a life (good and bad).  She really made me feel like anybody can achieve greatness you just have to want it bad enough and do something about it to get it.  

Nely at the podium 

Nell Merlino, Founder and President of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence and the creative force behind Take Our Daughters to Work Day, will lead the Arrive (Llega) portion of the Forum.  Merlino’s mantra is:  “Before you grow your business, you need to grow yourself.”  Her segment focused on building financial strength and discovering what you really want. 

I was in a bit of an awe to meet the woman behind 'Take Our Daughters to Work Day' 

The great day was topped off with a great treat for me!  I got interviewed by 2 media outlets: CNN en Espanol (thank you Naibe) but I totally feel like I butchered it as I got nervous speaking Spanish off-the-cuff and trying to sound intelligent LOL and for Coca-Cola Tour: Adelante (in English, went MUCH better!) 

Media interview for Coca-Cola Tour: Adelante

And that's how I spent my Saturday.  It was a nice change from my usual running errands or hanging out and I felt ALIVE, EMPOWERED and INSPIRED - I'd say, not a bad way to spend my Saturday!

And here is the CNN en Espanol interview, where I actually came off sounding not too shabby!

Join the Adelante community on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CocaColaTourAdelante