The producer and entertainment veteran Jeff Valdez, who founded the production company New Cadence Productions a year ago in the US with his partner Sol Trujillo, to develop and produce original projects aimed at increasing Latina participation both in front of and behind cameras, is about to launch a comedy special with multiple Latinx talents on HBO Max.
“It has always seemed ironic that when I go to other places I am simply an American, but in the US, I am Mexican. This truly summarizes the irony of what is happening. I always tell people that I am 200%: 100% American and 100% Latino, I have no reason to choose,” emphasizes Valdez, one of whose previous ventures includes the Latino channel SiTV.
The special, titled HA Festival, the Art of Comedy that had its debut on Thursday, August 20 on the HBO Max platform, has a participation of more than 60% of Latino staff. It will be hosted by actress Anjelah Johnson with special guests such as Eva Longoria, Danny Trejo, and Eugenio Derbez.
Valdez mentioned that other projects he is working on are a 10-episode sitcom that will start shooting soon, a film with an A-list director and producer on historical events relevant for US Latinos, and another comedy special for HBO Max.