22nd International Latino Books Awards Nominates Ralph Rivera's DREAM CHASER - THE BUSINESS OF SHOWBIZ

Hollywood's trailblazer Rafael J. Rivera-Viruet, known in the industry as Ralph Rivera is a movie financier, executive and author originally from Puerto Rico. His book Dream Chaser - The Business of Showbiz has been nominated by the 22nd International Latino Books Awards, the largest Latino cultural awards in the United States. The Free and virtual ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 12th at 2:30 p.m. Ceremony begins at 3:00 p.m. PST. www.latinobookawards.org

Award-winning Actor, Director and Activist Edward James Olmos will be the Emcee. Other presenters include, Sindy Benavides, CEO, LULAC National, Cesar Caballero, Dean, CSUSB Library, Nora de Hoyos Comstock, Founder, Las Comadres, Jan Corea, CEO, California Association for Bilingual Education, Frank Cruz, Former Chair, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Jane Delgado, CEO, Nat'l Alliance for Hispanic Health, Nancy de los Santos, Film/TV writer, Producer, Eduardo Diaz, Director, Smithsonian Latino Center, Loida Garcia-Febo, Past President of the American Library Association and REFORMA, Ignacio Gomez, Award Winning Artist and Sculptor, Edna Iturralde, Award Winning Author, Dr. Luke Lara, President of the Academic Senate at Mira Costa College, Eva Longoria, Award-Winning Actress and Producer, Josefina Lopez, Screenwriter & Author, Elena Rios, MD, CEO, National Hispanic Medical Association, Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, Esmeralda Santiago, Author, Jesus Treviño, Director, Writer, & Social Activist, Cid Wilson, CEO, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.

A graduate of Baruch College with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Finance, Rivera joined a small accounting firm and subsequently was hired by the iconic accounting firm Price Waterhouse (PC) in New York City.Followed by Josephson International where he was a key member of the team that negotiated the acquisition of International Famous Artists (IFA), a group of radio stations, a record company and later the merger with Creative Management Associates (CMA) which resulted in the creation of International Creative Management (ICM). Over a ten-year period as CFO, he was instrumental in taking the company's gross revenues from $10 million to over $500 million.

In 1981, Rivera was appointed CFO of the London based Marble Arch Productions. The company had been running losses of over $100 million and in two years, the company made a profit of over $50 million. At Marble Arch, Mr. Rivera was responsible for all financial aspects of the company's motion picture and television activities, including the award-winning On Golden Pond, Sophie's Choice and The Last Unicorn.

Following his tenure at Marble Arch, Rivera ventured into the world of international sales, marketing and distribution. He represented independent producers at all major film markets including Cannes, MIFED and the American Film Market. On his first negotiation, he sold the international rights to a motion picture for $1 million for a film that cost under $500,000.

In 1986, Mr. Rivera was appointed president of The Spanish Connection, an advertising and marketing company specializing in promoting mainstream films to the Hispanic market. In such capacity, he supervised the marketing of such films as Full Metal Jacket, Dirty Dancing, The Living Daylights and led the way for film studios to put more advertising dollars into the Hispanic market.

Mr. Rivera subsequently teamed up with Tony Pastor Productions to produce the original animation dialog tracks for the Marvel Comics superheroes Spiderman, Fantastic Four and Ironman animation series broadcast on the Fox Television Network.

In 1996, Mr. Rivera was recruited by the government of Puerto Rico as President of Tropical Visions Entertainment Group. He produced a number of programs and documentaries for PBS and introduced the concept of tax incentives for producing films in the Island. Today, Puerto Rico has one of the best incentive programs in the U.S.

He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and produced The History of Salsa Music for PBS in New York and the 500 Years History of San Juan, PR. He also wrote, produced and directed Politics Con Sabor, the political empowerment of Hispanics in New York State from the 1920s to the 21st Century.

In addition to writing his memoirs as a series of e-Picture books, he is also the co-author of the Award-winning Reference and Research picture book Hollywood... Se Habla Español, a 25 years historical research project on contributions made by Hispanics in Hollywood films over the last 100 years.

Click HERE for a message from Ralph Rivera

Ralph Rivera is Available for interviews Starting September 1, 2020

Media Day: Tuesday September 8th Starting at 9:00 am PST

Go to www.LatinoBookAwards.org to view the Show and to see covers of all the amazing winning books by category. For more information on the works of Ralph Rivera please visit: www.terramaxent.com