EL REY NETWORK Founder and Chairman Robert Rodriguez sits down with award-winning film and theater director, university professor, author, activist, and political organizer Luis Valdez (La Bamba, Zoot Suit) in "El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair," premiering March 29, 2015 at 8:00 PM ET/8:15 PM PT followed by La Bamba at 9:00 PM ET/9:15 PM PT. Join Valdez and Rodriguez as they discuss Valdez's incredible career in this revealing hour-long special filmed at the historic Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles.
The son of migrant farmworkers, Valdez created live performances on the farmworkers' picket lines, which lead to writing and directing politically-inspired plays and the founding of
El Teatro Campesino ("
The Farmworker's Theater"). He went on to write and direct the wildly popular play Zoot Suit starring
Edward James Olmos about the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots. Valdez turned down half a million dollars for the movie rights ("more money than my father made in his life") in order to direct the movie version himself, which he did in 1981. After the success of the Zoot Suit movie he wrote and directed the Golden Globe(R) nominated La Bamba starring
Lou Diamond Phillips,
Elizabeth Pena, and
Esai Morales. Rodriguez and Valdez also discuss the Latino pioneers of the entertainment industry who have broken though and the responsibility that comes along with it.
Ignited to activism at an early age by lifelong hero César E. Ch?vez, Luiz Valdez has always sought to explore through his art the triumph of the human spirit in the face of social injustice. For his efforts, he has been awarded such prestigious honors as the Obie Award, the Peabody Award, and the Presidential Medal of the Arts, and is often referred to as the "Father of Chicano Theater." Now, viewers get a candid look at what drives this living legend in this must-see interview.
La Bamba is a 1987 film written and directed by Valdez that follows the life and career of Chicano rock 'n' roll star
Ritchie Valens. The film stars
Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens,
Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Pe?a, Danielle von Zerneck, and
Joe Pantoliano. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for best motion picture drama in 1988.
"El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair" is a series of hour-long specials featuring the industry's most cutting edge directors as they engage in a revealing and unexpected exchange about the world of filmmaking. The series provides access to one-on-one interviews between Rodriguez and some of cinema's most iconic filmmakers. Past guests have included
John Carpenter,
Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, and
Quentin Tarantino.
"El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair" is produced by Troublemaker Studios and Skip Film in association with FactoryMade Ventures. Executive producers are
Robert Rodriguez, Skip Chaisson, John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa.
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About El Rey Network
El Rey Network is a new 24-hour English language network founded by maverick filmmaker
Robert Rodriguez. Curated by Rodriguez and his artistic collective, the network unites the most culturally diverse generation in history through fearless, badass and original content that awakens the renegade in everyone. The network's action-packed content is anchored by original signature dramas, feature films, grindhouse genre, cult classic action, and horror/sci-fi.
EL REY NETWORK LLC (www.elreynetwork.com) is jointly owned by
Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures with a minority stake held by
Univision Networks & Studios, Inc.
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