Two for Eddie
Firstly, EJO wins an award...
Hispanic Public Relations Association Announces Premio Award Winners
10/5/2005
HPRA to honor notable Latino leaders: Edward James Olmos and Marlene L. Dermer, Henry Alfaro, Gisselle Acevedo-Franco and Corporation of the Year Verizon Communications during its Annual PRemio Awards Dinner on October 19th
Los Angeles, CA--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)-
October 5, 2005--The Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA), a national, non-profit organization founded to advance the careers of Hispanics in the Communications industry, will host its PRemio Awards & Scholarship Dinner on Wednesday, October 19th at 6 p.m. at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles.
The PRemio Awards, HPRA's largest fundraiser, brings together more than 200 specialists in the field of Communications to honor esteemed Hispanic professionals for their outstanding contributions in the areas of public relations, journalism, and arts & entertainment. HPRA also selects a corporation of the year to showcase the company that has made vast strides in their diversity practices and involvement in the Hispanic community. Most importantly, the organization will grant $10,000 in scholarships to outstanding undergraduate Hispanic students who are pursuing careers in public relations and related fields.
This year's Premio Award honorees are:
-- Public Relations: Gisselle Acevedo Franco, president HOY Newspapers, Los Angeles
-- Journalism: Henry Alfaro, retired, KABC-TV Anchor, Los Angeles
-- Arts & Entertainment: Edward James Olmos and Marlene L. Dermer, directors of the Latino Film Festival
And, Part 1 of the EJO article from The Official BSG Magazine. (And may I say, I HATE italics...)
William Adama is no stranger to battles, but now he faces one much closer to home -- for his life. As his character lingers close to death, EDWARD JAMES OLMOS reflects on how far Battlestar Galactica has come and where the path ahead can take him. Words: Sharon Gosling
It's hard to imagine that there are very many things that Edward James Olmos takes lightly. Highly respected as a stage and screen actor for many years, Olmos' life has been characterized not only by his acting roles, but also by how he chooses to use his time outside work. Well known as an activist advocating fundamental social change by starting with equality in education, the actor has a particular affinity with children. Having spent time as an ambassador for UNICEF, he now works to improve the education and futures of disadvantaged communities, often using his own gang-troubled East LA background as an encouragement. The actor's career has mirrored the care he takes in his personal interests, and the roles he chooses more often than not have a meaning beyond simply being his next acting job.
These facts make it all the more surprising that Edward James Olmos not only chose to sign up for new science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, but that he also returns for the show's extended second season. A genre show isn't where you would expect to find Olmos' face, much less his unswerving support, and yet the actor takes every opportunity to praise the series and the writers behind it.
"It says so much, psychologically, about what we are as a species," Olmos says of what fascinates him about Battlestar Galactica. "We have English people, Indian people, Latino people, African people - and nothing is said about it. It's not even an issue. It's just everybody trying to hold on to their lives, because there are only 47,000 of us left. I'm telling you, this show has got me totally amazed. I've been doing this for almost 40 years. I did Miami Vice. I've done a lot of interesting work, but nothing prepared me for this. I'm overwhelmed because they are not falling prey to the normality of what this genre usually does, and that allows your mind to go into a fantasy world. There is no fantasy in this. This is as dramatic as The West Wing and The Sopranos. I told them, the day that you get one creature from outer space come in running around, it's over. I'm off the show. I don't have time for that."
Beyond his simple interest in the groundbreaking work that executive producers Ron Moore and David Eick are doing with the format of Battlestar Galactica, it is clear that Olmos believes the series has much more meaning for the world than the average television show. Though the producers have said that it is not their aim to make Battlestar Galactica a metaphor for the current religious and political state of the world at large, it is clear that such parallels are never far from the actor's mind and are, indeed, one of this main interests in the series.
"This show shows us how stupid we are," Olmos states in no uncertain terms. "It puts a big mirror up [to our lives]. A President who believes in her Gods and is directing the future of her people through the written scriptures of her beliefs?" The actor shakes his head, alluding to the possible parallels between George Bush's self-professed Christian fundamentalism and the fictional Laura Roslin's religiously-inspired quest for Earth.* Olmos makes no secret of his dissatisfaction with the current US administration, and sees President Roslin's quest as a metaphor for Bush's approach on the 'war on terror.' "What is amazing is that we are actually doing it - that they have the courage to do this. Why do you think all these people are saying, 'Wait a minute, there's something else going on here, guys. We've got to look'? There is fluff in it, there are things that are kind of soap opera-ish - but not much. You never lose the thread of understanding what their problem is."
For Olmos, it is these parallels - whether deliberate or not - that have propelled Battlestar Galactica out of the murky backwaters of science fiction programming and into the wider public consciousness. Whereas most genre shows find coverage of their progress confined to the pages of the niche press and tongue-in-cheek reviews in publications with a wider bent, Battlestar Galactica has found its way into the mainstream press. On the walls of the production offices are pages of publicity taken from all manner of publications from Time to Variety, and today following his chat with Battlestar Galactica, The Official Magazine, the actor will be spending time with The New York Times. The eyes of the world, it seems, are on Battlestar Galactica, and it has little to do with the fact that the Cylons (in whatever form they take) now look really, really cool.
"It evolved much farther than I could have ever expected. It resonates into contemporary times - people are seeing the complexity of it and the way it reflects what we are going through right now. It's not so much about the hardware. It's about the characters and where we are going. That's why I love it so much. I'm anxious to read the scripts every time I get them, and I haven't been let down yet. This season is better than last season."
As season two gets underway, Commander William Adama's problems are pretty acute, to say the least. With the final scene of the first season leaving viewers with the knowledge that the grizzled Battlestar commander had been shot at close range by Cylon Sharon 'Boomer' Valleri amidst a military take-over of the fleet, it was always clear that his immediate future was not going to be an easy one.
-to be continued-
*Kim's note: I begin to see the reason for the hostility toward Roslin, now. I mean, to me it was apples and oranges, but if those who hated Roslin did so because they looked at her and saw George W. Bush...
Hispanic Public Relations Association Announces Premio Award Winners
10/5/2005
HPRA to honor notable Latino leaders: Edward James Olmos and Marlene L. Dermer, Henry Alfaro, Gisselle Acevedo-Franco and Corporation of the Year Verizon Communications during its Annual PRemio Awards Dinner on October 19th
Los Angeles, CA--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)-
October 5, 2005--The Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA), a national, non-profit organization founded to advance the careers of Hispanics in the Communications industry, will host its PRemio Awards & Scholarship Dinner on Wednesday, October 19th at 6 p.m. at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles.
The PRemio Awards, HPRA's largest fundraiser, brings together more than 200 specialists in the field of Communications to honor esteemed Hispanic professionals for their outstanding contributions in the areas of public relations, journalism, and arts & entertainment. HPRA also selects a corporation of the year to showcase the company that has made vast strides in their diversity practices and involvement in the Hispanic community. Most importantly, the organization will grant $10,000 in scholarships to outstanding undergraduate Hispanic students who are pursuing careers in public relations and related fields.
This year's Premio Award honorees are:
-- Public Relations: Gisselle Acevedo Franco, president HOY Newspapers, Los Angeles
-- Journalism: Henry Alfaro, retired, KABC-TV Anchor, Los Angeles
-- Arts & Entertainment: Edward James Olmos and Marlene L. Dermer, directors of the Latino Film Festival
And, Part 1 of the EJO article from The Official BSG Magazine. (And may I say, I HATE italics...)
William Adama is no stranger to battles, but now he faces one much closer to home -- for his life. As his character lingers close to death, EDWARD JAMES OLMOS reflects on how far Battlestar Galactica has come and where the path ahead can take him. Words: Sharon Gosling
It's hard to imagine that there are very many things that Edward James Olmos takes lightly. Highly respected as a stage and screen actor for many years, Olmos' life has been characterized not only by his acting roles, but also by how he chooses to use his time outside work. Well known as an activist advocating fundamental social change by starting with equality in education, the actor has a particular affinity with children. Having spent time as an ambassador for UNICEF, he now works to improve the education and futures of disadvantaged communities, often using his own gang-troubled East LA background as an encouragement. The actor's career has mirrored the care he takes in his personal interests, and the roles he chooses more often than not have a meaning beyond simply being his next acting job.
These facts make it all the more surprising that Edward James Olmos not only chose to sign up for new science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, but that he also returns for the show's extended second season. A genre show isn't where you would expect to find Olmos' face, much less his unswerving support, and yet the actor takes every opportunity to praise the series and the writers behind it.
"It says so much, psychologically, about what we are as a species," Olmos says of what fascinates him about Battlestar Galactica. "We have English people, Indian people, Latino people, African people - and nothing is said about it. It's not even an issue. It's just everybody trying to hold on to their lives, because there are only 47,000 of us left. I'm telling you, this show has got me totally amazed. I've been doing this for almost 40 years. I did Miami Vice. I've done a lot of interesting work, but nothing prepared me for this. I'm overwhelmed because they are not falling prey to the normality of what this genre usually does, and that allows your mind to go into a fantasy world. There is no fantasy in this. This is as dramatic as The West Wing and The Sopranos. I told them, the day that you get one creature from outer space come in running around, it's over. I'm off the show. I don't have time for that."
Beyond his simple interest in the groundbreaking work that executive producers Ron Moore and David Eick are doing with the format of Battlestar Galactica, it is clear that Olmos believes the series has much more meaning for the world than the average television show. Though the producers have said that it is not their aim to make Battlestar Galactica a metaphor for the current religious and political state of the world at large, it is clear that such parallels are never far from the actor's mind and are, indeed, one of this main interests in the series.
"This show shows us how stupid we are," Olmos states in no uncertain terms. "It puts a big mirror up [to our lives]. A President who believes in her Gods and is directing the future of her people through the written scriptures of her beliefs?" The actor shakes his head, alluding to the possible parallels between George Bush's self-professed Christian fundamentalism and the fictional Laura Roslin's religiously-inspired quest for Earth.* Olmos makes no secret of his dissatisfaction with the current US administration, and sees President Roslin's quest as a metaphor for Bush's approach on the 'war on terror.' "What is amazing is that we are actually doing it - that they have the courage to do this. Why do you think all these people are saying, 'Wait a minute, there's something else going on here, guys. We've got to look'? There is fluff in it, there are things that are kind of soap opera-ish - but not much. You never lose the thread of understanding what their problem is."
For Olmos, it is these parallels - whether deliberate or not - that have propelled Battlestar Galactica out of the murky backwaters of science fiction programming and into the wider public consciousness. Whereas most genre shows find coverage of their progress confined to the pages of the niche press and tongue-in-cheek reviews in publications with a wider bent, Battlestar Galactica has found its way into the mainstream press. On the walls of the production offices are pages of publicity taken from all manner of publications from Time to Variety, and today following his chat with Battlestar Galactica, The Official Magazine, the actor will be spending time with The New York Times. The eyes of the world, it seems, are on Battlestar Galactica, and it has little to do with the fact that the Cylons (in whatever form they take) now look really, really cool.
"It evolved much farther than I could have ever expected. It resonates into contemporary times - people are seeing the complexity of it and the way it reflects what we are going through right now. It's not so much about the hardware. It's about the characters and where we are going. That's why I love it so much. I'm anxious to read the scripts every time I get them, and I haven't been let down yet. This season is better than last season."
As season two gets underway, Commander William Adama's problems are pretty acute, to say the least. With the final scene of the first season leaving viewers with the knowledge that the grizzled Battlestar commander had been shot at close range by Cylon Sharon 'Boomer' Valleri amidst a military take-over of the fleet, it was always clear that his immediate future was not going to be an easy one.
-to be continued-
*Kim's note: I begin to see the reason for the hostility toward Roslin, now. I mean, to me it was apples and oranges, but if those who hated Roslin did so because they looked at her and saw George W. Bush...