HBO Latino Aims to Motivate the Latino Vote with ‘Habla y Vota’

New York, NY– Premium cable channel, HBO Latino has assembled a roster of inspiring celebrities and personalities to create the newest installment of the Habla series, Habla y Vota. In keeping with the documentary series’ testimonial format, this one hour program will feature inspirational stories and anecdotes to elicit Latino participation in this pivotal election year. The special episode will premiere during Hispanic Heritage Month in September.

The series has prided itself on showcasing a range of Latinos and their experiences living in the United States. Habla y Vota continues this approach featuring prominent news personalities, famous entertainers, academics and everyday people. HBO Latino’s Habla y Vota line-up is sure to arouse the community and contribute to what will hopefully be a record Latino voter turn-out. As Lucinda Martinez, SVP, Multicultural Marketing at HBO states:

“We at HBO Latino believe that now more than ever, given the explosive growth of young Latinos that are eligible to vote in this election coupled with our growing importance make it even more imperative that our voices are heard. We created Habla y Vota to compel the community through powerful storytelling to get involved.”

The Habla Y Vota Talent includes:

Geoffrey Royce Rojas, known by his stage name Prince Royce, is an American singer and songwriter from the Bronx who has received awards and nominations for his contributions to the music industry, in the genre of bachata.

George Lopez is a Mexican-American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture.

Jorge Ramos is a Mexican-born American journalist and author, regarded as the best-known Spanish-language news anchor in the United States with more than 20 years delivering U.S. Latino news.

María Celeste Arrarás, better known as María Celeste, is a Puerto Rican broadcast journalist, best-selling author, and television personality. Throughout her remarkable career, Arrarás has won several accolades and awards, including an Emmy Award in recognition for her extraordinary career as a journalist.

Brooklyn-born and raised J.W. Cortés is an award-winning Marine-combat-veteran-NY-cop-turned-actor-singer-activist. He is currently Detective Carlos Alvarez on hit prime-time series GOTHAM.

Adrienne Eliza Bailon is a singer-songwriter, recording artist, actress, dancer and television personality. Bailon first became publicly known as a founding member and lead singer of both 3LW (1999–2007) and The Cheetah Girls (2003–2008). Currently she is one of the hosts of The Real talk show.

Cristela Alonzo is a Mexican-American stand-up comedian, actress, writer and producer, who created and starred in the ABC sitcom Cristela. She is the first Mexican-American woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own show on a US network.

Jeimy Osorio is a Puerto Rican actress and singer. She is best known for her parts in leading telenovelas including Una Maid en Manhattan, Porque el Amor Manda, Santa Diabla and Celia.

Maria Teresa Kumar is the founding President and CEO of Voto Latino and an Emmy nominated contributor to MSNBC.

Armando Riesco is a Puerto Rican film and television actor and voice artist. Riesco was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, to Cuban immigrant parents who resettled there.

Frances Negrón-Muntaner is an award-winning Puerto Rican filmmaker, writer, and scholar. She is an associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University in New York City.

Jose Arellano is a fourth generation gang member from East L.A. He was born into a reality that didn’t give him much choice but to follow the same path, landing him in jail at 15. After a lot of hard work to get his life together, he can finally vote for the first time.

Ivana Mena is an Afro-Latina activist, focused on generating the youth vote.

Gabe Gonzalez is an Orlando born writer and news producer who came out to his family as gay in order to get them to support his cause and vote.

Julissa Arce is an emerging and leading voice in the fight for immigrant rights and education equality. She is the chairman, and co-founder of the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF). She made national and international headlines when she revealed that she had achieved the American Dream of wealth and status as an employee of (investment bank) Goldman Sachs, while being undocumented.

Lalo Alcaraz is a celebrated cartoonist from LA. He is most known for being the author of the comic La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip.

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About Habla: Habla is a 13 part documentary series created and directed by Alberto Ferreras and produced by Trina Bardusco, from HBO Latino, which comprises of over 200 testimonials from U.S. Latino Celebrities, recognized professionals and everyday Latinos who share their funny, poignant and honest stories about being Latino in the U.S. Each one hour documentary is filmed in a studio with a white backdrop– ensuring consistency across interviewees, locations, seasons and themes.

Follow HBO Latino on Twitter: @HBOLatino