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Jolene Rodriguez will step into Acebo’s former role at sister company Broken English.

Exclusive: Film financier Grandave Capital has named Christopher Acebo CEO of its Grandave International sales arm. Acebo was previously CEO of Grandave’s Latinx production company Broken English Productions.

Jolene Rodriguez will be promoted from president to CEO of Broken English.

In his new role, Acebo will handle acquisitions of films at various stages, attending festivals and markets and working with Grandave International head of sales Tamara Nagahiro. He will continue to produce some passion projects (he was a producer on Broken English’s boxing drama...

Exclusive: 7th & Union, the drama directed by Anthony Nardolilloa that follows a Mexican boxer looking to save his family, has won the Best Narrative Feature (U.S. Cinema) prize at the 25th annual Urbanworld Film Festival.

The New York City-set festival, which highlights the work of Black, Indigenous, Latino and other people of color, revealed this year’s winners Monday out of nearly 90 official selections chosen for being inclusive and representative across cultures, themes and stories.

Other winners included Damien D. Smith’s Target: St. Louis Vol. 1 as Best Documentary Feature; Sonja Perryman for Best Screenplay for The 84; and Lissette Feliciano (Women Is Losers) and Talia Lugacy (This Is Not A War Story) both winning for Best Female Director, U.S. Narrative Feature.

The jury for the narrative feature competition included Michele Arteaga, Executive Director, Program Acquisitions, Starz; Mercedes Cooper, VP Public Programming, Array; and Ryan Jones, SVP Production Development at Universal Pictures.

Multi-hyphenate Roselyn Sanchez is set to film her directorial feature debut, “Diario: Mujer y Cafe,” in Puerto Rico this summer, said producer Jolene Rodriguez, president of Broken English Prods. The Latinx company’s sister sales division, Grandave Intl., will be presenting the comedy at EFM, along with Broken English’s maiden production, Omar Chaparro’s “7th & Union,” and Venice 2020 pickup “My Tender Matador” from Chile’s Rodrigo Sepulveda.

Best-known for her turns in ABC series “Grand Hotel” and “Devious Maids,” the Puerto Rican-born actress-model-singer has directed the award-winning short “Satos” and stars in the upcoming dramedy, “Gringa.”

Written by Sanchez, the female-centric “Diario: Mujer y Cafe” follows four best friends, once known as the Fab Four in high school, as they reunite for an adventure-packed staycation in Puerto Rico.

Equitas Puerto Rico will be the production company on site. Stanley Preschutti of Grandave Capital and Frank Mayor of Cinevision Global serve as executive producers.

FilmLA is reporting that 18 film permit applications are being submitted per day since resuming remote operations on June 15 — about 34% of the pre-pandemic level.

The number of daily applications for location shooting in Los Angeles has risen from the average of 14 it reported on July 1. FilmLA, which closed down in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said it has received approximately 577 film permit applications from 422 unique projects since it re-opened, with only 9% of those for film and television projects.

Nearly two-thirds of the applications cover activity in the advertising industry, such as still photography and commercials. The agency said reality TV production has also started to resume but cautions that overall activity will remain low until scripted television and feature production pick up – which is expected in early September.

FilmLA president Paul Audley told Variety that a handful of film and TV projects have been shooting in Los Angeles, recently including pandemic drama “Songbird,...

Exclusive: Felipe Esparza is ready to bring the funny to Netflix with his first original comedy special on the streaming giant titled Felipe Esparza: Bad Decisions. It will also go by the title: Felipe Esparza: Malas Decisiones. Yup, it’s a bilingual special and it will be released globally on September 1.

Filmed in Santa Ana, California as two separate performances — one in English and one in Spanish — the specials showcase Esparza’s edgy style of humor as the perfect vehicle to weave through difficult anecdotes of his childhood and mistakes in his adult life with ease. Bad Decisions/Malas Decisiones mark the first time a Netflix comedian has recorded a stand up special in two languages that are set to be released simultaneously.

The comedian won Last Comic Standing in 2010 and prior to Bad Decisions/Malas Decisiones, Esparza had two comedy specials including They’re Not Gonna Laugh At You...

Omar Chaparro, one of Mexico’s most popular comedian-actors, and Mexican-Lebanese actress Edy Ganem (“Devious Maids”) have been cast as leads in feature drama “7th & Union” from newly launched Broken English Productions.

Launched in response to Hollywood’s paucity of diverse voices, in front and behind the camera, Broken English Prods. was unveiled mid-June by fledgling film finance company Grandave Capital, which plans to invest some $20 million in two to four Latinx projects with budgets of up to $5 million.

“We are proud to kick off Broken English Prods. with such a strong and commercial cast. Paired with [director] Anthony Nardolillo’s vision, ‘7th & Union’ is just the beginning of our investment in the Latinx pool of talent and projects,” said Broken English Prods. head Christopher Acebo.

“7th & Union” turns on two men, one well-off, the other not so much, who are both down on their luck. They strike...