- [Narrator] Funding for this episode of Qué Pasa New Jersey with Carlos Medina has been provided by, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE&G, ROI-NJ Business Magazine.

- Hola, familia.

Welcome to this month's episode of Qué Pasa.

Did you know that Latinos make up nearly 20% of the US population, but hold less than 5% of lead roles on screen, and just 3% on Broadway?

Today on Qué Pasa, we're joined by three remarkable women rewriting that narrative.

Ana Maria Estrada is an actress, producer and president of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors, creating space for Latin talent in front of and behind the scenes.

Doris Martinez is a media executive and founder of Latino Circuit TV.

She's spotlighting Latino stories after leading content acquisition at HBO and DirecTV Latin America.

And last but not least, Olga Merediz is a Tony-nominated actress whose role in "In the Heights" and "Encanto" have touched hearts across generations.

Let's get into it.

(upbeat Latino music) - You're one of those people that should have had a show for a long time.

(Carlos laughs) (upbeat Latino music) - [Carlos] It is, hey.

- It's amazing.

- [Carlos] It's amazing.

(upbeat Latino music) - First up, we have Ana Maria Estrada.

She's an actress, producer, and entrepreneur who's made her mark both on screen, and behind the scenes.

As the founder of the award-winning theater company, RASGOS, and the current president of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors, Ana Maria is using her voice to elevate others and expand opportunities.

Welcome to Qué Pasa, Ana Maria.

- Qué pasa, Carlos.

- Thank you for joining us.

I know you come from Peru.

Tell me your experience coming from Peru, getting into acting, and how that experience and that background helped you with your journey.

- Sure.

First of all, I would like to thank you for having me here, it's an honor to share my story, I really feel very special.

Well, coming from Peru, being Peruvian actress and having all this dream, I started acting when I was nine years old, and my parents saw that there was a potential because they always saw me walking in the house talking with myself, because I always felt that the camera was following me.

So they thought that I was crazy, but in reality, whatever I was doing, I was telling the audience how to clean the table, how to do the dishes.

So finally, my mother said, "I think she's sent to be an actress".

So she took me to this school in Lince in Lima, and immediately, I didn't wanna leave.

The people that were there matching me because nobody thought they were crazy because they all talk, they're all creating, they all paint imaginary walls, and that was the people that I belonged to.

And then my father decided to come to United States because it was difficult for him.

We are nine kids, and my father wanted to have better future for us.

And I was very happy where I was.

- So let's fast forward.

You've been to the White House.

- Yes.

- You are now recently producing your own films.

- Yes.

- Tell me about that pivot, of what motivated you to make that pivot.

- Okay.

It's very interesting, I do it here, a theater in New York, create my own group, The RASGOS Theater.

I worked and I did a lot of shows with not only, I mean, with (foreign language), it was a great play, (foreign phrase), we went to the (foreign phrase), we went to Peru with a play.

It was a great time and it was a moment that I felt that I couldn't support anymore, the group, because it was expensive.

- Sure, sure.

- So I got dry, and I was not receiving money from anywhere.

So I decided to take back a little bit and make some money and then come back.

And in this whole thing, I decided to go to Tibet.

I decided to go to travel.

I went to India.

I collect myself.

I try to know who I am, because I lost sense of who this woman is.

I didn't know if I was Little Riding Hood or I was Cinderella, (laughs) or I was one of my characters.

- Sure, sure.

- Because you can lose on those characters.

- Yeah.

- And I say, who is Ana Maria Estrada?

And I had no idea.

So I went to look for myself in India.

I came back and one of the organizers of, they were asking for who made the difference, who was this young person, who was entrepreneur, and who was the woman from RASGOS?

And they approached me and said, "We would like to honor you".

And it was in the, from the Obama administration, they were honor Latino actresses and actors and people that made the difference, and the environment I was totally surprised they did.

And I also presented my show, in one of the places of the White House.

And it had a lot of audience.

It was really kind of neat.

My parents, my whole family went there and they couldn't believe that.

And I said to my father, "Thank you for bringing me here".

- That's beautiful.

That's a beautiful story to be recognized like that.

You were also recognized by an organization called HOLA.

- Yes, yes.

- Which promotes Hispanic actors in the New York area.

- Exactly.

- And fast forward, you're now President of HOLA, tell me about how that award felt, and then what were the steps from award recipient to running the entire nonprofit?

- (laughs) It was a need of, I think I always want to give, and I always want to bring new talent, and I think how it was difficult for me, I wanted to for people to be prepared, so HOLA has been since 1975 and really advocating for the Latino actors, for have more representation in the entertainment.

And I think it's important to protect HOLA because it's an important for us, for the Latino, for the Hispanic, because we fight for more representation, not just to be the typical Latino that cleans the house and that's also small part, but we are already able to do big parts.

So now, my function as a president of the HOLA, we are trying to expand, now we have the (foreign phrase) want to join us.

We wanted to go to Spandau America, Latino America and bring all that together and create, expand culture.

Take some teachers to, for example, say Peru, and bring some teachers from there to here.

I think we could really expand.

I think we have to embrace the talents.

We have to embrace the creativity.

And that's what we are now in HOLA, try to expand and we gonna have our wonderful gala.

Lin-Manuel is our guest, and he will have his team the Raul Julia Award.

And it's gonna be October the sixth, and I hope you come.

- Sure.

- The award is gonna be fabulous, wonderful.

And we gonna be 50 years.

- Amazing.

- Fighting, fighting, and fighting.

And here we are (laughs).

- Ana Maria, thank you for joining Qué Pasa, and really in my heart, thank you for what you do for the Hispanic community, the arts community in New York.

It's very important today in today's climate that we tell our stories, that we share our experiences.

We're all human at the end of the day.

We're all, one familia, and we all try to help each other.

But the more we know about each other, I think that's very important.

- No, it is, absolutely.

And now, I'm doing movies and I'm writing stories, and I'm creating my short films, and now writing my big movie and that's gonna be like an hour or something, and I really am very excited about the things that your creativity could take you.

- Of course.

- And I think it's giving also more to the audience.

It's a different feeling.

- Of course.

And we'll have you back when you're ready to screen your new film project, we're excited.

- You'll be the first one to know.

- Thank you Ana Maria.

- No, thank you for the opportunity.

- Gracias.

And next up we have Doris Martinez.

She's a media strategist with over 20 years in content acquisition.

Doris helped shape what Latino audiences watch, leading programming at both HBO and DirecTV Latin America.

Now she's the founder of Latino Circuit TV, a platform amplifying Latino voices worldwide.

Doris, welcome to Qué Pasa.

- Thank you.

- Born in the Dominican Republic, then traveled to New York City, eventually settled in New Jersey.

Tell me about all that culture, New York City, D.R., Jersey, how that shaped your life and gave you an interest in media and leading in the media industry.

- Sure.

So I came at a young age, I was about 10, from the Dominican Republic.

And we actually came to Manhattan, in the Upper West Side.

So I was brought in the Upper West Side, right next to a synagogue, but our building was mostly Latinos.

And then obviously I spent, I will say the majority of my life in Manhattan.

And funny 'cause every time I say I'm Dominican, the next question is, "What part of Washington Height are you from?"

And I say, "I'm not from Washington Heights, but we used to go to Washington Heights a lot for everything, even to do groceries".

I went to college in Manhattan as well.

Did my Master in Manhattan as well.

And then I actually worked, right outta college in Wall Street for about a year and a half or so.

But I always knew that I wanted to be in entertainment, so I left my job without another job, never doing that again.

And I started applying everywhere.

And then I ended up working for HBO.

And then the last five years of my corporate life, I went to work at DirecTV Latin America.

And then after surviving many, many mergers, they decided to close the New York office.

And I was a consultant for a little bit.

And then I've just decided to do my own thing.

But I worked in entertainment industry for over 20 years and everything that has to do with the programming, acquisition, the US Hispanic, when I was at HBO and then on DirecTV, I got curious and I started working directly for Latin America.

Two different animals - Sure.

- But everything added to the experience that I have now.

- Yeah, that's a great background.

So you worked at big companies like HBO, DirecTV.

Why the pivot in starting your own media company?

- Yeah.

- Tell me about that desire, that drive, - Yeah, yeah.

- That ability - Yeah, yeah.

- To pivot, which not everybody could do.

- Yes.

But a part of me always wanted to do my own thing, wanted to be my own boss, do my own thing.

I had a lot of ideas.

I think during my time in working in corporate, some ideas were great, but some ideas, they're like, no, because there's a lot of policies, and bureaucracies.

So, I was unemployed, I was looking for a job, and I started consulting and I was like, you know what?

I'm just gonna give myself my own job.

And eventually, the idea is not only I'm going to give myself my own job, I'm going to employ others.

And one of the reasons why I've decided to launch my own company was because while I was as a consultant, pitching content, I realized that there was a lot of talent out there, a lot of talent, a lot of people that were having a very difficult distribution.

It was difficult for them to distribute their content.

And I was like, okay, so you have all this talent, you have all this content, good content that may not necessarily be very commercial, sitting on a shelf collecting dust, but what about the platform?

Like they say in Espagnole (foreign phrase).

So I was like, you know what?

I'm not gonna be on the content side, I'm going to be on the content side, but I'm going to be on the platform side.

And then I'm like, you know what?

If I don't do this now, when am I gonna do it?

So I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do this.

And I just started researching, I started making phone calls, doing researching with people that were already doing this in the business, and started calling people to find out and vendors, who handle the channel and the signal, and the funny thing is that at the time I was not even financially ready, but I did all the research so when the time came, I was ready to go, and I did it.

And it's been great.

It's difficult, it's still difficult, but I don't regret it for one second.

And I'm here and this is something that I really wanna do and I'm excited, and I'm happy about all the progress that I've made.

- Give me some advice for our viewers, our young Latinos and Latinas looking to get into content creation, storytelling, what would be some words of advice that you would give them?

- So, I know it's very cliche and everybody says that you have to believe in yourself.

You have to, whatever it is whether you want to have your own streaming platform or you want to create your first film, talk to people that have already done that.

Do all your homework, all your research.

But at the end of the day, make the decision that works best for you.

Make the decision that works best for you.

You're gonna be scared, we all are scared.

Do it anyway, right?

Because you are going to be kicking yourself and regretting never taking that step and always wondering, what if I would've just done it, right?

You don't wanna come, 10, 20 years, life is gonna pass you by.

You might as well do what you like.

- Sure.

- Worst case scenario can always go back to your old life if it doesn't work out, but at least you tried it.

Don't overthink it.

Sometimes you just gotta take that first step.

Small as it is, just take that first step and do it, even if you're afraid, do it anyway.

- I love it.

Thank you, Doris.

- Thank you.

- Keep breaking barriers and leading the way.

- Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me, for this opportunity.

- My pleasure.

And our last guest is Olga Merediz.

From Broadway to Hollywood, Olga has delivered unforgettable performances earning a Tony-nomination for "In The Heights", lending her voice to Disney's "Encanto", and captivating audiences from "Orange is the New Black", to "Brooklyn Nine-Nine".

Born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, raised in Puerto Rico, and now calling New York home, please welcome Olga.

(Carlos speaks in foreign language) Welcome to Qué Pasa, Olga.

- Thank you for having me, Carlos.

- I'm a big fan, so thank you for joining us.

Born in Guantanamo, Cuba, at five years old, Miami.

- Yes.

- Puerto Rico where you lived a great deal of time and then New York City.

Tell me, these rich cultures that you're able to experience, how that actually helped you as you pursued a career in acting?

- That's a great question.

Well, first of all, I have to say that it was very painful and traumatic to leave Cuba as you may know, many stories of Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro.

But what happened was, going to these different places and leaving at such an early age, it made me very strong.

It taught me observation, because we were always changing and we were welcomed into a foreign land, a different culture, right?

And it also taught me that you can pick up and start from scratch all over again, 'cause I saw my parents do that.

I mean, it was extremely difficult, but they did it, and it taught me resilience.

And it taught me to really push and go for my dreams, my goals, which I'm still doing at this age.

- I would argue, 'cause I have so many, either immigrants or children of immigrants, and you use that word that I love, resilience.

I really believe that the immigrant experience gives you that additional grit.

I almost worry for the second and third generation that they may not have the same challenges to overcome, which then build character, build that resilience, so.

- I think that's a very good point.

Yes.

I watched my parents really struggle at the beginning.

We left with nothing.

And so, I think I learned it from them, but I wanted to make them proud too.

And they were on me, constantly, to excel, my grades, everything.

And I have really fond memories of Puerto Rico, just how welcoming they were.

I remember my neighbors, we first settled in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and I remember how lovely they were, how welcoming, how noble they were.

And I will never forget their kindness.

- I love it.

Four decades in the industry.

- Yes.

- And the original, Abuela Claudia from "In The Heights", Lin-Manuel Miranda's masterpiece.

- Correct.

- And then you got to play the role in the film.

- I know.

- Tell me how you originated on Broadway, then you were able- - Right.

- To play it on film.

Tell me about that experience, what it's meant to your life.

To me it's an amazing character by the way.

- Thank you, thank you.

Well, it was the privilege and the honor of a lifetime, not only to work with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Tommy Kail on Broadway.

But it was an honor to bring this older lady, you know in our society, older people are invisible, right?

And they're the wisest people.

They have so many experiences.

We have so much to learn from older people, but they become invisible.

So, I loved playing this woman in a house coat, (foreign phrase), center stage, singing this incredible song that Lin wrote, (foreign phrase), and I did it off Broadway, Broadway.

And then, to do it in the movies, was just almost a miracle really, 'cause theater and movies don't really mix.

So, that was like winning the jackpot.

- Exactly.

And Luis and Louis Miranda, who I've had on the show had a cute cameo in the film also.

- Yes.

I love them.

- So you've been on some classic Broadway shows, like Man of Lamancha, Les Miserables.

- Yes.

- How do you select roles to audition for?

You have the luxury of kind of being selective.

I know it's a brutal industry.

- Yes, it is.

Very brutal.

- Yes.

- Well, I'm picky now, but when I started, Carlos, I was doing anything and everything because it's like this, this business, you work, you don't work.

And I needed to pay my rent in Manhattan.

So, I would take anything that came my way.

And I learned a lot because I didn't really study acting, but I had a talent for it, I guess.

And so, I learned a lot by doing all kinds of different roles in many different mediums, in radio, in TV and film.

I worked with great directors very early on.

And tell you the truth, I didn't know what I was doing (laughs).

But I learned on the job almost.

So, I guess I wasn't too picky when I started, but I am picky now.

- Sure, sure.

You have a documentary that you're a producer on.

It's called, "My Two Moms".

I understand you even shot some of it in Cuba.

Is that accurate?

- Yes, we shot in Cuba, we shot in Miami where my mother lived, and New York.

- Okay.

- And it's called, "My Two Moms, A Story of Separation".

And it's basically honoring the caretakers of my life, which my mother of course.

And I had a nanny called Marlena, in Cuba, that I was devastated to leave behind.

And we are so connected.

In fact, I just sent her a care package a week ago.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- And yeah, and when I went to visit her, it was like we had never left each other.

We were so connected.

It's an incredible story.

And it's honoring all the Abuelas, the mothers, that Tias, the caretakers in our lives.

And going back to Cuba to do that was just quite an adventure.

- And what could our viewers catch you on next, Olga?

Tell me some of your projects- - Okay, so- - That are upcoming.

- Thank you for asking.

I have a movie called, "Eternity", that is going to be probably in the fall.

- Okay.

- And it's a wonderful, wonderful cast, wonderful, wonderful director.

And we shall see.

We'll see how the audience receives it.

- Great, great.

Thank you for joining us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

(Carlos speaks foreign phrase) (Olga speaks foreign phrase) - That's a wrap.

Thanks for joining us as we celebrate the stories, voices, and visionaries shaping our communities and culture.

And don't forget, check us out on YouTube, Instagram, and all your social media platforms.

Thank you.

- [Narrator] Funding for this episode of Qué Pasa New Jersey with Carlos Medina has been provided by, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825 Hackensack Meridian Health, PSE&G, ROI-NJ Business Magazine.

(upbeat Latino music)