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

(lively music) - Welcome familia to season five, episode two.

Did you know the recently released '24 Hollywood Diversity Report indicates something interesting?

As Latinos, we kind of already know, that movies with diverse cast are actually doing better at the box office than those without diversity.

It seems people really wanna see films that reflect the real world.

On this episode, we discuss how diversity and creativity sparks social change with our guest from Freedom Studios, Julia Carias-Linares and Meiling Macias-Toro, who are transforming storytelling into powerful media, movements that aim to boost voter registration, and also spotlight Chris Jackson, Veronica Jackson, and Venessa Diaz inspiring advocacy through the arts for people with special needs.

Kicking of today's show, we're joined by Julia Carias-Linares and Meiling Macias-Toro.

They're the dynamic duo behind Freedom Studios, a woman-led company dedicated to crafting content designed to aspire, challenge, and elevate stories of social impact.

Julia is a multi-talented media executive and entrepreneur powerhouse in the TV and film production, acting and interior design space.

Meiling Macias-Toro is an esteemed advertising and media expert with over 35 years in the business, collaborating with global giants and featuring stars like Celia Cruz and Pele.

Welcome to "Que Pasa."

- Gracias.

- Thank you.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you for having me.

- Tell me how you started, I know you have a long history of being in advertising.

Tell me about your advertising career, how you fell into that space.

- I fell into that space, I actually wanted to be in entertainment, you know, acting, dancing, singing.

But when my dad pretty much saw that he was taking me to audition for colleges for the acting abilities, and you know, they put me through dance school and acting school while I was growing up.

So I was wondering like, okay, so that's naturally where I wanna go.

And when he said, "No, ninas can't make money out of this, you know, you are not gonna make money out of this."

So I went back and looked up what else can I do that's within the entertainment field?

And it was being behind the scenes.

And so I started, you know, I went to a two-year school, Elizabeth Seton, for radio and television.

It was hands-on, so it was practicing immediately.

My first semester was behind cameras and doing, you know, actual work.

So I fell in love with the behind the scenes and just knowing what it took to be a performer and an actor, I felt that I used that for my career, probably all my life.

That was my start.

My first job was at J. Walter Thompson.

It was the best school to learn everything about advertising from the financials to talent to business affairs and all the different lanes that we have.

And then I went on to Hispanic, you know, Spanish advertising and found out that there were no lanes.

(all laughing) There were no lanes.

And then I brought on a lot of the processes that I had learned at J. Walter Thompson and agencies like Castor Advertising, like the Vidal Partnerships.

So those are Latino agencies I've been part of.

- Julia, tell us how you got into TV.

- Wow.

So I'm an immigrant from Honduras and came here and my parents were not really excited about the idea of me doing anything in front of the camera.

There was this whole notion that, you know, there was something bad about entertainment and she would often say, "We didn't come to this country so that you can play acting."

It wasn't until I auditioned for "Selena," which was my first audition ever.

Like, I started off with a bang and I actually asked my mom to come with me while I auditioned in LA and she saw that I got very close and she was like, "Well, maybe, you know, this could be something that I can support."

After the audition, I knew that I needed to work on my craft, went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, got accepted, which it's a big deal.

And then after a year, I said, "I'm gonna go to LA and I'm gonna be," I had this idea that I was gonna be the star, but you know, you get there and reality hits and it was really difficult.

The whole audition process was incredibly hard.

But then I'm like, "Alright, how do I eliminate the audition process?"

And I've always been solution-driven.

So the next best thing was, alright, a producer, I love the idea of creating from behind the camera, and then I figure, you know, I'll put myself in my projects if I wanted.

And I went to the University of Mount Saint Vincent and got a bachelor's degree in communications.

- So tell me how you, you guys are the co-founders of Freedom Studios.

Tell me how that was born.

- So Meiling and I have known each other for more than 20 years, actually, we met each other while I was in college.

And then, you know, having worked in corporate America, I realized that I wanted to really focus on creating content that was reflective of our community.

You hardly ever see us behind the scenes, and I think that that is one of the issues.

There aren't enough of us making decisions, green lighting projects, but I wanted to, again, learn the process of what happened once you create something and it goes in into broadcast.

And so Meiling used to pull me in in some of her commercials and mentor me through it.

- And I think it's a great combination, when you think about it, I've worked so many years in advertising and she definitely learned a lot at A&E Network.

Product integration, I've worked on that aspect of the world.

So it's a great combination when you bring someone that knows the programming side of things, the distribution side of the efforts that we do, and the developing, because Julia is very creative.

So, and I'm more on the business end business affairs, budgeting, because that's been my experience, but I've been a producer on the ground.

I definitely know what it is to be in front of cameras or behind the cameras rather.

So it's a great combination, the two of us working together.

- Now I understand Maestro Cares is an organization that you're involved with, and Goya, Mark Anthony is a part of that group and they do a lot with orphanages in Latin America.

And is it correct that that then led to the movie you're working on, the project "Ninos Del Cielo"?

- "Ninos Del Cielo" is our documentary title, absolutely.

But Ninos y Ninas De Cristo is the orphanage that inspired us to do this project.

That particular orphanage was started by Maestro Cares and Mark Anthony and Goya Foods has been fueling this orphanage every quarter or six months with food and food donations for the children to basically survive.

But our efforts for "Ninos Del Cielo" is a collaboration with Latin Hollywood films, which is with Kiki Melendez.

- [Carlos] Excellent.

- So Kiki moves during the pandemic to Dominican Republic.

Her daughters who are twins, Scottish and Dominican, they didn't speak Spanish, so she wanted to expose them to the culture, to the language.

And so I knew that Meiling had been working at the orphanages and we said, you know, "Kiki go to the orphanages.

To the orphanages."

And then she said, "Okay, you know what, we're gonna teach English to the kids."

And that's how her daughters got to learn how to speak Spanish, believe it or not.

This is one of the most functional orphanages in the country.

And a lot of these children, they grow and they become great part of society, right?

Because they're doing, they're being inspired, they're being supported by folks like Meiling and organizations like Goya.

- So in the Dominican Republic, one out of five children are homeless.

And so that's something hard to bear.

And Mexico, it's probably one of the most vulnerable places for children as well because they're homeless, they're left behind, they're abandoned.

Our film will feature specifically the stories from La Romana with the children that we've helped in the Dominican Republic.

It will also feature some from Columbia and some from Mexico.

So our hope is that we share the hope, you know, that we share the experiences that some of these kids have become scholars, have become doctors, have become models, have become painters.

- And also inspiration for those who wanna support organizations like, you know, children organizations in Latin America.

- As we wrap up, can I ask you for like a 30-second message to some of our viewers?

You're both role models, we have a lot of young Latinas watching the show.

So if you could just give a quick message of inspiration or advice?

- I would like to share any young woman watching or young men watching out there is to pursue your dreams.

You know, never let go of that.

I think it's important to invest in ourselves.

A lot of times we can't ask others to invest if we're not investing in ourselves.

Work on your craft.

If you wanna be in front of the camera, make sure that you go to school, take classes, join organizations that are going to be supportive and it is gonna expand your network.

Go out there, write your story.

Nobody's gonna write your story better than you are.

- Yeah, I think it's important to tell our own narratives and see ourselves in the bigger picture.

Now take advantage of the diversity and inclusion that we're all facing and just being able to support our children with education, follow through.

I think that our kids right now need all the support that we can give them and guide them.

And also don't forget where you came from.

You know, remember that we should live a life of purpose.

- Sure, thank you, ladies.

Continued success and God bless the work that you're doing.

Thank you.

- [Both] Thank you.

(lively music) - Did you know that each year about 6,000 babies in the United States are born with Down syndrome?

That's roughly one in every 700 births.

And between 1979 and 2003, the numbers of babies born with Down syndrome increased by about 30%.

Today, Chris Jackson, Veronica Jackson, and Venessa Diaz are here to discuss their roles as artists and advocates for the disability community and how collaborations like the recent cabaret they did in honor of World Down Syndrome Day, can help boost public awareness and understanding about people with special needs.

Christopher Jackson is a Tony-nominated actor, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning songwriter/composer, known for his portrayal of George Washington in "Hamilton."

His works include significant roles in Broadway, TV and film.

Veronica Jackson is a Bronx native with a 20-year career in the arts.

She's a pioneering Latina R&B urban recording artist with two number one billboard hits.

Venessa Diaz joins us again on "Que Pasa."

She's a performer, a Down syndrome activist.

Her credits include the solo show, "Organic Sofrito."

Welcome to "Que Pasa."

- Thanks.

- Thank you.

- Tell me, I know that recently there was a diversity study talking about the film industry, talking about theater, and as we know the numbers are, we're underrepresented, but when BIPOC people and diverse individuals are on a cast, those movies, those projects perform better.

Would you like to comment on that?

- Well, me personally, as a writer, it's always been my goal and as a performer to create work and be in work that uplifts and represents our communities and tells our stories.

- I think it's gonna take some time to make the numbers more representative of what our experience has been.

I don't think that our representation in film and television and the industry in front of the camera, behind the camera, upstairs in those corporates offices, it's never, our absence has not been to a lack of wanting to be there.

So reports tell you where they are, but just like a test, it doesn't tell you how smart you are, it tells you what you have yet to learn.

And that's what I think these reports do.

It tells us how far we've gotta go.

And it's not good that it's there, but it's all right that at least we know now we can continue to push.

- Absolutely.

And if the demand is there, then give the people what they want.

- Exactly, exactly.

- If anything, it fuels the fire to be created.

- True, true.

- Chris, you've been on "Hamilton," "In The Heights," TV award-winning songwriter.

What attracts you in a role?

What roles do you tend to go after?

- It's funny, people think that there's a lot more choice involved, I think.

(all laughing) But I mean, everything that you just mentioned, all of those happened out of two things, a necessity to eat (laughs) and a necessity to express myself in ways that I had yet to be able to do.

When I came to New York, I never imagined that I would be writing television shows or be writing songs for kids or be a music supervisor on a TV show, or be nominated for a Tony.

Like you have dreams of things, but how they come about is always a surprise.

I've just always positioned myself to be able to say yes to the things that are in front of me.

I kind of feel as if my career has been divinely inspired as much as anything that I could have contributed to any trajectory.

It's been a real eye-opening experience.

It's the idea of like, make yourself available to the opportunities that are there, and you don't know which fish is gonna bite.

You don't know what opportunity is, what is gonna come next.

You don't know who you're gonna meet that you'll wanna end up collaborating with.

And that's been my experience.

So it's harrowing, but it's a lot of fun.

- Veronica, you've been a songwriter, singer/director and autism advocate.

Tell me about your journey.

- Wow.

(laughs) - Elevator version.

- That's a big one, okay.

All of those things have always been my passion.

The autism one was a newfound, I guess what turned into love, having my son and expecting to be able to jump right back into work.

I remember us saying, "We'll have him and then we'll take him with us to the theater and then we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that and it's gonna be great."

I had lots of plans and it didn't go according to plan, but this journey has been the most beautiful and the most fulfilling that I ever could have imagined for myself being an autism mom.

- That's amazing.

- And I don't get to do the other things that I love as much, but this job is just as important, more important, and it's just something that I love and turns it into, I guess, a passion of just educating other people, other parents.

I'm always kind of the person that is, you know, if anybody has a question, tell them to call me.

Give them my number, call me, I can help them out.

I'll find somebody in their neighborhood.

I can recommend a program or something like that.

So it's definitely something that I love to do.

- That's beautiful.

- I love my boy with all my heart.

- That's really beautiful.

Venessa, I know you're putting together this cabaret and it coincides with World Down Syndrome Day.

- Down Syndrome Day, yeah.

- So tell me about your project.

- Well, so I've been fortunate enough to have met Veronica and Chris in the theater world.

And at the time I was pregnant with twin boys with Down Syndrome and when I told Veronica, she told me about her journey as an autism mom and she assured me everything would be okay.

Chris gave me beautiful blessings on my belly and that was my first introduction to what this disability world could be like and the people in the world and how genuine they are and want to support other parents in the community.

And 10 years later, I'm also a board member of GiGi's Playhouse NYC.

And my contribution is to really bring more awareness into the theater world where I'm originally from.

So I thought of having a Broadway cabaret to celebrate the achievements of people with disability and bring in all these incredible artists.

So fortunately, Chris and Veronica were able to join me that evening.

And we had a host of incredible artists that also include moms of kids with Down syndrome.

- As we were talking prior to filming, a common theme that came up is if you have a particular role, like you mentioned, there's not a lot of choices, you know, you create the role.

So tell me some of the projects you two are working on.

Are you working on any projects, passion projects, that you're allowed to speak about?

(laughs) - We've been doing a lot of work with an organization called Culture City.

- We're on the Board.

- Yeah, we're on the National Board and that organization is dedicated to bringing a greater sense of awareness and accessibility to folks who are experiencing the invisible sensory, you know, issues, autism, PTSD, elderly folks who might be experiencing like early onset Alzheimer's to be able to engage with the world in public spaces, but create a safe and quiet retreat for them within those spaces.

We are in, I think four different continents.

- Five.

- Five different continents, excuse me.

And that work is continuing.

We've just done a tremendous amount of work.

And so we've been tasked with co-chairing the New York City Gala this year.

So we've been really focusing on that (laughs).

And dealing with our crazy teenage children.

Good lord.

It's a lot.

- We're gonna put the organization's name on the screen for you.

It's in a couple days.

What's the date again?

- April 15th.

- April 15th.

Okay, viewers, in two days, here's the information, check it out.

If you can't make it, still send a donation.

That's beautiful, that's a beautiful cause.

And the organization really sounds wonderful.

I'd like to ask each of you, a lot of our viewers, the idea of the show is we wanna show role models, people that look like the viewers, they don't get an opportunity to do that.

But what message will you give to some of our viewers, young entrepreneurs, young actors, young singers that wanna make it, it's a tough industry.

So if you could give a couple pearls of wisdom to our viewers.

- Whew, for me, I would just say just follow your heart and stick with your passion and your commitment.

My dream was always to sing on Broadway and I suffered a vocal injury at the same time that I was beginning a career as a television writer.

And it's like what they say, when God closes a door, another one opens.

And so I was able to still share my voice just in a different way.

So, you know, it might not be the dream you thought you'd have, just like we didn't think that our journey as parents would be the one that we have, but it's something so much bigger.

- I always like to tell folks that, you know, when they ask me about the business, the most important part of being an artist is knowing that you have something to say, have something to say.

And in order to do that, you have to live your life.

And those things that keep you grounded are your family, your community, your friends, causes that are bigger than yourself.

Ideas that are bigger than than you thought you could be.

And because those important things create space for you as an artist and they challenge you as an artist and they keep you up late at night and make you suffer a little bit for them.

The great ideas are ephemeral.

They're very difficult to hold onto to even see sometimes.

It's the pursuit of it though that is sweet, it is rewarding whether there's a witness there or not.

That idea that the truth doesn't need an alibi, it's just the truth.

It's just what it is.

And that's the thing that has been sustaining artistically.

Now, if I could just split myself in two, then I'd be a lot more useful to this woman most of the time.

- Maybe even three.

(all laughing) Yeah, you'd be really efficient then.

- I know.

- Veronica.

- Oh wow.

I would have to say keeping your options open, as an artist, I started out as a recording artist first, and my passion was to be like the Puerto Rican Whitney Houston, right.

Donna Summer.

And I wanted to create R&B pop music.

And later on in my career I was continuing to write and I had an opportunity to release some dance music and I was like, this is not really what I wanna do.

And it ended up being that I had the most success with, with the dance music.

And I had a couple of number ones on the billboard hot dance charts.

And it was, it took me into something that I ended up really enjoying and loving and I had never pictured that for myself.

So I would have to say to just keep, you know, don't say no to everything because it's not exactly what you wanna do, as long as you're able to create and you're still in your passion, then go for it.

- As I was doing my extensive research, I was like in a laboratory with a lot of equipment, I came across a YouTube video of yours and one of the comments that stuck out was "She was J-Lo before J-Lo."

- Yes.

(laughs) - Chris doesn't like that.

- No, it's quite true.

- I love it, I love it.

That's good.

I'm gonna ask you a last question 'cause when I told folks you were on, the one question that came up or people were interested is the role in "Hamilton" as George Washington.

Tell me how that impacted you.

- It was both a surprise and yet it wasn't.

The benefit of working on it, basically from the time that Lin started writing it, and I think I grew into the role years before it actually became a thing as a member of the "In the Heights" cast.

It changed everything for me as an actor.

And the fact that we were in like the biggest word of mouth show in the history of theater, one could argue, at least modern theater.

- Out of all the interviews, so much heart and love that we feel here today.

So thank you.

You're part of the "Que Pasa" Familia now.

- Always.

- Yay!

- [Carlos] And thank you for joining us.

- Thanks for having us.

- Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap.

You heard from the lovely ladies from Freedom Films.

You heard from the Jacksons and Venessa Diaz, all storytellers at the end of the day doing wonderful things for the community.

Thank you for all the support.

Keep on sending us emails and don't forget to ask yourself, que pasa?

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of "Que Pasa NJ with Carlos Medina" has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Hackensack Meridian Health, the Engineers employer Cooperative 8 25 PSE&G.

ROI-NJ Business Magazine.

Thanks to the Statewide Hispanics Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Find out more about our familia at SHCCNJ.org.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(lively music) (upbeat music)