- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of "Que 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 a very special episode of "Que Pasa?"

I'm Carlos Medina.

- And I'm Marisol Medina.

- Father's Day brings both joy and reflection as we celebrate the bond between fathers and daughters, and honor the memory of my dad, Modesto "Bob" Medina, who passed away earlier this year.

- My grandfather was a Korean War veteran and longtime director of the New York Times' News Morgue, what many called Google before Google.

He had a passion for preserving other people's personal stories.

- Today, we continue that legacy with another father-daughter duo, returning guest Jeff Gomez, storytelling pioneer and CEO of Starlight Runner, and his daughter, Evangelia Artemis-Gomez, a rising force following in his footsteps in the storytelling world.

- This episode is about more than just Father's Day.

It's about familia, legacy, and the stories that shape who we are.

- Let's dive in.

- Let's dive in.

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

(upbeat music) - It's amazing.

- It's amazing.

- [Carlos] It's amazing.

(upbeat music) Hi, guys.

One of the common questions I get asked is about the Modesto Educational Foundation.

It's a foundation I started to celebrate my dad's life, Modesto, sometimes they called him Bob, Modesto "Bob" Medina.

Dad was born in Cienfuegos Province in Cuba in the early 1950s.

His dad was a military officer who served in the Cuban Army.

When Dad passed, him and his mom came to New York City.

In New York City, Dad worked three jobs, was a hard worker.

I remember one of the stories is that he swept pins from a factory that used to do something with clothing, so all the pins would be on the ground and Dad would have to sweep.

And then he worked in a steel mill, and Dad would say he'd come back like five shades darker, just his skin would get so dark working in the heat and the smoke.

And famously, he went to a blind date to meet a woman named Hilda.

And he ended up meeting my mom, Zaida Medina, at the party.

And when he tried to date her by formally asking her father, Jesus Rodriguez, for permission, he didn't like that.

And he said, (speaks in foreign language).

"That Cuban's just looking for his green card.

(chuckles) Stay away."

Luckily they didn't listen to that advice, and Dad and Mom got married, and soon thereafter he served in the Korean War, which enabled him to become a citizen because of the Geneva Convention to be afforded the protections of his military service, God forbid, he were captured, being a citizen was important.

So that's how Dad actually became a citizen.

When he left, he was a sergeant, and he had developed a skill in the Army.

He applied for a job that was posted in the New York Times.

At that time, the New York Times would have an interviewer conduct that interview, and he was interviewing for another company.

But the woman was so enamored with Dad's charisma that she offered him a job as a clerk in the news department.

Fast forward, Dad eventually became the manager of what's called the News Morgue, because once news is out, its dead news, and the Picture Library.

He would entertain many Latino celebrities.

Reuben Blades comes to mind.

Marilyn Monroe came with her husband at the time who was playwright, Arthur Miller.

He founded the Society of Hispanic Employees, the Hispanos Society at the New York Times.

Going through his things, I literally found hundreds of letters (chuckles) that I've been preserving in page protectors.

One of the letters was him asking some of the senior staff at the New York Times, "Tell me about the demographics of Hispanics," working at the time, "and how can we improve working conditions and more Hispanic employees" at the time.

He was always very involved.

He started a cooking club where they bring in celebrity chefs from all over New York City to teach classes.

In 1973, had his recipe for arroz con pollo, chicken with rice, published in the New York Times Magazine in March of 1973.

He helped a gentleman that you may have heard of, Cesar Chavez, who ran the Farm Workers Union.

So I have two letters, long three-page letters in which Cesar thanks my dad for hosting him in New York, helping him raise money, and just being a friend to him.

Another project he worked on was the Holocaust Museum.

Dad helped with photographs, research for the museum.

He helped the Kennedy family.

So I had a couple signed letters from Senator Ted Kennedy thanking him for all the help that he provided to the Kennedy family.

He worked on a documentary that covered the story of African Americans during World War I, called "Men of Bronze" by a gentleman by the name of Bill Miles, who was a good friend of my dad.

Dad became friendly with a gentleman named, Al Sharpton, the Reverend Al Sharpton, who came to the Times to research a book.

Nobody really paid attention to him, but dad, who ran the department, had three of his employees assigned to the Reverend for the day and helped him get photographs and research for a project that he was working on.

Towards the end of his New York Times career, Dad got promoted to director, and he helped transition the archives and the photographs from the New York Times to the Public Library of New York, which is a multimillion dollar project.

So Dad helped with that transition.

He spent 38 years at the New York Times.

I found so many letters from the publisher of the New York Times, from the publisher's son thanking Dad for all the great things that they did.

He always said the experience of leaving Cuba.

He insisted that me and my siblings, that we really focus on our education.

He always argued education is something that cannot be taken away from you.

You could leave your country of origin, go somewhere else, and you'll always have that foundation.

And now that we've lost Dad, I feel like I have him over my shoulder.

I'm always trying to make him happy and impress him.

And I use a phrase, I know there's a phrase people use, "What would Jesus do?"

But I really firmly believe what would Dad do.

And when I come into these situations, I just try to think, you know, what would Dad have done?

Especially given all the tools and the network that I have that Dad didn't always have.

So again, happy Father's Day.

You're gonna have a great episode with two dads talking with their daughters.

So it's very special.

So thank you for joining us and check it out.

(upbeat music) Welcome back to "Que Pasa?

", Jeff, and you brought your lovely daughter, Evangelia.

Thank you for joining us.

- (chuckles) I'm so thrilled and I'm so proud to bring the kid along.

(Evangelia chuckles) - I love it.

Since we last had a conversation, you've been really involved with the "Ultraman" project.

Tell us about the project and how that has either challenged or expanded your storytelling talents.

- Well, thanks for the opportunity to talk about it, Carlos.

"Ultraman" is a superhero from Japan.

He's an Evergreen brand there, an Evergreen property.

He's been around for 60 years.

Over 2,600 episodes of "Ultraman" exist, and he kind of reincarnates every year into a new form.

We were tasked, Evangelia, myself, and my team at Starlight Runner, with helping to popularize "Ultraman" in the United States, 'cause he hasn't been around for a while.

And so our responsibility is to be transmedia producers.

To examine all the different media platforms and make sure that "Ultraman" gets out there and reaches our target audience, which is young people who might be into Japanese pop culture, anime, people who like Marvel superheroes, that kind of thing, to make them kind of meet and love "Ultraman."

- So Evangelia, I wanted to ask you a question.

Growing up with a dad so immersed obviously in world building and global storytelling, what was that like for you?

And did you always feel pulled towards creative work?

- Yeah, I've always felt pulled towards creative work.

I don't know if that's something passed down soul to soul, or if that's something that I was trained to do.

But growing up, my dad always made sure that if we were watching something or reading something, that I was looking at it with an analytical lens.

So he would always have me assess what we were watching and explain to him what the themes were and how the world function.

And that helped me in my day-to-day life understand what's going on (laughs) 'cause it's confusing sometimes.

But I was able to make sense of it that way and it gave me a creative outlet.

It helped me translate my thoughts and ideas into mediums.

Like, I write comics and novels, and right now I have the privilege of working as a writing consultant and a writer for his company.

- Obviously, a very creative daughter.

What have been some of the lessons and maybe tell our viewers, how have you been able to nurture that creativity and not necessarily, some parents, could tamp down that creativity?

- Well, some of it has to do with being a Puerto Rican and growing up in the city in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, when, you know, life was a little rough, and story getting into cartoons, and anime, and science fiction, and fantasy helped to inspire me to live a better life.

I found wisdom in these stories that I used in the real world and somehow it worked, you know?

And so if it worked for me, (chuckles) maybe I could throw a little toward Evangelia.

- Whenever I was uncomfortable in, like, early schooling and I missed home, or I, you know, wasn't getting along with others, my dad would say, "Think of a story."

And so I would think of stories and I would write my ideas down and then I would, you know, tell other kids about them and they would enjoy them.

And then we would all end up playing at recess the stories that I wrote, and I ended up writing like long form stuff from that point on, you know, so it was a great way to synthesize the things I was feeling.

- Why does the character do this?

What does the character want?

What is the meaning of the story that you are writing?

And- - What do you wanna say?

- What do you wanna say?

So important in this day and age.

- How do you think being a dad has influenced your professional perspective on telling stories?

- Entirely so.

Entirely so.

I now know what it's like to have this level of responsibility, you know?

And when you're telling a story, I enjoy being involved with stories that are going to be exposed to millions and millions of people.

Sometimes I have to remind my colleagues in Hollywood that these narratives must uplift your audience.

You know, must give them food for thought so that they can take it and, you know, create their own narratives, even if it's the narrative of their life.

And so, that's my dad coming out and speaking truth to the Hollywood power.

(laughs) - Evangelia, having a dad that has taught you so much, not only storytelling, but about being present, being grounded, tell me about that experience.

- Yeah, I think one of the most important things my dad ever taught me is that no matter what, you always have a choice.

You know, you can control the narrative of your life.

And that might mean sometimes making sacrifices, you know, doesn't mean you always get to choose whatever you want, but there's always a choice between one path and another.

So I've been emboldened to trust my intuition because of that.

(Jeff sighs and chuckles) (Evangelia chuckles) - Thank you.

(both laughing) - So this is kind of for both of you, as a family that's rooted in storytelling, you know, creativity, how has your heritage impacted your storytelling?

- Growing up in New York City, I'm very lucky to be surrounded by a lot of multicultural people.

I know for myself I love being multicultural because there's always a deep well to pull from, right?

Anytime I want to do something creatively, I can think about my ancestors and their stories, and how palpable those stories are.

My dad always reminded me of how endurant and how perseverant Puerto Rican people are.

So that's something I've always taken with me.

I think so much of my confidence is built on knowing that my ancestors would be proud to see how far we've come.

- I remember the sadness, Carlos, to be Puerto Rican when I grew up in the city, to be looked down upon quite often, you know?

I moved out of the projects and into Queens, the suburbs, "so to speak," right?

And that was the first time that I encountered people who hated me because there was a Z at the end of my last name.

(chuckles) You know?

I empathize with people who are othered to this day.

And it's my job to listen to those who are.

And to have Evangelia remind me about what's going on at the street level so that I don't forget to make sure that those aspects of story are infused.

- So what challenges or maybe unexpected joys have you guys found in collaborating together?

- To come from a premise that my daughter is going to be better at this than me, (laughs) can sometimes be a little difficult to take.

- Come on.

(laughs) - But it's also awesome.

- I'm so lucky that my dad does something cool that I care about, right?

(laughs) I have a lot of friends who couldn't care less what their dads to do, but for me it's all I wanna do.

I mean, you know, I hope I can live up to the career that he's had.

So the fact that you say that you're scared I might surpass you, it's like, "I hope so."

(group laughing) - Great.

Thanks.

- That's my goal.

(laughs) No, but that'll be a hard feat because you've done so much.

And I don't have any complaints about working for my dad.

I love it.

You know, I've been trained for this my whole life just by being your daughter.

(laughs) So- - At the same time, I love that there's a little bit of an edge there.

I love that she dares go where, at 22, I did not, and that she's willing to experiment.

When I was her age, all I wanted was to create a giant pop culture, you know, projects.

But Evangelia as an artist, you know, that's fine, but also, there's this other thing, right?

In terms of how you express yourself, in terms of what you want to do.

- Yeah, I mean, I guess, you know, if any challenge, it would be that we work with major intellectual properties and I, (laughs) you know, my track record is edgier.

The art that I make is less palatable to larger groups of people.

- "Uh, do you have to put that on your Instagram?"

- Right.

(group laughing) A lot of that.

- We wanted to take a moment to ask, you know, flip it and ask you guys some questions.

- [Carlos] We're ready.

We're ready.

- What impact do you hope to have with your work on me and also on the world?

- I lost, you know, your grandpa, my dad recently, and I feel like he's really been sending me a ton of messages.

I want you to not go through struggles that I've gone through, and that's why I'll give you a hard time, 'cause I see you walking towards something that's gonna cause you pain.

Like any parent, we'll take the pain rather than you, right?

So I don't want you to go through those things.

So that's why I try to build a network for you, and give you doors that you could open on your own, but I just wanna at least have opportunities placed in front of you.

'Cause my dad, to some extent, did that.

But, you know, he came here from another country.

He was really starting behind the eight ball.

So I have a responsibility.

I always think if dad had what I had, like he'd be president of the United States.

So I always have this guilt, like, I'm not doing enough because my dad did so much with so little, and I have so much and I feel like, "Ugh, I got a lot of responsibility."

So I just wanna have you have an easier time, and show your skills and your talent, to continue to do the things you love.

Just to have a little easier time and unite and help each other.

That's all.

I think that the world will be a better place the more we talk, get to know each other, you storytelling to tell our differences.

- So my question for you would be, were there any moments, as a parent, that emboldened your confidence as a person?

- The second we laid eyes on each other, my child.

(group chuckling) The second we laid eyes on each other.

And here's why.

When I looked at you, (chuckles) brand new, I thought to myself that everything that I could possibly have done but didn't do because I was scared or because of various factors that kind of repressed or oppressed me, we needed to figure out how to not have that happen with you.

And so, the commitment that I made on that day was to teach you that all of this is subject to your will.

You can bend reality with your will.

You can bend reality.

And every step of the way, I tried to to kind of slide that into our dialogue and our interaction.

It's working.

(group laughing) - Right, whether you like it or not.

- Yes.

(Evangelia laughing) I have been the subject of the bending.

(Evangelia laughing) - What are the messages you guys are trying to communicate with your upcoming projects?

- The message that I want to pass on to my next project and even in this next phase of my life, my work, is with listening, we are capable of reconciling tremendous differences.

Because a story to me, to a degree, it gets a little tiresome when it's a good guy and a bad guy, and the good guy beats the bad guy.

There's always gonna be another villain.

I like to try and model my stories for young people who are facing the challenges of today.

And the challenges of today are systemic, and there are flaws in our system.

The people, the so-called antagonists, the villains, they're just taking advantage of flaws in our system, right?

So if we concentrate on the bad guy, the flaw is going to stay there.

What if we can agree with one another?

The villain doesn't even matter as much.

If we agree with one another, let's fix the flaw.

Let's fix it.

The villain's going to resist and there's gonna be plenty of action.

But in the end, we might actually repair it.

It's happened before.

We fixed things before.

We can repair the system and then it'll get better for everyone.

So that's really...

Thank you for asking that.

That is a key point that I'm trying to make with my storytelling.

- Yeah, you always told me don't put a bandaid on a broken bone.

I thought that was a good piece of advice.

I remind myself of that anytime I feel myself battling something up or trying to dissociate.

So easy to dissociate now.

It's something that we all struggle with, especially my generation.

So, remembering, no bandaid on broken bones.

We gotta put a cast on that.

We gotta figure it out.

- I'm trying to use...

I'm stealing a little from your dad here 'cause he is always about transmedia.

So I'm trying to have...

I'm trying to position "Que Pasa?"

to be a storyteller in a lot of different areas.

I wanna have a stronger social media presence, perhaps a fast channel one day.

And it's just what I said earlier, I think the more we all know about each other, somebody watching in Argentina sees Jeff's story and Evangelia's story, it's great that they understand what we are feeling and then say, "Wow, I, I feel the same thing."

So I don't think... Like growing up I didn't see enough of myself on television or in the media.

Maybe Maria on "Sesame Street" or something like that.

(Jeff and Carlos chuckling) So I'm really insistent that this show has people that are very diverse so that viewers could really see themselves.

You know, some young Latinas will see you two and go, "Wow, this is great."

Some young Latino will see Jeff and they do comic books.

Like my nephews do comic books.

So just storytelling, competent storyteller from an authentic place 'cause I think sometimes our stories are told not by us, but by others, so we're allowing the narrative to be shaped by somebody that's not living it, which is really a travesty, but it happens every day.

So authentic storytelling, making sure I have guests that could tell their authentic stories.

So that's my goal.

Just to have a lot of opportunity to speak to diverse people and tell their diverse stories to diverse audience.

(Evangelia chuckles) - Fantastic.

You're doing your dad proud, Carlos.

- Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Again, guys, you're like familia.

You're alumni of "Que Pasa," so thank you so much for sharing your important stories.

- Absolutely.

Thank you for this forum.

It's fantastic.

- Yeah, thank you both.

- Gracias.

- Familia, that's a wrap on the special Father's Day edition of "Que Pasa?"

Thanks for being part of this heartfelt conversation about family, legacy, and the stories that shape us.

You could catch full episodes anytime on pbs.org, and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Until next time, nos vemos.

- [Announcer] Funding for this episode of "Que 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.

(upbeat music)