“QUOTE 1”

-Jeff Valdez

WHO IS Jeff Valdez?

After having ran a comedy club, created a cable channel from scratch and written, directed and produced hours of scripted and unscripted film and television, Jeff Valdez had one conclusion: the road for U.S. Latinos to be able to create content that is authentic to our culture is long and arduous but not unachievable, as long as we make sure to pave it as we traverse it.

Jeff Valdez has been a pioneer in U.S. Latino entertainment by not only keeping a track record of content that successfully tap into the U.S. Latino market, but also opening the gates of opportunity to many U.S. Latinos in front of and behind the camera.

Through his entrepreneurial vision and creative skills, Jeff continues to find new ways to create access for the U.S. Latino community to tell our stories.

SHOWRUNNER, WRITER & DIRECTOR

  • In 2000 Jeff created the hit series The Brothers Garcia, which ran for four seasons on Nickelodeon and where he also wrote and directed several episodes.

  • The Brothers Garcia went on to become a global classic because of its universal appeal and its authentic portrayal of U.S. Latinos.

  • Jeff wrote and directed a spinoff film to it called The Mysteries of the Maya.

  • Jeff rebooted the series in 2022 with The Garcias, which ran its first season on HBO Max for 10 episodes. Jeff worked as a showrunner of The Garcias but also wrote and directed 3 of its episodes.

  • The Garcias received the same praise as the original and Jeff even submitted one of its scenes to film festivals resulting in 3 official festival selections.

  • Both The Brothers Garcias and The Garcias lead the vanguard in Latino representation with 90+% Latino inclusion in front of and behind the camera.

LIVE Comedy PRODUCER

  • Jeff Valdez has a 40+ years of experience in producing live comedy.

  • He has become a prominent name in the national comedy scene by having given their first TV break to several comics through his shows. Many of these comics went on to become big names, such as Roseanne Barr, Ralph Barbosa, Sinbad, Carlos Mencia and Chris Fonseca among others.

  • By Jeff’s creative vision successfully tapping into the U.S. Latino market, his live comedy show Comedy Compadres was able to beat both Jay Leno and David Letterman in ratings on their Los Angeles timeslot.

  • In 2020 Jeff created the HA Festival, a three day long event with multiple shows featuring the top U.S. Latino comedians and ending with a top-quality taping of an award-winning HBO Max comedy special.

  • The first HA special’s promotional clips broke engagement records on TikTok and the special itself went on to receive glowing reviews.

  • The festival ran for its second year in 2021, where Jeff directed the second HA special as well as a third special called Comedy Chingonas, both of which are streaming on HBO Max. The HA Festival’s third year is in development.

FOUNDER & Chairman

  • In 2003, Jeff founded SiTV, the first Latino national channel for English-speaking Latinos in the United States.

  • Sí TV became the leading producer of Latino themed English-language cable programming, reaching 22 million homes in the first 3 years. Jeff became the CEO of the channel for the first 2 years, and produced the original programming of Sí TV.

  • In 2007 Jeff was named Chairman of Quepasa Corp. where he contributed to the company’s recovery in that period with an overall re-branding and creative vision.

  • Valdez joined Maya Entertainment as a co-chairman at the invite of producer, Moctezumq Esparza. From 2007 to 2011 Maya was the only Latino Global Film Distribution Company.

  • In 2018, Valdez and Sol Trujillo co-founded New Cadence Productions, a U.S. television and film content creation studio, with the intention of continuing to promote Latinos and their role in the media by creating culturally authentic content that effectively taps into the U.S. Latino market in a data-driven approach.

Speaker & mentor

  • Jeff’s has been invited to speak on his expansive experience on the U.S. Latino market in top business conventions, such as L’ATTITUDE, where he has been speaker amongst business leaders like Nike CEO, John Donahoe, Disney ex-CEO, Bob Chapek, and Barack Obama amongst others.

  • Organizations that share Jeff’s goal of normalizing U.S. Latinos frequently invite Jeff to speak at convenings, such as LULAC, ALPFA and LALIFF.

  • Hollywood institutions such as the DGA and WGA, and news outlets like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter have invited Jeff to be interviewed regarding the U.S. Latino market.

  • Jeff continues to mentor young Latinos to strive in the entertainment industry by giving them involved and robust opportunities. Mentees that have worked with Jeff have went on to become prominent professionals in the entertainment industry.

BREAKOUT TALENT

Below we list some examples among other talented people who were given some of their TV opportunities by Jeff Valdez.

Ralph Barbosa

Made his first TV appearance on the 2nd Annual HA Comedy Festival and went on to make a viral appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.

Chris Fonseca

Had his first TV break on the show Almost Live, after which he went on to tour the country as a renowned stand-up comedian and has even opened for Dave Chappelle.

Vanessa Gonzalez

Was featured as the opening act on the Comedy Chingonas special as well as on a guest role in The Garcias. She was named one of Variety’s Top 10 Comics to Watch in 2022 and has been lately touring with Chelsea Handler.

Roseanne Barr

She made her TV debut on Almost Live and went on to become a popular stand-up comic, as well as star in and produce her own sitcom.

Vanessa Hudgens

One of he first TV roles was as a prominent guest in The Brothers Garcia from where she went on to become a giant star after her casting in High School Musical.

Nicholas Gonzalez

One of his first TV roles was as a guest in The Brothers Garcia after which he went on to act in hit television series, such as, in The Good Doctor.

“QUOTE 2”

-Jeff Valdez

how can you join the new mainstream opportunity?

The U.S. Latino market is growing exponentially in size and spending power but Hollywood’s attempts to target it have been minimal and unfocused.

Without U.S. Latinos in key creative and executive positions the cultural authenticity of the majority of Hollywood’s attempted projects will be lost and the projects will be deemed unsuccessful.

That is why in order to make a change and tap into the powerful U.S. Latino market we must work to have U.S. Latinos present in executive creative and business positions within the industry, as well as invest in educating and training young U.S. Latinos to navigate Hollywood.