In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Q Cinema is joining forces with Valiente, the DFW LGBTQ Latino Alliance, and the Latin Arts Society of Fort Worth to present the North Texas premiere of a wonderful new romantic comedy, East Side Story. Director Carlos Portugal and star Rene Alvarado will be in attendance for a pre-screening reception and will answer questions after the film.

ABOUT CARLOS PORTUGAL

Award-winning writer/producer Carlos Portugal remains at the forefront of Latino, bilingual and cross-cultural programming. As executive producer, producer and writer of several ground-breaking series, he has worked for ABC, WB Network, NBC, Telemundo, Fox and Fox Kids. Carlos makes his directorial debut with the English-language, Latino gay romantic comedy East Side Story, which he co-wrote with celebrated Puerto Rican playwright Charo Toledo (The Princess Within).

Carlos is currently working as co-executive producer on Body of Desire, a prime-time drama series for NBC. Body of Desire is based on El Cuerpo Del Deseo, the hit Spanish telenovela that aired on Telemundo in 2005-2006. This fall, he will direct Lip Service, his second feature, which he also co-wrote.

In 2003, Carlos co-created (with Nely Galan, creator of FOX’s hit series The Swan) NBC/Telemundo’s international romantic reality sensation La Cenicienta (Cinderella). La Cenicienta attracted large, diverse audiences while dealing with sensitive issues such as racism, anti-Semitism, machismo and homosexuality. This highly rated series received a 2004 GLAAD Award for its fair, accurate and inclusive portrayal of gay Latinos.

As a writer, he developed long-term storylines and created breakdowns for the ABC Daytime soap operas All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. From 1998 to 2001, he served as executive producer/head writer for 66 half-hour episodes of the Columbia/Tri-Star sitcoms Solo en America and Viva Vegas. These two hit series were the first Spanish-language sitcoms produced in the United States by a major international studio, and were among the first television programs to target the lucrative cross-border bilingual market.

Carlos was director for the Fox Latin American Channel before becoming creative director for Fox Kids Network. During his tenure at Fox, he produced a number of TV specials, including the 1997 Billboard Music Awards.

A graduate of USC film school, Carlos began his career at KQED, San Francisco’s PBS station, where he produced Opera in the Park, Comedy Tonight and the Emmy Award-winning documentary Frida Kahlo: Portrait of an Artist.

ABOUT RENE ALVARADO

Rene was born and raised in Laredo by two exceptional women, his mother and grandmother. Upon graduating high school he moved to Austin and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin where he performed in numerous plays. He was nominated for a Payne (Austin’s Tony’s) and critics award in the theatrical production of El Paraiso. Rene currently resides in Pasadena, Calif., with his lovely wife who is now in her second year of residency and their mischievous cat, Whispers.

Event: The North Texas Premiere of East Side Story

When: September 29. 2006
Reception at 7:00 PM in the Rose Marine Art Gallery
Film at 8:00 PM in the Rose Marine Theater

Location: Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main Street, Fort Worth 76106
(Near the Fort Worth Stockyards)

Admission:
$15.00 – Film and Reception
$10.00 – Film Only
$ 8.00 – Students

Tickets: Purchase Online or available at the door an hour before showtime.
Q Pass holders will receive priority seating.