Latina filmmaker Alina Montero has joined the roster of Easy Mondays for exclusive U.S. spot representation, her first affiliation in this marketplace. The association with the production company began earlier this year when Easy Mondays put Montero up for a Cholula campaign via agency Fitzco. After successfully winning and executing the project together, Easy Mondays founder/EP Asori Soto offered Montero a place on the company’s roster, alongside directors and teams Biceps, Rocio Crudo, Luis Gerard, Kristian Mercado, Peter & Annie, and Beatriz Sanchez.
Montero’s work spans such brands as Coca-Cola, Corona, Google, KFC, Kraft-Heinz and Toyota, among others. “Alina is a multi-faceted talent, who brings great energy and passion to her work. From her treatments, to the personal investment on set, and her collaborative spirit, Alina excels,” said Soto. In terms of Cholula, he added, “With her background in documentaries, Alina brings a unique perspective to the marriage of lifestyle and food. We had a strong feeling she’d be perfect for the job, which turned out to be true.”
“Having representation with Easy Mondays is remarkable for me because it is a company with minority roots making it big in the general market,” Montero shared. “That’s the trajectory I’m pursuing, too. Their fresh approach, careful curation of projects, and attractive directors’ pool got me super excited about the idea of working together!”
Born into a filmmaking family (her father is the well-known Mexican director Rafael Montero), Montero grew up in Mexico City, and spent summers in the Southern U.S., where family and work led her to divide her time among Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. Culturally speaking, Montero said, “We Mexicans share, rebuild and reinterpret what already exists in our culture to make something new without losing our roots. I inherited my cooking lineage from my grandmother and my film lineage from my father. For me, this game of creation and recreation comes with making hybrid films, where fiction and reality fuse.”
Of her filmmaking style, Montero explained, “I love working with real people and in real places, but I also like to add a warm, humorous, poetic, or fictional twist via the magic of cinema: a beam of light, the perfect smile, a slow push-in, or maybe just a quiet and contemplative moment that culminates in a burst of emotion. As a child, it was not a mystery for me how films were shot fragmented and then knitted in the editing room. But the art of making an audience feel still remains a fascinating enigma to me. There’s no potion to achieve that. You must keep learning and experimenting to perfect your craft and make it richer. I’m constantly enhancing what I started learning since I first put a foot on set as a baby.”
Montero concluded, “I’m honored and grateful to have this beautiful Cholula project as my entrance to the American market, teaming up with a terrific, progressive, and new-fashioned company such as Easy Mondays.”
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More