Entrevista con Bernadette Aulestia - ejecutiva de Home Box Office - TT: An interview with Bernadette Aulestia - TA: executive at Home Box office - Entrevista

Latin Beat Magazine, June, 2001 by Louis Laffitte

While at the midtown offices of HBO -The Home Box Office Television Network- Latin Beat was granted an interview by its Director of the HBO Latino Division, the charming Bernadette Aulestia. She was able to tell us about some of the goings on and what we can look forward to on television from a Latino perspective. Andrea Alvear of Intercultural Niche Strategies, a multicultural marketing company, coordinated the interview.

"HBO Latino is a service that's dedicated to the U. S. Latino population. It will service the domestic population. We did that by design. I think one of the growing concerns and an issue now is -a couple of things. Lack of representation on television is one." She spoke about a growing U.S. Latino identity that is reflective of the diversity of U.S. Latinos.

"HBO wants to offer what's relevant to the market, but particularly relevant to the lifestyles and interests of Latinos here in the United States." Aulestia explained that much research was done in this area. "What do Latinos want to watch? Well, we spent the last two-and-a-half years asking exactly that. What do they expect from HBO? What would they like to see? What kind of stuff aren't they currently getting? We are a great movie service, what came back was... I think they expect to see the same great movies." I interjected, "Right, Latinos in movies and great movies."

We spoke about diversity. Again, music, eclectic musical tastes as well as exposure on television. "They want to see Hollywood movies but there's also a number of films, Spanish language films, that are either from Latin America or Spain or even the voices of New U.S. Latino filmmakers. There hasn't been a venue for that type of product unless you're an art film buff. The other pillar of what this is going to be about is also music. When you talk to Latinos about what interests they have in entertainment, well movies is a big one, but music is the second one." I asked if maybe one day we might see something on Tito Puente or perhaps Chico O'Farrill, or some other prolific Latin jazz musician. She cited the Buena Vista Social Club and how none of the major television networks in this country showcased that type of music.

"I think what's exciting about what we're doing is that people see this as a venue to showcase diversity. Not just in how we look or where we came from, but in taste. Music is probably the biggest example of that. The number one thing that consumers talked about was, 'Listen, we love Latin pop. We love Ricky Martin, Jennifer López and Marc Anthony, but there are other musical genres that really don't get the exposure on television.' They want to see the latest in terms of the top. They also want to begin to see the diversity of our music. So interestingly enough, the music labels that we partnered, which are all the majors and all the minors for that matter... the reason they embraced HBO Latino was, yes, we plan to showcase their best known names but consumers want to see who are the up-and-comers and what are the new trends also."

Aulestia relates that much of what they are doing is collaborating with major labels, such as Atlantic Records, who have their associated labels from which they select Brazilian and Latin jazz music. "BMG does and all of them are very eager to provide us with music videos, but they also want access to these artists of behind the scenes at a jato session or to the making of a music video. We are basically taking our crews out all over the country to different events, spending the day with different performers, getting into the personalities -behind the scenes. There aren't a lot of venues right now, even when you look at the radio format. I think the music labels see this as an opportunity. In our Press Release, we mention some of the artists and if you look at their genres, they're all very different. Luis Miguel is Luis Miguel, La Ley is a Latin rock band."

In November, 2000, HBO and HBO Latino premiered "For Love or Country, the Story of Arturo Sandoval." The movie, a love story, focused on the trumpeter's life and performances up to his arrival in America. The film starred Andy Garcia as Sandoval, Charles Dutton as Dizzy Gillespie, plus Gloria Estefan. The movie conveys the young Cuban's anguish and perseverance as a jazz trumpeter. The story takes you from Havana to Athens, Greece, where Sandoval first attempted defection with help from Dizzy Gillespie. Both Arturo Sandoval and Israel López Cachao did cameos in the film. Jelly Bean Benítez was Musical Executive and many quality musicians played background on "For Love of Country."

Also noteworthy was the HBO special "Americanos" hosted by actor Edward James Olmos.

HBO Latino hopes to continue to do this in all areas. "There are a lot of great heroes and personalities, inclusive of the sports arena, entertainment as a whole; segments on everything, from theatrical performances to painters to poets, art and entertainment. Consumers want to see more in the biography area. Personalities and legends in Latino culture, in music, in writing, etc."