Dec 8, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: Conversations with Leonardo Padrón and Roque Valero

The last class of this semester, in which we lectured and discussed as many aspects of telenovelas as possible, finally arrived. Following the course's tradition, I taught the last class at my house with dinner and a Tres Leches for dessert:




That evening we had our two last "Telenovela Conversations" with writer Leonardo Padrón and actor/singer/musician Roque Valero. Both were generous as they shared with us their experiences in the world of telenovelas. My students learned a lot, enjoyed immensely the opportunity to talk to our guests, and were truly delighted when Roque sang for us a fragment of Las Lágrimas Aprenden a Reír.

Following are the two videos of the conversations, where you will find valuable angles and points of view regarding writing, acting and musical composition.





As I finish this semester of "Telenovelas, Culture and Society", I must thank everyone who has talked to me and allowed me to observe her/him as they write, perform, produce or consume telenovelas. Thanks to them, I continue on my research path about this television genre, whose apparent simplicity hides its fascinating complexity. I also thank my 24 students for everything they taught me and for their interesting reflections in our class blog. Finally, thanks to our guests who shared with us their knowledge and talent. They are the indispensable teachers for my class: Marisa Román, Ruxandra Ciobanu, Alberto Gómez, Leonardo Padrón and Roque Valero.

Dec 3, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: A conversation with writer Alberto Gómez

We had our second "Telenovela Conversation" with writer Alberto Gómez, who understands very well the commercial dimensions of the telenovela genre. When network executives and producers want an original or a remake of a telenovela rosa, Alberto Gómez is a name that always appears in their short list of possible writers. Hence, he has written telenovelas for a long list of networks and production companies, including: RCTV, Venevisión, Televisa, Fonovideo, Venevisión Productions and Telemundo. Alberto is the author of many telenovelas. Some of his recent successes include: Gata Salvaje, Angel Rebelde, Marina, Acorralada and Alma Indomable. He's currently writing Mar de Amor for Televisa, a remake of Delia Fiallo's María del Mar.

Alberto delighted my class with his sincerity and enthusiasm. Through him were were able to see better the telenovela rosa, we got closer to the daily writing effort that every telenovela requires, and we felt the happiness of someone who enjoys what he does.

Here is a video with excerpts from our class conversation. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. I leave it here along with our thanks to Alberto Gómez for sharing with us his time, experience and passion for the telenovela rosa.


Dec 2, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: A conversation with Ruxi


My telenovelas class would be incomplete without the opportunity to talk to people involved with the telenovela world. In previous semesters we have talked to: Leonardo Padrón, Marisa Román, Valentina Párraga, TVVI's moderator, Julie Restifo, and Daniela Bascopé.

These exchanges, via phone or video conference, are always enriching form my students, and I appreciate them very much.

This week, the last of this semester, we're focused on these "Telenovela conversations." Our first guest was Ruxandra Ciobanu, who lives in Bucharest, Romania. I met "Ruxi" through a telenovela message board a few years ago. I also had the privilege of having her as a participant in one of my case studies. I invited Ruxi to my class because I wanted my students to meet her and to learn about telenovela consumption through the eyes of someone who's not from Latin America.

We loved our conversation with Ruxi. She's knowledgeable and has a warm personality. For me, it was truly special to have her in my class.

Following is a video with some excerpts from our "Telenovela conversation" with Ruxi. We appreciate her sharing her time and knowledge with us.


Nov 28, 2009

TELENOVELAS, THE PRESS, MESSAGE BOARDS AND SPECULATION-ONCE MORE


In January 2008, I wrote about how the Venezuelan entertainment press was speculating about the protagonists of Leonardo Padrón's new telenovela. At the time, the author had not written a single line of such telenovela.

In the last few days we've seen how the story of speculation around Padrón's supposedly new telenovela repeats itself. This time, the original source of the rumor is an anonymous post in an Internet message board. The post was subsequently embellished, copied in other message boards, and repeated by the press (I apologize to English readers because these texts are in Spanish):

Nov. 5: In the message board NUEVO FORO DE TELENOVELAS DE VENEZUELA, an anonymous writer posts with the title--DUELO DE ROSAS NUEVA TELENOVELA DE LEONARDO PADRON :
LEONARDO PADRÓN YA TITULO A SU NUEVA AVENTURA ESCRITA DUELO DE ROSAS TELENOVELA QUE NO ESCATIMARA GASTOS PARA CONVERTIRLA EN PRODUCCIÓN INTERNACIONAL ANA KARINA Y EL REGRESO DE YANET RODRÍGUEZ Y UN POSIBLE GALÁN PADRÓN PIDIO A WILLIAM LEVY PORQUE EL PRESONAJE MASCULINO ES UN GUERRRO DE LA CIUDAD Y NO LE TEMÉ AL PELIGRO ES UN ALPINISTA.

In the same message board, anonymous posts exaggerate the original one and announce that Ana Karina Manco will be the protagonist:




The Venezuelan press echoes the "news:"


El Sepulturero (Ultimas Noticias, Nov. 9): "proyecto Padrón, que, presuntamente, ya tiene nombre, el tema femenino como siempre de protagonista y el runrún de que su eterna musa, Ana KarinaManco, estará allí. Ella será Rosa en duelo con otra Rosa que haría de su hija. ¿Galán? Lo buscan como palito `e romero".

Chepa Candela (Diario 2001, Nov. 15): "les bato que parece ser definitivo que ANA KARINA MANCO será la “heroína” de la nueva historia que está armando Leonardo Padrón para VV, la cual verá la luz durante el segundo trimestre del 2010."


"Teclea Padrón, teclea... Así le dicen al escritor en Venevisión. Arriba, en “La Colina” le exigen al poeta que adelante su nueva telenovela, que hasta los momentos se llama Duelo de Rosas.
Como de costumbre, en el canal se maneja todo con el mayor de los misterios. No quieren que se cuele información, pero al final las paredes terminan oyendo, y mejor aún, difundiendo información “confidencial”.
Padrón se inspira nuevamente en la mujer para recrear su historia. Al parecer desempolva su gran obra “El país de las mujeres” para tomar algunos aspectos. Sobrarán personajes que enganchan por su fuerza, muy al estilo de “La Vikinga”, “Patria Mía” y “Chocolate”, hecho que no ocurrió en su última producción “La vida entera”, donde faltaron roles convincentes y originales.
¿Quien será la estrella de este proyecto? Ya suena fuertemente el nombre de Ana Karina Manco, la gran musa de Padrón en los 90.
Ella estaba renuente a regresar a los estudios de televisión, pero ante la propuesta no podría negarse. Los “chivos” de Venevisión están dispuestos a pagar lo que sea con tal de tener nuevamente en sus filas a la actriz.
Manco sería una de las “Rosas”, madre de Anastasia Mazzone, quien también llevará un papel de peso, así como Janette Rodríguez si decide aceptar el jugoso “contratico”.
La novela podría conventirse en una pasarela de ex misses, ya que el reparto estaría integrado por bellezas “cincuentonas” como Elluz Peraza, Judith Castillo y Tatiana Capote.
Otro que tendría un personaje impactante es el primer actor Gustavo Rodríguez, quien dejó muy buen sabor de boca con el “NapoleónDuque” de “La vida entera”.
Por los vientos que soplan, esta vez si habrá dinero para la producción. No se medirán con nada. Hasta piensan en traerse a Lupita Ferrer."

Finally, on November 27, Venevisión publishes a press release denying the "news:"

Venevisión no tiene contemplado la producción, a corto plazo, de una telenovela bajo la rúbrica de Leonardo Padrón, y mucho menos ha realizado casting alguno para integrar este dramático que supuestamente estaría protagonizado por la actriz Ana Karina Manco.

El único proyecto dramático que El Canal de la Colina se encuentra desarrollando en este momento, y que está en fase de pre- producción, es “Harina de Otro Costal”, que reúne en los roles protagónicos a la actriz
Daniela Bascopé y Christian Mac Gaffney, en una historia original de la exitosa escritora Mónica Montañez.

Asimismo, Venevisión arrancará las grabaciones de “Harina de Otro Costal” en el mes de enero de 2010.

I've said it before, and I must say it again:
The entertainment press can and must be better. To repeat (without confirmation) something that is posted anonymously or using a pseudonym in an Internet message board, is not good journalism. It only reinforces the generalized opinion that the entertainment press is second tier. Journalism is a key and sacred profession for every society, regardless the beat it covers.

Nov 25, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: My students present VI







Presenter: Nicole Foo
Topic: La recepción de Corazón Salvaje
Sources: Message boards, social media and web pages





Presenter: Robyn Abree
Topic: La recepción de La Fea Más Bella
Sources: Message boards, social media and web pages





Presenter: Ben Sidoti
Topic: La recepción de Nada Personal
Sources: Interview with Alberto Barrera, message boards, social media and web pages





Presenter: Sofía Perea
Topic: La recepción de Corazón Salvaje y la reacción ante su remake
Sources: Message boards, social media and web pages







Presenter: Zak Vaudo
Topic: La recepción de Los Ricos También Lloran
Sources: Message boards, social media and web pages



Nov 24, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: My students present V








Presenter: Deena Lipson
Topic: The reception of Heridas de Amor
Sources: Social media and webpages




Presenter: Diana Perez
Topic: The reception of María Mercedes
Sources: Message boards, social media and webpages





Presenter: Fatema Bandukwala
Topic: The reception of La Usurpadora
Sources: Message boards, social media and webpages







Presenter: Jenny Sangalis
Topic: The reception of La Mentira
Sources: Message boards, social media and webpages




Presenter: Miranda Lee
Topic: The reception of Mariana de la Noche
Sources: Message boards, social media and webpages




Nov 14, 2009

DOÑA BARBARA TURNS 80



It's been 80 years since Rómulo Gallegos published Doña Bárbara. And even though this is a blog dedicated to telenovelas, as an educator, I want to post here a couple of articles that appeared in today's Papel Literario in the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. In them we can read about the literary novel that is behind the telenovelas and films that have fascinated so many (I apologize to the English-speaking readers of this blog because both articles are in Spanish):

La Poesía Telúrica de Doña Bárbara por Lidia Salas

Foro: Distancia y Herencia en la Narrativa Venezolana (dirigido por José Tomás Angola).

Nov 13, 2009

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: My students present IV





Fourth installment of my students presentations regarding the consumption of specific telenovelas.

Presenter: Alicea Glover

Topic: The reception of Amigas y Rivales

Sources: Social media and webpages





Presenter: Ashley Rosado

Topic: The reception of Amarte es mi Pecado

Sources: Social media, message bards and webpages





Presenter: Beth Palevitz

Topic: The reception of Lola...érase una vez

Fuentes: Imdb, social media, message boards and webpages






Presenter: Bridget Goodman

Topic: The reception ofRubí

Sources: Imdb, social media, message boards and webpages