iCaramba Communications Premieres Animated Latino Comedy.

iCaramba Communications and La Loca Entertainment, Inc. announced that iCaramba’s new comedic animated-series, “La Familia,” will premiere on Galascene on Galavision in October. “La Familia,” which is an English-language show centered around the hilarious adventures of six young Latino and Latina characters, all from different backgrounds, is one in a series of properties that iCaramba Communications is building in an effort to help redefine the Hispanic entertainment landscape. “As our show was specifically created for the younger Latino audience, it makes sense to introduce it to the English-dominant Latino market on a show like Galascene. It provides a perspective that is sorely missing from the US entertainment industry today,” said David Chitel, CEO/Co-Founder. “La Familia” will first air on the October 14th episode of Galascene, which is a young, hip magazine-type TV program that airs weekly on Galavision. Similar to the way The Simpsons began, “La Familia” will be integrated into the Galascene show in 3-5 minute short form, with the intention of later becoming a full-length program.

La Loca Entertainment, the creator and producer of Galascene, is responsible for bringing “La Familia” to television. La Loca’s CEO/Executive Producer, Diane Librizzi, first found out about “La Familia” online at iCaramba.com, where she viewed a trailer for the show. According to Librizzi, “We feel La Familia is totally compatible with the audience that Galascene caters to and will provide a fun and unique segment to our program in this greatly underserved market. iCaramba’s goal is the same as ours: that is, to provide relevant programming that has a strong entertainment value and reflects the experience of being young, hip and Latino in the U.S. today. Librizzi also indicated that La Loca looks forward to beginning this project and feels that “this could be the beginning of a very unique and lucrative strategic partnership with iCaramba.”

“La Familia” is the first animated show of its kind with central characters that provide a real glimpse into the diversity of the young US Latino audience that is made up of more than 20 different cultures. One of the main characters, a mixed “Colombirican” (half Colombian/half Puerto Rican) named China Lopez, even brings a strong dose of Latina “girl power” to the mix as she treads through each show’s adventure with her Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican counterparts. True to its title, “La Familia” also delivers a bit of “Spanglish” humor, by delving into the lives of the main characters’ parents, who come from a less acculturated older generation of Latinos. The show was co-created with a diverse group of Latino comedians and writers, who integrated a spectrum of comedic cultural nuances into the shows based on real life experiences.

Robert Rose, President of Artist and Idea Management, television consultant to iCaramba on the series states, “this is an important, if not historic, moment in US Latino television. The writing and talent behind ‘La Familia’ is incredible and will most certainly appeal to the millions of young US Latinos who rarely see anything, let alone high quality relevant entertainment from their point of view. Just as The Simpsons began as a short on the Tracy Ullman Show in the early days of the Fox Network, I think this is just the beginning for ‘La Familia.’ and Galascene.”

For advertisers, “La Familia” represents a unique opportunity to seamlessly integrate their products into a targeted young Latino entertainment vehicle. “As long as it doesn’t take away from the integrity of the shows, we feel very comfortable about integrating our sponsors’ products into them. It’s no different from what is being done regularly on television and in the movies today from Austin Powers to The Simpsons,” says Allan Suarez, iCaramba’s Chief Creative Officer.