Lugar Height To Launch.

Maverick Entertainment Groups Inc. announces it will be releasing the second film under the new label, Fusion. Devoted to distributing quality urban entertainment with mainstream Latino appeal and franchise potential, Lugar Heights, will be released on November 9th, 2004.

Lugar Heights is an exclusive adult animated series in the spirit of South Park. Featuring guest voice of mega talent John Leguizamo! This hilarious comedy series is geared towards a booming adult Latino market and introduces characters that transcend across all cultures. Lugar Heights (Anywhere Heights, U.S.A.), is the fastest growing Latino town in America (Population: Out of Control!) It’s here where six Latino best friends from different backgrounds, China, Juice, Q-ba, Manos, Roxy and Humo grow up and experience pop culture together with crazy and sometimes dysfunctional people who live there with them.

The adult animation reflects a unique mixture of Latino and pop culture experienced daily by the six show’s six main characters. Lugar Heights is a caricature of the socio-cultural reality faced by young Latinos in the U.S. Combining satire, black humor and Spanglish in a new way, the series is directed toward an adult audience.

“Lugar Heights stands out because of its carefree style, language and general subject matter,” said Doug Schwab, President of Maverick Entertainment, ”We chose the name Fusion because it symbolizes the ‘fusion’ between the generations of Latinos who have learned to speak English and Spanish and have ‘fused’ them together to create a very hip, modern street speak unique to their culture, and one that is being mimicked by mainstream youth much like the ‘urban’ slang was in its infancy. Our films will remain true to the urban genre ‘fused’ with the Latino culture.”

The Latino demographic is the largest minority demographic in the U.S. From this demographic, most are second/third/fourth generation who speak both languages fluently and have merged them into a new, hipper slang referred to as spanglish; a hybrid “language” made up from Spanish by introducing English terms instead of translating them or by using wrong translations. And the “spanglish language” is likely to continue with each new generation.

David Chitel, CEO of LatCom Communications the parent of Piragua Productions, the creators of Lugar Heights agrees, “the New Generation Latino has grown up living in two worlds that straddle both cultural and linguistic lines. Never before has an original cartoon or any other show for that matter captured the essence of what that experience is like in such a comedic, yet relevant way.”

Fusion titles will specifically target an English speaking audience, with mainstream Latino themes and actors. Due to globalization of culture and boom in the Hispanic population in the U.S., Maverick had been quick to recognize the development of the ‘Spanglish’ language. Pamela White, Vice President of Maverick Entertainment said, “This niche primarily reaches the younger generation who were born in the U.S. and learned both English and Spanish. Spanglish is very street. It’s the new urban.”