The New Groundbreaking All-American Slasher Film Murder In The Woods Breaks the Diversity Barriers In Hollywood With an All Latino Cast and the Inspiring Latino Filmmakers Luis Iga and Yelyna De Leon
Los Angeles, CA October 26, 2017 – The highly anticipated horror film Murder In The Woods, starring José Julián (A Better Life) and featuring renowned actor Danny Trejo (Machete), will have its world premiere on November 4th at the 7th Annual Guadalajara International Film Festival in Los Angeles (FICG in LA).
The film festival is an extension of the Guadalajara International Film Festival which just celebrated its 32nd year in Guadalajara, Mexico making it one of the most important and prestigious film festivals in Latin America. The film festival seeks to nourish and promote Mexican and Ibero-American films and talent. In the case of Murder In The Woods, it began with its masterminds, Director and Producer Luis Iga, represented by The Lynn Pleshette Literary Agency, native of Saltillo, Coahuila Mexico; and Writer and Producer Yelyna De Leon, a Mexican-American raised in Chicago. Both filmmaker have made a voice for themselves fighting to breakdown the barriers of diversity in the entertainment industry and to promote Hispanic culture through their projects.
“We want to thank FICG in LA for this opportunity, accepting “Murder in the Woods” and being the pioneers in reshaping how the world sees Latinos and Minorities in Cinema. We wanted to produce a mainstream film in which Latinos could have lead roles and real characters without stereotypes.”, says director and producer Luis Iga.
Murder In The Woods distinguishes itself as being an All-American horror film in English, with an all-Latino cast, created by Latinos for Latinos with a story that is of universal interest, much like its horror sub genre as a slasher film. The plot of the film develops as a group of teens plan to spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods, but soon strange things begin to happen as disturbing omens arise. When they discover the dark secret that the cabin holds, their forced to fight for their lives. The ensemble lead cast includes actors Jose Julian (A Better Life, Shameless), Jeanette Samano (ISA, Female Fight Squad), Chelsea Rendon (McFarland, USA), Catherine Toribio (Jane the Virgin), Jordan Diambrini (The Outfield) and Kade Wise (Lucifer). It also features Danny Trejo (Machete), Soledad St. Hilaire (Beatriz at Dinner), Kurt Caceres (Lawless Range) and Rolando Molina (American Dad!).
“It was important for the story to be universal but being Mexican-American it was also important for the script to include specific cultural Latino references such as El Dia de los Muertos, The Chupacabras, Los Duendes, stories and myths that all Latinos heard about growing up, and show authentic moments such as the altars to honor our ancestors and blessings when we leave the house, things that we as Latinos have experienced in our families.” says writer and producer Yelyna De Leon.
Murder In The Woods is a production of REZINATE Entertainment, founded by director/producer Luis Iga. REZINATE partnered up with writer Yelyna De Leon to produce this film. Both graduated with an MFA in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California (USC) where they met.
During his studies at USC, Luis Iga received numerous awards and scholarships, including the prestigious Annenberg Fellowship, and had the opportunity to direct films under the best TV and film directors in the industry such as Barnet Kellman, Mary Lou Belly, Peter Sollet and Jeremy Kagan, among others. Luis has directed over 70 episodes of the news segment FashionOne’s Fashion News that reaches an audience of more than 420 million households worldwide. Recently he completed the short film Alive, which he Co-wrote, Directed and Produced with Mexican actor Pepe Gamez (Mariposa de Barrio, Dueños del Paraíso) and which will soon debut in the film festival circuit in the United States. Luis is also one of the executive producers of an animated comedy series that is being developed by Warner Horizon, Warner Animation and Jon Cryer’s (Two and a Half Men) production company.
Yelyna De Leon is an award winning Writer, Producer and Actress. As an actress she can be seen in several television series such as Shameless, Bones, Ray Donovan, A Better Life and East Side Story. Behind the scenes Yelyna is committed and her work focuses on non-stereotypical characters for Latinos and strong female characters. Yelyna is a 16/17 NALIP, Univision writing fellow where her one hour drama, Las Fresas de East L.A. is a finalist in contention for an 85 episode order. She is also a 2015 NHMC, ABC/NBC writing fellow. Currently, she is one of the writers of a series of animated specials created for Univision and has two television programs that are in post production. Recently, she wrote a bilingual play titled Blind Faith that recently premiered at the Stella Adler Theater in Los Angeles. Her latest work as a Producer, God’s Tenants, is a full length documentary filmed in Brazil about a little girl that goes missing and is currently in the final stages of post production.
Murder In The Woods Trailer:
http://bit.ly/mitwtrailerPRDC
About REZINATE Entertainment:
REZINATE is an entertainment company founded by Luis Iga. The company is involved in the Production and Financing of audiovisual projects including Film, Television, Animation, Video Games and Virtual Reality. REZINATE has a global presence and clients and projects that are developed around the world.
www.rezinate.com
For more information on “Murder in the Woods:”
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6083146
Website: http://www.murderinthewoodsmovie.com
Trailer: http://bit.ly/mitwXicantrailerpr
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Instagram: @murderinthewoods
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