The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development is pleased to honor Eduardo López, producer of the award-wining Spanish-language television program "Línea Directa," as its February 2012 Filmmaker of the Month.
Eduardo López co-founded the nonprofit organization, EVS Communications, with Arturo Salcedo Martínez in 1994 as the culmination of their groundbreaking work in the DC Mayor‘s Office on Latino Affairs, where they created Línea Directa. Today it is one of the nation's longest-running Spanish-language television programs dedicated to Latino public education. Since 1990, the weekly series has provided thousands of immigrant families living in the Washington metropolitan area with information on their rights, as well as on important health, legal and social service issues. The program is currently produced in the studios of NBC4, and is broadcast each Sunday morning by Telemundo Washington.
The producers joined forces in 1985, when they discovered a shared passion for public education, and for the use of commercial television as an effective vehicle for change in the lives of Latino families. Both Salcedo Martínez and López are long-time residents of the Washington metropolitan area whose work in public education has been profoundly shaped by their experience as immigrants from Latin America.
In recognition of his groundbreaking work in public education, López was named a winner of the Ford Foundation’s 2002 Leadership for a Changing World Award. Nearly 1,500 organizations were originally nominated for the honor, which was given to only twenty leadership groups from across the country for demonstrating outstanding creativity, effectiveness, and community impact in their work. López and EVS were nominated by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
For the past four years, López and EVS President, Wendy Thompson-Marquez, have been dedicated to the production of Harvest of Empire, a feature-length documentary focusing on the direct connection between our country’s long history of intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today. Based on the landmark book written by award-winning journalist Juan González, the film uncovers the often shocking role that US economic and military interests played in triggering waves of immigration that have fueled the growth of our nation’s largest minority population.
López is a long-time resident of the Washington metropolitan area and currently lives in Ward 3. He is born of Salvadoran parents in Monterrey, Mexico and has lived in the US since 1967.
The DC Film Office launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of its mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include The West Wing producer Jonathan Zurer, Jezebel Filmworks founder Ada Babino, ANACOSTIA web series creator and director, Anthony Anderson, and Double R Productions Founder Rosemary Reed.
You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Eduardo and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.