Month: December 2023

Veteran film, TV and voice actor Kamar de los Reyes, best known for his portrayal of Antonio Vega on the ABC soap opera, One Life to Live, and as the villain Raul Menendez in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, died Sunday in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, a rep for the family confirmed to Deadline. He was 56.

Born in Puerto Rico but raised in Las Vegas, de los Reyes moved to Los Angeles in the late ’80s to begin an acting career which spanned the next 30+ years. In 1994, de los Reyes originated the role of Pedro Quinn in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, Blade to the Heat, which led to the role of Ferdinand in George C. Wolfe’s Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tempest. From there, he went on to work alongside big names such as Oliver Stone in Nixon, Angelina Jolie in Salt and Jennifer Lopez in The Cell.

De los Reyes starred in the 1994 syndicated drama series Valley of the Dolls. The next year, he did a three-episode arc on NBC’s ER and joined One Life To Live where he played former gang member-turned-attorney and police officer Antonio Vega over 14 years with a brief departure in the late 1990s.

The performance earned him five ALMA Award nominations and a win in 2008 as well as an Image Award nomination. He also was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Special Fan Award, America’s Favorite Couple, in 2002 alongside his future wife, actress Sherri Saum.

De los Reyes’ other signature character, Raul Menendeza, a Nicaraguan drug lord and leader of a terrorist organization, is the primary antagonist of the 2012 Call of Duty: Black Ops II and 2013 Call Of Duty: Strike Team. He reprised the role in the 2018 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and the 2022 Call Of Duty: Vanguard and Call Of Duty: Warzone, providing voice acting and the motion-captured body acting for the popular video game franchise.

Alongside his lengthy tenure on One Life To Live, de los Reyes did a number of guest stints on primetime drama series, including playing a gang leader in the two-part Season 3 finale of Blue Bloods and appearances on SEAL Team, MacGyver, The Gifted, Shooter, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, The Mentalist, Touched By an Angel and Early Edition. He also starred opposite Annabeth Gish and fellow soap star Daniel Cosgrove in the 2001 TV movie The Way She Moves.

His feature work also included the 2005 film Love and Suicide, 2015’s Cayo, L.A. Apocalypse in 2015 and most recently 2017’s Amelia 2.0.

More recently, de los Reyes had a major recurring role on Season 4 of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, playing demon Jobe. More recently, he did an arc on Seasons 3-4 of ABC’s The Rookie as Detective Caradine and has been recurring on the CW’s All American as Coastal California University’s Coach Montes.

At the time of his death, de los Reyes was filming All American and had recently shot roles in Hulu’s upcoming limited series Washington Black, starring Sterling K. Brown, and a significant role in Marvel’s upcoming Daredevil series on Disney+.

De los Reyes lived in Los Angeles, however, his heart never left Puerto Rico. After the devastation of Hurricane Maria, de los Reyes played an active role in the recovery efforts of his beloved home.

He is survived by his wife, Sherri Saum; sons Caylen (26) and twins Michael and John (9); his brothers Daniel and Walfredo, Jr; his sisters Lily and Ilde; his mother Matilde and his father Walfredo.

UTA-backed Klutch Sports Group has acquired sports agency REP 1 Baseball, using it as a foundation for a newly formed division, Klutch Baseball.

Chris Koras, CEO of REP 1 Baseball, will serve as the Head of Baseball for the new division. In 2019, UTA made an investment in Klutch, which was founded by Rich Paul. In addition to serving as CEO of Klutch, Paul is also Co-Head of UTA Sports.

REP 1 has negotiated more than $2 billion in contracts for a number of top-tier Major League Baseball players. The dollar value of contracts has surged in recent years, highlighted just days ago by the record-smashing signing of Shohei Ohtani by the Los Angeles Dodgers for $700 million.

Founded in 2015, REP 1 has become a leading agency for professional baseball players from North America and Latin America. Its clients include Rafael Devers, Devin Williams, Andrés Giménez, Gabriel Moreno, Starling Marte, Freddy Peralta, Leody Tavares and 2023 first round draft picks Jacob Gonzalez and Enrique Bradfield.

“We believe in the transformative power of sports, and this move into baseball aligns perfectly with our commitment to excellence, innovation, and best-in-class representation for the world’s most talented athletes,” Paul said in a press release. “The game of baseball has a special place in the hearts of sports fans around the world, and we’re thrilled to extend Klutch’s reach into this sport and to welcome Chris, the team, and their clients to Klutch.”

Andrew Thau, COO of UTA and Co-Head of UTA Sports, called sports “an important part of UTA’s long term strategy, with Klutch “at the heart of our vision.” Klutch Baseball’s formation, he continued, “adds another exciting dimension to the range of talent we represent and the expanding capabilities we can offer them.”

Members of the REP 1 leadership team will help Koras run the new baseball division. Peter Greenberg will serve as President of Baseball, Nelson Montes de Oca as VP of Latin America and Nate Heisler as VP of North America. 

“Meaningful progress in baseball representation is long overdue,” Koras said. “This move signals a shift in conventional thinking and reinforces our commitment to our clients by uniting our exceptional contract negotiations and servicing with the expansive client-focused 360 approach and cultural significance that UTA and KLUTCH are known for. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to elevate player expectations as they seek fulfillment during and long after their playing careers.” 

The lack of Latino showrunners in Hollywood is being addressed by the Alliance of Latinx Executives and Rise Up who are partnering on an advocacy program that will pair 10 high-level executives with 10 high-level writers from the community to increase showrunner opportunities.

Of the 500+ shows in production during the 2021-22 television season, and the approximately 6K writers employed by those shows, less than 20 Latinx writers held the position of showrunner. It’s the second-most challenging roadblock for Latinx writers after breaking out of the entry-level staff writer position, according to the orgs.

The inaugural group of executives includes Joey Chavez (HBO Max), Tom Lerner (A+E Studios), Adam Martinez (CBS Studios), Alejandro Melendez (BBC Studios), Michelle Mendelovitz (Mattel Television Studios), Edy Mendoza (Netflix), Diana Mogollon (Independent) and Nina Tassler (Independent).

They will be partnered with the following writers: Davah Avena, Tawnya Benavides Bhattacharya & Ali Laventhol, Sal Calleros, Chad Gomez Creasey, Luisa Leschin, Evangeline Ordaz, Davy Perez, Carlito Rodriguez & Leah Benavides Rodriguez, Santa Sierra and Al Septien & Turi Meyer.

Over 25 Latinx writers submitted to join the program and were vetted one-on-one by a group of Latinx executives. The program’s goal is to repeat these pairings with new writers and new executives each year. There will be a networking mixer for all writers who submitted and executive members of the Alliance early in the new year.

“For too long, we have heard from studios and platforms that there aren’t enough high-level Latinx writers for them to hire for top showrunning positions. Our goal with this program is to change that perception and bring awareness to the amazing Latinx writers who have worked their way up the ranks on television’s biggest shows to earn consideration for these top jobs,” said John Pollak, a member of the Alliance of Latinx Executives. “We believe that peer-to-peer advocacy and executive-to-executive outreach will help give our program’s writers a voice and an opportunity that has eluded them for too long.”

Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, of Rise Up added, “The job of showrunner is a really difficult one to get whether it’s creating your own series or being brought on to run another series. But the difficulty isn’t in talent or ability – it’s in relationships. It’s in making sure that decision-makers at studios know who you are and believe in you enough to give you a shot. Our goal is to lift up talented, high-level Latinx/e writers and make them visible to run not only series featuring Latinx/e characters, but series of every genre, representing all characters, in any world. The obstacle cannot be a belief that no qualified BIPOC writers exist for these jobs. Here we are. Hire us”.

The Alliance of Latinx Executives consists of over 100 of the highest-ranking Latinx executives in the Entertainment industry. Initially formed to ensure Latinx representation reaches the highest levels of Hollywood, the Alliance has endeavored to create partnerships that use the Executives standing and relationships to elevate other Latinx groups within and outside of the entertainment industry.

The Rise Up initiative was founded by Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, Moisés Zamora, Christina Piña and Jorge Rivera as a commitment to advancing the careers of Latinx writers in Hollywood and breaking down systemic barriers to their progress. Past efforts include collaborating with UTA to introduce lower-level Latinx writers to literary agency readers and pairing them with experienced Latinx upper-level writer mentors, setting them up for success in their writing samples and interview processes.