Description
This collection consists of production books,
schedules and call sheets, memos, correspondence, resumes, head shots,
art department materials, press kits, clippings and video
cassettes.
Resurrection Boulevard was the first weekly one-hour
dramatic series to predominately feature Latinos in both the front of
and behind the screen. On screen, it represented the first television
series to premiere a Latino family drama with an all-Latino cast.
Off-screen, it employed the largest number of Latinos to have ever
worked in the history of both the television and film industries.
Premium cable network, Showtime, premiered Resurrection Boulevard, on
Monday, June 26, 2001 at 10pm. The series aired for three seasons from
June 2001 to its cancellation in September 2002. The series was created
and produced by Dennis Leoni. The series featured an ensemble cast of
both seasoned performers including Tony Plana, Michael DeLorenzo, and
Elizabeth Peña and newcomers Nicholas Gonzalez, Ruth Livier,
Marisol Nichols and Mauricio Mendoza.
Resurrection Boulevard
was a family drama based on the Santiagos, a Mexican American boxing
family living in East Los Angeles. The family consisted of patriarch,
Roberto Santiago (Tony Plana), a widower and former boxer; Yolanda (Ruth
Livier), the eldest daughter who attended USC Law School; Miguel
(Mauricio Mendoza), the eldest son who trained boxers at his fathers
gym; Carlos (Michael DeLorenzo), the middleweight champion; Alex
(Nicholas Gonzalez), the medical student turned boxer; Victoria (Marisol
Nichols), high school student; Ruben, the uncle and Vietnam veteran and
Bibi (Elizabeth Peña), Roberto's sister-in-law.
Resurrection Boulevard was filmed on location in East Los Angeles with
interiors shot at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood. It was produced as
a joint venture of Showtime Networks Inc., Viacom Productions and
Patagonia House.
Throughout its series run, Resurrection
Boulevard received multiple awards including the Nosotros The Golden
Eagle, the National Council of La Raza Alma Award for Outstanding
Dramatic Series and the LEMI Vision Award. Moreover, in recognition of
its historic significance, Resurrection Boulevard was strongly supported
by prominent Latino organizations such as The National Organization of
Hispanic Journalists, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the League
of United Latin American Citizens and the National Council of La
Raza.
Background
Dennis Leoni is the creator and executive producer of the Showtime
dramatic series Resurrection Boulevard. He also shares writing credits
for various episodes of the series. Leoni was born in Tucson, Arizona.
After attending the University of Arizona, Leoni began his career in the
film and television industry as an actor and stunt man. Later, he worked
his way into production via the hit television series Hawaii Five-O.
While in Hawaii, he wrote his first screenplay, which led to various
writing assignments for several popular television series including
Covington Cross and The Commish. Leoni's television and film credits
include Resurrection Boulevard, Almost a Woman, Untombed, McKenna,
Raven, Hull Street High, Bordertown, The Madness of Hanna Louise, and
The Hunted White House. He has received numerous awards including the
2001 National Council of La Raza Alma Award for Outstanding Dramatic
Series, the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award, the LEMI Vision Award, and the
National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award. Leoni was also the
recipient of the Imagen Foundation's 2002 Norman Lear Writer's Award
which honors the outstanding achievements of a Latino writer. He is
currently on the Board of Trustees for the National Association of
Latino Independent Producers, a national membership organization that
addresses the professional needs of Latino/Latina independent producers.
Leoni continues to write for television and is in the process of
developing his own feature length film.
Restrictions
Publication Rights
For students and faculty researchers of UCLA, all others by
permission only. Copyright has not been assigned to the Chicano Studies
Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist and/or the
Librarian at the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research
Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained.