Jeff Valdez Named 2006 Colorado State Fair Parade Marshall

The Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Jeff Valdez Founder and co-chairman of Sí TV - the English-language, Latino-themed production company - will be the Parade Marshall for the 2006 Colorado State Fair Parade, "Colorado: Four Seasons of Fun," on Saturday, August 26, 2006 at 10am, beginning on "D" Street and Union Avenue and concluding on 1st and Main.

Under the banner of Sí TV, Valdez is executive producer and co-creator of "The Brothers Garcia," a prime time family comedy which is in its 4th season on Nickelodeon focusing on the lives of three young boys and their sister growing up in middle-class America. The show has been a huge success: among kids 2 -11, the show premiered to a 4.9 rating and an 18 share. Among kids 6 -11, the show premiered to a 6.5 rating and a 23 share. "The Brothers Garcia" first-run episodes have averaged a household rating of 1.77. "The Brothers Garcia" is currently the highest-rated live action show on Nickelodeon. The show has garnered the Imagen Award for Best Prime Time Series, the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Best Prime Time Series, one Alma award for Best Director (Joe Menendez) and two Young Artists Awards for Best Family TV Comedy Series and Best Performance in a TV series (Alvin Alvarez).

With the vocal commitment of Cheech Marin, his company is developing the animated comedy series "Stuck in the Middle." Having launched The Latino Laugh Festival in San Antonio in 1996, the festival resulted in a series of specials for Showtime. Not confining his talents to the stage or small screen, Valdez also inked a seven-figure deal with Disney for his original screenplay, Play Ball.

Born in the housing projects in Pueblo, Colorado, Valdez is the youngest of nine children and knew his future was in entertainment. "I get a lot of my material for writing based on the characters from my family. It's quite a character study growing up with that many people," says Valdez. After touring with a band, he took a friend's suggestion and tried stand-up comedy. At age 25, with no experience, Valdez started performing his own material at comedy clubs in Denver. Soon after, he opened his own comedy club in Colorado Springs, which he kept for 11 years.

One of the first to recognize that Latinos wanted to see themselves in English-language programs beyond the traditional Spanish-speaking stations, Valdez first created, hosted and produced the Friday night comedy series "Comedy Compadres" on Los Angeles independent station KTLA. The show served as a springboard for other television and live projects, leading the L.A. Times to dub him "the Ed Sullivan of Latino talent."

In 1996, with the help of venture capitalist Bruce Barshop, Valdez began The Latino Laugh Festival in San Antonio. With Barshop's Rivercenter Comedy Club as one of the many venues utilized during the star-studded multi-day event, The Latino Laugh Festival was soon picked up by Showtime and went on to receive twelve Bravo Award nominations. The San Antonio festival celebrated its seventh anniversary in 2002.

Demonstrating its support for the Latino artistic community, in 2000 Valdez launched the inaugural Sí TV Latino Playwriting Award to nurture and honor the voices of young Latino playwrights in America. The award is presented yearly to the best Latino student playwright participating in the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival.

Following an executive post at Tri-Star Television where he created and co-executive produced the NBC sitcom pilots "Valdez" and "Hacienda Heights," Valdez and Barshop formed Sí TV as a production company in November, 1997. Its mission was to create and distribute English-language programs which appealed to a core Latino audience and held crossover potential with other viewers as well. Within several years Valdez has achieved his goal through syndicated programming such as "Cafe Olé with Giselle Fernandez," a talk show starring the former host of "Access Hollywood," and "Funny is Funny!", a stand-up comedy show hosted by Carlos Mencia.

Appointed by President Clinton to the Advisory Committee on the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Valdez has received myriad other honors and awards. In 2001, Jeff received the Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition and was honored by the Premiere Weekend Club with the Premiere Vision Award. In 2000, the American Museum of the Moving Image elected Valdez to its Board of Trustees. Also in 2000, the Latino Entertainment Media Institute (LEMI) honored Valdez with the Vision Award in recognition of his efforts to increase the roles of Latinos in the entertainment industry. In 1996 he earned the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award, given to those who radiate the Hispanic image, and the following year was listed in the Los Angeles Times' "36 Faces To Watch" and "100 Most Influential Hispanics" by Hispanic Business.

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