Gabriel Torrelles

Last updated
Gabo Torrelles.jpg
Born (1978-09-14) September 14, 1978 (age 45)
Caracas, Venezuela
OccupationWriter, producer and entrepreneur
Nationality Venezuelan
GenreDrama, Comedy, Satire
Literary movementPostmodern
Notable worksInternet entrepreneur, writer, television producer
Spouse Maiah Ocando

Gabriel Torrelles is a writer, [1] filmmaker, [2] and Internet entrepreneur from Caracas, Venezuela. He was editor in chief of Urbe, a newspaper first published in 1996 with the aim of being an alternative newspaper for Venezuelan youth. [3] This was the first youth newspaper of Venezuela. [4] He also co-founded Planetaurbe.tv, [5] and the magazine Urbe Bikini, along with the country's largest publisher, Cadena Capriles. He is currently living in Los Angeles, California while developing online storytelling and TV series.

Contents

Literary work

Torrelles wrote the novel Worse than you (Peor que tú, 2008), [6] which was a bestseller for youngsters in his country. [7]

Worse than you was used by the Venezuelan rock band Candy 66 as inspiration for the song "Veneno", the first single and promotional video from their album Evolutio (2010). [8]

In 2007 Torrelles was recognized at the Young Readers Contest 2007 in the Brand Category (Innovative Activities to Improve the Relationship Between the Newspaper and Youth), organized by the World Association of Newspapers, a nonprofit organization that brings together 18,000 publications on five continents. The award was due to his role as Creative Director and Executive Producer of the Urbe Awards 2006 and the campaign "Have you ever seen a green dog". [9]

In March 2008, Torrelles was one of the fifteen writers selected to participate as a speaker in the III New Urban Narrative Week [1] with his short story "Todas las mentiras que recuerdo", which was selected among 110 stories received from eight countries. The story was published in the anthology Tiempos de Ciudad (2010) edited by Fundación Para La Cultura Urbana. [10]

By 2010 Torrelles announced that he was writing a new project, that would address the issue of the future and how technology has changed everything into a "faster, amplified, accelerated, viral and unreal" world. [11]

Internet and innovation

In recent years, Torrelles has been involved in narrative projects combining storytelling and Internet. One of the highlights has been creating and writing the eight-episode miniseries Planeta N8, released in September 2011 and sponsored by Nokia. [12] This is the world's first television series made entirely with cell phones. [13] [14]

The series was part of Planetaurbe.tv's content, an online TV channel for youngsters throughout Latin America. Torrelles was founder and CEO of Planetaurbe.tv until mid-2012. [15] Planetaurbe.tv was an alternative weekly aimed to a young audience for 15 years, but under Torrelles' direction decided to use digital tools and become an online and interactive TV channel in partnership with Venezuela's largest media outlet, Cadena Capriles. Torrelles claimed that his dream was to make a different television, not only in terms of quality, but also according to the Internet's way of thinking. [5]

In September 2012 Torrelles won a Silver Trophy Anda Award in the Non-profit Message-Digital Campaign category as Creative Director and Director for "What if you could do it again?" (Tú sí puedes), a video about unwanted teenage pregnancy. [16]

Since 2012 Torrelles has been the executive producer and creative director of an online comedy and how-to-and-syle TV series called Visto Bueno. [17] The show has been described as "lifehacking for the style-conscious consumer" [18] and an effort to create a space for young girls to discuss fashion an beauty advice for any size, on any budget.

In 2013 Torrelles created She Looks Like, a series that attempts to crack the look of celebrities using visuals and comedy. A second season was ordered for spring 2014. [19]

In 2014 Torrelles and his creative partner Maiah Ocando landed a talent development deal with Disney-ABC for a future television show. [20]

Visto Buenowas nominated for two Streamy Awards 2013 as Best International Series and Series of the Year, [21] in 2014 in Fashion, First Person and Entertainer of the Year categories, [22] and again in 2015 in Fashion. [23] This was the first Latin show to be nominated three years in a row, [24] and the only Spanish-speaking show nominated. [25]

Torrelles was the executive producer of Vuelo sobre ti, an independent feature documentary [26] about the last tour of the Venezuelan rock band Zapato 3. [27] The film had a distribution deal with Amazonia Films to be premiered in October 2015 in 40 movie theaters in Venezuela, the biggest release for a music film in the country. In September 2016, Vuelo sobre ti won the award for Best Documentary Feature in the ELCO Film Festival 2016. [28]

In June 2015, Torrelles developed a musical project sponsored by Honda aiming to tell the story of how multicultural millennials in America are shaped by their Hispanic roots and their everyday life. The song "Mis Dos Mundos" was performed by Maiah Ocando, written by Torrelles, Daniel Norman and the L.A band Elah, and produced by Torrelles at the Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. The song received more than 400,000 views on YouTube in the first week. [29]

On June 17, Torrelles spoke on the panel "Be a Maker, Not A Taker" at the Voto Latino's Power Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a professional development conference that educates, engages and empowers American Latino Millennials. The conference brings together dynamic leaders to network, explore resources and learn how to grow their careers from cross-industry experts. [30]

In July 2016, Maiah Ocando signed a Content Development Deal with Univision. As part of the deal, Torrelles created a portfolio of new series on beauty, fitness, relationships, fashion and DIY projects aimed at multicultural millennial women in America, starring Ocando, who served as their digital correspondent, creating innovative social content and formats for platforms such as Snapchat and Facebook Live. [31] In September 2016, Ocando joined the team of Noticias Univision #EdicionDigital, [32] the first network newscast conceived, designed and produced for live simulcast on digital/social platforms plus broadcast television, and the only noon network newscast in the United States. Torrelles was writer/executive producer of her segment. [33]

In December 2016 Dear Maiah, a digital series starring Ocando, premiered. It was developed in collaboration with Fullscreen's AT&T Hello Lab, [34] with Torrelles serving as executive producer and creative consultant for the series. A digital spin on an advice column, Dear Maiah encouraged Maiah's fans to ask her questions about everyday life. The show received nearly 3.3 million total video views, and was a finalist for the "Best Use of Instagram" and "Mobile Campaign" at the 9th Annual Shorty Awards in March 2017. [35]

In the spring of 2017, Ocando and Torrelles created one of the first hour-long podcasts in Spanish language in the US. The podcast No sé, dime tú (I don't know, you tell me), comments on pop culture, current events and their lives as immigrants searching for the American dream in Los Angeles. It was named one of the "9 Latinx Podcast You Should Be Listening To Right Now" by Latina Magazine. [36]

Personal life

Since 2005, Torrelles has had a relationship with his creative and business partner, the host of Visto Bueno and online personality Maiah Ocando. [37] The couple got married in Los Angeles in the summer of 2014. [38]

Bibliography

YearTitleGenre
2008Peor que túNovel
2008Sexo a 62 manosShort stories
2010Tiempos de ciudadShort stories

Awards and nominations

YearNominatedAwardResult
2007 World Young Reader Prize Brand: Innovative Activities to Improve the Relationship Between the Newspaper and YouthWon
2012 Anda Award Silver Trophy: Non-profit Message-Digital CampaignWon
2013 Streamy Awards 2013 Best International SeriesNominated
2013 Streamy Awards 2013 Audience Choice Finalists for Series of the YearNominated
2014 Streamy Awards 2014 First PersonNominated
2014 Streamy Awards 2014 Entertainer of the YearNominated
2014 Streamy Awards 2014 Streamy Award: FashionNominated
2015 Streamy Awards 2015 Streamy Award: FashionNominated
2017 Shorty Awards 9th Annual Shorty Awards: Best Mobile CampaignNominated
2017 Shorty Awards 9th Annual Shorty Awards: Best Use Of InstagramNominated

Related Research Articles

<i>El País</i> Spanish newspaper

El País is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. El País is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustavo Cisneros</span> Venezuelan media mogul (1945–2023)

Gustavo Alfredo Jiménez de Cisneros y Rendiles was a Venezuelan businessman and Chairman of Grupo Cisneros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galavisión</span> American pay television channel

Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Herrera</span> Mexican actor and former singer (born 1983)

Alfonso Herrera Rodríguez is a Mexican actor and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ángeles Caso</span> Spanish journalist, translator and writer

María de los Ángeles Caso Machicado is a Spanish journalist, translator and writer. She is a recipient of the Premio Planeta de Novela.

Grupo Cisneros is a privately held, family owned business headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, historically based in Venezuela, with a focus on Latin American and Spanish-speaking people worldwide. It is a conglomerate of media entertainment, digital media, property investment, tourism development and consumer product companies which reaches 550 million Spanish and Portuguese-speaking consumers in the Americas and Europe. It also provides media content to more than 100 countries. Its current CEO is Adriana Cisneros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulina Goto</span> Spanish actress, singer, and hostess (born 1991)

Paulina Gómez Torres known professionally as Paulina Goto is a Mexican actress, singer, and television hostess. She first gained popularity for her debut role in the Mexican telenovela Niña de mi Corazón in 2010. She was a member of the popular Mexican-Argentine pop group, Eme 15, formed by Televisa producer Pedro Damián, from 2011 to 2014. She is also known for her roles in Mi corazón es tuyo (2014-2015), Un camino hacia el destino (2016), El vuelo de la Victoria (2017) and Daughter From Another Mother (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alejandro Hernández (director)</span> Venezuelan film director

Alejandro Manrique Hernández Reinoso is a Venezuelan filmmaker. He achieved popularity in Latin America thanks to The Alejandro Hernández Show, a comedy web series which satirizes Venezuelan and Hispanic culture. Most of the content is in Spanish, although some sketches are recorded in English. Since 2009, his videos have reached a total of over 8 million views, which includes only those on his YouTube account. In 2011 Hernández signed a contract with PlanetaUrbe.Tv. Since then, all of his episodes were uploaded to PlanetaUrbe's website instead of YouTube. After the contract ended, he returned to YouTube through elmostacho.com. Hernández is currently at number 148 on the most followed Twitter users in Venezuela, and is the most followed user in the state of Zulia. He won the Celebrity award at the 2011 Twitter Awards held by El Nacional.

This is a list of Spanish television related events in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maiah Ocando</span> Venezuelan actress

Maiah Ocando is a Venezuelan actress and Internet personality now living in Los Angeles, California. She studied Fashion Design at the Brivil Institute and Filmmaking at the School of Cinema and Television in Caracas. She is the host of the YouTube webshow Visto Bueno and writer of the book series of the same name. She co-created and hosted the online series She Looks Like, hosted "Holiday House" and was featured as a co-host on the TV and online series Vive El Verano for NBC Universo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dross (YouTuber)</span> Venezuelan YouTuber and writer

Ángel David Revilla Lenoci, better known as DrossRotzank or simply Dross, is a Venezuelan YouTuber and writer who has resided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerardo Reyes (journalist)</span>

Gerardo Reyes Copello is an investigative journalist. He works as director of the investigative unit of Univision Network. He worked at El Nuevo Herald in Miami, Florida. In The Miami Herald, he won a shared Pulitzer prize in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Lara Novel Award</span>

The Fernando Lara Novel Award is given annually in Spain by the José Manuel Lara Foundation and the Planeta publishing house to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. The publication of the finalist (runner-up) work is not expected, although it is sometimes published by Planeta itself.

Samuel de Luque Batuecas, known online as Vegetta777, is a Spanish gaming YouTuber known for his videos about different games and variety of content. His YouTube channel is the 2nd most-subscribed channel from Spain. He currently lives in Andorra.

<i>The Stepmom</i> Mexican telenovela

The Stepmom is a Mexican television series produced by Carmen Armendáriz for TelevisaUnivision. It aired on Las Estrellas from 15 August 2022 to 21 October 2022. The series is a reboot based on the 2005 Mexican telenovela of the same name, and the fifth production of the Fábrica de sueños franchise. The series stars Aracely Arámbula and Andrés Palacios.

<i>Veo cómo cantas</i> (Mexican game show) Mexican television game show

Veo cómo cantas is a Mexican television mystery music game show, based on the South Korean program I Can See Your Voice. It premiered on Las Estrellas on 20 August 2023, although Univision did air earlier on 6 August 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "III Semana de la Nueva Narrativa Urbana realizarán en Caracas". Letralia. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. "Luis Soles lleva a Zapato 3 a la pantalla grande con el film "Vuelo sobre ti"". Noticias 24. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. "Urbe". Saber UCAB: Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  4. Colón Moleiro, Eric (26 June 2015). "Hace 20 años la juventud tenía una brújula". El Estímulo. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Gabriel Torrelles, de Planeta Urbe: El contenido trasciende a las redes sociales". El Mundo, Economía y Negocios. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  6. "Escritores venezolanos en Twitter". Culturizando. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  7. "Ponente Switch 04: Gabriel Torrelles". Wearepicta. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  8. "Exclusivo: Estreno oficial del nuevo video de Candy66". Planeta Urbe dot Com. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  9. "Background: Category: Brand". World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  10. "Presentación del libro Tiempos de ciudad: III y IV Semana de la Nueva Narrativa Urbana". Analítica (in Spanish). 20 May 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  11. "Gabriel Torreles: Escribir es mi única opción". Qué Leer. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  12. "Serie juvenil Planeta N8 próxima a estrenarse fue grabada con equipos Nokia N8". Hormiga Analítica. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  13. "Planeta N8: Serie juvenil grabada enteramente con..." Microsoft: Lumia Conversaciones.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. "Planetaurbe estrena serie grabada sólo con celular". Últimas Noticias. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  15. "La televisión que haces con tus amigos". Revista Dominical. Retrieved 4 September 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. "JWT se consagró como la Agencia del Año en los Premios ANDA 2012" (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  17. "Maiah Ocando y Visto Bueno van por los Streamy". Revista Dominical. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  18. Gutelle, Sam (21 February 2013). "'Visto Bueno' Leading The Way For International Series In America". Tubefilter. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  19. "Maiah Ocando estrena nueva serie en Estados Unidos". La Patilla (in Spanish). 10 January 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  20. Márquez, José. "Maiah Ocando: "Sentarme en las oficinas de ABC ha sido un sueño"". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  21. "3rd Annual Winners and Nominees". Streamy Awards. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  22. "4th Annual Winners and Nominees". Streamy Awards. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  23. "5th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamy Awards. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  24. "Maiah Ocando fue nominada a los Streamy Awards de Hollywood". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  25. "La venezolana Maiah Ocando vuelve a ser nominada a los Streamy Awards". Cochinopop (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  26. Urdaneta, Rafael. ""Zapato 3" llega a la gran pantalla con el documental "Vuelo sobre ti"". FM Center. Retrieved 1 October 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  27. Lebon, Manuel. "Zapato 3 vuela sobre sus fans con documental y nuevo disco en directo". Contrapunto (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  28. "Zapato3 se alza con su primer olivo como mejor largometraje documental en el festival ELCO 2016". La Patilla. 23 September 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  29. "Mis Dos Mundos - Maiah Ocando [Official Music Video]". YouTube. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  30. "VL Power Summit 2016". Voto Latino. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  31. Parga, Monica. "Conoce a Maiah Ocando, en preguntas de 10 segundos y sin filtro". Univision.com. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  32. PR, Univision. "Univision estrena noticiero digital multiplataforma: revive la primera emisión". Univision.com.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  33. "Univision News Breaks New Ground with Launch of First Newscast Conceived and Produced for LIVE Simulcast on Five Different Platforms – "Noticiero Univision Edición Digital"". Univision.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  34. "AT&T Hello Lab Teams With Social Media Stars For Three New Shows On Instagram". Tubefilter. November 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  35. "The Ninth Annual Shorty Awards". Shorty Awards. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  36. "9 Latinx Podcast You Should Be Listening To Right Now". Latina. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  37. Pernalete, Ranmarvi (November 9, 2012). "Maiah Ocando: "He hecho de todo a través de internet"". Falcón Total (in Spanish).
  38. "¡Maiah Ocando y Gabriel Torrelles se casaron!". Erika Tipo Web. Retrieved 4 September 2015.