REAL WOMEN GO TO ITALY for new film by Josefina Lopez of HBO's Real Women Have Curves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2006

Hollywood, CA. Actress Aimee Garcia (All About the Andersons, Greetings From Tucson) teams up with international star Victoria Abril (Max Mon Amour, El Séptimo Día) for the production of Lola goes to Roma, penned by award-winning scribe Josefina Lopez, with Italian writer/director Toni Occhiello attached to helm.

The project rides on the heels of Lopez’s highly successful play that was parlayed into the indie sleeper hit Real Women Have Curves, which grossed well over $5.8 million in box office sales. Marilyn R. Atlas, who co-produced, with HBO, Real Women Have Curves, and has had over 10 years of commitment to not only Latino themed projects and talent, but, projects that also reflect diversity and non-stereotypical characters, joins forces with producer Diane Cornell to develop and produce Lola Goes to Roma for her company, Skye Island Entertainment. It is one of many such Latino projects on the Skye Island Entertainment slate, including El Grupo, a series to be produced for television with Josefina Lopez supervising the writing, and Pachuco El Spirito to be produced with Marilyn Vance (Pacific Blue) and Gregg Vance. Josefina Lopez has agreed to supervise the writing of the series also.

An adventure of self-discovery for both mother and daughter that begins in the streets of East Los Angeles and ends in a small village in Tuscany, Italy, Lola goes to Roma is the story of Roma, a third-generation, Mexican-American who, having defied Latina stereotypes by attending college and earning a doctorate, embarks on a journey with her mother Lola, who wasn’t as fortunate and succumbed to living out the traditional mother role. “I wanted to show how two people can go on the same trip but have different journeys,” said Lopez about the screenplay that will also be showcased as a play in Santa Barbra this spring.

Lola goes to Roma will be shot in the East Los Angeles, Spain, and in Occhiello’s home country of Italy. “I believe that landscape is its own character in this project,” said Occhiello concerning the use of authentic locations for this production.

Described by Cornell as a cross between How Stella Got Her Groove Back and How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer, Lola goes to Roma, with an estimated budget of $7 million, has garnered interest from Medusa Films, the largest production and distribution company in Italy.
Principal photography is anticipated for early Summer 2006. For media, distribution and financing inquiries please contact…

Skye Island Entertainment
Diane Cornell
Phone: (818)567-6190 ext. 101
Email: SkyeIslandEnt@aol.com