Long Island Headlines

The newly released Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic and social impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. Building on its 30-year legacy as the largest and most inclusive study of its kind, AEP6 provides detailed findings on 373 regions from across all 50 states and Puerto Rico—ranging in population from 4,000 to 4 million—and representing rural, suburban, and large urban communities.

In partnership with Americans for the Arts, Long Island Arts Alliance coordinated the study of Nassau and Suffolk Counties with generous funding from the Long Island Community Foundation. Over the past year, we have gathered insights from almost 1,000 attendees at various arts and culture events throughout Nassau and Suffolk to report on the social and economic impact the creative sector has on the Island. We've connected with over 400 cultural nonprofits, as well as other stakeholders, to understand the arts landscape's role in COVID recovery.

For more information visit https://longislandartsalliance.org/

 

Waldo Cabrera and Long Island Arts Alliance (LIAA) were awarded the New York Emmy® Award in the category of Teen (13-19) Short or Long Form Content for its short documentary on Layla’s African Dance and Drum of Valley Stream as part of their Back In the Spotlight: Cultural Dance series. 

 

Without the ability to meet in person or to perform for an audience, many cultural organizations were faced with closure during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As New York began to re-open, Back In the Spotlight aimed to capture the excitement within five unique cultural dance troupes on Long Island as they prepared to share their heritage in person once again and uplift their communities. 

 

“We are deeply honored to receive the NY Emmy Award for our 'Back in the Spotlight' series,” says LIAA’s Executive Director, Lauren Wagner. “It's a privilege to have shared the stories of our resilient, creative community as they rebounded from the pandemic. The arts transcend being a mere 'nice to have' commodity; they are an essential force for the betterment of humanity. We all instinctively know that investing in the arts is important, but for some reason, they keep falling to the bottom of the list of priorities. The arts are essential to life on Long Island, and we are here to ensure they receive the recognition they deserve”. 

 

The eight-minute Emmy® Award Nominated episode featuring Layla’s African Dance & Drum of Valley Stream follows students and parents as they celebrate the start of Black History Month and the restart of public performances after a long COVID-19 shutdown. The piece follows the dancers as they go back in the spotlight as the halftime entertainment for the world-famous Harlem Globe Trotters at the UBS Arena. 

 

Back In The Spotlight was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. In addition to the Emmy® Award Nomination, the episode on the Boys & Girls Club of Shinnecock Nation was selected into the Latino and Native American Film Festival, and the episode on Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company was awarded a prestigious Press Club of Long Island Award. 

 

This is the first Emmy Award nomination and win for LIAA. They were nominated alongside MSG Networks, NYC Life, and My 9 News WWOR. The 66th Annual New York Emmy® Awards were celebrated on the evening of Saturday, October 28, 2023 at a live awards ceremony from the New York Marriott Marquis in Manhattan. 

 

VIEW THE STORY:

 

By Waldo Cabrera

 

 

Grand Opening of The Long Island Authors Books Store at The Islip Arts Council Gallery

JUNE 30, 2021 — Islip, NY

 

 

Islip, NY — The 2021 New York Emmys® nominations were announced and Long Island journalist’s name Waldo Cabrera, the Executive Producer of Islip.TV, came up four times. This achievement is even more remarkable considering the level of talent and competition that Cabrera and Islip.TV were up against — The flagship local stations of every major TV network, PBS Thirteen, stations from every major city in New York State and Northern New Jersey plus powerful publishers like the NY Times, The Daily News and Newsday.

 

Leading the list of nominations is “Full STEM Ahead Long Island,” a series directed by Waldo Cabrera from Brookhaven National Laboratory and The Long Island STEM Hub. The 10-part series encourages middle school and high school students to pursue careers in STEM and it highlights STEM opportunities on Long Island.

 

In TEEN SHORT FORM CONTENT category; the story “BIO ENGINEERS BEATING BACK VIRUSES,” aired at the end of 2019. The LI STEM Hub team goes inside Cold Spring Harbor

Laboratory and Brookhaven National Lab to see how vaccines are developed. Soon after this piece aired, the COVID pandemic hit. When Pfizer and Moderna announced their vaccines, the technique used to develop those vaccines were the same that were featured in this story.

 

The second LI STEM Hub nomination was in the TECHNOLOGY SHORT FORM CONTENT category: “HACKING AWAY AT CAREERS IN CYBER SECURITY.” In this story the LI STEM HUB team featured NYIT tech entrepreneurs and Great Neck based ATLAS Cyber Security. We were treated to a in in-depth demonstration of the techniques used to thwart malicious attacks.

 

Ten stories were created by the LI STEM Hub team, three were nominated for Emmys®. Cabrera joked, “If we were baseball players, we would make the Hall of Fame with a .300 batting average.”

 

In the INTERVIEW/DISCUSSION category, an interview with Hollywood director BARRY SONNENFELD got the nod. The Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington invited Mr. Sonnenfeld to speak about his book “Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother.” Before the event he sat down with Waldo Cabrera for a quick talk.

 

Finally, the fourth nomination was in the CHILDREN/YOUTH LONG FORM CONTENT category for “CUACARACHITA MARTINA’S MUSICAL ADVENTURE.” Waldo directed and animated this short film for The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College. The story educates kids about the Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican Librarian in the NY Public Library system. It then brings to life a modern version of Pura Belpré’s most famous books “Perez and Martina: A Portorican Folk Tale.”

 

This modern story was adapted by award winning children’s book author Raquel Ortiz, it features new music by Desmar Guevara, who played for Salsa greats like Celia Cruz. Characters were voiced by Mario Mattei and Alejandra Ramos and the culminating song’s operatic vocals were provided by Elizabeth Perez.

 

Just as exciting the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL featured “CUACARACHITA MARTINA’S MUSICAL ADVENTURE.” The film played on a massive outdoor screen in Waldo’s childhood neighborhood in The Bronx.

 

“This has been a monumental year for Islip.TV,” Cabrera said. “It is the strength of our partnerships that has allowed us to tell these great stories. We thank everyone that has helped us achieve this level of success.”

 

 

 

 

 

Links:

 

TEEN (13 - 19) - SHORT FORM CONTENT (UP TO 10 MINUTES) 

• Bio Engineers Beating Back Viruses — Full STEM Ahead Long Island
  

• Waldo Cabrera, Director 

LINK:  https://youtu.be/uuTBSXYf_Gs

 

TECHNOLOGY - SHORT FORM CONTENT (UP TO 10 MINUTES) 

Hacking Away At Careers In Cyber Security - Full STEM Ahead Long Island 

• Waldo Cabrera, Director 

LINK:  https://youtu.be/KmLWC_9BK7M

 

 

INTERVIEW/DISCUSSION - SHORT FORM CONTENT (UP TO 10 MINUTES) 

Conversation With Director Barry Sonnenfeld At The Cinema Arts Centre 

• Waldo Cabrera, Producer 

LINK:  https://youtu.be/t2HnLM36YZk

 

 

CHILDREN/YOUTH (12 AND UNDER) - LONG FORM CONTENT (LONGER THAN 10 MINUTES) 

Cucarachita Martina's Musical Adventure  

• Waldo Cabrera, Director