Jeff Valdez

Early years

Jeff Valdez was born in Pueblo, Colorado, to a Mexican-American family with roots in New Mexico since the 1600s. His mother, Mary Garcia, and his father, Alfonso Valdez were blue collar workers, with Spanish, Mexican and Comanche blood. The youngest of 9 children, Valdez worked hard since he was 7, cleaning the local drive-in cinema every morning before going to school. Throughout his early teen years he played drums in his father's band, earning his first money and saving enough to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado to found his own band called "The Giving Tree." After some years, having liked performing live in front of an audience, Valdez became a comedian, working on the road for more than 6 years, and owning his own comedy club "The Comedy Corner" in Colorado Springs. It was then when he became a producer, and created a comedy show which aired live every Saturday on a Colorado Springs' local channel, right after "Saturday Night Live."

Valdez Productions, Inc.

In 1993, Valdez moved to Los Angeles, and created the show "Comedy Compadres", for KTLA, channel 5. This show would be the first of many shows that he would create to engage the English speaking Latino community, and to develop Latino talent in front and behind the cameras. He then wrote scripts, produced and directed shows and films for Disney (My Favorite Mayan), Showtime (Latino Laugh Festival), NBC (The Valdez's), Galavisión (Cafe Ole, Funny is Funny), and Nickelodeon (The Brothers García).

Sí TV

In 2003, and based on the potential of this English-speaking market of the Latino population, Valdez paired with Bruce Barshop, a venture capitalist and founded Sí TV, the first Latino national channel for English-speaking Latinos in the United States. Sí TV made history when it became the leading producer of Latino themed English-language cable programming network, reaching 22 million homes in the first 3 years. After launching the channel, Valdez became the CEO of the channel for the first 2 years, and produced the original programming of Sí TV. During those first two years, sixty-five major advertisers from Fortune 500 companies became clients of Sí TV. After Valdez created and developed Sí TV, NBC created the national TV channel MUN2, and MTV created MTV Tres, both of them targeting English-speaking American Latinos nationwide. Valdez remained Chairman of the Board of Sí TV until 2009.

Que Pasa Corp

In 2007 Jeff Valdez was named Chairman of Quepasa Corp./Quepasa.com (NASDAQ-QPSA) a bi-lingual social network aimed at US and Latin American markets. Quepasa.com is a global social community for the Latino audience. It creates a social web of new friends, games, contests, flirting, pictures, communities, video, and much more. Valdez contributed to QuePasa's recovery in that period with an overall re-branding and creative vision. He also helped with a digital product called "Papacito", which increased the reach of the social network.

Maya Entertainment

From 2007 to 2011 Maya was the first and only Latino Global Film Distribution Company. The company produced, owned and distributed films and content, primarily in English for theatrical release, as well as syndication. Maya's films were carried in Video On Demand. PaperView, and venues like Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, Netflix, Redbox, Amazon, and many others.

Max 360 Entertainment

From 2011 to 2014, Valdez headed up Max 360 Entertainment, which was a group of investors pursuing a variety of Television projects.

Production Deal with LAMF

In 2015 Valdez teamed up with financier Jeffrey Soros to produce a slate of Latino comedy films that are aimed at the New Mainstream Latino audience. Valdez is also currently working on an OTT project that is in English and Spanish that intends to mass customize the OTT experience to the New Mainstream audience.

Awards and Recognitions

Jeff is 100% self-taught, a true product of the school of life and has been featured in several books and articles about successful entrepreneurs whose success follows a similar story. He is also a speaker and has shared his incredible life and experiences in a variety of conferences, organizations and Fortune 500 companies. He also is a sought-after speaker about the Latino market, and the new American mainstream in media. Jeff has received a number of accolades from the industry such as:

Jeff was appointed by US President Bill Clinton to the Advisory Committee on the Arts of the Kennedy Center (Washington DC, 1996-2000.) He has been a member of the Museum of the Moving Image Board of Directors (New York, 2000-2006), and of The Los Angeles School For The Performing Arts Board of Advisers (2006-2008.)

Filmography

Without Men || Feature Film || Executive producer || 2010

Unacceptable Behavior || TV Series || Executive producer || 2006

Urban Jungle 2 || TV Series || Executive producer, Writer || 2005

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner || TV Series || Executive producer || 2004

Across the Hall || TV Series || Executive producer || 2004

The Drop || TV Series || Executive producer || 2004

The Rub || TV Series || Executive producer || 2004

Latino Laugh Festival: The Show || TV Series || Executive producer || 2004

Urban Jungle || TV Series || Writer, Executive Producer || 2004

The Brothers García: Mysteries of the Maya || TV Movie || Writer, Director || 2003

The Brothers García || TV Series || Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Writer, Director || 2000-2004

Café Ole' with Giselle Fernandez || TV Series || Writer, Producer || 1997

Latino Laugh Festival || TV Special || Producer || 1997, 1998, 1999

Funny is Funny || TV Series || Writer, Executive producer || 1997

Comedy Compadres || TV Series || Writer, Executive Producer || 1994

Almost Live From The Comedy Corner || TV Comedy Show || Writer, Producer, Director || 1992

Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter || TV Movie || Actor || 1991