welcome to comunidad del valle. more help for college students and those in high school who want to go to college. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ >> we begin with the program put on by the new life chapter. here with me are two students benefitting from this great program. eddie cruz and caitlin fernandez, both students in holster and here to talk about

the program. tell us about this program. what do you think it's done for you as far as getting through high school and getting ahead of the game, if you will? >> it's helped me become a little bit of a better leader and understand how the workplace it and understand it more for what my parents cannot provide for me so i'll be prepared for college. >> do they prepare you with mentors and have you follow along and see what it is the professional life is like? >> yeah, we met a lot of great people. we went to la paz, and that's like in my perspective, i think that cesar chavez is like a role model for me and has help misdemeanor he be more ready for college and go on and do better

than what my parents did. >> la pas is the chavez compound by bakersfield, where his widow still lives today. it's a unique experience. i'm glad you were able to do that. i come from a small town called greenfield. the resources don't get to the small town. we don't get wind of special programs and -- i didn't know what a mentor was or role model was until i got to college. that's how secluded we were. tell us about if you feel that way about hollister and it's great to get programs that come out and help you out. >> hollister is a pretty small town. when you want to find a mentor, it's kind of hard to. the others really help you and you can find people and especially what you want to do when you're older. and when you find the role model it encourages you to what you

want to be. >> how do you think this program is helping you accomplish that? >> i wanted to be a pharmacist or pharmacist tech. i'm hoping to meet a pharmacist or pharmacist tech that can show me the way because not many in my family has been to college either. i can only get so much help from them and to get help from other people who have gone through probably the same or even worse than me and still get to where they are today, it was really helping. >> and we'll show you information if you are a pharmacist or someone and you want to travel down hollis ter, we'll show you information. how important is that mentorship program to be able to communicate and land with somebody who has been there, eddie? >> the thing is it's really important it's helped a lot in teenagers and high schoolers because it really helps you stay

on track with your with school and it really helps you be on the right track. >> do you think you're ahead of the game when it comes to peers because you're involved with these, that maybe you're a step above your peers who are not involved with it? >> i do believe that. i kind of don't want to because i still feel bad and that's why i want to spread the word. i want them to help me become a step ahead. i want everyone to be known that they can get help, whether it's through family or friends, they can get the help they need. >> twice because in essence, you two by being here and participating in this program, you've made yourselves student leaders in your communities. that important to you and if so why? >> definitely. it's really important because i

have younger siblings and they tell me i'm like a role model for them. and by being here, they look up to me. >> how about you, caitlin? >> it's the same thing. i have younger brothers and sisters and they see me as their role model and i want the best for them, whatever -- when i was younger, i want them to have what i didn't get, i do my best and show them the way as much as i can. >> don't let them make excuses either. >> everyone full is excuses for not making it or trying their hardest. it's up to you because you're the leaders now to show you can make those excuses. let's hook you up with the program. they are available for more information, you can e-mail micky luna or logonto the website, she would love to hear from you and get more volunteers and mentors.

anything you want to close with? >> i really want to spread the word on lulac because he's really helped me and it's been a great experience to be in the program. >> all right. >> same like eddie said, just to spread the word that way people can get the help that we did and help them become the leaders we know that they are. >> well, congratulations. you guys are on your way. good luck to both of you. >> thank you. >> next up, a similar program provides mentorship programs for students and helps them get through high school and on to college. that's coming up next. stay with us.

a program to help latino student gets to college and hopefully succeed after that. here with me now is the founder, timothy kroul, the founder and oscar hernandez is grammy award

winning artist helping out with the program. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> you heard the students in the previous segment. how encouraging is that, the fact they are able -- it's not easy to sit in front of the lights and cameras here and knowing the host, asking him questions, pretty impressive? >> very impressive and utterly inspiring. their stories resonate with us at siembra and we've seen people come up through the system also in east los angeles who want clear pathways to success. >> what are you doing to help them get there? >> in california there's a 800-1 student to counselor ratio. that disproportionately negativively affects the latino student. they need a reference point in order to gravitate towards higher education. what we're trying to do is apply

technological solution to help augment and give them an ability to social network with the caseload and open up possibilities in terms of providing remedial content and clear pathways for the students. >> how is that working? >> it's working wonderfully. we've been asked by counselors in l.a. and northern california for more applications. we're visibly building that right now. >> here's videos of yourself and -- these are folks who are kind of integral in the program success. tell me why you've decided to get involved and bring your talents in. >> it was simple for me. it was a project that spoke volumes in terms of its significance and its importance to young students. inner city latino, originally from south bronx in new york, born and raised and now living in l.a. i'm still back in new york a lot

but part of the california community. and i can tell you that it's something that's extremely vital and extremely important for us to have young latino students, especially at the rate that we have in terms of what the dropout rate for latinos. it touches my heart personally. when he spoke to me about it it was no brainer, somebody could get involved and try to help in any way i can. i'm proud to be trying to help them along. >> the numbers are troubling, the achievement gap we haven't closed it in a long time. that's where you come in and try to close that gap? >> absolutely. what we're trying to do is apply the sense of urgency of a silicon valley technology startup and attract capital to the specific challenge that faces this country, the challenge of the century, because if we're not able to make a dent in this trajectory, the united states is not going

to be able to compete. so we think there's a way to expand the counselor's role, elevate that profession in a way that makes a real difference for many, many students. >> and counselors are overworked. you mentioned the ratio there but it's vital we use -- silicon valley to kind of enhance. >> precisely. we are on indygo go for phase one launch project siembra. many of our backers are board advisers from stanford, harvard, dr. mark washaur and oscar hernandez with the entertainment community worldwide. >> i'm trying to reach out to people i have access to. i've been fortunate to work with a lot of important people in the entertainment industry and reach out to them little by little and

make them aware. we as artists are in our own bubble, but there's a lot of us that come from underprivileged backgrounds that i know have a very passionate about something like this, the importance of latinos in this country moving forward and taking a huge step forward in terms of our own -- our own ability to move ahead in life and be successful and give the youth every opportunity that they deserve and need to have. so for me it's again, like it's a no brainer to be involved and try to help. >> you don't need to be doing it but do you think the background and upbringing that's a lot to do with what you want better for kids? >> i can tell you in my home as a youngster coming from a family of 11, college was never

mentioned. i was fortunate enough to be in right circumstances where subsequently i got finally did go to college and get my degree. but this was after having had the education of the school of the street and been fortunate enough to be around people who were achieving and being exposed to that. there's nothing like being exposed to people who are achieving good things and setting positive examples to our community. so i think it behoofs society in general to get involved and jump on board the bandwagon of something that's so vital and important. >> you want to say something? >> everyone is a mentor. everyone has experience to show with the next generation, you have a wonderful experience in media. some of our students that have come to us in east l.a. asked us, i would like to become a doctor or become a musician. help us find the clear pathway to that. i can tell you that in my case, it's extremely important to give

back. i'm one of the fortunate ones where i come from, not a lot of people have survived the ravage of certain areas that we were brought up in. and i've been extremely fortunate and feel it's a privilege to be able to give back and set an example that i'm just like you and you can make it and do things that are positive and help yourself and help your family and help ultimately the society in the world we live? >> there's your challenge today is become the mentor and guiding light for many of the our latino students out there. there's the web address for more information. you can also dial that number, they would be happy to answer any questions you might have. any brief final thoughts? >> i want to thank you for having us. and really, this is a challenge of the century and we have to apply a full-court press for this. >> good luck. >> thank you. >> up next, the other barrio,

new film. stay with us.

it's about to hit the big screen, a new film called the other barrio. dante is with us. welcome back. >> thank you. >> you were here what, a year ago -- >> two years ago. >> to talk about -- it's taken this long. we're going to play the full trailer in the next segment but we have some cutaway footage we'll show you throughout the interview. before we get into the film, since it's been two years and given the evolution of technology, the way you and i did news when you first hired me at telemundo 20 years ago, it's not the way we do it now. technologiwise. what have you seen since you've been able to sit back and watch it? >> we used to do with chisel and hammer -- on the cave, remember

that? >> try to forget. >> seriously, technology has evolved tremendously, not only in the past 20 years but last two years since i was here last. as a matter of fact, we did most of the shoot in 2012 from the summer of 2012 and had to go back and do additional scenes in the summer of 2013 and technology had already evolved. >> when you were in news together, we had deadlines and the deadlines were you clock in at 9:00 a.m. and got to be on air at 6:00. your deadline has been two years now. what is it like to transition into longer deadlines there? >> it's kind of strange in a way but in another way it's nice. not to have the axe over your head. >> barking at you. yeah. >> dante was my news director at telemundo those who don't know. >> in a sense it's nice but not

having the deadline helps. having a deadline and having something to shoot for timewise it helps to move the project forward at the certain pace. the deadline we have now, we got to finish by in the next couple of weeks because we already submitted to the international film festival and also the allay film festival and they have deadlines. we now have deadlines to meet. >> tell us about the film. it looks good. we're going to show the trailer. it looks fascinating, looks like you want to pick up popcorn and sit through it. >> i'm glad to hear that. the film is about an investigat investigator, housing authority investigator that goes to a residential hotel one day and checks off for the hotel, no violations happen. but same night there's a fire and seven people die and they

try -- the city tries to ask him positi politely to tweak his report. he refuses and starts looking into why -- what happened and he finds a lot of corruption, a lot of kickbacks and then people that are after him and it evolves into this -- this drama and this story that i'm trying to finish. >> was it a coup to get -- >> richard monmontoya, he's a gt guy, he's local. very entwines with the hispanic community in the bay area. >> and he's not the only one, you have a nice cast to go along with it. >> the leading lady and then we have pearl wong, we have jeff

doyle, great british actor and other actors, most of them all local. we try to -- the story is local and film makers are local, the cast is mostly local. we try to keep it within the region. >> are you enjoying this? should we expect to see more from you? >> absolutely. this is what i've always wanted to do after news, i guess. and i'm really enjoying it because i'm not only what you mentioned about the deadlines and pressure is different, but the creativity for me is tremendous because there's the music. there's the story itself and editing and camera work and lighting and mood. since everything is fiction, you don't have to ask for permission or double check your sources. you just write away and if it works, it works. >> it's called "the other barrio", sf nor films? >> right. >> there's the information, log

onto the information and you can -- see the trailer on the website? >> yes. >> and before we come back and show the clip. >> my final thoughts are i hope people walk away with a sense of inspiration after watching the film and also a sense of inelectrospekt so they look within themselves and gauge what's important in life and what's not. life is not infinite. it has a start and end so we have to prioritize things in life. and i hope people walk out with that sense and my other thought is i i'll continue to make films so i hope i inspire people and i help them to live better lives. >> very good. we'll show you the clip after these messages when we continue. stay with us. one of the best things about covered california is that millions of people will qualify for financial assistance. for example, if you're a single person

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in a city run by money -- >> jesus -- >> are you with the police now? what's going on. >> one man fights fire with fire for justice in a better way. >> they are not my dead, mr. troy. >> what did you see that night? >> party bus intermission. >> didn't have to die, sir. >> love of christ.

>> what's that like, your name is all over the credits there? this is hollywood. not that i'm surprised. i'm very impressed with the quality. >> thank you very much. >> your thoughts on the end product? >> i'm very pleased. absolutely very pleased. i'm -- well the reason my name is there so many times because i'm doing a lot of times. one of which is editing and i'm doing the final edit at the moment. and like i said, we have a deadline within a couple of weeks and i'm thoroughly enjoying it. >> when you're shooting scenes three or four times, does that get frustrating after a while? >> yeah it is a little bit frustrating but at the same time, you know that you're trying to do it better or make it better so it's also encouraging. it's kind of a double edged sword. they say that you make a film three times and first when you write it and then when you shoot

it and then when you edit it. it's so true. >> a year ago were you scratching your head saying -- >> two years ago. >> a year ago, were you saying what was i thinking? you're halfway through and you're excited all the way through. >> i knew it was a long process. and there was -- there's been some fund raising in between also and other things that he with had to deal with outside of production. so that's why it was taken two years but two years was my time line line anyways. >> are we looking at theaters or film festivals. >> film festivals first and hopefully it will get picked up and we'll see it in theaters soon. >> let's show the information again. dante bettio, why the title? >> "the other barrio" it was written on a short story and he

short a short story called the other barrio, i ran into it in a book called sf noir. so that's where the story comes from. >> thank you so much. dante bettio. here's what is happening in your comunidad. >> for those celebrating a

special day, felicidades. >> next week pick a copy of the newspaper and support your biling you'll weeklies. there's my e-mail address and you can follow me on twitter. we thank you again for sharing a part of your sunday with us once again. next week at 3:30 p.m. next week, the legendary. thank you for sharing a part of your sunday with us. see you next week.

shrif shriffin wins gold for the u.s.! what a glorious final day. the sun came out early from the mountains to olympic park near the black sea to bolshoy ice dome. the 30th game of the men's hockey tournament and it is for gold. the last two olympic gold medal winners are in it. they are canada and sweden. hi, everyone. i'm mike emrick