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