EL PASO, Texas — Disney’s “Encanto” screenwriter, El Pasoan Germaine Franco, will attend this year’s 15th annual Plaza Classic Film Festival at the Plaza Theater.
Franco will appear alongside the 2021 Oscar-winning Best Animated Feature on July 30 at the Plaza Theater at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for $10 on Ticketmaster.com and at the Plaza Theater box office.
Franco’s “Encanto” score received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. It’s one of many accomplishments the former El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra percussionist has achieved in her career as a composer, producer and arranger in the film industry.
Achievements in cinema
Franco’s “Encanto” score not only received an Oscar nomination, but also a Golden Globe nomination. The score also received awards from the Society of Composers and Lyricists for Best Original Score, an Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature, and a Variety Artisan Award.
Franco has written and produced original scores for a variety of other major projects. She was co-writer and producer on five of the six original songs for Disney’s 2017 hit “Coco,” including “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazon.” She also wrote the scores for the video games “Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness” and “Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor’s Quest”.
For Nickelodeon’s “The Casagrandes”, Franco was co-writer and producer of the main title theme song.
Netflix films Franco has worked on include Work It, the Sleepover and Someone Great.
Other movies Franco has tagged include “Little,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” “Tag,” and “Dope,” to name a few.
Franco’s work is heard in concert halls around the world.
Equity in cinema
Franco is a strong believer in music education and equity in her field. She is on the advisory board of Women in Media and the Neighborhood Music School.
Franco made history as the first woman to score in a Disney animated feature and was the first woman of color to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.
In 2018, Univision celebrated Franco’s work as one of “15 Latinas Changing the World As We Know It.”
Other special guests and films at the 15th Annual Plaza Classic Film Festival
Joining Franco as special guests at this year’s Plaza Classic Film Festival are El Paso native Rita Moreno, El Paso native F. Murray Abraham, and married filmmakers El Paso native Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera.
This year’s titles are ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,’ ‘Amadeus,’ ‘Scarface,’ ‘Thelma and Louise,’ ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show, “”Superman” and “Insomnia in Seattle”.
You can get individual tickets at the Plaza Theater box office or at Ticketmaster.com. Passes are on sale here, or you can call 915-533-4020.
The 15th Annual Plaza Classic Film Festival will take place at the Plaza Theater on W Mills Ave from July 28 to August 7.
