Wilmer Valderamma: From Fez on "That '70s Show" to a Successful Business Man with a Plan
Many know him as Fez, the hilarious foreign exchange student who kept audiences laughing with his stoner one-liners and often pathetic attempts to get girls on "That '70s Show," while in reality, Wilmer Valderamma hasn't had any trouble in the love department - he's been recently romantically linked to "X-Factor judge and Latina singer Demi Lovato.
But besides representing Latinos on prime time television and having an interesting Hollywood love life, the ALMA award-winning actor/writer/producer is actually a busy bee behind the scenes and is quite business savvy.
Recently, Valderamma, who is of Venezulan and Colombian decent, has expanded the activities of his company, WV Enterprises, to secure a bigger place for Hispanic culture in the U.S. entertainment industry, Hispanically Speaking reports.
"I have just expanded my company WV Enterprises with new divisions like the music department, the studio, franchises, entertainment, animation, production and development, to offer the entertainment industry a larger, more complete platform," Valderrama told EFE, a Spanish international news agency.
With this business expansion, Valderamma hopes "to create a platform that can help Hispanic culture play a bigger role in Hollywood."
The actor/producer-turned entrepreneur teamed up with Pantelion Studios, the indie production company (which is a partnership between Lionsgate and Televisa) covers both television and film.
"Wilmer is a versatile acting and producing talent with strong crossover appeal to mainstream U.S. and Latino audiences.," said Pantelion Exec Paul Presburger."This deal is part of our strategy of continuing to build a roster of Latino talent who will produce and star in mainstream commercial films and TV series that incorporate Latino characters and themes, and resonate with Latino audiences."
The 33-year-old multi-talented Latino was born in Miami, and moved to Venezuela when he was 3 years old. He returned to the United States when he was 13 and settled with his family in Los Angeles. While it wasn't always easy, trying to learn English and assimilate, he thrived and today recognizes how his journey helped him understand the influences Latinos have in the U.S.
"It's really interesting, I have had a front seat to the evolution of what went down in the last 20 years of our culture," he told Fusion.
Valderamma has also starred in the MTV series, "Yo Momma," guest starred in "Wizards of Waverly Place" and the 2012 NBC series, "Awake," and is the voice for the character, Manny in the children's show, "Handy Manny."
When he's not entertaining, Valderamma is also a political activist and has served as co-founder of Voto Latino, an organization dedicated to bringing new and diverse voices into the political process.
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