Erica Munoz of Weichert, Realtors® – Orange Coast portrays a single mother facing deportation
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. / Aug. 8, 2019 – Erica Munoz has seen immigrant parents forced into impossible situations. Mothers and fathers having to make unthinkable decisions in order to try to give their children a better life.
These horrors, amplified in recent years, drives Munoz’s performance as the lead role in the movie Long Gone By, which premieres at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival on Aug. 17 at the AMC Times Square Theatre in New York City.
“I’ve been acting since I was 18 and this was without a doubt one of my most challenging – and touching – roles ever,” said Munoz, who also works as a full-time real estate agent at Weichert, Realtors® – Orange Coast in Newport Beach.
“Playing the role of an immigrant mother who’s faced with an unthinkable decision was acting for me. But it’s a terrifying nightmare for so many immigrant parents here in the U.S.,” added Munoz, who is also an associate producer of the film. “These issues are what drove the cast and crew to create Long Gone By, and the effect of the film is palpable.”
Long Gone By tells the tale of Ana Alvarez, a single mother from Nicaragua living in Warsaw, Indiana with her teenage daughter, Izzy. When a routine check in leads to a deportation order, life as Ana knows it ends. The timing could not be worse as Izzy has just been accepted to Indiana University, a dream that becomes a nightmare when she discovers that because of her immigration status she will not qualify for the needed scholarships or federal aid. Faced with an impossible reality of a lifetime away from her daughter, Ana decides to risk everything in a last chance effort to leave Izzy’s tuition paid before her time runs out. An intimately unnerving portrait of a woman willing to sacrifice everything to give her daughter the chance at a life she never had.
The premiere of Long Gone By also marks Munoz’s return to Broadway, where she made her professional acting debut in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, Rent. Munoz has also appeared in the television shows Grey’s Anatomy, Numb3ers, and Jericho.
Munoz sees similarities in both acting and real estate.
“The parallels are so obvious for me. I go into an acting audition the same way I do a listing presentation for a real estate client: I train hard and prepare for both so I can do the best job I can,” said Munoz. “And that’s exactly what I did for this movie.”
For more information about Long Gone By or to purchase tickets to the HBO New York Latino Film Festival premiere, visit https://nylatinofilmfestival.com/2019/movies/long-gone-by/.
Weichert, Realtors® – Orange Coast is an independently owned and operated Weichert® affiliate. The office serves Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and surrounding area.
For more information about Weichert, Realtors® – Orange Coast, located at 100 Bayview Circle, Suite 260, contact Debi Sugden at 949-335-1710 or visit weichertrealtorsoc.com.
# # #
About Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc.: Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. has grown steadily since Jim Weichert, president, chairman and CEO of Weichert Companies, launched the company’s franchise division in 2001. The affiliate division was created to offer a business model for franchisee ownership candidates described as “a clearly defined operating system for marketing and managing a real estate business.” Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. announced its first affiliate in 2002, was ranked as one of the top traditional residential real estate franchises in Entrepreneur’s 2019 Franchise 500 and was identified in 2019 by Franchise Business Review as one of the top U.S. franchises for owner satisfaction. Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. has offices serving over 350 markets in 39 states. For more information about Weichert, visit Weichert.com or for information on franchise opportunities visit WeichertFranchise.com.
Each Weichert® franchised office is independently owned and operated.
