www.fotonovelacompany.com
About The Fotonovela Production Company™
The Fotonovela Production Company™ (FPC), a subsidiary of ACMA Social Marketing
(www.acmasocialmarketing.com), is a family-owned and operated business. FPC helps
organizations reach their audiences by developing entertaining, easy-to-read, and
multicultural educational materials that produce results.
Fotonovelas can convey messages on any topic through the use of stories told with
photos and dialogue. Traditionally a pop culture medium in Mexico and other parts of the
world, fotonovelas are easy to understand and are ideal educational tools.
The Matiella and Naegelin family has been producing educational fotonovelas since
1983. They have produced dozens of fotonovelas and other forms of photo-literature for
Spanish and English speaking audiences on a variety of health topics including
HIV/AIDS, Diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, and other educational topics such as self-
esteem and how parents can help their children excel in school.
History of Fotonovelas
Fotonovela scholars date the origin of fotonovelas back to post World War II when the
photo-booklets were first produced in Italy as a by-product of the film industry. They
began as a pictorial summary of Hollywood films and then evolved into their own unique
medium. Some of the earlier fotonovelas in the 1950’s and 1960’s were written by the
famous Spanish romance novelist, Corín Tellado. From the early 1950’s to the 1980’s,
Mexico was at the center of the fotonovela and historieta boom. Irene Herner, a Mexican
sociologist and author of the seminal work on fotonovelas, Mitos y Monitos(1)
, reported
that in 1979 Mexico was publishing 70 million copies of fotonovelas and historietas per
month. (Historietas are Latino-style graphic novels that also continue to be a pop culture
medium in Mexico, in print and on line.)
The use of educational fotonovelas began in the 70's with organizations such as Aid for
International Development, who produced fotonovelas to address the issue of family
planning in Latin America and Africa. Ana Consuelo Matiella, the CEO of The Fotonovela
Production Company was one of the first educators in the United States to adapt
fotonovelas from a popular culture medium to an educational tool. She is the most
experienced fotonovela producer in the United States.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
Staff
Ana Consuelo Matiella, CEO/President
Ana Consuelo Matiella is the President and CEO of The Fotonovela Production Company
(FPC). For the past 25 years she has run ACMA Social Marketing, which is the parent
company of FPC.
Besides being the most experienced fotonovela producer in the United States, Ana is an
experienced strategic and outreach consultant, focus group facilitator and qualitative
researcher. She has extensive experience in developing health communications and
social marketing programs and campaigns. During her eight year tenure at ETR
Associates, a leading reproductive health and family life education publisher, Ana was
editor in charge of developing multicultural publications, including books and trainings for
teachers and health professionals on how to better serve and educate the Latino
population. She is author and producer of over 50 fotonovelas, editor of The Latino
Family Life Education Curriculum, The Multicultural Health Education Challenge, and
Getting the Word Out: A Practical Guide to AIDS Materials Development.
Ana has a BS in Sociology and an MA in English as a Second Language/Applied
Linguistics. A native of Mexico, she is bilingual and bicultural.
Ana is a member of the Public Health Association in New Mexico, Oregon, and Colorado.
As a nationally renowned fotonovela scholar and producer, Ana spends most of her time
in Portland, Oregon and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Lori Matiella-Murray, Vice- President & Marketing Director
Lori Matiella-Murray comes to FPC from the mortgage and financial management
business with over 20 years experience in marketing, sales, and business management.
Lori is the principal in charge of the FPC Denver office and business growth.
Prior to FPC, Lori was a Senior Loan Officer at Affiliated Financial Group assisting clients
in securing financing for home loans.
Lori has a BA in Spanish and Sociology, and attended graduate school in Psychology at
the University of North Dakota. Lori was born and raised on the United States/Mexico
border in Nogales, Arizona. She is bilingual and bicultural.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
(Staff Continued….)
Sara Lorenia Naegelin y Matiella – Marketing Director
Sara has been involved in the fotonovela business since she was a child. She brings her
marketing expertise to our Portland office.
Arturo Naegelin – Production Coordinator
Arturo Naegelin has over 25 years experience in fotonovela directing and producing; he
handles all shoot coordination and direction.
Scott Lowry – Art Director and Designer
Scott brings his award winning design sense to our team with over 25 years experience
in graphic design, illustration and art direction. He has been designing our fotonovelas
since 1992.
Carolyn Wright – Photographer
Photographing fotonovelas requires a special skill -- capturing emotion and expression so
the reader can better understand the message. Carolyn has over 20 years experience as
a photographer and has been working for FPC for over 10 years. She is owner of The
Photography Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Dr. Ramón Valle – Professor Emeritus – San Diego State University
Dr. Valle is a fotonovela scholar and FPC’s primary research advisor. He has conducted
several research projects specifically on the effectiveness of fotonovelas and has been
collaborating with us on fotonovelas production and evaluation for over 20 years.
Dr. Gregory Archer – Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Gregory Archer also consults with us on research design and formative research
approaches. He is the CEO of Archer, Searfoss and Associates, Inc. in Fountain Hills,
Arizona. Dr. Archer is an evaluator, research consultant and grant writer for Valle del Sol,
Inc. the largest Latino nonprofit organization in Arizona. He also evaluates evidence-
based practices and federal grants for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
CASE STUDY: National Alzheimer’s Association
and Stanford University
In 1991, The National Alzheimer’s Association, recognizing the need for culturally and linguistically appropriate information about Alzheimer’s disease, took a most effective and socially responsible step to educate Latino families about this challenging condition. They hired The Fotonovela Production Company to produce two pioneering fotonovelas, the first of their kind in the United States. Ten years later, the original story is still being used by the Alzheimer’s Association. A new fotonovela specifically for caregivers, has been produced by FPC and published by Stanford University to continue to reach out to Latinos with culturally and linguistically appropriate information.
Challenge There are 5.3 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease. Every 70 seconds someone develops the disease and it is the 7
th leading cause of death. According to the
Alzheimer’s Association, research is only beginning to uncover the impact of Alzheimer’s disease among Latinos who may be at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. Although there is an abundance of information on Alzheimer’s in English, there is great gap of information for Spanish speakers, especially for lower literacy audiences. The challenge facing The Fotonovela Production Company has been to take information about this complex disease and produce engaging stories that are culturally appropriate as well as easy-to-read and understand. Results As a first response to this challenge, the National Alzheimer’s Association produced two fotonovelas in 1991: “¿Qué le pasa al abuelito?” and “Unidos en la lucha.” Because the fotonovelas were so popular, bilingual editions of the same titles were published in 1999. Their English titles are “What is happening to Abuelito?” and “Together We Can Do it.” A third edition, “What is Happening to Grandpa?” was updated and published by the Alzheimer’s Association, but the original story written by health communications experts at The Fotonovela Production Company in 1991, was left intact. These stories rang so true to thousands of Spanish and English readers that they have endured for almost 20 years. In a study conducted by Valle and Yamada in 2006, on the first Alzheimer’s fotonovelas, “¿Qué le pasa al abuelito?” and “Unidos en la lucha,” they were found to be effective in reaching out to low literacy Spanish readers and documented knowledge gain with a representative sample of Spanish language readers. In August of 2009, to further the work of using fotonovelas to educate people about Alzheimer’s disease, The Fotonovela Production Company in collaboration with Stanford University – School of Medicine and The National Alzheimer’s Association produced “Together We Can,” a fotonovela that specifically addresses the needs of caregivers and how they cope with difficult behaviors. The story models how a family can come together, support each other and share the care-giving responsibility. “Together We Can” is currently being used in a research project at Stanford University to assess its effectiveness in helping improve the quality of life of both the caregiver and the person with Alzheimer’s disease. It gives us great satisfaction to produce fotonovelas that have been proven effective through scientific research. We hope to continue to provide our expertise in producing culturally and linguistically appropriate communications that make a difference.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is a fotonovela?
A fotonovela is a story told with photos and dialogue. Popular in Africa, Mexico and other
countries in Latin America, fotonovelas are ideal educational tools because they are
entertaining and easy-to-read.
2. Why use fotonovelas to educate people about health and other
important topics?
Because they are easy-to-read and entertaining, fotonovelas are great tools for
increasing health literacy and for making information accessible.
3. What is the history of fotonovelas?
Fotonovela scholars date the origin of fotonovelas back to post World War II when the
photo-booklets were first produced in Italy as a by-product of the film industry. They
began as a pictorial summary of Hollywood films and then evolved into their own unique
medium.
4. Where are fotonovelas most popular?
One can find fotonovelas or photo novels all over the world but they became a popular
culture medium in Mexico and Latin America from the 1950s to the 1980s. In 1979,
Mexico was producing 70 million copies of fotonovelas per month. Because of their Latin
America connection, they are culturally familiar, popular, and an effective educational
medium among Latinos.
5. When did fotonovelas become educational tools?
As early as 1970, AID (Aid for International Development) and other global health
organizations began using fotonovelas to educate people about family planning, malaria,
and sexually transmitted diseases. Ana Consuelo Matiella, the CEO of The Fotonovela
Production Company, was one of the first health communications experts to use
fotonovelas to educate people about health. Her first fotonovela was Dolores y
Esperanza, published by the National Arthritis Foundation in 1983. Under the direction of
Ms. Matiella, ETR Associates, an educational publisher in Santa Cruz, California, was
one of the first publishers in the United States to develop a fotonovela on AIDS/HIV.
Saturday Night Special, published in 1986 in Spanish (Sábado Loco) and English, was
distributed to over one million people in the United States.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
(Frequently Asked Questions
Continued….)
6. Are fotonovelas only for Latinos or Spanish readers?
Absolutely not! Fotonovelas are popular with Latino audiences and are great Latino
marketing tools but fotonovelas have universal appeal. The Fotonovela Production
Company staff has produced fotonovelas for multicultural audiences in all regions of the
United States.
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an old adage because it’s true. Another old
adage is “Everyone loves a story.” Stories have universal appeal and fotonovelas are told
with pictures. It is an ideal and fun way to learn.
7. How do fotonovelas address the issue of health literacy?
Health literacy continues to be a problem in the United States. In the area of diabetes
alone the lack of health literacy has been blamed for diabetes complications such as loss
of limbs, blindness and kidney failure. Many diseases and conditions such as diabetes
and heart disease can be managed and even prevented by good health communications
yet these chronic conditions continue to be a tragic global problem.
Because fotonovelas are entertaining and easy to read, they are an ideal tool to address
health literacy. Because they use engaging characters to tell the story, they are great for
modeling healthy behaviors.
8. Why was The Fotonovela Production Company established?
The Fotonovela Production Company™ was established because we are committed to
making important health and education information clear to multicultural audiences. We
believe that fotonovelas hold a great potential for informing people in an accessible and
entertaining manner.
9. Does research support fotonovelas as effective?
Yes! Although there have been relatively few research studies done on the effectiveness
of fotonovelas, there are some significant studies that prove their effectiveness. A
bibliography is available on our website: www.fotonovelacompany.com.
10. What are the steps in developing a fotonovela?
Producing fotonovelas is a complex and interesting process of work. Here are a few of
the basic steps to take:
www.fotonovelacompany.com
(Frequently Asked Questions
Continued….)
• Define who you want to reach as specifically as possible.
• Get to know your audience: their values, needs, barriers, desires, and motivators.
Conduct focus group interviews and other formative research that will help you
understand your audience.
• Zero in on your message. Ask yourself, “What do we want our audience to do as
a result of reading this fotonovela?”
• Start with a solid and well-researched concept paper with goals, educational
objectives and evaluation outcomes clearly defined.
• Write a creative strategy and develop the script.
• Hire a great production team.
• Keep the literacy level accessible.
• Field-test the fotonovela with your primary audience to make sure that it is
aligned with their values, beliefs and motivators.
The Fotonovela Production Company ™ - is the most experienced fotonovela production
firm in the United States. Ana Consuelo Matiella, CEO, has been writing, developing and
producing fotonovelas for 25 years. For more information on how The Fotonovela
Production Company™ can help you reach your audience, call 505-466-8817 or visit our
website www.fotonovelacompany.com.
www.fotonovelacompany.com
The Fotonovela Production Company
33 Camarada Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2009
Contact:
Ana Consuelo Matiella
505-466-8817
Fotonovela Company Receives Research Grant from National Cancer Institute
Santa Fe, NM - September 23, 2009 – The Fotonovela Production Company
has received a Small Business Innovative Research grant # R43CA135999-01A1 - from
the National Institutes of Health – National Cancer Institute to research the effectiveness
of fotonovela health strips in Spanish language newspapers. The National Cancer
Institute supports the pursuit of innovative ways to educate the public about cancer
prevention and sound nutritional practices.
Popular in Latin America and Africa, fotonovelas are booklets, much like comic
books, that tell stories with dialogue and photographs. Spanish speakers and other
underserved populations often have trouble accessing good health information, and
much of the available information does not reach Spanish speakers because the
information is poorly translated and difficult to understand. The fotonovela takes complex
information and makes it easier to understand through storytelling via photos and
dialogue.
Ana Consuelo Matiella, president of FPC, creator of the strip and most
experienced health education fotonovela producer in the United States, has teamed up
with researchers to assess the receptivity of the fotonovela health strips with Spanish
language readers and the commercial viability of the Spanish language health strips with
Spanish newspaper publishers and commercial sponsors.
For more information, visit www.fotonovelacompany.com or call 505-466-8817.