After a welcome message by DGA Third Vice-President Taylor Hackford (Ray; Blood-In Blood-Out), and remarks from Latino Committee Co-Chair A.P. Gonzalez, actor/DGA director-member Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica; Walkout) – who got his first acting break as the star of Valdez’s play and feature film Zoot Suit – served as Master of Ceremonies. He introduced a cast of guest speakers that featured producer/UPM Peter Burrell (Boston Public; Ally McBeal); producer Moctesuma Esparza (The Startup; Walkout); actresses Lupe Ontiveros (Tortilla Heaven; Desperate Housewives) and Alma Martínez (The Unit; Planting Melvin); and actor/DGA director-member Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba; Numb3rs); all of whom entertained the room with anecdotes about working with Valdez.

The audience viewed a montage of retrospective clips from Valdez’s career created by his son Anahuac Valdez, following which the guest of honor took the stage and treated everyone to an entertaining conversation about his life in the business, moderated by DGA Board Member Jesús Treviño (Prison Break; Bones).

Among his many honors, Valdez was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington D.C in 2007. That same year he was awarded the USA Artists Rockefeller Fellow in Literature as well as the Legacy Award in Literature from the Smithsonian Latino Center in Washington D.C. Valdez has been a member of the DGA since 1981.