Jeff Valdez has been named co-chairman at Moctesuma Esparza'sUS-based production, distribution and exhibition company Maya Entertainment.

Valdez previously served as chief executive officer and chairmanof Si TV and arrives as the company announces its first theatrical release, thedocumentary Screamersby Carla Garapedian that the company recently acquired. The film traces thehistory of genocide.

Maya Releasing's newly appointed chief operating officer andpresident Michael Harpster and Kevin Benson will oversee the release commencingin Los Angeles on Dec 8.

The company currently has two projects in post production underthe Maya Pictures division - the comedy Harlem by Nestor Miranda, and Jose LuisValuenzuela's drama Moe.

MayaCinemas has recently broken ground on three new theatre complexes

in the US inprimarily Latino communities, and is preparing three additional sites.