Latino network El Rey to launch

LOS ANGELES, April 15 (UPI) -- Filmmaker Robert Rodriquez says his new cable television network El Rey is the culmination of a 20-year "journey" with Latino audiences.

The director of "El Mariachi," "Spy Kids" and other features said the new Latino network will launch sometime between September 2013 and January 2014, CNN reported Saturday.

"I've been on this journey for 20 years now ... and this seems to be the reason," Rodriguez said Friday at the annual meeting of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.

The El Rey network will allow Latino filmmakers to tell stories about the Latino community, he said, but would also appeal to general audiences.

"What's great about this is that no one is doing this for an audience that is growing so fast," Rodriguez said.

"When you think that there's nothing on television like this, it boggles the mind."

The El Rey network will offer "an action-packed, general entertainment network in English for Latino and general audiences that includes a mix of reality, scripted and animated series, movies, documentaries, news, music, comedy, and sports programming," Comcast, which will carry the network, said.