John Leguizamo to Keynote Multicultural Retail 360 Summit

SAN DIEGO — The Multicultural Retail 360 Summit is bringing back the star power this year with the announcement this week that multifaceted performer and Emmy winner John Leguizamo will deliver a keynote speech at the event, taking place Aug. 24-26 at San Diego’s Hilton Bayfront.

In the past year, Leguizamo completed production on three back-to-back films: Universal Pictures’ “The Nest,” opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler; the Lionsgate action comedy “American Ultra," with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart; and Atlas Independent’s “The Man on Carrion Road,” opposite Patrick Wilson and Jim Belushi.

He also recently starred alongside writer/director Jon Favreau in the Open Road feature “Chef,” and in Universal Pictures’ breakout comedy “Ride Along,” opposite Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.

Leguizamo came to the United States with his family when he was four years old and lived in various neighborhoods of Queens in New York City. He has credited growing up as one of the first Latino children in his neighborhood as formative in his acting ability.

He earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program, as well as an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, for a special HBO presentation of his one-man show, “Freak.”

Adding to his list of attributes, Leguizamo is also an accomplished author. His autobiography “Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends,” was released by Harper Collins in October 2006. The New York Times called the book "brutally funny," while USA Today coined Leguizamo as "one of the most exciting talents to come along in some time."

The theme for this year’s Multicultural Retail 360 Summit is “Optimizing the Omnichannel Experience for Multicultural Consumers.” The event will feature speakers from Facebook, Zumba, Jewel-Osco and dozens of other retail, consumer packaged goods, multicultural marketing and consulting companies.

For more information or to register, go to www.multiculturalretail360.com/summit.

The annual Multicultural Retail 360 Summit is presented by Convenience Store News’ parent company Stagnito Business Information + Edgell Communications, based in Deerfield, Ill.