Ruben V. Nepales

@nepalesruben
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About Ruben V. Nepales

Based in Los Angeles, Ruben V. Nepales is an award-winning journalist whose honors include prizes from the National Entertainment Journalism Awards, a U.S.-wide competition, and the Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Nepales wrote the popular column, “Only IN Hollywood,” which ran for 15 years in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and was occasionally picked up by major Asian daily newspapers, including The Jakarta Post. He now pens “Only IN Hollywood” for Rappler, the Philippines’ leading news website, and the column’s new home since mid-2020.

“Only IN Hollywood” won first prize (Blog, Individual) in the 64th Southern California Journalism Awards held in June 2022.

Nepales, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s, was the first Filipino to be elected to membership in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the association of international journalists which votes on and presents the prestigious Golden Globe Awards.

Nepales served for many years as a board member of the HFPA, which is one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in Hollywood (it has donated more than $50 million over 27 years to entertainment-related charities, scholarships and grants). In 2012, he became the first and only Filipino to be elected as chairman of the board of the HFPA.

In June 2019, Nepales was elected executive secretary of the HFPA and served until 2021. He was the managing editor of a special anniversary commemorative book, “Hollywood Foreign Press Association: A History (75 Years of the Golden Globe Awards).”

The University of Santo Tomas (Manila) alumnus was one of the founding board members of the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra (FASO), the only Filipino symphony orchestra outside of the Philippines.

In 2012, Nepales published his first book, “My Filipino Connection: The Philippines in Hollywood,” which won in the print journalism – book category of the Migration Advocacy and Media Awards presented by the Office of the President of the Philippines’ Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

In November 2020, the photojournalist released “Through a Writer’s Lens,” a stunning coffee table book of more than 1,000 photos of stars that he took in almost two decades.

The 260-page, 12” x 14” hardbound compilation of Nepales’ often candid, refreshing snapshots of the talents he has interviewed earned good reviews in the media. In February 2022, the book won first prize in the non-fiction category of the 14th National Arts & Journalism Awards.

The hardbound copies sold out. The book is now available as a paperback on Amazon.

A proud native of Calasiao Pangasinan, Philippines, Nepales is married to journalist Janet Susan Rodriguez Nepales, with whom he has two daughters, Bianca Nicole and Rafaella Angelica.