Historic Gains in Diversity by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Must be Matched by Hollywood Executives
Outpacing the Historic Underrepresentation of People of Color Requires the Participation of Film Studios, Talent Agencies and Television Networks
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently released the list of new member invites for 2016 — the largest group of industry professionals ever to be offered admission (683), with 41 percent of nominees being people of color. The Academy has been on a mission to try to avoid yet another #OscarsSoWhite debacle spurred by the fact that the audiences across the country find it completely unacceptable that no person of color was nominated for an Oscar in any of the major acting categories. Though this newest list is historic, and includes more than 70 Latinos, it still only increases the inclusion of Academy members of color by a mere 3 percent because of the historic underrepresentation that we have yet to overcome.
Through the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s long-standing partnership with the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition to hold executives accountable — at the TV networks, film studios and talent agencies, we are seeking the kind of portrayals worthy of our community in order to foster a greater understanding of our personalities, family life, work and culture. Without characters played by Latino actors, the performance of stories written by Latinos and executives with more diverse perspectives to put them in front of audiences, NHMC’s report found that misconceptions fueled by stereotypes on the screen and hate speech inundating our political discourse take root and foster more negative attitudes about non-Latinos and immigrants. These unfair biases become deeply held and are used to support dangerous policies that harm families across the country.
Yes, more Latino films and industry professionals need to be recognized for their work and hopefully that will happen now with more diverse academy members but we also just need to be included — period.
Film studios and talent agencies need to follow TV’s lead and be more transparent with the public about their diversity in front of and behind the camera, embrace new talent, set aggressive new benchmarks and greenlight promising shows that include diverse voices that tell real stories about our communities. Reports from the UCLA’s Bunche Center, Los Angeles Times and USA Today have all found that representation of people of color in Hollywood is abysmal at all levels, and a far cry from reflecting the actual diversity of the nation.
Latinos are the biggest moviegoers of any ethnic group in the country and companies are endangering a major source of their current and future revenue by continuing to discount the very real need to balance the diversity we see in the real world with the entertainment content we are all so plugged into and influenced by.
The long wait for recognition and long road ahead should not diminish the honor that so many Latinos received. Of the list of influential Latinos in the entertainment industry that the National Hispanic Media Coalition offered the Los Angeles Times for their Diverse 100 piece, putting forward people of color of Academy membership, the outlet chose 10 — including our president and CEO Alex Nogales who said in his profile: “Hollywood is leaving a lot of money on the table, especially the film industry, by not including not only Latinos, but other people of color as well. At some point they have to wake up and take a stand. The future are people of color.”
We applaud the three nominees that NHMC suggested and were invited to join The Academy this week:
Jorge Gutierrez, animator/director, The Book of Life.
Patricia Riggen, director, The 33, Miracles From Heaven.
Oscar Isaac, actor, Star Wars The Force Awakens, Ex Machina.
Please join us in celebrating the achievements of all of the Latino professionals that have been invited this year to join the Academy:
Actors
Julie Carmen — “The Milagro Beanfield War,” “Gloria”
Enrique Castillo — “Déjà Vu,” “Bound by Honor”
America Ferrera — “Cesar Chavez,” “End of Watch”
Luis Guzmán — “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Carlito’s Way”
Oscar Isaac — “Ex Machina,” “A Most Violent Year”
Sal Lopez — “The Astronaut Farmer,” “Full Metal Jacket”
Ignacio López Tarso — “Under the Volcano,” “Nazarin”
Eva Mendes — “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Hitch”
Marisa Paredes — “The Skin I Live In,” “All about My Mother”
Jorge Perugorría — “Che,” “Strawberry and Chocolate”
Silvia Pinal — “Vintage Model,” “The Exterminating Angel”
Michelle Rodriguez — “Avatar,” “Girlfight”
Cecilia Roth — “Lucia Lucia,” “All about My Mother”
Pepe Serna — “The Black Dahlia,” “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez”
Tessa Thompson — “Creed,” “Dear White People”
Jacob Vargas — “The 33,” “Jarhead”
Daphne Zuniga — “Staying Together,” “Spaceballs”
Casting Directors
Sara Bilbatua — “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Devil’s Backbone”
Carmen Cuba — “The Martian,” “Side Effects”
Walter Rippell — “Everybody Has a Plan,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Manuel Teil — “Babel,” “Y Tu Mamá También”
Cinematographers
Bárbara Alvarez — “The Second Mother,” “Whisky”
Lula Carvalho — “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “RoboCop”
Enrique Chediak — “The 5th Wave,” “The Maze Runner”
Félix Monti — “Our Last Tango,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”
Costume Designers
Sonia Grande — “Magic in the Moonlight,” “Even the Rain“
Designers
Rodolfo Damaggio — “Tomorrowland,” “Terminator Genisys”
Pilar Revuelta — “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Directors
Israel Cárdenas — “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita”
Carlos Carrera — “Backyard,” “El Crimen del Padre Amaro”
Juan Antonio Garcia Bayona — “The Impossible,” “The Orphanage”
Laura Amelia Guzmán — “Sand Dollars,” “Carmita”
Lucrecia Martel — “The Headless Woman,” “The Holy Girl”
Anna Muylaert — “The Second Mother”
María Novaro — “The Good Herbs,” “Lola”
Victor Nunez — “Spoken Word,” “Ulee’s Gold”
Lucía Puenzo — “The German Doctor,” “El Niño Pez”
Patricia Riggen — “The 33,” “Girl in Progress”
Luis Valdez — “La Bamba,” “Zoot Suit”
Documentary
Pedro Kos* — “The Square,” “Waste Land” (also invited to the Executives branch)
Executives
Arturo Barquet
James F. Lopez
Raúl Antonio Dávalos — “The Amateurs,” “Meet Wally Sparks”
Affonso Gonçalves — “Carol,” “Winter’s Bone”
Bernat Vilaplana — “Crimson Peak,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Beatrice De Alba — “Away We Go,” “Frida”
Music
Antonio Pinto — “Amy,” “Senna”
Fernando Velázquez — “Crimson Peak,” “Mama”
Marcelo Zarvos — “Rock the Kasbah,” “The Beaver”
Producers
Belén Atienza — “Out of the Dark,” “The Impossible”
Fernando Bovaira — “Biutiful,” “The Sea Inside”
Esther García Rodríguez — “Wild Tales,” “The Skin I Live In”
Rodrigo Teixeira — “The Witch,” “Mistress America”
Public Relations
Linda Guerrero
Short Films & Feature Animation
Alê Abreu — “Boy and the World,” “Cosmic Boy”
Renato Dos Anjos — “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Bolt”
Pato Escala — “Bear Story”
Jorge R. Gutierrez — “The Book of Life,” “Carmelo”
Gabriel Osorio — “Bear Story,” “Residuos”
Pablo Valle — “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Turbo”
Sound
Roberto Fernandez — “St. Vincent,” “Drive”
Gabriel Gutiérrez — “Automata,” “Mama”
Visual Effects
Adam Valdez — “Maleficent,” “World War Z”
Writers
Vera Blasi — “Tortilla Soup,” “Woman on Top”
Ciro Guerra* — “Embrace of the Serpent,” “The Wind Journeys” (also invited to the Directors branch)
Sebastián Lelio — “Gloria,” “Navidad”
Carlos Reygadas — “Silent Light,” “Battle in Heaven”
Members At-Large
Dana Belcastro
Ana Maria Quintana
Associates
Emanuel Nunez
Joanelle Romero
Warren Zavala
