It is no surprise that you rarely see Latinos in Hollywood movies. Hollywood has that door still tightly shut, save for stereotypical depictions and, every once in a while, an original character in an original story.

The 2019 study “Latinos in Film: Erasure on Screen and Behind the Camera Across 1,200 Popular Movies,” by the University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), and Wise Entertainment, examines the decades-long void and fills it with interpretation and recommendations.

“Who gets to make claim of the nation? And are these people really valuable to the nation itself?”

A complex, interwoven set of issues drives the continued exclusion of Latinos in the industry. “The biggest challenge a lot of organizations and underrepresented communities face is accessibility to resources, whether it’s funding or relationships with industry stakeholders,” says Liliana Espinoza, production and development manager at NALIP. The organization is “working to bridge the gap between the traditional methods of success in the industry and the next generation of decision-makers. There are creative, elegant solutions to these challenges, and we know that collaborating with those who are passionate about making the industry more inclusive is the best way forward.”

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