Latinx Filmmakers Grapple with the Impact of the SXSW Cancellation 

By: Carlos Aguilar

Image Courtesy of Deadline

Outfest Fusion 2020: Culture. Film. Music. Story. presented by Comcast NBCUniversal is announcing today Blackhouse Foundation Founding Board Member and Chair Brickson Diamond will be the recipient of the 2020 Fusion Achievement Award for his decades of outstanding contributions to the LGBTQ Arts and Media Visibility.

Image Courtesy of Los Angeles Times

The new year has already given viewers not one but two TV shows featuring Latina leads.

The issue of on-screen Latinx underrepresentation is, at this point, nothing new. Study after study — not to mention controversy after controversy — reminds us that Latinos are prized as audiences but not given the requisite opportunities to thrive in the entertainment industry. On July 2019, The Black List — the annual survey of Hollywood executives’ favorite unproduced screenplays that has since also become an online hub for aspiring screenwriters everywhere — partnered with The Latin Tracking Board, Mijente, NALIP, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Remezcla and UnidosUS to create the very first Latinx List for feature screenplays. That list ended up including recent Sundance film Blast Beat as well as three projects from up and coming Latina screenwriters.

Image courtesy of CSR Wire

This past weekend, nearly 200 high school students spent the day on Warner Bros.’ Burbank lot immersed in the company’s first-ever WB Studio Day. The gathering was an opportunity for those participating in the WB First Cut program and interested in production careers to engage more deeply with the studio and gain insight into various career pathways the entertainment industry has to offer. Through a partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District and nonprofit Ghetto Film School (GFS), WB First Cut provides filmmaking curriculum, skills and expanded industry opportunities to high school students. Now in its third season, the program first launched in 2018.

The Black List is partnering with The Latin Tracking Board, NALIP, Remezcla and The Untitled Latinx Project for the inaugural Latinx TV List. Interested writers and creators who are interested can submit to blcklst.com between now and March 18.