by Andrew S. Vargas

As Marvel announces more details on its long-awaited cinematic melanin infusion known as Black Panther, we’re still left wondering where all the Latino superheroes are at. Even a quick glance at the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest blockbuster Captain America: Civil War makes our absence all the more resounding, as the film’s massive, diverse cast features a number of African-American actors in high profile roles, along with ass-kicking (white) women like Scarlett Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen.

And it’s not that there are no Latino superheroes to choose from. Marvel’s comic book division has actually been doing a damned good job of incorporating Latinos into their fantastical narratives, whether by rebooting classic superheroes like Spider Man or giving us newly minted masked avengers like The Question and Akrata. So what’s holding up the the cigar-puffing studio bigwigs over at Marvel’s film division from giving us a chance to shine on the silver screen?

A recently published article at The Wrap on the lack of Latino superheroes in Marvel movies has done us the massive favor of thinking all this through, giving us all some important context along with interviews with Latino industry specialists. Here are five sometimes enlightening, but still relatively annoying things we learned from the article.

Images courtesy of Marvel. Photo captions are from The Wrap’s photo gallery titled “11 Latino Superheroes Ready for the Movies.”

1. Latinos Love Marvel

“Originally created back in 1941, Miss America was reintroduced to the Marvel universe in 2011 as an LGBT Latina named America Chavez.” — The Wrap

Alright, this shouldn’t actually be a surprise at all. Latino’s over index as filmgoers in general, and Marvel’s comic book blockbusters are no exception. Despite our 17% market share, we actually accounted for 23% of all tickets sold in 2014. Faced with the question of why Marvel hasn’t caught up with its most fervently devoted audience, editor-in-chief of HeroicMarvel.com Umberto Gonzalez, told The Wrap that it’s a “slow process.” Yeah, we figured that much out.

2. It’s Bigger Than Casting

“The son of a human mother and the android Ultron, Victor Mancha is a cyborg with electromagnetic powers.” — The Wrap

As Hollywood goes, Marvel has a reputation as a fairly inclusive company, but any way you slice it, a $100+ million blockbuster has to have a bankable lead. So the question is: how many truly bankable Latino actors are out there? Some see the problem as a more deep-rooted issue with Hollywood’s development of Latino talent. As one Latino film exec told The Wrap: “You’re not seeing studios taking young Latino talent to be developed on the film side.” When you decide it’s time, please send your talent scouts by the Remezcla offices.

3. They’ve Made A Token Effort

“In the DC Universe, Catalina Flores, a.k.a. Tarantula, was an antihero in the “Nightwing” series.” — The Wrap

Just this year we’ve seen Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse in the upcoming X-Men sequel, Jay Hernández got a turn as El Diablo in Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad, Zoe Saldaña made a very green appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, and then there was Michael Peña’s sometimes cringeworthy supporting turn in Ant-Man. For those who didn’t catch it, Peña played an accented Latino who makes a tasteless deportation joke — even though many filmgoers and critics named his as the highlight of the flick. As one Latino film executive stated on record, “Hispanic audiences crave representation, but they don’t like being pandered to.” Hallelujah, you can say that again.

4. But It Takes A While

“Anya Corazon arrived in the Marvel Universe as Araña, and has since changed her name to Spider-Girl.” — The Wrap

The article pointed out that Black Panther has been a presence in Marvel comics since 1966, so his film was about 50 years overdue. The more recent spate of Latinos superheroes in Marvel comic books is actually a fairly recent phenomenon, with high-profile figures like the new Spiderman, Miles Morales, debuting as recently as 2011. Hopefully we won’t have to wait 45 more years to see our new Afro-Latino Spidey make it to the big screen.

5. So How Long Will It Take?

“A mutant from Rio de Janeiro, Roberto da Costa was introduced to the X-Men mythos in 1982 in “The New Mutants.” He took on the name Sunspot, based off his ability to absorb solar energy and use it to supercharge his body.” — The Wrap

Gonzalez is fairly confident that things are going to change… eventually. His own prediction was that within 10 years we’ll start seeing some righteously badass Latino superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s certainly better than 45, but the real question is: will anyone still care about superhero movies in 10 years?

 

Check this out on remezcla.com

Narcos-Netflix(Photo : Courtesy of Netflix)

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Latino Lens short films have partnered up with Indiegogo to fund cost remains. The campaigns end in less that a month so make sure to donate or share the news on social media! Support these amazing content creators and purchase your 2016 NALIP Media Summit pass to see their premiere!

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WINDOWS
by Maru Buendia-Senties

WINDOWS is a near-future science fiction short film that deals with the currently emerging technologies of computer-human interface and artificial intelligence. This project is a compelling exploration of the personal impact these technologies may have on our lives. Windows tells the story of Luz, a woman who lives in a future where humans can choose to give up their individuality to merge into a single entity.

With Indiegogo, the project seeks to support post-production costs. WINDOWS' campaign is ALL-OR-NOTHING. Make sure to help out! There are less than 20 days left and each donation comes with perks. Purchase your pass to the 2016 NALIP Media Summit to attend the film's premiere!

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ONE HALLOWEEN
by Rebecca Murga

The short film provides a realistic, touching and dramatic insight into the complex challenges that veterans coming from war zones face, as they seek to reintegrate in their lives back home.

ONE HALLOWEEN tells the story of a Colombian-born immigrant, who was wounded in the Afghanistan war, through one Halloween night, and who tries to re-connect with his daughter. ONE HALLOWEEN is a veteran-made production. The film’s cast and crew is filled with military veterans who have served in the US military and now want to work in film and television, taking this film as a very special opportunity to tell their own side of the story.

With Indiegogo, the film hopes to raise money for the development of the film. There are less than 30 days left to reach its goal and donations come with perks! Check out the campaign and buy your 2016 NALIP Media Summit pass to attend the premiere!

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Latino Lens

NALIP’s Latino Lens is an exclusive incubation and media content production program as well as a distribution model of Latino media screenings, festivals and speaker showcases designed to develop, nurture  and produce a series of Latino creators’ and filmmakers' projects and showcase their talents as producers, directors, and writers. Latino Lens is divided in 4 main areas: Film Feature/Short Film, Digital/Streaming, Documentary and TV.
Learn about the program on NALIP.org/latinolens

by Remezcla Estaff May 6, 2016

Yesterday, as many Latinos braced themselves for the annual wave of tone deaf Cinco de Mayo celebrations and clueless brand Hispandering, a photo posted by Donald Trump began spreading through my Twitter timeline like a virus. In it, Trump sits at his desk in the Trump Tower, cheesing over a taco bowl and flashing a thumbs up. “Happy #CincoDeMayo!,” the image is captioned. “The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”

Like so many things Trump has said and done throughout the course of his inflammatory campaign, his Facebook post and Tweet immediately sparked an onslaught of press – from outraged reactions to thoughtful pieces on his standing with Latino voters to fawning tributes to his Twitter troll game. The end result of all of these pieces was the same: A media landscape in which Trump has the smallest campaign budgets but dwarfs other candidates in earned media. A landscape in which, as Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman recently noted in a video for AJ+, “he get[s] this unfiltered pipeline into everyone’s brain and to your eyes and to your consciousness,” while “the rest of the candidates trudge from one state to another.” It is this pipeline that in no small part helped make Donald Trump the presumptive Republican presidential nominee this week – a possibility that seemed like little more than a joke just eight months ago.

At Remezcla, we’ve long grappled with how, as an outlet dedicated to elevating Latino voices, we can responsibly cover Donald Trump. We are not alone in this. Many of our colleagues in the Latino media world have struggled to remain neutral when faced with a man who has made anti-immigrant, anti-Latino sentiment a cornerstone of his campaign. It’s why Jorge Ramos got himself ejected from a Trump press conference, and has since led a strong push for the media to condemn Trump as a racist and xenophobe. When a candidate makes his way to the general election by broadly painting Mexicans as rapists and killers, vowing to deport all of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., and claiming he will build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border funded by Mexico, we have a responsibility to speak up for the community we serve.

Unfortunately, I have come to feel that our Donald Trump stories – which have ranged from flippant rebukes to outraged editorials – often do little more than bounce away into the endless echo chamber of the internet. Trump has said horrible, morally offensive things throughout his campaign, and these words have led to tangible acts of violence against Latinos and people of color all over the country. We (along with plenty of journalists) have steadily condemned him. Yet he’s all but clinched the nomination not despite this stuff, but because of it.

For this reason, we’ve decided we will no longer be giving any space on Remezcla to Donald Trump’s grotesque sideshow. Instead, we’ll be using our platform exclusively to highlight the resistance, activism and mobilization of those working to oppose Trump – from the California high school students who won the right to wear “Dump Trump” T-shirts to school, to the Latino workers at the Las Vegas Trump International Hotel fighting to unionize, to the Latinx anti-Trump activists raising money by selling “Make America Mexico Again” hats.

We can’t ignore Trump as long as he is a part of this election – but we can take a stand. We hope you’ll join us. – Andrea Gompf, Editor-in-Chief

"All of a sudden, Donald Trump's rhetoric meant life or death."

When Donald Trump announced his intention to run for president and spoke his now infamous words about Mexican immigrants (“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people”) back in June, those of us at the Remezcla office debated how to respond. His speech was hateful, derogatory, and categorically untrue. We didn’t take his comments lightly, but our response was meant to be funny. We published a post called “A Rebuttal to Donald Trump’s Wildly Offensive Presidential Bid Announcement” that contained very little text but whose centerpiece was a large cartoon of a middle finger. It seemed like the right reaction at time, but with almost a year’s worth of hindsight, it’s clear to me now that we had no idea how serious it would become.

Since Trump launched his campaign, his racist and inflammatory statements have only gotten worse, and ironically, more inclusive. Over the course of several months he’s continued to denigrate women, Muslims, and immigrants – and we kept writing about him. There were weeks when the majority of our traffic came from Trump-related posts.

When the news broke last August that two white guys beat a homeless man whom they thought was undocumented, we had to rethink our coverage. Boston police reported that while pummeling the Latino man with a metal pole the brothers said, “Donald Trump was right. All these illegals need to be deported.” Then they urinated on him. This foul incident proved that giving space to Donald Trump’s rhetoric was no longer about traffic or getting hits on our website, all of a sudden it meant life or death.

The billionaire’s braggadocio is far more dangerous than any public policy he could enact. Whether or not he wins the election, Trump has unleashed virulent racism that has been bubbling below the surface across the United States. It’s not that these bigots didn’t exist before, it’s just that they lived in a country where it was socially unacceptable to use slurs against people of color in public. When a rich white man seeking the highest office is plastered across TV screens using words that were previously deemed unacceptable, his mere image serves as permission for racists to move forward. As Eva Longoria eloquently said at last year’s NALIP Media Summit, “I think what he doesn’t understand and what people don’t understand is words create emotional poison. Hitler moved a nation with words, just words.”

For Latinos, this election is paramount. A Trump presidency would certainly embolden the white supremacists in our midst and could lead to an increase in hate crimes against all people of color. For this reason, we’ve chosen to stop covering Trump’s antics. Instead, we’ll provide a platform for those actively resisting his candidacy. We will highlight those people who are organizing protests and fighting back. We’ll give a voice to those who are registering Latinos to vote, and who are campaigning for other candidates. We’ll also be covering the mass demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. I’ll be there with a “Dump Trump” T-shirt on. – Vanessa Erazo, Film Editor

Check out the rest on remezlca.com

by David Lieberman

El Rey Network founder Robert Rodriguez is still in charge of the English-language network that targets young Latinos, which he jointly owns with FactoryMade Ventures — along with Univision, which has a 5% stake. But he has created a new role there for a GM and given it to Daniel Tibbets, a familiar name in traditional and new media circles.

Tibbets is not directly replacing Scott Sassa, who had been El Rey’s vice chairman since 2013 and left at the end of last year.

Tibbets comes to El Rey from Machnima, the digital platform where he served as chief content officer since late 2014. He’ll be based in Los Angeles and focus on digital expansion, content strategy and development, program planning and scheduling, production, acquisitions, talent relations, ad sales, business affairs and business development.

Prior to his stint at Machinima, Tibbets served as head of the digital media division at Bunim/Murray Productions. He also worked at CBS Enterprises, Papazian-Hirsch/Rysher Entertainment, FOXLAB Inc. and Twentieth Television and GoTV. Early in his career he wrote and produced TV programs and specials including Streetwise, World Champions Of Golf,  and the BBC/PBS miniseries Signs And Wonders starring James Earl Jones.

Rodriguez says that El Rey’s new GM is “an innovator” who “has a deep passion for what we are doing at El Rey Network.”

Tibbets lauds the network’s “unique brand proposition” that makes it “perfectly positioned to take advantage of consumers’ desire to engage with their favorite content in any form and platform they choose.”

Last year El Rey lost $24.6 million, an improvement from the $72.3 million loss in 2014, on revenues of $46.7 million, up 4%, Univision reports.

Tibbets is joining El Rey at a time of big changes for Univision. The privately held Spanish-language broadcaster is believed to be preparing a public offering later this year. Last month it announced that it will take full control of another English-language network, Fusion, which it had run as a joint venture with Disney.

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