Los Angeles, CA – With no Latino talent nominated in any 2018 Oscar actor category, Fuse – the cross-platform entertainment media brand for Latino and multicultural youth – and The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) are teaming up to shed light on the lack of diversity and representation in Hollywood.
On Sunday, March 4 — the evening of the Oscars — Fuse will broadcast its commercial-free premiere of Dear White People at 8:00 pm ET/PT. Throughout the broadcast, Fuse will air redubbed interstitials featuring footage from the 1950 classic film, Cyrano de Bergerac starring José Ferrer, the last and only Latino actor to be honored with an Academy Award for Best Actor 68 years ago. The remixed footage will call attention to the lack of Latino representation and provide thought-provoking commentary on inclusion in entertainment.
“It is painfully obvious, that with rare exception, the contributions of the Latino community are significantly underrepresented by the film and television community,” said Fuse Media Senior Vice President, Content Distribution and Marketing Judi Lopez. “Media should be a mirror that reflects our culture and our country’s increasingly diverse population.”
As part of the initiative, Fuse will roll out original short form content centered around the importance of representation in media. Fuse’s digital and social platforms will further support the initiative with editorial coverage designed to spark conversation, including a quiz on the under-representation of Latinos in the entertainment industry. Fuse will also use its social media platforms to enlist fans to call out the best performances by actors, writers, directors and producers of color.
“We applaud Fuse for standing up for the Latino community, by helping us drive awareness for this incredible inequity in representation,” said Alex Nogales, President, National Hispanic Media Coalition. “More media companies need to take notice and need to follow the example.”
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