A Generational Mix of Latino Hollywood Stars and New Generation Latinx
by Luis Reyes
Last week at a star studded ceremony in Beverly Hills the National Hispanic Media Coalition held its 23rd Annual Impact Awards honoring the significant and impactful contribution of Latino content creators, producers and actors in Hollywood and in American popular culture.
America Ferrera, honored for Outstanding Series Producer for Netflix’s Gentefied said in her acceptance speech, “We are content creators and agents of change, changing the narrative….and now we are not doing it alone.” She dedicated the award to the late actress Lupe Ontiveros with whom she worked with on her debut film, Real Woman Have Curves Ferrera added, “Ontiveros over her career had few opportunities to share the depth of her extraordinary talent.”
Jay Hernandez who was honored for Outstanding Television Performance as the titular hero of Magnum P.I., commented upon receiving his award, “We get to tell the story of who we are with humanity, dignity and grace in these important times.” Hernandez tackled one of the most iconic characters in recent television history and made it his own.
Roberto Aguirre- Sacasa is the writer and executive producer of three hit series Riverdale, Kathy Keene and Chilly Adventures of Sabrina. He received an award for Outstanding Executive Producer for his accomplishments presented by Vida producer Tanya Saracho. Saracho acknowledged him for inspiring her pursuit of a writing career as a beginning playwright in Chicago, noting that they share many of the same cultural touchstones in their writing. “We have a rich past and there is positive change for authentic and accurate representations.” explained Aguirre. For this season of Starz Vida, Saracho proudly revealed that she hired all female Latinx directors.
Amy Lippman co- created the original Fox series Party of Five (1994-2000) about a group of Anglo kids who lose their mother and father in an accident and are left to fend on their own. Twenty years later Lippman updated the material with social relevance for today’s audiences about a Latinx family whose parents are deported from the U.S. and the kids are forced to cope on their own. Party of Five with an all Latinx cast is currently on Freeform television and executive produced by Lippman who received an Impact award.
Isabella Gomez was awarded for her Outstanding series performance as Elena Alvarez on the beloved “One Day at a Time, about three generations of a Cuban-American family living in the same house. The Netflix show now on Pop TV was co-created by Gloria Calderon Kellett who presented Gomez with the award.
Dany Garcia is described as a “Billion-dollar producer” for the number one worldwide box office star Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and she runs a vast portfolio of entertainment companies. She is the founder, chairwoman and CEO of the Garcia companies and TCG Management and co-founder of Seven Bucks companies,
The daughter of Cuban Immigrants, Dany has produced with her executive team and studio partners an amazing array of diverse content for a global audience with productions that include several successful film franchises. Garcia in a moment of reflection said, “I believe No Latinx woman has been there before me.”
She has amassed 1.5 billion in box-office receipts this year alone and more than $4 billion to date. Her productions include Jumanji, Jumanji: The Next Level, Hobbs and Shaw and the upcoming Disney’s Jungle Cruise.
Garcia received an Impact award for Outstanding Film Producer and it was presented to her by her brother Hiram Garcia, who runs her Seven Bucks film production unit.
Ozzie Areu, who rose from security guard at Warner Bros. studios and personal assistant to Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt to running Tyler Perry Studios is now Founder and CEO of his own studio facility, Areu Bros studios in Atlanta, Georgia. He received a Trailblazer Award as the first modern Latino studio owner following in the footsteps of Desi Arnaz who founded Desilu Studios with his wife Lucille Ball with the phenomenal success of their 50’s TV sitcom I Love Lucy.
Warner Bros. Chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff was given a Visionary award for greenlighting, producing and releasing Lin Manuel Miranda’s upcoming film version of his Tony Award winning musical drama In The Heights directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) that opens in theaters nationwide on June 26th. It features a largely Latinx cast of young rising performers and established artists.
Sitcom stars Jacob Vargas (Mr. Iglesias) and Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) served as hosts for the awards ceremony and kept the proceeding lively and fast moving.
Unlike the Oscars, the Emmy’s or the Golden Globes, the Impact Awards brought to the forefront, by their mere presence alone, a young empowered collective group of professional entertainment industry Latinx women. They were recognized for creating mainstream entertainment that reflects the world we live in and for telling stories that deserve to be told that reflect our various communities and experiences as Americans.
At the beginning of the decade of the 80’s and 90’s it was proclaimed by the media to be “The Decade of The Hispanic” and although there were notable gains made by filmmakers and talent (Luis Valdez, Robert Rodriguez, Gregory Nava, Edward James Olmos, Salma Hayek, Andy Garcia, Benicio del Toro, George Lopez etc.) the “Decade” never did materialize. Now into the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, it seems like the work done by past generation is making way for the new Latinx generation to come of age in Hollywood. We are living in an era of Latinx talent across all the entertainment platforms. As one presenter commented,
“We have proven that together with artists and crafts people there exists beautiful content that celebrates our lives and values and voracious audiences [for the content]”
Netflix has a scripted series Selena currently in production on the early years of legendary Tejana singer, in addition for the first time in history, there are ten (10) Latino themed and cast series currently on broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition NHMC is a national media advocacy and social justice organization for the advancement of Latinx and the annual Impact Awards recognizes talent and executives who advance equality and opportunities for the Latinx community in media and entertainment. Brenda Victoria Castillo is the president/CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.