After several well-attended protests, media interviews, significant coverage in print and television, institutional diversity reports that provided indisputable numbers of the near exclusion of Latinos in film, and an ongoing social media campaign against Paramount Pictures in 2018 for having the worst studio record in hiring Latinos in front and behind camera, the NHMC is now urging the U.S. Latino community to see the Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies film in large part because of its all-star, nearly all-Latino cast.
“Media has a profound impact on how people think and behave, and NHMC firmly believes that equity in media can only happen if film studio executives and those who greenlight blockbuster movies – like Dora – recognize that hiring Latinos is a profitable business imperative,” said Alex Nogales, president, CEO of the NHMC. “Paramount Pictures could no longer ignore that the U.S. Latino population is 18.9%, has an estimated purchasing power of $1.5 trillion dollars, and buys 24% of all movie tickets nationwide. By casting a nearly all-Latino cast, Paramount has taken its first step, in 105 years since it was founded, to diversify its nearly all-white workforce. It is my hope that Paramount continues to take representation seriously by diversifying all of its upcoming television, film and animated projects.”
“Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a movie that Latinos need to support,” says the president and CEO Brenda Castillo. “The plot is positive, bilingualism is embraced, and the characters are not stereotyped as thugs, drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members or all things that are bad in our society. Dora is a Latina superhero, and because of that, not only Latinas – but all women – should celebrate this film for its focus on a strong, competent woman as its lead. Please go see this movie so other film studio executives can realize that movies featuring Latinos and our rich culture can be a big, blockbuster hit.”
On February 22, 2019, nearly three months after NHMC’s last protest against Paramount Pictures, and two days before the NHMC’s 22nd Annual Impact Awards Gala, Paramount chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos announced the creation of a historic initiative – one that would promote diversity and inclusion across storylines, vendors, shooting locations and crew, in all film, television and animated projects. Read Gianopulos’ memo to Paramount employees here.
“Who said that pressure doesn’t help change minds?”, concluded Nogales.