The National Hispanic Media Coalition announced the line up for their upcoming 2024 Impact Awards Gala taking place on Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. For the second year in a row the evening will be hosted by actress, Artivista, and producer Annie Gonzalez (Jenni, Flamin’ Hot). Joining Gonzalez for the hosting duties at the annual celebration honors will be actress, writer and producer Mayan Lopez (Lopez vs. Lopez).  

As outspoken advocates for the Latine community, this year’s honorees are paving the way for Latine artists in the entertainment industry, which closely aligns with NHMC’s mission.  This year’s Impact Awardees are Uruguayan writer, director, and executive producer Fede Alvarez is being honored for his directorial work that’s brought us multiple hit horror and thriller films, including the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and his most recent film, Alien: Romulus releasing this coming August. NHMC Visionary Alliance Member and long-time supporter, Actor, Producer, Writer Harvey Guillén will be honored for his groundbreaking role in the FX series What We Do in the Shadows, and Mexican director, writer, and producer Issa López will be honored for her work as writer, director, and showrunner of Season 4 of HBO’s True Detective: Night Country. Actress, singer, and entrepreneur, Tatyana Ali, will receive her Impact Award for her advocacy and policy work in maternal health and reproductive justice.

The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) will be honored with the Community Impact Award for their commitment to multiculturalism and creating change for marginalized communities, while streaming giant Tubi will be honored for its diverse programming providing a platform for Latine series showcasing authentic representations of our Latine communities. 

“[Our] honorees embody where our community is headed and are pushing their industries forward simply by taking up space and using their platforms to uplift other Latine creatives.,” said Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the NHMC. “NHMC is committed to ensuring that our community is recognized – not just at our gala, but in every space.” 

The annual Impact Awards Gala is a part of the NHMC’s overall mission to spotlight the importance of accurate, fair, and positive representation in media. Through the coveted Impact Awards, each year the NHMC honors individuals who are truly making an impact, shifting societal narratives, and setting an example for Latine communities.

This year, in keeping with their mission to provide resources to help bring awareness to the power and contributions of Latino/a/x/e in all sectors of society, NHMC recently launched a new media guide and resource providing comprehensive education about Latine Communities tailored for entertainment industry professionals this year, ‘Seeing Beyond The Stereotypes: Telling Authentic Latino/a/x/e Stories.”

For more information on the NHMC Impact Awards, log on to: www.NHMC.org

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In the last few years, audiences have made a substantial call for content from major and independent studios to include ethnic talent in front of and behind the camera. While there is a positive increase in Black talent and content such as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Judas and the Black Messiah, representation for Latinos is greatly underrepresented.

In response to the persistent lack of Latinos directing film and TV projects, directors Alberto Belli (The House of Flowers), Joel Novoa (Arrow) and Diego Velasco (Orange Is the New Black) and Aurora Guerrero (Gentefied) took matters into their own hands. They created the online database Latinx Directors. Launched last summer, the website’s goal is to offer studios, agencies and others an easy-to-search online resource to find Latino directors for their projects.

Currently, the database lists over 200 talents organized in a dozen genres, from action, comedy and documentary to drama, live events and science fiction. Visitors can filter the roster by the length of experience in television and filmmakers’ participation in diversity programs.

Latinx Directors is a valuable tool needed in the entertainment industry to address the lack of Latino talent hired for films, streaming programs, television shows and commercials. Latinos represent 18.5 percent of the U.S. population.

The 2019 USC study Latinos in Film: Erasure On-Screen & Behind the Camera Across 1,200 Popular Movies found that only 4 percent of all directors were Latinos. The survey evaluated films released from 2007 through 2018. It was conducted by USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, National Association of Latino Independent Producers and Wise Entertainment.

Among the talent featured in Latinx Director’s database are the TV directors/showrunners Tanya Saracho (Vida) and Gloria Calderon Kellet (One Day at a Time), as well as film director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe).

In our exclusive interview with Velasco, he shares the development of Latinx Directors, their current goals, and hopes for the future.

JUSTINA BONILLA: What was the genesis of Latinx Directors?

DIEGO VELASCO: We’re all directors and part of the Latino Committee at DGA [Directors Guild of America]. We were all separate, [but] hearing, “Oh, I’m looking for a Latin director, but I just don’t know where there’s any.” There are all these shows that have Latin characters and Latin stories, but it was just white guys directing it.

My wife is a writer, and she did [a list], called the Untitled Latinx Project, which is a bunch of female writers who got together and started creating a list to share names. Anytime they would have meetings with executives and studios, they would hear about projects and [asked if they] could send them the list. And [the executives would ask], “You mean you want to send a list of people competing for your job?” They wanted it to go to a Latinx person. [They’d] rather it go to one of us. If [they] don’t get it, then give it to someone whose [on the list].

I thought that was really inspiring. We should be doing the same as directors. We’ll have one place where these producers have a place to find Latinx directors.

JB: How do you qualify to be a part of Latinx Directors?

DV: [Potential members] have to have qualifications to be accepted. They have directed a feature that has been in a recognized in a festival; we have a list of festivals. Or, you have to have done a television episode that is streaming or on a network.

We want to help everyone and be able to lift everyone. But at the same time, we can’t put somebody in a situation that they might not be ready for. We set standards, so if any one of them gets hired, we feel confident that they can do a great job.

JB: How does your database work?

DV: You can [use] filters. We have self-identification, LGBT, or you can do cultural identity or heritage. And you can combine all the ones you want. Plus, you can do film experience, TV experience, union, or not union. It’s the only searchable database for Latinx directors that allows you to do all those things.

JB: What is the overall goal for Latinx Directors?

DV: Our motto is, “No more stories about us without us.” And then, don’t box us into just one category. There are Latinx directors that are incredible in genre, incredible in sci-fi. Just because you are Mexican or your Salvadorian doesn’t mean you can’t [direct] Star Wars.

We just want to be authentic to our culture and to share our unique points of view.

JB: Apart from promoting Latinx Directors, what is your key aspiration?

Velasco: If people who are not familiar with Latin culture, to not fear it. It’s okay to not know all the answers. It’s okay to be intimidated by it. But, if they give themselves a chance to work with Latinx directors, you might be surprised that everybody who is on that list wants to go above and beyond and wants to do the best job they can. So, you really get a level of commitment that I would encourage everybody to try.

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By Justina Bonilla

Director Fede Alvarez has confirmed that he will produce a direct sequel to the 70s horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which will be coming out later this year. David Blue Garcia will direct.

On the Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast, Alvarez confirmed, “It is a direct sequel. It is old man Leatherface”. He went on to acknowledge that in regards to the use of special effects for the film, “Everything is classic, old school gags. A lot of the approach that we had with Evil Dead – never VFX, to do everything on camera. It’s a very old-school approach to filmmaking. Vintage lenses… it’s very similar to the original film”.

The original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was directed and co-written in 1974 by horror icon Tobe Hopper. Hopper also directed the groundbreaking paranormal film, produced by Steven Spielberg, The Poltergeist and the critically acclaimed Stephen King adapted television miniseries Salem’s Lot.

In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a group of young people are traveling in rural Texas. They take a detour, leading them to fall into the clutches of a demented family of cannibal killers. As the young people fight to escape, they are hunted by Leatherface, a chainsaw-welding psychopath, who wears a mask of human skin. Leatherface’s mask has become an iconic villain image in cinematic history. This film spawned seven sequels, with the most recent being Leatherface from 2017.   

Alvarez is an Uruguayan filmmaker who is a director, writer, producer, and editor. His feature film directorial debut was the 2013 remake of the Sam Rami horror classic Evil Dead. He co-wrote this film with his frequent co-writing collaborator Rodo Sayagues. They have also collaborated as co-writers for Don’t Breathe and the upcoming sequel Don’t Breathe 2. Recently, Alvarez directed and co-wrote The Girl in the Spider’s Web.

Garcia is an Emmy award-winning cinematographer, camera operator, and director based from South Texas. His directorial feature film debut Tejano, which aired on HBO, is a neo-noir film, with a bilingual Tex-Mex theme. It follows the harrowing journey of a young farmhand, who is so desperate for money for his ailing grandfather, he reluctantly agrees to smuggle drugs across the Mexican/United States border for a cartel.  

In 2020, Garcia took over as director for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre after the original directors Andy & Ryan Tohill left over creative differences, as reported by Deadline.

This version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will be the ninth installment in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.

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