By Cesar Arredondo

U.S. Latinos made considerable gains in films last year but remain greatly underrepresented, according to a new study. UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report 2021 also indicates a growing interest in films with diverse casts. It also confirms that Latinos continue to be a major driver of movie ticket sales and streaming services subscriptions. 

In studying the top 200 films released theatrically and online in the U.S. and Canada, the report found people of color and women made substantial progress in four key job categories: lead actors, total cast, writers and director. There are more Latinos in all categories than in the previous two years, but their numbers are still disproportionately low. 

Latinos are the nation’s largest minority group making up 18.5 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census. But their numbers are dismal in the report’s four key film employment categories. Latinos accounted for only 5.4 percent of all actors leading a feature and 5.7 percent of all movie roles. That means that while nearly 4 out of every 20 Americans are Hispanic, there is only one Latino out of every 20 protagonists in films. Just one of every 20 actors in movies is Latino. 

The case is worse in other categories. Latinos are just 3.2 percent of all writers and even less of all directors: only 2.7 percent. Still, those numbers represent a notable improvement from just two years earlier, when Latinos accounted for just 0.7 percent of both writers and directors. Latino representation in Hollywood remains a major issue. 

Yet, Hispanics are potent consumers of films. As in previous years, minorities were critical drivers of movie theater ticket sales and streaming subscriptions, notes the UCLA study. On opening weekends, people of color made up most domestic ticket purchases for six of the top 10 theatrical releases last year. And Latinos stand out among those going to the movies. “It’s worth noting that Latinx persons, about 19 percent of the U.S/Canada population, were significantly overrepresented among moviegoers in 2020, accounting for 29 percent of the tickets sold,” states the report. Six racial and ethnic groups are included in the survey: Asian, Black, Asian, Latinos, multiracial, Middle Eastern and North African, and White. 

Moreover, Latinos also watch films on the internet in significant numbers. “Latinx and Black adults were both overrepresented among online content subscribers and electronic sell-through/video-on-demand, daily viewers,” the report says.

In the pandemic and five years after the hashtag #OscarSoWhite challenged Hollywood, films with diversity have proved popular among audiences in general and minorities in particular.

Eight of the top 10 theatrical releases featured casts that were greater than 30 percent minority. The top 10 films were Bad Boys for Life, Tenet, Sonic the Hedgehog, Doolittle, Birds of Prey, The Invisible Man, Onward, Wonder Woman 1984, The Croods: A New Age and The Call of the Wild.

Online, Latinos also watched movies offering inclusivity. Six of their top 10 streamed films featured casts with more than 30 percent minority. The top 10 films were: Onward, Spenser Confidential, The Willoughbys, Extraction, The Wrong Missy, The Old Guard, Mulan, Project Power, The Christmas Chronicles 2 and Hubie Halloween. 

Overall, UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report showed progress for women and people of color in 2020, but that they still have low representation in critical jobs behind the scenes. Women made up just 26 percent of film writers and just 20.5 percent of directors. Minorities did slightly better, accounting for 25.4 percent of directors and 25.9 percent of film writers. Women account for little more than 50 percent of the U.S. population, minorities about 40 percent.

Who writes and helms a film seems to have an impact on its degree of diversity. According to the report, features written or directed by people of color and women in 2020 had significantly more diverse casts than those written or directed by White men.

“We’ve been systematically looking at these key job categories and comparing the representation of women and people of color to the all-important bottom line for eight years, and it’s encouraging to see skyrocketing numbers this year in front of the camera,” said Darnell Hunt, dean of the UCLA College division of social sciences and the report’s co-author. “This was a very interesting year to track the nimbleness of industry efforts to deliver content to audiences, who grow increasingly racially diverse each year and who it’s clear were eager to enjoy films in new ways, despite disruptions caused by the pandemic.” 

The current report includes 10 years of data, making UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report the longest-running, consistent analysis of gender and racial diversity in the film industry, according to the university. 

TV industry data, part two of the now biannual report, will be released in September 2021. 

UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report incorporates analysis of how top films perform among different racial groups, comparing the diversity of casts, directors and writers with the diversity of American audiences. The report is co-authored by Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón, director of research and civic engagement for the division of social sciences at UCLA. Michael Tran, Ariel Stevenson, Kali Tambree, and Aziza Wright contributed to data collection for analyses. The study received financial support from The Walt Disney Company, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Hulu and the Latino Film Institute. 

Featured Photo: Paul Deetman from Pexels

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By Elia Esparza

Hóllyweird is a low-budget film with biting satire that boldly makes the statement about Hollywood’s lack of inclusion. In spite of its allegory that they are doing everything possible to be more inclusive, Hollywood still falls short and Hóllyweird calls foul in this slow burn comedy.

When West Virginia native Edwin Porres Jr. came to Los Angeles, it was with the intent to study screenwriting, acting and producing and he did just that by honing his craft at both USC and LACC. Born in Guatemala, and raised in the United States, there was never a doubt that he would be a filmmaker writing, producing and directing his own films. Like most Latinos, he was tired of the stereotypical Latino roles being depicted on television or film and his aim was to do something about it. 

He had a script he was writing when he met his wife, Jaime Marie Porres, a native Californian who grew up in Glendale surrounded by many friends from all different cultures and backgrounds. They both shared a love of storytelling and art  but were baffled as to why these cultures were not reflected in the movies they watched.  With that in mind, the husband-and-wife team polished the script for Hóllyweird.  

Edwin had read all the reports about Latinos being 24% of frequent movie-goers seeing at least one movie a month (MPAA, 2018), that in spite of their consumerism Latinos actors only represent 3% of all the leads or co-leads in Hollywood and 5.2% in films. He decided that he would bring attention to this lack of Latino involvement and at the same time poke fun at Hollywood’s “inclusive” casting practices.

In Hóllyweird Steven Fernandez (Douglas Spain) is a struggling actor who dreams of landing the lead role as the undercover cop Basco in an upcoming indie film. He is sure he is perfect for the role and goes to his agent to ask her to land him an audition. But when his agent says no because he just does not look “Latino” enough, Fernandez is more adamant to somehow get an audition and land the role of his dreams, at any cost.  

Alejandro Costello (Michael J. Knowles), on the other hand is a good looking, slick, Rico-suave type, who has never had to work a day to attain whatever he wants. He lands in Hollywood and is “discovered” as the perfect Latino to play the role of Basco in his movie. He’s got the right flashy shirt, the swagger and the Latino accent.  

When Steven and Alejandro’s paths finally cross and realize they are both involved in wanting to do, or are doing the role, they each will learn the true meaning of “reality is a bitch.”

LH: Tell us about filmmaking experience and education? 

Edwin Porres: I started college at Xavier University in Cincinnati. I caught the film bug and moved to California, where I graduated from USC as a psychology major. I then went to Los Angeles City College and Santa Monica College where I studied film and post-production. I previously made seven shorts, and Hóllyweird is my first feature.

Latin Heat: How were you able to secure the funding needed?

EP: My wife and I financed most of the movie by taking out a loan against our condo and using our savings, investments, and credit cards. We got a little money from our family but the majority is self-financed. 

LH: How long were you in production (pre, shoot, post)?

EP: Pre-production was the summer of 2016. My wife is a teacher so we took advantage of her summer vacation to do casting, location scouting, etc. Production was 21 days and one day for re-shooting in October and November of 2016. The post-production was 2.5 years. Due to our limited budget, most of the people we hired for post had other jobs and projects, so ours usually took a back seat and everything took longer than expected. Plus there were many challenges and snags along the way. Oh, and we had two babies during post-production.   

LH: What was the hardest part of making the film?

EP: Doing whatever was necessary to make the film the best it could possibly be with extremely limited resources. I had to be a jack-of-all-trades, had to teach myself all kinds of new skills and technical things just to get everything done. With post-production, I was watching our daughter during the day while my wife worked. When she came home and whenever she had a day off, when I wasn’t working on my own part-time job, I was working on Hóllyweird.

LH: From the genesis of the idea for the film to the actual release, how long was it?

EP: The first iteration of the idea was a short I made called, Robbing De Role, but it has changed significantly from that initial idea. Over the years, I worked on it here and there, adding ideas, changing it around. I finally started seriously writing the script seven years ago, and when I met my wife, we reworked it and finalized it. 

LH: How hard was it to get the streaming distribution deals?

EP: It was a matter of our distributor, Patrick DiCesare from Artist Rights Distribution, pitching the film to various platforms and waiting to see if we were accepted or not. And we got accepted to some really great platforms, like Ubiquity, InDemand, DirecTV, Roku, Vudu, and we will be coming to others in the near future.

LH: What do you want audiences to take away from Hollyweird  In your opinion, what is the situation for Latino talent and creatives in Hollywood?

EP: I want the film to be seen and enjoyed by as many people as possible to get them to think about Latino inequality in Hollywood and beyond. I would like to inform people who aren’t aware of the lack of Latino inclusivity in the diversity movements that have been going on and do it with satire.

It’s ridiculous how little opportunities Latinos are given to be behind the camera, how little we are seen on screen in roles that aren’t stereotypes. Latinos make up over 18% of the population of the U.S. I think now there is a movement where more talent and creatives are demanding changes as we have often in the past been left out of the push for more diversity. 

LH: Do you have other projects in the pipeline?

EP: My wife and I are currently shooting an experimental feature about a family in Covid lockdown. We also have a horror movie script we are writing that is set in Guatemala and has immigration issues as a backdrop.

LH: Advice to upcoming filmmakers?

EP: Be prepared for your film to become your life. To do it right, it will be all-consuming and will take over your days and nights, take all of your time, your sleep, your money.  Choose your film wisely. Make sure you really believe in the project you are working on; it’s easier if it’s a project that you enjoy being with. 

The cast and crew of Hóllyweird are:
Writers: Edwin Porres, Jaime Marie Porres
Director: Edwin Porres
Producers: Edwin Porres, Jaime Marie Porres, Mauricio Arrioja
Cinematographer: Eduardo Barraza 
Cast: Douglas Spain, Michael J. Knowles, Alex Vaughan, Bill Posley, Kris Campa, Numa Perrier, Roger Rignack, Bo Youngblood, Seth Daniel, Daniel Lujan,

Hóllyweird is available on: Amazon Instant Video, DirecTV,  iTunes, Comcast xfinity, Chapter Spectrum, u-Verse, redbox. Verizon Fios, Fandango Now, ExTeam, Youtube, Tubi, 

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