Los Angeles, CA — In a year when inclusion seems to be decreasing, the 36th Impact Awards will celebrate outstanding individuals dedicating themselves to creating a more inclusive entertainment industry through the positive portrayal of the Latinx community in Hollywood, both, in front of and behind the camera. The annual impact awards gala will take place Friday, September 9, 2022, at 6:00 PM PST at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

The evening’s ceremony will be hosted by Jessica Marie Garcia (On My Block), with a special appearance by U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro who will present an award to Merino, the Academy Award-winning producer of Encanto.

Additionally, Xolo Maridueña(Cobra Kai, Blue Beetle) will be honored with the NHMC Rising Star Impact Award. While Wilmer Valderrama is set to receive the Trailblazer Impact Award.

Other presenters for the night include Angel Manuel Soto, Debby Wolfe, Selenis Leyva, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and Robin Thede.

This year’s Impact Awards Gala honorees include:

• George Lopez – (Lopez vs. Lopez)
• Mayan Lopez – (Lopez vs. Lopez)
• Colman Domingo – (Euphoria) 
• Francia Raisa – (How I Met Your Father)
• Yvett Merino – (Encanto) 

“NHMC is thrilled to be returning to an in-person celebration after a year, and what better way to make our return than by honoring some of Hollywood’s most illustrious movers and shakers,” said Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

NHMC’s Impact Awards Gala is supported by our partners: T-Mobile, Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo, Coca-Cola, Netflix, Google, Verizon, Vme, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano Bobb Dang Law, Bilingual Educational Services Inc., Fuse Media, Walt Disney Company, City National Bank and Campanario Entertainment.

Last year’s honorees include Salma Hayek, Tessa Thompson, Rosie Perez, Moninca Lozano and Matthew Lopez.

The Impact Awards Gala is just one part of the NHMC’s overall mission to spotlight the importance of accurate, fair, and positive representation in media, including advocating for an increased number of Latino writers on major networks, the increased representation of diverse talent on major television and film sets, and educating media and industry executives on the variances of Latino culture. 

2022 NHMC’s Impact Awards Gala Committee: Karey Burke, 20th Television; Abel Lezcano, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang; Jackie Puente, Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo; Joanna Diaz-Soffer, T-Mobile; Henry R Munoz III, Funny or Die; Iva Colter, Netflix; Jaime Davila, Campanario Entertainment; Marie Sylla-Dixon, NHMC Board Member; Bonnie Abaunza, Abaunza Group; Terra Potts, Warner Bros. Pictures; Philip Sanchez, City National Bank and Brenda Victoria Castillo, National Hispanic Media Coalition. 

 The National Hispanic Media Coalition is a woman-led 501(c)(3) non-profit civil and human rights organization that was founded to eliminate hate, discrimination, and racism toward the Latino communities.

For more information about how to register for the Impact Awards Gala, visit: https://www.nhmc.org/impact-awards-gala/ 

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Actors John Leguizamo and Laz Alonso and showrunner Gloria Calderón-Kellett will headline Amazon Studios’ Voices/Voces: An Entertainment Celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 30.  

The event will present three panel discussions about identity labels used by nearly 60 million Latinos living in the U.S., content created in the Americas in the two other most-spoken languages–Spanish and Portuguese, and the disproportional representation in Hollywood of what is now the nation’s largest minority group. Primetime Emmy winner Leguizamo (When They See Us, Ice Age franchise) will speak at the “Lightning Talk: Who We Are… Hispanic, Latino, Latiné, Latinx, Afro-Latino, Indigenous, Understanding the breadth and depth of the community.” Alonso (The Boys) and Calderón-Kellett (One Day at a Time) will join “Conversation: The Evolution of Latiné Representation on Screen.” The other panel is titled “Industry Conversation: Content Across Borders.”

The Amazon Studios Latino-focused event is part of the company’s new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy. Launched this past June, the initiative comes at the time of a persistent push to have equitable representation of people of color and other underrepresented groups in Hollywood, especially since the #OscarSoWhite movement in 2015 protesting the lack of diversity of the Academy Awards. Also, streaming platforms like Amazon seem interested in developing diverse portfolios in search of subscribers both here in the increasingly diverse U.S. market and abroad in a world with a very diverse population. 

Amazon’s DEI recently developed an “inclusion playbook” that includes “minimum aspirational goals” for casting across speaking roles in its projects: “30% white men, 30% white women and non-binary people, 20% men from underrepresented races and ethnicities, 20% women and non-binary people from underrepresented races and ethnicities.” 

Voices/Voces seem to fit into the streamer’s new diversity efforts by exploring issues of representation.

“The Latiné community is comprised of many rich and dynamic cultures with multilayered stories to tell,” said Latasha Gillespie, global head of DEI for Amazon Studios and the trade site IMDb. “To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re thrilled to present a Voices/Voces event with an esteemed group of creators, performers and community members from the pan-Latin diaspora.”  

Other Voices/Voces participants include a journalist, a politician and four streamer executives. They are Clayton Davis, film awards editor for Variety, and Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, who is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The Amazon Studios execs are Yolanda Guillen, senior executive of casting; Malu Miranda, producer and head of originals Brazil; Javiera Balmaceda, head of local originals, Spanish speaking Latin America; and Lorenza Muñoz, senior global awards.

In addition to serious topics, comedian Gina Brillon will perform a set to close the event.

Voices/Voces is the third program of a series launched by Amazon Studios earlier this year focusing on Hollywood underrepresented communities. The previous two centered on the LGBTQ+ and Asian-American communities.

The Sept. 30 event will stream on Amazon Live and Amazon Studios DEI Twitch. 

Featured Photos: John Leguizamo (Credit: Amazon Studios) / Laz Alonso (Credit: Jennifer Cooper)

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This week excited filmmakers began posting letters received from Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on social media, informing them that their film has been submitted to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress as part of the ongoing effort to increase Latino representation in the film industry.

In all, 25 U.S. produced Latino films were nominated by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as part of the ongoing effort to increase Latino representation in the film industry. Congressman Castro had previously nominated Selena for the National Film Registry during his term as CHC chair, and the additional 25 films constitute more than enough Latino films to make up the entirety of this year’s selection for the registry.

Since 1988, the National Film Registry has selected 25 films annually for preservation at the Library of Congress.

“As we are again seeing in this year’s awards season, Latinos remain dramatically under-represented in the American film industry – an exclusion perpetuates real and significant harms to Latino communities across the United States,” said Congressman Castro. “The Library of Congress’ National Film Registry can help rectify that exclusion by shining a light on Latino cinematic achievements as an important part of our nation’s cultural heritage. And while we celebrate these great Latino films, Hollywood must ensure that new generations of Latino filmmakers will have the opportunity to tell their stories on screen.”

This push comes during awards season when once again it’s looking to be a slim year for Latino on and off-camera talent, to receive award nominations. The Golden Globe awards, which just aired this past Sunday, had just two on-camera talent nominations, one for Lin-Manuel Miranda (for Best Actor in a Musical) and British/Argentinean actress Anya Taylor-Joy who was nominated for two Golden Globe for best actress, one for feature Emma and the other, which she did win, was for The Queens Gambit. The only other nominee was Jayro Bustamante‘s La Llorona, nominated for best foreign film. It did not win. The Oscar nominations have still to be announced, but it is not looking like it will be any different than the Golden Globes.

“Though Latinos comprise almost 20 percent of our country’s population, they remain severely underrepresented in Hollywood,” said Chairman Ruiz. “It is essential that the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry reflect the true diversity of American culture. Including more Latino films in the National Film Registry will help elevate Latino stories, promote an inclusive media landscape, and empower Latino filmmakers and storytellers.”

The additional 25 Latino focused films nominated for the National Film Registry are: 

• My Family (1995) 
• Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) 
• Under the Same Moon (2007) 
• Lo que le pasó a Santiago (1989) 
• Don’t Let Me Drown (2009) 
• The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) 
• Raising Victor Vargas (2002) 
• Frida (2002) 
• Walkout (2006)
• A Better Life (2011) 
• Gun Hill Road (2011) 
• Spy Kids (2001) 
• American Me (1992) 
• Romero (1989) 
• Hermanas (2005) 
• Blood In, Blood Out (1993) 
• Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) 
• Latino (1985) 
• The Lost City (2005) 
• Down for Life (2009) 
• Tortilla Soup (2001) 
• The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) 
• 12 Horas (2001) 
• Viva Cuba (2005) 
• Maria Full of Grace (2004) 

To read the full letter to the Library of Congress please see here. 

— Latin Heat News Service

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Rep. Joaquin Castro, (TX-20),Chair of the Hispanic Caucus along with Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) brought forth the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Diversity in America: The Representation of People of Color in the Media which was open to the public on youtube as well as the Judiciary Committee’s website.

Testifying virtually before the hearing were Actor/Director Erika Alexander, Actor/Director/Producer and activist Edward James Olmos, Actor/Producer Daniel Dae Kim, Recording Artist/Actor/Author Joy Villa, Jason Whitlock, Sports Journalist, Stacy L. Smith, on behalf of the Annenberg school of Communications and Journalism and Karyn A. Temple, Sr. VP and Global General Counsel fo the Motion Picture Association, Inc.

Veteran actor Pepe Serna submitted his Statement; and Alma Martinez’s statement is below in its entirety:

STATEMENT

I am Dr. Alma Martinez. I am an American film, television and stage actor and, as well,  a university professor and published author. I hold a PhD  in Drama from Stanford University, an MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California, a Dartmouth College Cesar Chavez Dissertation Fellow alum, a Fulbright Scholar and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Actors Branch (AMPAS). 

My induction into AMPAS reflects my extensive body of work in the films Zoot Suit, Under Fire, Barbarosa, Born in East LA, Cake, Transpecos, Crossing Over, Ms. Purple, Clemency and in TV programs such as Gentefied, Undone, Queen Sugar,  The Bridge, American Crime Story: People vs OJ,  Elena of Avalor, The Terror Infamy, Corridos Tales of Passion and Revolution, among others.  I have acted on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in regional theatres across the country and on Mexican and European stages. These combined projects have garnered; Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Awards; Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy awards/nominations; Tony Award and;  Los Angeles Drama Critics and New York Drama Desk awards. 

In my decades of working in the entertainment industry, I have shared the screen and stage with distinguished acting colleagues Gene Hackman, Edward James Olmos, Alfre Woodard, Lupe Ontiveros, Ed Harris, Jean Louis Trintignant, George Takei, Liev Schreiber, Diane Weist, Danny Trejo, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Aniston, Cheech Marin, Frances Conroy and worked with directors like Zack Snyder, America Ferrera,  Ryan Murphy, Ava DuVernay, Luis Valdez, Chinonye Chukwa, Roger Spottiswoode, Peter Medak, Jill Soloway, Fred Schepsi, Daniel Barnez, among others.

In my acting and professorial career, I continually work to move our Latino community and our country,  closer to becoming a true Democracy that affords the same opportunities to all. Prior to coming to Hollywood, I was a member of El Teatro Campesino, one of the most important political theatre companies of the 1960’s and 70’s. Founded by Luis Valdez as an organizing tool for the burgeoning Farmworkers Union led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta,  the company went on to win an Obie and for Luis Valdez, countless awards. For four months, we did a bus and truck tour across Europe playing in large Roman and small amphitheaters,  town squares, under tents and at international theatre festivals. In the U.S. our bus and truck tour crossed the Southwest for 6 months. We played at union. meetings, church halls, schools, school cafeterias, outdoor squares, and occasionally, a real theatre. Our play, La Gran Carpa de los Rasquachis, (The Grand  Tent of the Underdogs) with its message, demanding  human and labor rights for farm workers, rallied audiences and standing ovations in the U.S. and Europe. Up until that point, I had never experienced the power of theatre to change mind, hearts and lives. As a young actor in Hollywood, I joined NOSTROS the Latino Professional Actors organization founded by Ricardo Montalban to support and guide actors in Hollywood. As a member of SAG, I ran for office on a platform with other Latino actors, the first such effort in the union’s history. I have given presentations on  “The Evolution of  Latino Images in Film” at over 100 university, colleges, high schools and conferences across the  country. As a member of AMPAS I have reached out to other professionals of color to encourage and guide them through the nomination process which, up until ten years ago, had been a process closely guarded by existing members, the majority of whom where white men. To date, I have helped 10 entertainment professionals of color become members. 

As a director of theatre, I select plays that I feel speak to our place in time. Over the past three years, I’ve directed; Facing Our Truth: Plays on Trayvon Race and Privilege (multiple playwrights);  Luis Valdez’s Los Vendidos, Vietnam Campesino and Los Militants and I am currently directing Anna Deavere Smith’s play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. 

I received my first union card (Actors Equity Association) in 1978 when I performed in the play Zoot Suit written and directed by Luis Valdez. The play was the first entirely Chicano/Mexican American production,  including the playwright, cast and director, ever produced at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Zoot Suit  broke all existing box office records and then moved to the Aquarius Theatre for an extended 10 month run. For the first time in the history of Los Angeles professional mainstream theatre, Chicano and Latino audiences flocked to the Music Center, filled the 750 seat Mark Taper Forum and 1, 200 seat Aquarius Theatre,  to capacity. They sat enraptured by a play that depicted one of the darkest untold stories in Los Angeles history, the Zoot Suit Riots and the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial (circa 1945-47). What had for decades been a silenced and pained memory, became a celebration and vindication in the hands of master playwright Luis Valdez. In Valdez’s telling, Latinos aka Zoot Suiters were not the perpetrators of violence but rather victims of a judicial system that had historically failed to protect its most vulnerable citizens of color. 

The story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street gang was story telling in its highest form. Each night, Chicano-Latino audiences were enraptured by Mr. Valdez’s mastery of the written word. The magnetic draw and almost breathless attention  as audiences saw for the first time, empowered, arrogant,  defiant, sensual,  and proud American of Mexican descent, the Pachuco, played by Mr. Olmos, completely control the stage and the theatre. For one magical light, audiences heard the little-known history of El Pueblo La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, the original name of the City of Los Angeles,  told from a perspective that they were fully familiar with and,  was completely their own. 

When the Zoot Suit run finally ended, I was on cloud 9,  hopeful and excited for what lay ahead for me. At 27, and after the unprecedented success of Zoot Suit,   I  believed with all my heart that Hollywood was finally ready to represent the real America,  in all its diversity,  and to accept Chicana actors, like myself. Time Magazine even heralded this change of tides and dubbed the 1980’s the “Decade of the Hispanic”. Time  covers made pronouncements of,  “Yo Decido. Why Latinos Will Pick the Next President” “Magnifico! Hispanic Culture Breaks Out of the Barrio,”  “Immigrants. The Changing Face of America”, “Hispanics Americans. Soon: The Biggest Minority” that  heralded a new era in Hollywood’s representations of Latinos. 

Very soon after Zoot Suit, I booked my first feature film. A western. We shoot in Brackettville Texas for 1 week and 2 weeks in Big Bend National Park also in Texas. The location was so remote, we flew in by private plane. The location was beautiful. High arid mountains that gleamed in the hot sun. Dry, arid and cacti dotted landscapes. And constantly, the flowing waters of the Rio Grande River to remind me that I was only yards away from where I was born. I thought to myself, “this film will be another great story about Latinos. Another Zoot Suit?” Once the film moved to the isolated location of Big Bend, everything came crashing down. 

The producer and leading actor in the film started to make unwelcomed sextual advances toward me. I became anxious as these persisted. I deflected as much as possible but at one point, he  used the guise of “rehearsing” to come to his cabin, 2 miles from basecamp. I asked that we rehearse during the day, but as the producer, he made me feel I had no choice. His driver picked me up at basecamp at about 8pm. I was feeling worried, not knowing what to expect. We arrived at his cabin and there were 3 crew members there, playing music and drinking. I immediately felt a sense of relief, “I was safe.” The producer then entered the room and said, ” let’s rehears in here (the bedroom).” With that the crew members that I got to know well, stood and left without saying a word. My anxiety level rose even higher and I thought, “what did they think was going to happen?” 

As he got up and walked to the door, I stood up grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around and slammed his body against the wall. To add some levity to this dark story of sexual harassment, I have to add I am 5’2′, the producer was 6′ and double my weight at that time. I proceeded to throw every profanity I was raised to “never say” as I held him against the wall. Once I depleted my barrage, I stormed out of the cabin and started to hurriedly walk back to base camp. The driver that had brought me to the cabin, of course, was not to be seen. I walked, almost running, to get as far from there as I could but slowly, I began to realize that base camp was 2 miles away. There was no paved road, no streetlights, only the moon and large looming black silhouettes of the mountains that had days before had been gleaming like gold in the sunlight. I had a choice that night to return to the cabin or to walk to camp. After what I had gone through, I was not going back. 

There were two beds in the room. He sat on one and I on the other and we faced each other. I immediately got my script and found the scene pages. He pulled out a guitar. He went on and on about how he had fallen in love with a Latina actress on location and how he loved Latina. This went on and on as I kept trying to urge him to rehearse. Finally, I had reached my limit and told him angrily, “I don’t know what you want, but I came here to rehearse.” To which he responded just as angrily, “You Mexican women are all the same”. With that he stood up from the bed and started to walk out to the living room. I had ever in my life been pushed to do what I then did and today, knowing what I know, I would never again allow anyone to put me in that position. His remark, which I took as highly disparaging, since the producer was a white male and I personally grown up hearing remarks like that in films and television programs that portrayed Latinas stereotypically, as saints or prostitutes.

It took me ten years to tell my partner, then husband, what had happened. I kept it to myself for decades. Afraid, my husband would retaliate in some way or my agents would file a complaint and hinder my and his careers. When I finally did speak out, I made a joke of my experience. I  was the first to laugh when I retold my response to situation, hurling this tall man against the wall. A very funny image. Very funny. And everyone laughed. Then the #MeToo movement happened and it all began to sink in. In 1980, this was my first film, I was 27, and I was sexually harassed. So why was I laughing? On reflection, this was the only way I knew to live with the trauma, the humiliation and the explosive response, my loss of control. Today, in this Congressional Statement, I want to for the committee to realize that our young actors of color who continue to harass and discriminated against to this day and remain quiet, feel disempowered on the set because they feel disempowered in their lives. 

I am a brown skinned woman born in Mexico. I identify as both a native of the Americas and a mestiza (Indian/European/African descent). Like our Black brothers and sisters, our history as an enslaved and colonized people set in motion U.S. laws that to this day, continue to keep large factions of our community in poverty. As late as 1935, a state law prohibited a person of half Indian blood (a Mexican American) and half Spanish blood from becoming citizens or owning land. Legal precedents like these and others like the Dawes Act, the Indian Removal Act and, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo have systemically deprived generations of Latinos from full economic, social and judicial parity and from accruing legacy wealth. One has only to look at the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. 

As a University Professor, I am in a position to attest to how Latino students,  living as a people of color in our society are struggling to make it through college. Latinos enroll in high numbers, but the completion rate is proportionally, dismal. Many holds 1, 2 even 3 jobs, live at home and oftentimes have to financially help support their families. Many are first generation college students and come from poor working class and/or blue-collar families. Our educational system has propagated the “myth” that a college education is the key to a solid financial future. The truth is that because of the burden of student loans, we are creating a new class hierarchy: the poor debt-burdened college graduate. Given the disproportionate lack of wealth legacy among Latinos, many will carry this debt burden for most of their adult lives. We must make a college education an attainable “American Dream”. To do this we must eliminate student loan debt. 

You cannot talk about inequities in higher education without discussing the disproportionately low rate of Latinos with PhD’s and, the even lower percentage of  Latino Professors with PhD’s,  that are denied tenure. The few Professors that make it to the highest levels of education are denied entry in numbers that warrant further examination.

My own education did not come easy. I was born in Mexico and immigrated with my family to the U.S. when I was only months old. My father was a mechanic and my mother eventually studied and became a beautician. I have 4 other siblings and I am the only one that went to college and completed a degree. 

My father only completed 6th grade and my mother 8th grade. Coming from poor families they were expected to complete elementary school, learn a vocation and go to work so their expectation for my siblings and I was simply to finish high school without getting arrested – my brothers – and not getting pregnant – my sister and me.

All of us finished high school to my parent’s relief. I personally, always liked school and learning. It was a refuge from a homelife that still embraced old world Mexican values and that I found was at odds to where my education was leading me. I was always at the top of my class, so I received scholarships throughout my years of study at Whittier College, USC and Stanford. But college life was not easy. I found it very hard to adapt academically and culturally.

I received a full scholarship to USC after high school but dropped out my second semester. My tuition was paid for, but I was not told that I needed to pay for books. My family did not have the money, so I looked for classes that had the least amount and cheapest books. When I was invited to go to a movie or dinner with classmates, I had to decline because I never had more than a few dollars in my purse. Neither my family or I knew that I would need more “pocket money”. I was also used to being an A-B student so when my grades dropped to B-C, and I continued to find myself isolated because I had no money, I began to question if I belonged. In the middle of my second semester, my closet friend on campus overdosed on LSD. I called a doctor and left USC that same day. I lost my scholarship. In the ensuing 4 years, I made my way to the University of Guadalajara Theatre Dept. and then the National University in Mexico City Acting Conservatory. When I returned to the U.S. I reapplied and was awarded a full scholarship and I enrolled in Whittier College to where I completed my undergraduate degree. Stubborn by natural, I returned to USC and completed my MFA in Acting in 1995. To this date,  all campuses, libraries and lecture halls I visit anywhere around the world, always give me a sense of peace and possibility. A world of knowledge is literally waiting for me in the library “stacks”. I relish learning and will always be a student. 

It’s been 40 years since Times Magazine proclaimed the “Decade of the Hispanic” when the impassioned hope of the Latino community and entertainment professionals, was at its peak. We thought the class ceiling had cracked, the walls had been breached and the gate was flung open. It was a new day. We waited, and waited and to this day, we continue to wait. 

On September 23, 2020, the Norman Lear Center at USC Annenberg issued a report  entitled Change the Narrative, Change the World. The report analyzed depictions of 129 immigrant characters in 97 episodes of 59 scripted narrative shows that aired between August 2018 and July 2019. The study found that that “half of the immigrant characters on television were judged to be Latinx” and “63% of characters with identifiable statuses overall being undocumented or asylum seekers.” The report then stated that, “In reality, only 24% of the U.S. immigrant population is undocumented”. 

This report is just one example of how the media has inflated and influenced their audience’s perceptions by creating  shallow representation and perpetuating stereotypes, that dehumanize Latinos and reduce empathy. This “overrepresentation in comparison to reality” has had dire and negative consequences for Latinos and the entire country. 

Will the entertainment industry continue to be defined by the prejudices of their audiences or by their better selves? Most would say the latter but without the will, we are at a stalemate.

Therefore, we must look to our elected officials to hear the collective voices of our diverse citizenry that yearns and hungers to see themselves represented with dignity and humanity. The power of the media reaches every corner of the world and with that power, it can be a medium for global healing and peace. 

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/define-american-change-narrative-immigrant-characters-study-1234774879/ – Immigrant Stories on TV are Predominantly Latinx and About Deportation (Study)

The post Actress Alma Martinez Recounts Racial and Sexual Harassment In Testimony to House Judiciary Committee first appeared on .

On September 24, 2020 submitted his testimony to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Chair Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) which addresses the lack of inclusion of Latinos in Hollywood, both in front and behind the camera. Together with the Congressional Tri-Caucus—composed of Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) to bring forth the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Diversity in America: The Representation of People of Color in the Media.

A veteran actor, Serna has appeared in over 100 films, most notably Car Wash and Scarface directed by Brian De Palma, where he played Montana’s friend Angel Fernandez (whose character was involved in the notorious “chainsaw scene”). In the award-winning comedy Aguruphobia, Pepe plays the charismatic guru Nanak. Pepe co-produced Aguruphobia. Aguruphobia had a limited theatrical run, and is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Verizon Fios. He has also appeared on stage, including his solo show El Ruco, Chuco, Cholo, Pachuco which is Serna’s version of the panorama of Latino cultural history.

Serna has been honored by the Screen Actors Guild Heritage Achievement Award; the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Estrella Award for Arts & Culture from the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Pepe played Señor Cárdenas in the movie Downsizing.

This is the Testimony given by Pepe Serna:

My name is Pepe Serna, I am a Mexican American film, television, and theatrical actor. I am also a visual artist and motivational speaker who believes that art is the essence of who we are as human beings.

My purpose for addressing Congress via this statement is to issue a CALL TO ACTION to address and resolve the lack of inclusiveness and diversity in the entertainment industry. I challenge each and every one of you become more familiar and aware of the struggles and challenges that we as Latino Hollywood actors, producers, directors, technicians, and others supporting our trade face in our day-to-day activities. While I’m addressing primarily Latinos in this statement, I also speak for our minority populations, who also face pay discrimination and prejudice in this industry. Diversity is not just black and white – like vintage films. Just as movies and television have transitioned to technicolor, so should the entertainment industry transition to represent all people of color and sexual orientation.

Let me set the stage so that you can judge for yourself that I know what I am talking about and that my Call to Action has merit.

For the last 50 years, I have worked with Oscar-winning producers, writers, directors, and actors in 100 films and 300 television shows. I have given hundreds upon hundreds of improvisational workshops around the country. My lifelong passion, next to being an actor, has been to teach character education through my “Pepefied Breakthrough Improv.” These workshops teach students and adults alike how to Connect, Communicate and Collaborate. I draw my teachings from my own life and how I was raised in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s – to be an altar boy, cub scout, boy scout, dancer, Golden Glove champ, and a Marine. My character was being built from the inside out – no cheating, lying, or stealing.

I was born at the Corpus Christi, Texas, naval base on July 23, 1944. There  have been more than a few Mexican American actors and recording artists who are originally from Corpus Christi, including Freddie Fender, Selena, Eva Longoria, and myself.

In our Mexican American society, it is often said that you must work twice as hard to get half as far as our white counterparts. I disagree with that sentiment. I think in Hollywood Latinos must work 30 times harder.

My father was educated both in Monterrey, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas. While serving in the Navy, he became the interpreter for all the Latin American pilots who were training at the Corpus Christi Naval Base during World War II.

My mother, who was a hairdresser, filled our home with her singing every day. Together, they afforded my brothers, sister, and myself with a good life and a good education.

I had a dream of becoming an actor since I was 3 years of age. After a lifetime of my family’s support, I continued my education and studies, in New York City, The University of the Americas in Mexico City, and 6 months active duty in the Marine Corp reserves.

Despite having absolutely no connections or contacts, I finally made my way to my dream quest destination of Hollywood at 24 years of age. Despite all the hard knocks of homelessness, hunger, and rejection, I would not be deterred in the pursuit of my lifelong journey of getting to Hollywood.

I was able to keep fortified by the resilience in my convictions and because I was able to live off all the love and compassion I had been fed since my childhood. I recreate this love of family wherever I go.

In the 50 years of being a working actor in the Hollywood entertainment industry, which by the way has not been an easy feat, I have succeeded by acting in over 100 movies and 300 episodes of television. I have worked my way to the top of my industry and worked with a score of the most highly touted and Academy Award-winning directors, producers, writers, and actors in Hollywood.

In fact, I was discovered by legendary Producer Hal B. Wallis, who produced the movie Casablanca. In 1970, Hal cast me in two back-to-back films, Red Sky at Morning and the western, Shootout, starring Gregory Peck, who was fresh off an Oscar win 7 years prior for To Kill a Mockingbird. Right off the bat, I was running in fast company.

Some of the critically acclaimed directors I have had the privilege of working with include Dalton Trumbo, John Schlesinger, Carl Reiner, Brian De Palma, William Friedkin, Mike Nichols, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Shults, Clint Eastwood, Greg Nava, and Alexander Payne.

I have shared the screen with award-winning actors, including: Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Kevin Costner, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Johnny Depp, Edward James Olmos, Raul Julia, and Clint Eastwood, just to name a few.

When it comes to equal pay, Mexican American and Latino character actors, in general, are positioned on the lowest rung of the pay scale ladder. We are like the farmworkers of the movie industry, but at least we get shelter, bathrooms, food, and drink. In the eyes of the producers, we have it good.

Mexican American veteran actors sometimes joke around with each other when we get acting work on big budget films. We call ourselves, “Miss Scale Plus 10” or “Mr. Scale Plus 10.” This means that the producers will pay you the lowest amount possible per the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). This is the union that is supposed to protect actors. The 10 percent means that you will receive extra pay, but it goes directly to the actor’s agent.

I wish my dear friend, highly touted actress, and activist, Lupe Ontiveros, was here to speak on behalf of all Latina actors. She used to joke around that on her tombstone would be engraved, “HERE LIES LUPE ONTIVEROS, SCALE PLUS 10.” Lupe Ontiveros had an amazing and accomplished body of work. She received Best Actress by the Board of Review. She received a television Emmy Award nomination for Desperate Housewives and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Chuck and Buck. But Lupe never was accepted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), even though she had 71 film credits. Officials in the Latino entertainment industry, including MALDEF, took this as an insult to all the of the work that Latinos have created for the screen, both in front of and behind the camera.

The criteria by which you become a member of the AMPAS was compared to the criteria of a deep south country club membership. When the CEO of AMPAS was challenged in a meeting, her response at the time was that “AMPAS is an elite group of entertainment professionals.” When challenged, she did not budge. It was obvious that Latinos were not considered a part of this “elite group of entertainment professionals.”

Several years ago, Edward James Olmos was finally accepted into AMPAS as a voting member. Since then, he has sponsored many Latino actors who also have become voting members.

While this is a step forward, it is a baby step! Consider these findings from a study released in August 2019 – The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California:

“Latinos remain woefully underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California found that of the 100 top-grossing films each year from 2007 to 2018, only 3 percent featured Latino actors in lead or co-lead roles. Producers and casting executives fared badly, too, with Latinos making up only 3 percent. And they were equally rare in the director’s chair, helming four percent of movies studied during the 12-year period. In all, only 4.5 percent of the 47,268 speaking roles studied by researchers went to Latino actors.”

Another bottom line to consider is that Latinos are 18 percent of the U.S. population and represent 23 percent of the movie-going audience!

Lack of diversity also is grotesquely underrepresented in the area of entertainment recognition – Academy Awards, Oscars, Tony, etc. Hence, the social media hashtag #OscarSoWhite was created over 5 years ago to bring to light the severe disparities in front of and behind the camera. In social media, there are two hashtags that Latino actors identify with: #LatinoActorsLife and #LatinosInHollywood. These also speak to our experience dealing with unaddressed discrimination, microaggressions, blacklisting, sexual assault, harassment, hostility, and the list goes on and on.

Latino men have it bad in the industry when it comes to stereotypes, but women really have it much, much worse. As Latino actors, we are usually relegated to the playing the roles of maids, prostitutes, robbers, thugs, drunks, or drug addicts. These are all human beings dealing with emotional pain and in need of mental health treatment, mentors, education, or rehabilitation. The human angles are not accurately addressed on the big or small screen.

In 1997, a group of Latino actors representing The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts traveled to Washington, D.C. to carry this message. Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Sonja Braja, myself and others presented our case to Congress. It is no surprise that, to date, very little or absolutely nothing has been done toward resolving this problem.

During my acting career, I have played more cholos and gangsters and have been killed more times than I care to remember. I came to Hollywood to work in film and television, and I have done it in spades. Fifty years later, Latinos are still being portrayed as these negative stereotypes. Now I am afforded much better character roles, because I like to give a helping hand to young filmmakers who are starting to tell our stories.

Washington is our last resource! Unless you in Congress stand up for us, nothing will change. I testify before you as an actor who has been in Hollywood and experienced the slings and arrows for half a century.

Again, I boldly challenge you!  Make the changes in the entertainment industry that we as Americans need! Do what you must do to ensure that Latinos and all other minority groups get the representation they deserve, both in front of and behind the camera!

Respectfully,

Pepe Serna

Film, Television and Theatrical Actor and Motivational Speaker/Teacher

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