I have built my career in journalism highlighting the triumphs of our Latino community collective through our publication, now online www.latinheat.com. Believe me when I say that we are finally being given opportunities in all aspects of the entertainment industry. The days of slim pickings are behind us. There is still work to be done to reach parity, but we have made progress. However, there is also much more to do and more competition. Talent is key for the continued growth of the presence of Latinos in Hollywood and beyond; with that comes the raising of the bar and the need for everyone to up their game!

It’s an exciting time and we will record the milestones in this column, by following the “Latino surge” in the industry as well as spotlighting the issues that pertain to Latino/as. As an opinion piece, it will represent my voice and not necessarily the position of Latin Heat, a news platform that strives to be impartial.
It will be a fun ride and I hope you will want to chime by leaving a comment to enrich the discussion.

So let the Talks begin.

First off we cannot let the month of January pass without acknowledging major firsts in Hollywood.

HISTORIC THREE GOLDEN GLOBE WINSThis year in their non-televised and no-celebrity awards show, the Golden Globes upped their past record of one Latina award winner. This year three Latinas took home the GG. Rachel Zegler became the first Latina in GG history to win the Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical award, Ariana DeBose took the Supporting Actress prize, both for their work in Steven Spielberg’s re-dux of West Side Story. On the television side, MJ Rodriguez won for her role on the FX show Pose. Encanto and its producers, among them Yvette Merino, writer Charise Castro Smith, and composer Germaine Franco, all noted for their work on the animated feature that took the top prize of Animated Film.

What other mainstream awards shows have this track record?

I have always had a special connection to the Golden Globes as I have observed the inclusion of more Latinos at these high-profile awards than any other mainstream awards show. The GG were the first to nominate and bring attention to Latina and Latino talent before other awards shows. (full disclosure, last year I was appointed to the Credentialing Committee for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who produce the Golden Globes. My feelings towards the inclusion of the GG were formed prior to the recent snafu that they are currently facing.

The list of Latinos who have won a GG is impressive. Latinos honored include: Benicio del Toro, Guillermo del Toro, Gina Rodriguez, America Ferrera, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Andy Garcia, Jimmy Smits, and Rita Moreno, among others. It put them on the map. Both del Toros and Iñarritu were the only ones that went on to win an Oscar for the same projects they received their GG for. But the careers of Rodriguez and Ferrera literally took off with their GG wins.

ANOTHER WIN FOR THE POWER OF LATINA LEADS

The film Scream, released earlier this month, has proven once again that Latinos will support Latino/a leads in a film franchise – especially if it’s a horror flick.

Melissa Barrera(In The Heights, Vida) and Jenna Ortega (Yes Day, Jane the Virgin) play sisters in the latest Scream franchise film. On its opening weekend it beat every other film at the boxoffice with a resounding $30M and to date has made $85.6 million internationally.
That box office could be due to the fact that Latinos LOVE horror flix…so maybe in this case Latinos did go support the film which had Latinas in the lead? We will take that.

‘PROMISED LAND’ AND LATINO WINEMAKERS

There is a new ABC TV series, Promised Land, that just premiered Jan. 24. It’s a Dallas-like TV show set in California’s wine country, Sonoma Valley, where Mexican-American families have gone from working in the fields picking grapes to becoming vintners and, ultimately, to owning the winery. Two of those families include Maria and Reynaldo Robledo who founded the Robledo Family Winery in Sonoma, the first winery established by Mexican Americans. In 1988 The Ceja winery was founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja.

Promised Land is patterned after these families who are also multi-generational. That may be the only resemblance between real life and the television family. The TV show has the telenovela style of intrigue, power, jealousy and money. It follows more along the lines of past successful primetime shows like CBS’ Dallas, ABC’s Dynasty (1981) and CBS’ Falcon Crest which ran from 1981 to 1990 and did have some Latino regulars in the cast (Ana Alicia and Lorenzo Llamas). ABC describes the Promised Land as, “An epic, generation-spanning drama about a Latinx family vying for wealth and power.”

In 2006 CBS premiered Cane with the patriarch played by Jimmy Smits (In The Heights, How to Get Away With Murder). It was a generational series, however, this time about the Cuban-American Vega family and their sugarcane business. Seasoned and well known Latino actors lead the cast, Hector Elizondo (Last Man Standing), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Nestor Carbonell (The Morning Show), Oscar Torre (7th & Union). However, it was cut short in its first season when the great writers’ strike of 2007 forced it off the air temporarily. It was forgotten after the strike, never to be seen or heard of again.

Here’s to a better fate for Promised Land which, pardon the pun, looks “promising.” John Ortiz leads a very talented cast which includes many fresh new faces.

ANOTHER HONOR FOR LEGENDARY EGOT

Rita Moreno has been selected to receive the 2022 Stanley Kramer Award at the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards on March 19. That is another honor to add to more than 30 film, TV and music awards by the Puerto Rican star. She is among a selected group of artists who have won the four major American entertainment awards, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony–hence EGOT. Moreno is also among a distinguished roster of performers who have accomplished what is known as the Triple Crown of Acting, with individual competitive Academy, Emmy and Tony prizes for acting. Furthermore, she has received several lifetime achievement awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor a Peabody Award.

LOOK OUT FOR JENNA ORTEGA

In 2022 Jenna Ortega started the year with a lead role in Scream and will next star in The Fallout, which premiered Jan. 27 on HBO Max. The film follows two teenage classmates navigating grief after surviving a school shooting. AND…many are anxiously awaiting to see her in the title role of Tom Burton’s Netflix’s live action film Wednesday, an offshoot of The Addams Family. She is one of the youngest and brightest stars in Hollywood. Ortega was seen last year in director Miguel Arteta’s Yes Day, starring alongside Jennifer Garner and Edgar Ramirez.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Actress Maria Canals-Barrera is a recent cast addition to NBC’s Kenan. Catch her work TONIGHT in the final episode on January 31, on NBC 8/7c.

Until next time.

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