The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF) has opened the submission period for their Master Class Workshop Series: From Film To Career. This interactive series is designed for those developing short dramas or feature-length narrative film projects, aiming to produce high-quality ork and build a sustainable career in the film industry.

The Master Workshop Series: From Film To Career will bring together a distinguished faculty of legendary filmmakers, including renowned producer Moctesuma Esparza (Selena, Mi Family, Milagro Beanfield War) and Director/Producer Jesus Trevino (Resurrection Blvd., Chicano! Documentary Series), with guest faculty such as director Luis Valdez (La Bamba, Zoot Suit) and producer Elias Auxume (MR-9: Do or Die) , among others. This isn’t just about making films—it’s about making successful, profitable films and forging a lasting career.

The Master Workshop series is of interactive sessions that delve into: Story & Screenplay, Building the Film Team, Casting, and Financing & Distribution. Ten selected filmmakers who are developing a short drama or feature length narrative film project and who wish to receive mentorship and guidance by master filmmakers, to produce higher level projects and develop a sustainable career in the film industry.

The workshop series, held annually, consists of four evening sessions spaced approximately a month apart, starting in the Fall of 2024.

Concurrently, MACEF will be accepting submissions for two $5K MACEF Filmmaker Production Grant. To qualify for this grant, the applicant must submit the script of the short film, film or TV pilot and be in the advanced stages of pre-production or production. Qualifying films will be assessed by the quality of the story (culturally positive and non-stereotypical stories are required) as well as production organization and viability of the project.

The Master Workshop and the grants are open to individuals of any background residing in the United States. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to reshaping the stereotypical Mexican-American narrative into a fairer, more positive, and realistic portrayal while educating communities about the valuable contributions of Mexican-American culture and people to America.

The submission period for both: June 15th – July 30th, 2024. SUBMIT HERE: https://www.mexamcef.org/the-masters-workshop

Use the same application for both the MACEF Master Class Workshop Series: From Film To Career and the Filmmaker Production Grant.

#MACEF #MastersWorkshop #FilmmakerOpportunity #CareerDevelopment

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The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF), the non-profit whose mission is to change the intentionally distorted and damaging Mexican-American narrative by educating the community and supporting film television makers and their stories that will change that narrative, is currently accepting submissions for its 3rd annual $5K Filmmaking Grants. In addition, applicants for the filmmaking grants will automatically be entered into a chance to be chosen for one of 10 available slots for the inaugural Filmmakers Masters Workshop Series: From Film to Career. The deadline to submit for the grant and, in turn, for the Masters Workshop Series is September 30, 2023.

“The MACEF’s Filmmakers Masters Workshop Series is the latest addition to our efforts to provide our filmmakers with the tools to succeed and thus fulfill our mission to change the distorted and harmful narrative by telling our real story and educate the community about the true Mexican-American contribution,” said MACEF’s Board President Dr. Jose Luis Ruiz.

The Masters Workshop Series: From Film To Career is an interactive workshop for ten selected filmmakers who are currently developing a short drama or feature-length narrative film project and who wish to receive mentorship and guidance from master filmmakers to produce higher-level projects and develop a sustainable career in the film industry.

This series of workshops will be offered annually and will take place over three days starting in the Fall of 2023 and will focus on 1) Story and Screenplay, 2) Building the Film Team, and 3) Casting, financing, and distribution.

The ten participants will be selected by the Mexican American Education Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF) from applicants who demonstrate exemplary film accomplishments and whose current film project indicates a high potential for success as determined by a committee of veteran film professionals. The workshops are intended to help participants bring their film projects closer to completion and encourage planning for a lifetime career in motion picture production.

The Faculty of this workshop series will be legendary producer Moctesuma Esparza (Selena) and pioneering film and TV director Jesús Treviño (Prison Break), and moderated by MACEF founder and director Dr. José Luis Ruíz. The workshops will include the participation of veteran writers, producers, and directors who will engage the ten selected participants on a one-on-one basis.

Eligibility and Submissions for the MACEF Grant and Filmmakers Masters Workshop Series are one application. Consideration for both will be decided from the application for the Grant.

Who Can Apply:

• Individuals already in the industry or starting out who need funds to finish their short film, a feature-length film, or a TV pilot to put it on the market.
• Film school students working on their thesis film are encouraged to apply.
• Filmmakers of any background can apply; however, the production team must include at least one producer, writer, or director and one main actor who identifies as Mexican-American or Chicana/o, of any generation or mixed ethnicity.

Qualifying:

• To qualify for this grant, the applicant must submit the script of the short film, feature-length film, or TV pilot and be in an advanced stage of pre-production, production, or post-production.
• Qualifying films will be assessed for the quality of the story, culturally positive content, the production team assembled, and the project’s viability. Non-stereotypical stories will have priority.

The deadline to apply is September 30, 2023. APPLY HERE. Grantees will have their film highlighted at the First Annual Mexican-American Film/Television Festival in May of 2024.

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The mission of MACEF is to address the negative image of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans/Chicanos who have been largely portrayed in the media through degrading stereotypes such as criminals, the help, lazy, illegal invaders, and uneducated, with devastating effects on the community. The mission includes The Mexican-American Film and Television Festival & Awards which was designed to provide Mexican-American/Chicano filmmakers, who represent 40 million Americans of Mexican descent, a venue to showcase, promote, and celebrate their work. to promote positive media content, as well as foster future Mexican-American Chicana/o filmmakers.

As films, TV, and media content online and on social media have a tremendous impact on the narrative, perception, and reputation of our community, MACEF launched the MACEF Filmmaking Grants with the intention of promoting a more accurate portrayal of our community.

The grants awards are part of MACEF’s overall three-pronged approach to achieving its mission which includes:

The MACEF Filmmaker Scholarship will further the education of aspiring filmmakers who want to enter the film/television industry.

The MACEF Filmmaker Grant. This year two $5,000 grants will be awarded to selected filmmakers.

The Mexican-American Film/Television Festival, Grants and Awards, a yearly event celebrating and sponsoring films, television, and streaming content made by Mexican-American/Chicana/os with positive and true-to-life stories, slated for May of 2024.

Eligibility and Submissions Process for the MACEF Film Grant

Who Can Apply:

Individuals already in the industry or starting out who need funds to finish their short film, a feature-length film, or a TV pilot to put it on the market.

Film school students working on their thesis film are encouraged to apply.

Filmmakers of any background can apply, however, the production team must include at least one producer, writer, or director, and one main actor who identifies as Mexican-American or Chicana/o, of any generation or mixed ethnicity.

Qualifying:

To qualify for this grant, the applicant must submit the script of the short film, feature-length film, or TV pilot, and be in an advanced stage of pre-production, production, or post-production.

Qualifying films will be assessed for the quality of the story, culturally positive content, the production team assembled, and the viability of the project. Non-stereotypical stories will have priority.

Submission deadline: September 15, 2023

Grantees will have their film highlighted at the First Annual Mexican-American Film/Television Festival in May of 2024.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY 

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It would not be a cliché to say that triple threat performer/director Karina Noelle Castillo was ever not destined to be a part of the film, TV, multi media digital industry. Her career accomplishments have solely been as a result of her training, talent and tenacious determination.  But coming from a family of noted entertainment industry professionals, veteran actor/writer/director Enrique Castillo (Deja Vu, Blood in Blood Out, Weeds), media maven/producer Bel Hernandez (TheTRENDTalk, Latin Heat Entertainment), and highly regarded theater actor Sol Castillo (American Mariachi), one can say it was almost Karina’s birthright. 

Yet, despite who she’s related to in Hollywood, the best way to describe Karina is that she is first and foremost, a Los Angeles born Chicana, who is building an impressive career as an actor, producer, director and is also and entrepreneur with her  own clothing (Humana/Xicana brand). She graduated from the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and California Institute of Arts, where she studied as a Theatre Major.

Karina started booking TV roles as a teenager at the age of 13. And has racked up an impressive list of TV credits working on programs such as: NCIS, S.W.A.T., Rebel, L.A.’s Finest, Pump, Superstore, The Good Doctor, Grey’s Anatomy, General Hospital, and Criminal Minds, to name a few. In 2015, she had a recurring role in Empty Space in the role of Martina for eight episodes.  

In 2015, she was cast in The Last Dinner, a horror short film. Her introduction to the horror/thriller genres and she loved it! Her other shorts she acted in are: Romantick, Vici, Ten Thousand Miles, Hero Complex, and Wake which inspired her to venture out on her own and direct, write and star in first short film Outside Your Door in 2020 about two young adults who try to manage their complicated feelings in the midst of a passionate but ultimately doomed romance.  

Currently, Karina has making the transition from acting to filmmaking. “More often than not in acting, you’re just one piece of the entirety of the art of filmmaking. I love the idea of being able to take an idea from its infancy and then create the final product and it’s thrilling to see my name behind it. To have my stamp on it, is exciting.”

Her second project currently in pre-preproduction, The Wall, is a 15-minute short, and officially her second horror/thriller short film outside of film school. 

Why the scary genre?

“I’ve always been a big fan of thriller/horror films and they are a fan favorite. They provide the opportunity to wrap serious themes in an entertaining package,” she said. “Thus, reaching a wider audience whose cup of tea isn’t always the more serious dramas. For this film, I drew inspiration from the classics like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, as well as the more modern films like The Babadook.

Karina grew up in the era and was a huge fan of Goosebumps and other R.L. Stine books. 

“I then ended up becoming a bit obsessed with gothic horrors, especially the Anne Rice universe starting with Interview with a Vampire and then moving on to the rest of the series,” she said. “I interspersed these with the classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, etc. I think the latest horror novel that terrified me was Bob Woodward’s Fear: Trump in the Whitehouse.” 

She gave us a good chuckle here — despite the fact we know she’s serious about culture, community activism and politics. She’s sincere in her desire to want the best to represent Latinos and people of color.

This year Karina was the recipient of the MACEF (Mexican American Cultural Education Foundation) grant recipients, where she was awarded $10,000 to help produce her short film. She was award the MACEF Premier Entertainment/ Dr. Ruiz Film Production Grant which was a great start, however Karina knew that to be able to afford the special effect she has planned for her film, she needed to raise more funds. 

The Wall is a tense psychological thriller with a searing message about the repercussions of denial and repression after trauma. It is intense but relatable film. “My goal in this,” stated Karina, “and all of my films is to shine a light on mental health, and to feature people of color in leading roles with as much nuance and truthful representation as possible”

“I wish I was a writer who gets obsessed with some historical subject and does heavy research to write about some sort of World War II story involving espionage or something like that,” she explained. “But I just write what I know. What’ I’ve experienced. It’s how I process things in my past, mistakes I’ve made, scenarios I wish I could have done better in my 20’s instead of ‘performing’ aka faking it, just like Lara is doing.” 

In further explaining her script, Karina reiterates that The Wall is not about mental illness but rather, the “importance of addressing your own individual mental health. It’s about the damage denial and repression after trauma causes”, she tells us. 

“Neither characters, Lara or Samuel, are mentally ill,” stated Karina.  “They are people who like the majority of us, sacrifice their own peace of mind to keep their relationships and homes together. So many of us make little tiny choices every day to either ignore our feelings or placate people, or to convince ourselves that ‘everything is OK’.” 

“After many years those small choices become a mountain of unaddressed issues, and our mental health suffers because of it. Eventually all of those things that we don’t address will boil over, and that manifests differently depending on the person.”

The Wall’s theme has relevance to a wide audience because most of us have experienced the harm that denial and repression can cause. If we allow the trauma to fester, it could swallow you whole without mental health professional assistance. But with proper treatments, most can face their fears and it can be a glorious rebirth. That’s the beauty of the promise of The Wall.

For now, The Wall is slated for its world premiere as part of the Mexican American Film and Television Festival in 2023 which happens May 13 and 14 at Ralieigh Studios in Hollywood. 

“Of course, for The Wall, it is all dependent on how well we do with our crowdfunding campaign and in finishing the film in time for submission,” stated Karina. “I’m honestly just grateful to be selected as one of their recipients… Just being supported by them and having the board believe in my project is heartening enough. Any other festivals would be more icing on the cake.”

Karina Noelle Castillo is undeniably at the forefront of rising talents and film directors in Hollywood. She is the CEO and founder of Another Killer Winter, a production company focused on projects that explore the bitter-sweetness of humanity with an emphasis on looking through the female lens. She has has also extended her directing talents to include the TheTRENDTalk TV show which airs on MeTV and all social media platforms. She produced and starred in the web series Buzzchat premiered on the FYI channel as a featured segment of talk show KikiMobile in 2017.

To be a part of Karina’s latest film project, please click The Wall for more details. Karina Noelle Castillo is repped by @citizenskull.liz, @soverigntalentgroup. 

The Wall Cast: 

Karina Noelle Castillo as Lara

Andrew Lee as Samuel

Leonora Anzaldua, Producer and DP

Aram Ramirez is 2^nd Unit Camera

The Wall Crowdfunding Campaign

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TO SUBMIT: www.mexicanamericancef.org/film-television-festival

Los Angeles, CA — The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF) will celebrate its second annual Mexican-American Film and Television Festival & Awards at the historic Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. MACEF is now accepting submissions from filmmakers for the festival which takes place May 13-14, 2023. 

After last year’s inaugural film festival, the The two day festival will feature films and TV content made by Mexican-Americans, featuring Mexican-Americans and championed by Mexican-Americans. The filmmakers will have an  opportunity to network with industry professionals and audiences. The festival will be inviting trailblazing filmmakers whose film changed the course of independent filmmaking and will provide a learning experience aNd a screening of their films with couple of retrospective screening  

Fitting with this year’s theme of “changing the narrative, recognizing who we are”, MACEF’s mission is to change the negative narrative of Americans of Mexican descent by highlighting their stories and their positive contribution to the U.S.

The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF) is a Non-Profit organization, with the mission of educating the community about the rich cultural contributions of the Mexican-American community to this country, which are often unrecognized.The MACEF Film Festival submission application is for those individuals who want to showcase their work to other film lovers, filmmakers, and Hollywood industry professional.

“For over 100 years, Hollywood has ignored the presence and contribution of Mexican-Americans and mainly represented them as maids, gardeners, and gangsters,” says Jose Luiz Ruiz, MACEF president, and founder. “This will not change unless we make it change. We at MACEF encourage our Mexican and Mexican-American filmmakers to submit their projects to the festival, the first of its kind in the nation”.

The festival will feature eight competition categories: Best TV Show, Best Short Film, Best Screenplay for Film, Best Screenplay for a TV Show, Best Film, Best Performance by an Actor, Best Performance by an Actress, and Best Director.  

All festival entries must be the applicants’ original works, not already in distribution and will be judged by noted industry professionals on the quality of the stories, production value, and submission guidelines. Stories that are culturally positive and non-stereotypical will have priority.

MACEF applicants can be of any background, but the production team must include at least one producer, writer, director, or lead actor who identifies as Mexican-American or Chicano of any generation or mixed ethnicity. Also, entrants will be responsible for obtaining all rights to third-party materials included in their submitted works, including trademarks, copyrights, and music. Furthermore, a digital link to the film or TV pilot is required.

The deadline for entries is January 15, 2023. 

This year’s MAF&TF will also feature retrospective screening of Latino filmmakers that changed the course of independent filmmaking throughout the years.

MACEF hopes to impact the TV and film industries in a period of extraordinary growth and relevance for the past few decades called a “new golden era of television,” which has only been strengthened by streaming platforms in recent years. “Welcome to the New Golden Era of Mexican-American Chicano television and film,” declares Ruiz. 

As the largest group of the U.S. Latino sector, Mexican-Americans have the power to make or break a film or TV show in release, as they are one of the largest filmgoing audiences. 

“There are 40 million Americans of Mexican descent, approximately 70 percent of the Latino demographic, a key group to the success of any film premiere,” says Ruiz. “Our festival will address a need for the increase in representation on the screen, as well as a change on how we are represented,” concluded Dr. Ruiz. “It will build community and provide support to the filmmakers coming from this creative, hard-working community.”

For more information, visit www.mexicanamericancef.org.

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: @MexAmCEF

Instagram: @MexAmCEF YouTube: Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation

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The selected three recipients of the Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF) of the MACEF Film and Television Grants were announced today by Dr. Jose Luis Ruiz who heads the two-year non-profit organization. He founded the organization after years because of seeing Mexican Americans/Chicanos represented in media in, for the most part stereotypical roles. The MACEF Film and Television Grants were created in order to support culturally positive movie and television projects in advanced stages of pre-production or production.

The three recipients are Frank Velásquez of Placitas, New Mexico, P. Antonio Márquez of Los Angeles, California, and Sharon Arteaga of Austin, Texas. They were selected from a list of 80 submissions that came in from throughout the United States. Each will receive $10,000 to help finish their short films. The grants will officially be presented at a special reception on August 5 by Dr. Ruiz, producer Moctesuma Esparza (Selena) and Emmy-award winning journalist Naibe Reynoso, both advisory board members of MACEF and part of the selection committee.

“After 100 years of Hollywood deleting Mexican-Americans from American society, like we didn’t exist, MACEF is supporting these Mexican-American filmmakers who are working hard to improve the narrative that will change the Hollywood of tomorrow,” says MACEF President and Founder Dr. Jose Luis Ruiz. “These talented and visionary filmmakers will be the ones contributing to a more accurate, fair, diverse and rich portrayal of our people in movies and TV. They need to be empowered to tell their stories, our stories. We at MACEF, with contributions from community organizations and individuals, are putting our money where our mouth is.”

The Filmmaker and Television Grant is part of the two-year-old organization’s initiatives to educate the community about the real history and contributions of the Mexican-American culture and people to the U.S. The projects were selected based on the strength of the script, the production value and viability. To qualify, projects needed to include at least one producer, writer, director or lead actor who identifies as Mexican-American or Chicano. Additionally, the judges looked for culturally positive and non-stereotypical projects. 

Velásquez’ selected short film, Borders is about a humble but somewhat jaded Mexican-American war veteran and his social worker who enlighten each other with their stories, art, work and different life experiences. “Winning the grant means so much to me,” Velásquez said. “But more than the money, years from now, I’ll remember this as the first time I was validated as a writer/director by my own community in a major way.” 

“I understand that being a filmmaker at this stage means having to apply and be rejected countless times,” Velasquez further explained. “But being a Mexican-American filmmaker means having to receive tons of problematic feedback along with those rejections, constantly wondering if I have to tone down my ‘Mexicaness’ to finally break through finalist rounds.”

Márquez’s ¡Baca the Kid! is based on the true story of a young New Mexican deputy sheriff from the late 1800s named Elfego Baca, who stood up to a mob of Anglo cowboys in a 33-hour-long siege. That shootout is known as the “longest gunfight in U.S. history,” according to the filmmaker.  

“It feels tremendous to have donors and MACEF believe in my vision for this short film,” says Márquez. “I’ve wanted to tell a story about the New Mexican folk hero Elfego Baca since I was in high school and it feels surreal to finally be able to tell it.” He adds, “This is the ‘make it or break it’ base budget that I needed to get this film off the ground It feels great to have the support of MACEF to tell a story of empowerment about the Mexican-American people of New Mexico.” 

The third grantee’s project is an 18-minute family adventure dramedy. In Arteaga’s In Tow, a mother and daughter wake up one day finding their mobile home is being repossessed with them still inside. Estranged with one another, the two women argue inside the rolling house and have to rethink their priorities and the meaning of home. “It’s always a challenge to find that first person or entity that takes a chance on you as a filmmaker, regardless of how much work you’ve done,” says Arteaga. In Tow will be the Austin filmmaker’s fourth film. 

The MACEF Filmmaker and Television Grants sponsors, who contributed $10K each, are Southern California entrepreneurs Dr. Malena Rodriguez, DDS and Gilbert Vazquez, CPA, and the Eastside Art Initiative of the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a cultural nonprofit organization in Los Angeles.

All winning projects will premiere at the first annual MACEF Mexican-American Film & Television Festival to be held on May 15 and 16, 2022 at the historic Raleigh Studios in the heart of Hollywood.

MACEF also supports a Filmmaker Scholarship initiative for students pursuing a master’s degrees at two prestigious Southern California schools, the University of California Los Angeles’ School of Theater, Film and Television and the American Film Institute Conservatory. The winners of this program, also in its inaugural year, are UCLA students Natalia Delgado, Seth Van Matre and Sonia Gonzalez, and AFI Conservatory’s Ahuatl “Jorge” Amaro and Reuben Tietz. 

For more information about MACEF and its filmmaker grant, scholarship program and other initiatives, visit https://www.mexicanamericancef.org

The post MACEF Mexican-American/Chicano Film Grants Announced first appeared on .

Submission deadline for grant: June 15

By Cesar Arredondo

The lack of representation and negative, reductive portrayal of Mexicans and Chicanos in American film and television has been a long time concern for Jose Luis Ruiz, a Southern California dentist, entrepreneur, and community advocate who hails from Mexico City. Wanting to be part of the solution, he recently launched a program to help fund film and television projects that more accurately and fairly depict those communities.

The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation Filmmaker and Television Grant aims to empower Mexican-American filmmakers to tell their stories and shape and improve the perception of their people in the U.S. both on the big and small screens. 

Mexicans face a problem in the media that is even bigger than stereotypes, adds Ruiz. “It’s our absence from American film and TV,” he states

Yet, Ruiz complains, Americans often have a limited, stereotypical view of Mexicans as mainly gardeners, janitors, maids, farmhands, nannies, construction and other menial jobs as well as criminals, gangsters, drug traffickers and other negative impressions, all of which are regularly reinforced by movies and TV through the few Mexican characters that get featured. “It’s always been shocking to me,” he says, noting that the Mexican-American reality is different. “Our community is more diverse. We have doctors, teachers, lawyers, astronauts, artists, office and restaurant managers and many more people in great positions.” 

His desire to change the perception of his community led Ruiz to start MACEF. He reached out to prominent community leaders such as Alex Nogales of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Emmy Award-winning journalist Naibe Reynoso, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Moctezuma Esparza (Selena, The Milagro Beanfield War), actor Mike Gomez (The Big Lebowski, Greenland), and Bel Hernandez of Latin Heat Media, among others, to be on the Advisory Board for MACEF. In the interest of disclosure, Latin Heat Media is the parent company of LatinHeat.com.

FILM GRANT DETAILS

Also last year, in the middle of the pandemic Ruiz started exploring the creation of initiatives to use media to change the image and depiction of Mexican-Americans for the better. “It was a desire to make a difference more effectively,” he says. That was when the scholarship and grant initiative began.

Currently accepting applications for the film grant, the program offers three grants of $10,000 each to seasoned and upcoming filmmakers who need funds to finish their short films, feature-length films, or TV pilots that could then be presented to production companies, studios and networks. While the program is open to filmmakers of any background, their crews must include at least one producer, writer, or director and one main actor who identify themselves as Mexicans or Chicanos. Priority will be given to projects that present non-stereotypical stories, according to Ruiz. The deadline to apply is June 15.

The filmmaker grant is part of a new multi-prong approach recently announced by the foundation that Ruiz established three years ago to highlight the cultural contributions of the Mexican-American community to this nation, which he says are often unrecognized. Other efforts that also focus on media are a scholarship program for film and TV college students and a film festival.

In addition to the filmmaker grant, MACEF partnered up with two higher education institutions to sponsor scholarships to Mexican-American students pursuing a career in film and TV. UCLA and AFI each will be offering $60,000 in scholarships in the next four years, starting in 2021. “We are now working with USC to start a scholarship program there, too,” he states.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER OF MACEF

A doctor of dental surgery with a diploma from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ruiz came to the Golden State looking for more professional opportunities. He arrived a few years after graduating from UNAM in the late 1980s, starting his professional dental practice in the city of Burbank and enrolling in some dental university programs through the years such as an aesthetic dentistry mini-residency at UC Berkeley. In the early 2000s, he was hired by USC Continuing Education as a clinical instructor of dentistry, a position he’s held for many years. He also founded the L.A. Institute of Clinical Dentistry & Ruiz Dental Seminars.

At USC, concerned about the lack of Mexican and Mexican-American students in dentistry, Ruiz says he decided to help with recruitment. Progress has been made but the teacher acknowledges much work needs to be done. 

Nearly 5 million Latinos live in L.A., with the vast majority of them being Mexican and Mexican American, about 61 percent, according to the U.S. Census. L.A. is also home to the largest concentration of Mexicans outside of Mexico, second only to Mexico City. Census figures show that more than 3.5 million Mexicans call the City of Angels home.

According to the website DataUSA.io, Latinos account for 14.6 percent of USC’s student population but seemingly no specific data is available on Mexican or Mexican-American student enrollment.

Through the years, the dentist also remained concerned about the perception of Mexicans in the United States. Born and raised in Mexico’s capital city, he knew his homeland was a leading nation in Latin America, exporting music, movies and culture to the rest of the Spanish-speaking nations of the Americas. “Mexico is a powerhouse in Spanish-language movies and television,” he says adding, “It’s like the Hollywood of Latin America,” 

In the summer of 2022 the MACEF Film & TV Festival will launch in the heart of Hollywood. It will offer another platform for Mexican and Chicano filmmakers to showcase their works once they are completed. The finished projects of the MACEF scholarship and grants recipients will screen at the MACEF Film & TV Festival.

“I’ve realized public image is very strongly shaped by the media, they form opinions of who we are,” explains Ruiz. “So, we are focusing on education, television and film because we want to affect big, massive change.” He concludes, “We need to have more directors, producers and writers to tell our own stories, the stories we need.”

To apply for the MACEF Filmmaker Grant, click here.

To obtain more information on MACEF and its other programs, visit www.mexicanamericancef.org

Featured Photo: Credit: MACEF

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By Elia Esparza

The Mexican-American Cultural Education Foundation (MACEF), a non-profit corporation whose mission is educating the community about the rich cultural contributions of the Mexican-American community to this country. Recently, MACEF is expressing their deep disapproval over CBS2/KCAL9 April 27, 2020 coverage of the recent disgusting attacks targeting Mexican vendors. 

To view the news report, CLICK HERE.

In MACEF’s complaint to two local Los Angeles CBS/KCAL channels, claim:

Your on-air report and website mentions, “The suspects were reportedly driving around near Florence Avenue and Central Avenue, asking people to come to the car before throwing eggs at them.”

We are disturbed by your lack of reporting that this was a racially motivated attack. The attacks were not targeting “people,” as you show on your report, the attackers were targeting “Mexicans” as the attackers posted on TikTok. Others on the same media platform, like “brownskinae” asking the attacker to “Get the Mexican that sell fruit onna 9 next”[sic] and ‘yeahthatsrobyn” call out “WETBACKs” 

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