AMPAS, with its 17 branches of on-camera and behind-the-scenes artists, is the governing body that oversees the selection of the Academy Awards.  Membership selection is based on professional qualifications by reviewed by their peer group.

Of this year’s 397 membership invites, thirty-six (36) Latinos have been invited to join the voting branches that decide who will receive the Oscar in their category.  

Enrique Castillo (Deja Vu, Blood In Blood Out) who became a member of AMPAS in 2016 knows too well what an honor it is to be asked to join AMPAS. We reached out to him for a quote.

“I congratulate this year’s Latino invitees to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. It’s a fitting recognition of your talent, hard work and perseverance. I look forward to joining you in being a voice and advocate for Latino artists in the entertainment industry and in the ranks of the Motion Picture Academy”.

The Short Films and Feature Animation branch had the most Latine membership invites with a total of eleven (11). They include Academy Award-winning producer Yvett Merino (Encanto, Wreck-It Ralph), Writer/Producer/Director K.D. Dávila (Please Hold, Emergency) and Effects Supervisor Erin Ramos  (Encanto, Frozen II)

Among the five actors invited are Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Olga Merediz  (In the Heights, Adrift), Golden Globe winner Anya Taylor-Joy  (The Northman, Last Night in Soho) and veteran actor Marco Rodriguez  (El Chicano, Unspeakable)

Here is the breakdown on the all Latine artists per AMPAS Branch by number of invitees:

SHORT FILMS & FEATURE ANIMATION: 11

Michael Arias – (Harmony, Tekkonkinkreet)

Enrico Casarosa  (Luca, La Luna)

Karla Castañeda (La Noria (The Waterwheel), Jacinta)

Hugo Covarrubias  (Bestia, The Night Upside Down)

K.D. Dávila (Please Hold, Emergency)

Joe Mateo (Blush, Big Hero 6)

Yvett Merino (Encanto, Wreck-It Ralph)

Jetzabel Moreno Hernández  (The Followers, Plums and Green Smoke)

Brian Pimental (Tarzan, A Goofy Movie)

Erin Ramos  (Encanto, Frozen II)

Leo Sanchez  (The Windshield Wiper, Over the Moon)

ACTING BRANCH: 6

Ariana DeBose (West Side Story, The Prom)

Robin de Jesús (tick, tick…BOOM!, The Boys in the Band)  

BarBara Luna  (The Concrete Jungle, Five Weeks in a Balloon)

Olga Merediz  (In the Heights, Adrift)

Marco Rodriguez  (El Chicano, Unspeakable)

Anya Taylor-Joy  (The Northman, Last Night in Soho)

DIRECTORS: 5 

Bruno Villela Barreto  (Four Days in September, The Kiss)

Mariano Barroso (Ants in the Mouth, Ecstasy)

Jeferson Rodrigues de Rezende (The Malê Revolt, Bróder!)

Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, Monsters and Men)

Isabel Sandoval (Lingua Franca, Apparition)

PRODUCERS: 3

Cristina Gallego (Birds of Passage, Embrace of the Serpent)

Laetitia Gonzales  (Plot 35, Tournée)

Sara Silveira  (Good Manners, Vazante)

Marketing and Public Relations: 3

Chrissy Quesada

Jerry Rojas

Evelyn Santana

DOCUMENTARY: 2

Emílio Domingos  (Favela Is Fashion, L.A.P.A.)

Cristina Ibarra  (The Infiltrators, Las Marthas)

SOUND: 2

Ruth Hernandez – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Brooklyn’s Finest”

Waldir Xavier – “From Afar,” “Central Station”

VISUAL EFFECTS: 2

Joe Ceballos  (Skyscraper, Thor: Ragnarok)

Marcos Fajardo Orellana (Thor,  Monster House)

COSTUME DESIGNERS: 1

Tatiana Hernández (The Japon, Lope)

MEMBERS AT LARGE: 1

Ilda Santiago

CLICK HERE FOR FULL LIST

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