Hollywood’s Missing Piece
There were about 8,000 movie releases in the United States and Canada between 2007 and 2018.
Of the 100 top grossing movies during these years, only 3% featured leads or co leads with Latinx actors.
Why is this important? Because of the following number: 60 million. Which is the number of Latinx living in the U.S.
77% of 50 U.S. states have populations with a higher percentage of the 4.5% of Latinx we currently see in Hollywood films.
These are numbers provided by the University of Southern California's inclusion initiative report published in August 2019. I generally have an impulse to question statistics every time I read them and dissect them. But I think what's important here is: considering that a significant part of the U.S. population is Latinx or Hispanic, and that we are avid movie goers responsible for 23% of ticket purchases, there's still a lack of Latinx representation in Hollywood films.
Why is this the case?
Well... There's a lot that goes into making films and a lot of politics behind the creative decisions that are made. A lot of films with Latinx leads require a Latinx behind the camera taking matters into their own hands.
Just like filmmakers Cristina Nava and Patrick Perez Vidauri, husband and wife filmmaker duo, have done when bringing their movies to life.
Support Cristina and Patrick's work by following them on instagram @iamcristinanava and @patperezworld.
In Other Words movie - Instagram: @inotherwordsmovie and Facebook: @ inotherwordsfilm.
Groups and organizations mentioned during the episode:
