Hollywood Attempts To Reach The Latino
Market
by
Carl Hampton
12/21/2006
 Warner Brothers, Disney, 20th Century Fox
and Universal are all reaching for the same
goal: to appeal to the Latino market. But how
exactly are they doing that?
Production companies feel that the only way to
get the Latino population more involved is to
hire Latinos. But what positions are available
for those Latinos that have no college
education? And even if they do have an
education, why is there so much complaint
about the lack of finding qualified staff,
when all of Hollywood is about who-you-know?
How many producers, or human resources coordinators,
know qualified Latinos? Which begs the
question, how many Latinos are actually
on-staff at these large companies that are
something other than the mail room attendant?
How many Latinos are employed on an executive
level?
Disney is, and has been, very avid on
appealing to the Latino market, although the
company seems to feel defeated after a year
long effort. From May 2005, to this past
month, Latinos comprise the largest growing
attendance at Disney Land; growing faster than
any other ethnic group. There are three
Mexican restaurants at Disney Land; a majority
of the Disney staff speaks Spanish; there are
package deals for the resort that are marketed
in Spanish. Part of that influx is due to the
ideals that immigrant Latinos have. Disney
Land is part of Americana. ABC (which is
Disney owned) has released a television show
that is based on a Columbian drama, “Yo Soy
Betty La Fea,” that stars America Ferrera
(star of “Real Women Have Curves”) and is
produced by Salma Hayek. ABC productions, to
lure the Latino market, include “The George
Lopez Show,” and “Ugly Betty.” Other
shows, like the award winning “Lost,”
strive to include Latinos in their cast.
The corporation has also released a new Latino
sports line, ESPN Deportes, which includes a
television channel, a radio station, a
magazine, and a website, that provides
sports-casting exclusively in Spanish. Also,
last fall, Disney held a “Community
Cinderella Quinceañera” where young Latinas
could win the Cinderella DVD, travel to Los
Angeles for the screening (with up to 4
people), get Disney Park passes, and attend a
quinceañera ball at El Capitan Theater in
Hollywood. And why is Disney putting all this
effort into the much-criticized immigrant
population? Because, believe it or not,
Latinos make up the largest movie-going
population in the U.S.! That's right, English,
as well as Spanish-speaking Latinos, not only
make up 12.6% of the U.S. population, but on
average, Latinos watch almost 10 movies per
year. In comparison, the African-American
population watches 8, and the white population
watch 7 movies per year.
But the issue still stands; there are not
enough Latinos in the industry. And those that
are in, are there because they know someone,
or they can afford to be in. Sounds a bit
biased right? That is the case, though. David
Ortiz works as a prime example. He is a junior
creative executive at Universal because he
knew Paul Weitz, the director of “American
Pie.” Although this isn't the best example
(Ortiz's father was Weitz’s chauffeur),
Ortiz still had his foot in the door and was
able to get where he is now. Then there are
directors like Alfonso Cuarón (“Children of
Men”) and Alejandro González Iñárritu
(“Babel”) that come from affluent
American-born Latino families wherein they had
opportunities most Latinos do not. There are
also those producers and directors that work
from the ground up like the iconic Robert
Rodriguez that started with a camcorder and
filmed “El Mariachi.” Now a
multi-millionaire, producing major
studio-funded films like “Sin City” (he
co-directed this movie with Quentin
Tarantino). Finally, there are those Latinos
that are in but still struggle to sell their
ideas. Director, David Valdes, who received an
Oscar nomination for “The Green Mile” says
that every company he has approached with
ideas meets him with polite silence. But the
issue still stands. There are not enough
Latinos in the industry, even on an executive
level.
The Producers Guild of America has made effort
to amend that problem. They have even tried to
implement a mentor program to assist Latinos
that are trying to get involved in the
industry, unfortunately, the only production
companies that have participated are Disney,
and 20th Century Fox. Here’s the catch-22.
How can there be Latino executives involved in
a Latino mentor program if there are not many
Latinos on either end? This comparison is like
the chicken and the egg. You cannot have one
without the other, but what happens when
either presence is minimal? There is no doubt
that Latinos are under-represented in the
industry. So this is a message to all the
Latinos that are aspiring to be in the
industry at any level: go for it. Large
production companies need you.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer? Write to me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
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