As demand for Hollywood content explodes, Latinos say their time is now — behind and in front of the camera

Independent filmmaker Kenneth Castillo projects the confidence of someone who’s sprung a movie set into action with a shout. He’s got more than half a dozen credits to his name—films like “La Guapa” that reflect his Latino identity.

“I’m a winner, I’m not begging for an opportunity,” Castillo tells the Southern California News Group. “I know how to direct.”

But getting to the next level — directing a studio film or network TV show — has proven elusive, an experience shared by many U.S.-born Latinos pursuing careers in Hollywood.

“I’m not giving up and I’m not bitter about it. I’m just saying it’s been very difficult,” he stated. “I knew it would be hard, but I thought with seven feature films under my reel that would open some doors for me and it hasn’t.”

On the eve of Oscar weekend, Castillo took part in a panel discussion called the “State of Latinos in Hollywood,” hosted by the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles. An audience of about a hundred heard from entertainment professionals who did not sugarcoat the challenges facing Latinos in the business.

“We have such beautiful stories that have never been told, because Hollywood doesn’t see it that way,” declared Bel Hernandez, actress, journalist and host of The Trend Talk television show. “They’re not open to Latinos because they have preconceived notions of what Latinos are because of what they see on the news.”

Her point notwithstanding, Sunday’s Oscar ceremony could find Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón honored for his Best Picture contender “Roma.”  Two of the film’s stars, lead actress Yalitza Aparicio and supporting actress Marina de Tavira, earned nominations, as did production designers Eugenio Caballero and Bárbara Enríquez. But those nods and previous Oscar accolades for Cuarón and fellow Mexican-born directors Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Iñárritu mask a less encouraging image of Latino progress in Hollywood. That’s hinted at by statistics from the Directors Guild of America.

“From the largest studio tent poles to the smallest indie films, diversity among feature film directors remained low in 2017,” the DGA reported in its most recent study. Of 237 DGA-signatory films released that year, less than 2-percent were directed by Latinos. In the country as a whole, those identifying as Hispanic or Latino make up over 18-percent of the population.

“Latinos are quite underrepresented in Hollywood, in front of and behind the camera compared to their population share,” observed Darnell Hunt, dean of Social Sciences at UCLA. “The trend has been upward in recent years but they still have a long way to go before they’re going to reach proportionate representation.”

Hunt, a professor of sociology and African-American studies, is among the authors of the Hollywood Diversity Report, which published its latest findings Thursday. It reported Latino actors played 5.2-percent of roles in the top 200 films released in 2017, the most recent full year studied. That was up from just 2.7-percent of roles the year before.

On the television side, the UCLA study found 6.2-percent of roles on scripted broadcast TV shows went to Latinos during the 2016-2017 television season, up slightly from the year before. The percentage of roles going to Latino actors also rose on shows made for digital platforms like Netflix, but they fell for scripted cable shows.

Behind the cameras, the explosion of demand for TV shows on broadcast, cable and the major streaming services has opened up more top jobs for Latinos and other people of color. Tanya Saracho is showrunner on the Starz series “Vida,” a drama set in LA’s predominantly Latino Boyle Heights neighborhood. Gloria Calderon Kellett runs the Netflix sitcom “One Day at a Time,” a Latino-focused reboot of the 1970s TV series.

“The need for content has increased so exponentially in TV that it’s almost impossible for the industry to go back to the same white male producers even if they wanted to,” Hunt noted. “So that’s created opening and opportunities for talent that really didn’t get a shot before.”

Latino filmmaker David Tripler, who attended the State of Latinos in Hollywood event, is one of those hoping to get his shot. The 29-year-old from Inglewood has several projects in development, including “a coming-of-age drama with the backdrop of basketball culture, sneaker culture and past family trauma…inspired by my life.”

He said he has drawn inspiration from the success of “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” two box office mega-hits that demonstrated that culturally-specific films, driven by people of color both in front of and behind the cameras, can appeal to audiences of all kinds.

“I want to make films that anyone can find entertaining,” Tripler commented, “films you can watch and go, ‘Oh, I get this.’”

Upcoming high-profile properties featuring Latino talent include “Grand Hotel,” a TV series executive-produced by Eva Longoria and starring Demián Bichir and Roselyn Sánchez that will premiere on ABC in June. On the big screen, Longoria stars alongside Michael Peña and Benicio Del Toro in a live-action version of “Dora the Explorer” that will hit theaters in August. Latina actress Isabela Moner plays the title character.

With Latinos a growing percentage of the U.S. population, some panelists said it’s time to fully embrace that demographic power.

“We are the future? No, we are the now!” declared actress and university professor Alma Martinez, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. She said if Hollywood gatekeepers continue to deny access to Latino talent, they should face lawsuits.

“The point is, you go legal,” she commented. “Because they’re not going to get it any other way, in my opinion.”

Richard Ray Perez of the Sundance Institute called on Latinos in Hollywood to take destiny into their own hands by creating their own content.

“We’ve got to stop asking for [a] handout,” he insisted. “We have enough Latino capital in this country that we don’t have to go ask these studios for money. It’s like, how can we finance our own films and support our own films?”

The self-empowerment message was echoed by others on the panel.

“The studios are not going to give us anything,” stated Hernandez of The Trend Talk show. “If we want it, we have to build it. We have to build it so big and so wonderful that they go, ‘Oh, wow, let’s do business with them.’”

“There are so few opportunities. We have to create them,” screenwriter Josefina Lopez, who moderated the panel discussion, told Southern California News Group. Her credits include the screenplay for “Real Women Have Curves.”

“I have a production company. Really, I have to start my own studio and find my own distribution,” she said. “I’m kind of tired of waiting, so I’m like, ‘Where do I get the billionaires? Where do I get the investors? How do I make this model work?’ And that’s where a lot of us are at now.”

For Castillo, the independent director of seven feature films, the necessity to overcome obstacles is a big part of the reality for anyone aspiring to make it in Hollywood.

Addressing the audience at the Latinos in Hollywood roundtable, he said, “All of you out there that are filmmakers, you don’t need anything but the person you’re looking at in front of the mirror. Don’t believe that you need any type of organization or film festival or anything. You have a story, put it together, get it made.”