MEDIA ADVISORY: Congressional Hispanic Caucus To Meet with Hollywood Executives, Influencers, and Stakeholders To Improve Latino Diversity and Representation in Entertainment Industry

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, November 7 and Friday, November 8, 2019, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) will lead a congressional delegation to Los Angeles, California to meet with studio executives, Hollywood diversity influencers, and stakeholders to discuss the lack of diversity and negative, unrealistic portrayal and stereotyping of Latinos in the American television and film industry. The CHC's delegation will bring together those who have the power to change the industry, from the grassroots to the C-suite, in order to improve Latino representation. This fact-finding trip will help expose challenges facing Latinos in the entertainment industry; highlight ongoing efforts by stakeholders and the industry to address the under-representation and misrepresentation of Latinos and help identify potential policy changes to tackle systemic barriers confronting Latinos in Hollywood.

In the 116th Congress, the CHC has focused on improving diversity and Latino representation across industries, including in film, television, and news media. In the past few months, the CHC has had meetings with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) President and CEO Ambassador Charlie Rivkin to discuss MPA's commitment to diversity and with CBS News President Susan Zirinsky to discuss Hispanic representation in news media. CHC members also met with Starz representatives and talent to discuss the company's diversity and inclusion efforts through its hiring of diverse talent, including showrunners, writers, producers, actors, and crews. This delegation is a continuation of CHC's ongoing conversations with both studios and stakeholders in Washington, DC and Hollywood, CA.

Diversity and representation of Latinos in media has been a continuing issue, despite incremental progress in Hollywood in recent years. In August, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), and Wise Entertainment released a groundbreaking study on diversity in Hollywood entitled "Latinos in Film: Erasure on Screen & Behind the Camera Across 1,200 Popular Movies." The study, which focused specifically on Latino talent and representation, revealed the depth of exclusion and misrepresentation of Latinos in the entertainment industry for the past decade.

During this two day fact-finding visit, Members will hold meetings with the following:

• Executives from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA) as well as executives and leadership from Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Netflix, Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
• Individuals employed in different areas of the industry, including actors, showrunners, writers, and producers.
• Stakeholders and organizational representatives working to increase the representation of Latinos in TV and film.
• Researchers at the USC Annenberg's Inclusion Initiative to discuss their study, entitled "Latinos in Film: Erasure on Screen & Behind the Camera Across 1,200 Popular Movies."
• Visit the set of Starz' show Vida, which successfully depicts diverse, complex Hispanic characters.
• Leadership from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, several industry guilds and talent agencies.

WHO:

Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Second-Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40)

Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38)

Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35)

Congressman Pete Aguilar (CA-31)

Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)

*please note other Members may be added

WHEN:

Thursday, November 7, 2019 - Friday, November 8, 2019

WHERE:

Los Angeles, California

Interested press should contact elena.pino@mail.house.gov for more information.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.