There are now more Latinos headlining on TV series than ever before!
By Elia Esparza
2017 SERIES PICK-UPS: Recently announced pick-ups with Latino series regulars from last year’s series premieres: ABC’s The Good Doctor (Nicholas Gonzalez) and Station 19 (Jaina Lee Ortiz, Miguel Sandoval); Starz’s VIDA, created by Tanya Saracho (Michel Prada, Melissa Barrera, Ser Anzoategui, Chelsea Rincon, Carlos Miranda, Maria Elena Laas); Netfilx’s One Day At a Time (Justina Machado, Rita Moreno, Isabella Gomez, Marcel Ruiz) and executive produced by Gloria Calderon Kellet.”
Diversity in Hollywood is the pulse that drives Latin Heat Entertainment magazine. So, how is it going for Latinos working in front and behind the TV screens? We dived in, as we do each year, hoping for the Olympic Gold, and we’re getting closer to the Bronze. Out of the total pilots picked up for this fall, close to 28% of them have Latinos and/or a Latino cast in a lead role or as series regulars! Progress, folks!
In 2015, we reported that 33 Latinos were hired as series regulars. We are happy to report that for the 2018-19 season, a total of 40 Latinos have cast!
Both, in front or behind the camera, Latinos continue to be marginalized but that’s not stopping the Latino community to to press on. According to AdWeek, in 2017, Latinos only represented 5.8 percent of speaking roles in media despite the fact that they over-index as frequent moviegoers. Studies have shown that relatively diverse films have enjoyed the highest median global box office receipts and the highest median on investment. Slowly, television executives are embracing Latinos and accepting that they are at the “heart of economic opportunity in America,” and are fueling a significant portion of growth of small businesses. Younger Latinos represent a massive audience with even more tremendous spending power, and, when they see themselves represented on screen, especially, television and on mobile devices, they’ll embrace the brand or products.
With new series dramas and comedies that dispel Latino stereotypes, the more the Latino community embraces these shows.
The new 2018 lineup has some authentic representation and that matters. A peek into how this Fall is shaping up: (Latino leads or series regulars in Blue:
Keep at it Hollywood! It’s taken a while but how wonderful that the networks listed in our spreadsheet are not about to miss the massive opportunity for everyone involved in the creation of television magic, to hire Latino talent. Make television a reflection of our American community reality.
There has been an increase of Latinos in regular roles, and out of 96 new pilots, 36 pilots were picked up and out of those series ordered, 23 pilots have Latinos as part of the main casts in lead roles and as series regulars! That’s close to 74% of total pilots orders, have Latinos working at their craft! This is a first! It is a step forward all going in the in the right direction, we’re not there yet, but we’re advancing.
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