A new study by ‘Columbia University‘ has claimed that Latinos are “mostly-ignored or stereotyped” in English-language Film or TV, with Latin-Americans unlikely to score leading roles secured by actors of other racial demographics.
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Billed “The Latino Media Gap: A Report on the State of Latinos in U.S. Media”, the report found that while 50 million Latinos living in the US make up 17% of its population, not a single Latin-American actor nabbed a leading role among the top 10 movies and scripted network TV shows in all of 2013.
It shared:
With few exceptions,Latino participation in mainstream English-language media is stunningly low. A review of the top movies and television programs reveals that there is a narrower range of stories and roles, and fewer Latino lead actors in the entertainment industry today than there were 70 years ago. Likewise, whereas the Latino population grew more than 43% from 2000 to 2010, the rate of media participation behind and in front of the camera, and across all genres and formats, stayed stagnant or grew only slightly, at times proportionally declining.
‘Deadline’ adds:
The report found that from 2010-2013, Latinos comprised none of the top 10 TV show creators, 1.1% of producers, 2% of writers, and 4.1% of directors. Among top 10 movies, Latinos accounted for 2.3% of directors, 2.2% of producers, and 6% of writers. Even more dramatic, no Latinos currently serve as studio heads, network presidents, CEOs, or owners.
Indeed, as of 2013, only one Latina among the Top 53 execs in all of English-language broadcasting, despite major moves on radio by ‘KPWR‘s Yesi Ortiz and the rise of Dascha Polanco, recently bumped to season regular on the ‘Netflix’ series ‘Orange is the new Black.’
The report’s conclusion?
On television and movies, Latinos continue to be represented primarily as criminals, law enforcers, and cheap labor,” according to the report. “From 2012 to 2013, 17.7% of Latino film characters and 24.2% of TV characters were linked to crime, a considerable increase from 1994, when it was only 6% on television … Equally important, 69% of iconic media maids in film and television since 1996 are Latina.