The Future of Latino Independent Media: A NALIP Sourcebook

Chon A. Noriega, editor

© 2000 Paper: $16.95. 140 pp. ISBN number: 0-89551-096-0.

Latinos Lack Media Access. Despite the growth of the Latino community in the United States, Latinos have entered the twenty-first century with lower levels of media representation than when protests first raised the issue in the 1960s. Hispanics are the most underrepresented of all minority groups in film and television (less than 5 percent of acting, directing, and producing positions went to Latinos in 1999). Although the U.S. Latino community has doubled since 1970, media employment for Latinos has declined by nearly two-thirds. This, even though the commercial film and television industry is located in cities where Latinos make up almost 50 percent of the population.

This edited volume addresses this dire situation by collecting information from the landmark 1999 Latino Producers Conference, held to renew the fight to improve Latino media access. Sponsored by concerned Latino groups, the conference was the first national gathering on Hispanic independent media since the 1970s.

Resources for Producers, Directors, Writers,
and others trying to change the landscape of American media
*Survey of the five Latino stereotypes most commonly seen in Hollywood
*Survey of Latino members of the Screen Actor’s Guild (their earnings, hours, and parts)
*Survey of Hispanic movie-going audiences and their film preferences
*Survey of Latinos television viewing behaviors and reaction to portrayals of Latinos
*History of Latino film and video
*Commentary by Latino filmmakers and media scholars
*Directory of 300 Latinos working in film, video, television, and digital technologies

Contents

Acknowledgements

Call to Action: Ten Recommendations for Brightening the Future of Latino Independent Media
Chon A. Noriega

Introduction
Chon A. Noriega

Taking on Hollywood

Stereotyping and Resistance: A Crash Course on Hollywood’s Latino Imagery
Charles Ramírez Berg

Missing in Action: Latinos In and Out of Hollywood
Harry P. Pachon, Louis DeSipio, Rodolfo O. de la Garza, and Chon A. Noriega

Talking Back to Television: Latinos Discuss How Television Portrays Them and the Quality of Programming Options
Louis DeSipio

Latino Advocacy: The Numbers Game
Chon A. Noriega

The Makers Speak Out

A Program for Change: Latino Media into the Next Millennium
Ray Santisteban

Not an Academic Subject: Latino Media Aesthetics
Frances Negrón-Muntaner

Fractured Fables from Latino USA: A Primer on Experimental Media Arts
Rita Gonzalez

Notes from the NALIP Conference

Generation EXiled—No Mas: The New Generation of Latina/Latino Filmmakers and Producers
Fabiola Torres

Rising from the Ashes: San Francisco Conference Plots the Future of Latino Independent Media
Juan José Rivera

Learning the Hard Way: What Happened to the National Latino Communications Center?
Julia Segrove Jaurigui

NALIP Conference Reports

NALIP Conference Facilitator’s Report
Leticia Nieto

Vision Statement from Creation of NALIP

Statement to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Directory of Conference Participants 1999