Rocio Villalobos 
EDINBURG – While the minority makes up 18% of the United States population and 24% of its moviegoers, the study found that only 5% of film characters are Latino.
“Latinos in Film” breaks down representation by gender, positions held and roles portrayed, and offers solutions in how to remedy the disparity.
I caught up with the Letty Leija during the fifth annual South Texas International Film Festival to discuss how the event is highlighting and supporting local talent in the predominantly hispanic region.
“We’re excited because now they have filmmaking at the high school level. We do feature some of the high school student films here at the South Texas International Film Festival because we want to encourage filmmaking,” said Leija. “But once they get out of school the university is here, they have an awesome film department. So we just want to be here for them.”
In addition to underrepresentation on screen, the study reports that only three percent of producers behind films between 2007 and 2018 are Latino.
Valente Rodriguez, who’s most known for his role as Ernie in the show George Lopez, said that regardless of one’s identity, they can make it show business .
“You don’t have to be something specific to create art. And so as long as you’re creating, you’re going to be successful. Now you might not be financially successful, but you’ll be in a place where you’re open to new ideas, you’re open to new thoughts, you’re open to working with people,” said Rodriguez. “And that’s what it takes to be successful, not just in the movie industry but in life as well.”
Rodriguez was raised in Elsa and attended UTPA. He said he returns to the Valley whenever he can to give back to the university that gave so much to him.
“I always told myself that if I ever got to a place where I could come back and make a difference in somebody elses life, because I had a lot of people that made a difference in my life, so to have that opportunity is amazing,” said Rodriguez.
A co-author of the study, Stacy Smith, said that now, more than ever, it’s important for the Latino community to be authentically and accurately represented in entertainment.
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