Shine Global joins LA Collab for more Latinx representation in film

(L-R) Ivette Rodriguez, Ivana De Maria, Beatriz Acevedo, Eric Garcetti and Eva Longoria attend Non Profit Launch Of “LA Collab” With Mayor Garcetti at The Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory on January 13, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

Shine Global is proud to be a part of LA Collab, an initiative to connect Latinx talent, executives, and creators to opportunities in the entertainment industry with the goal of doubling Latino representation in Hollywood by 2030.

Launched today by LA mayor Eric Garcetti, who co-founded LA Collab with Mitú  founder and Acevedo Foundation president Beatriz Acevedo and Ivette Rodriguez, president of theatrical marketing PR firm AEM. The program already has garnered support by the likes of Eva Longoria, J.J. Abrams, Eli Roth, Devon Franklin, Jason Blum and Zoe Saldana. Initial funding comes from organizations including the Annenberg Foundation, WarnerMedia and Endeavor Content.

According to the MPA, Latinos represent nearly 25% of the box office. But a USC Annenberg study found that despite Latinos making up 20% of the U.S. population, representation (Latino leads and co-leads in movies) has actually declined in the last decade (about 3%).

“The radical decline of Latinos in Hollywood was the catalyst to rally Hollywood behind this crisis to create change together,” said Acevedo. “By facilitating unprecedented collaborations between the creative community, studios, buyers and other influential allies, LA Collab will ultimately drive exponential growth for the industry and our community.”

“As a Latina, I want to see more actors who look like me onscreen and behind the camera,” Longoria said in a release ahead of the press event. “I started my own production company to create content from our community, and I became a director/producer to be in a position to hire people who look like me. With LA Collab, I want to open the door for many more Latinx creators and fuel the emergence of a better entertainment industry that elevates and celebrates the diversity and richness of my culture.”

“Shine Global believes in fostering diverse voices behind the camera as well as on screen,” said Shine Global Executive Director and Co-founder Susan MacLaury. “The majority of Shine Global’s projects feature first-time directors and are always women-produced and majority female-directed. That’s why we are joining LA Collab and offering a chance to tell new, documentary style, Latinx stories – sharing factual depictions of what life is really like for a historically marginalized community.”

Shine Global previously worked with Longoria on the 2011 documentary The Harvest (La Cosecha) about child migrant farmworkers in the US, which she Executive Produced, including campaigning on Capitol Hill to update child labor laws. Shine Global also produced the Oscar-winning short documentary Inocente about a homeless and undocumented teen living in San Diego, who is also an artist.

The Shine Global development deal is for a documentary project that embraces Shine Global’s mission to give voice to children and families by sharing their stories of resilience to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change.