Story: Top Stars and Media Execs Talk Hispanic Growth, Identity
By Libby Slate
Hispanics continue to have a growing impact on American society.
So how do the English-language television networks rate in their employment and depiction of this influential demographic?
Better than in years past, but there’s still a way to go, was the consensus of participants in the Television Academy’s program, “Hispanics and Television – In Transition,” held November 1 at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre.
Among executives on the panel were Nina Tassler, president, CBS Entertainment; Kim Rozenfeld, senior vice president, current drama programming, ABC; Peter Murrieta, creator, Greetings from Tucson and executive producer, Wizards of Waverly Place; Doug Darfield, senior vice president of Hispanic Services for Nielsen Media Research; Cesar Melgoza, president, Latin Force Group and Rochelle Newman-Carrasco, CEO/principal, Enlace Communications, Inc.
Participating actors included Nestor Carbonell (Cane), Mario Lopez (correspondent for Extra! and Dancing with the Stars), Danny Pino (Cold Case), Tony Plana (Ugly Betty) and Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace).
Rick Ramirez, vice president of Fox Entertainment Group Emerging Markets division, moderated the discussion.
Then and Now: The Actors Experience
Hispanic actors are faring better now than when Plana, who plays the father of America Ferrera’s character Betty on Ugly Betty, first started:
“Every show had an obligatory immigration show or gang show,” he noted. “That’s where I got work. There were no Hispanics in regular roles. I’m seeing a shift. There’s an inclusion now.”
Affirmed the younger Sanchez, “I’ve always been blessed to play educated Latinas.” But her native Puerto Rican accent, which she has spent thousands of dollars trying to lose, “opens two doors and closes five,” she added. “I’m going to embrace who I am. This is the way I speak – get over it.”
Lopez said he’s been fortunate enough to be cast “blind” – in non-ethnic-specific roles – and is glad there are such role models now as Eva Longoria, George Lopez and the evening’s panelists.
But it’s not enough, in his view, Mario Lopez explained. He said there should be more shows like hit series The Cosby Show, which focused an African-American family and carried broad, mainstream appeal. “It happened to be about a family, and told universal stories,” he said.
Then and Now: A Producer's Perspective
On the production side, the impetus for Murrieta’s 2002 WB series Greetings from Tucson was that, he said, “I’m half Mexican and half Irish. They didn’t have a show that was half-Mexican and half-Irish, so I made one. And I can now pitch to people with similar backgrounds. That’s what moves things along.”
The Disney Channel’s Wizards doesn’t make a big deal of its family’s Latino-Italian mix, Murrieta added. “That’s the real excitement. You can just be there.”
CBS' Tassler on New Family Drama Cane
Is there a risk in creating a Hispanic show? “Absolutely,” said Tassler, who is half Puerto Rican and half Jewish.
“We’re incredibly proud of Cane [about a Cuban-American family in Miami]," the CBS studio head explained. "We have to make a show universal in its storytelling. And if this doesn’t work, you have to be able to say, we have five others in development."
"Cane is our baby," Tassler continued, "the first one out.”
Authentic Voices Needed
Tassler and Rozenfeld agree that an ethnic show needs an ethnic showrunner for an authentic perspective, even if the person lacks experience. To this end, networks have diversity programs for writers and other creative team members, which help them to discover and nurture fresh new voices.
“In a group of people, you need that voice to filter at the top,” Rozenfeld said. “It’s our challenge to put together a team that supports that vision. That’s what we did with Ugly Betty.”
And that seems to be working well.
| HISPANICS AND TELEVISION: IN TRANSITION
WATCH WEBCAST Presented by the Television Academy Diversity Committee, along with the Los Angeles Area and Television Executives Peer Groups, Hispanics and Televison: In Transition was produced by Frank Estrada. |
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