Four Latino entertainment leaders gathered at SXSW on Friday to confront a striking economic revelation – the entertainment industry is missing out on approximately $18 billion annually by undeserving Latino audiences.
Drawing on findings from a recent study by McKinsey & Company, the globally renowned management consulting firm that advises leading businesses and organizations, the panel titled “Why Latine Stories/Characters Will Be Going Mainstream” reframed Latino representation as not merely a diversity initiative, but a significant business opportunity that Hollywood can no longer ignore.
The discussion brought together Nonny de la Peña, program director at Arizona State University’s Center for Emerging Media and Narrative, Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, screenwriter of DC’s “Blue Beetle,” Adriana Martínez Barrón, Head of TV and Film for Stacey Abrams’ Sage Works Productions, and moderator Domenica Castro of 271 Films.
The Economic Case for Latino Representation
The 2024 McKinsey study titled “Latinos in Hollywood: Amplifying Voices Expanding Horizons,” revealed that improving Latino representation both on screen and behind the camera could generate billions in new revenue.
Citing the study, Domenica Castro said that despite Latinos making up 19% of the U.S. population, they represent just 5% of leading roles in front and behind the camera.
“Suddenly the conversation changes because now we’re looking at it as like, oh wait, there is business to be made,” said Castro. “It isn’t just give me an opportunity. It’s like, I am your opportunity to make money here.”
The statistics from the study are compelling: 62 million Latinos in the United States contribute over $3 trillion to the GDP, and in the entertainment industry, Latinos account for 24% of box office sales and streaming subscriptions.
Challenging the Latino Stereotype
The panelists challenged the industry’s narrow view of what constitutes “Latino stories.”
“When we talk about Latina stories, I think we might think of it as something limited and reductive,” Martínez Barrón said. “You can have a Latina story that can be gigantic. It can be ‘(The) Fast and (the) Furious,’ it can be ‘Blue Beetle,’ and it can be fun and exciting and commercial and entertaining and all-encompassing.”
Martínez Barrón challenged stereotypical narratives, speaking against their reductive view in entertainment. She pointed out how the industry often limits these stories to tropes about poverty, border crossing, and service workers seeking better lives. However, she acknowledged the significance of these narratives, and emphasized that they represent only a fraction of the diverse Latino experience.
Authenticity as the Path Forward
Dunnet-Alcocer, who wrote DC’s “Blue Beetle,” shared his frustration with Hollywood’s understanding of Mexican culture.
“When I first started working for studios, there was nobody on the studio side who cared about authenticity,” Dunnet-Alcocer said. “They honestly, to some extent, only see the Mexico that’s at the beginning of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
He compared the potential of Mexican-American cinema to the rise of Italian-American filmmakers in the 1960s and 1970s.
“When you do for Mexican-Americans or Latin Americans in the U.S. what [was done] with Italian Americans, those people are immediately going to tell some of the greatest American stories because that’s how it works. And they will define cinema,” he said.
The Marketing Gap
The panelists identified a critical issue in how Latino-led projects are marketed. Dunnet-Alcocer recounted that despite “Blue Beetle” being marketed as a Mexican-American movie, Warner Brothers failed to promote it in places where Mexican-Americans actually shop.
“I shop for tortillas and cheese and salsa and beans at these places in LA called Vallarta Market or Northgate,” Dunnet-Alcocer said. “I never saw in any of those supermarkets even one single “Blue Beetle” anything,” he said.
Martínez Barrón added that studios often cut marketing budgets for projects featuring people of color.
“Immediately when they see a show or a movie that is set or starring people of more melanated color, they decide that their budget for marketing is a third or a fourth. It’s called the brown tax,” he said.
Pathways for New Voices
De la Peña emphasized the need for structural changes in who gets to green light projects in cinema.
“I have found in terms of funding dollars that, I mean this is so prevalent for me, has been a monoculture of dudes that I’m trying to get funding from,” De la Peña said. “Whenever there is a woman in the group who’s a decision maker, my odds are suddenly 50-50 instead of 10 to 90.”
She explained that her move into education at Arizona State University was motivated by a desire to train more diverse creators. When De la Peña was approached about a new leadership role in the Emerging Media and Narrative department at the university, she felt it was a step in the right direction.
“I can actually make a difference now,” De la Peña said. “I can really start training people.”
Power of Narrative
Despite their focus on Latino representation, all panelists stressed their connection to storytelling comes from universal human experiences, not identity politics.
“I got into storytelling because, this is going to sound so sad, when my parents were getting divorced, I watched way too much TV and I feel like the television was my best friend,” shared Martínez Barrón. “For me I have a very personal emotional connection with entertainment and with the media.”
Latino stories are not just culturally important– they represent one of Hollywood’s greatest untapped commercial opportunities.
“Hollywood really needs us, right? They really need us,” said De la Peña. “It’s just an economic problem right now that we could be part of the solution around.”