Hispanic Group Protests at Oscars Luncheon

Hispanic Group Protests at Oscars Luncheon
“Nobody thinks of other minorities unless it is pointed out.”
Growing animated, Mr. Esparza added, “Latinos, like all human beings, want to see themselves represented on screen.”
Joining Mr. Nogales and Mr. Esparza outside the Beverly Hilton were people like Santiago Pozo, the chief executive of Arenas Entertainment, which focuses on marketing studio movies to Hispanic audiences;
and Gloria Molina, a former Los Angeles County supervisor.
“I’m so thrilled for you,” Dawn Hudson, the chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, said to a beaming Greta Gerwig, a nominee for her direction of “Lady Bird,” as Steven Spielberg and Jim Gianopulos, Paramount’s chief, held conversations nearby.
“When people think of diversity, they think of black
and white,” said Moctesuma Esparza, a producer of films like “Selena” and the chief executive of Maya Cinemas, a multiplex chain.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Nominees for the coming Academy Awards gathered inside the Beverly Hilton
on Monday to eat a lunch of Chilean sea bass with mango and assemble on risers for a class photo.
Latinos make up 18 percent of the population in the United States,
but only 3 percent of speaking characters in films during the last decade were Latino, according to a study released in July by Stacy L. Smith, an associate professor at the University of Southern California.
Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, a watchdog organization
that staged the demonstration, said his anger was aimed not at the academy, but at the movie executives who were attending the Oscar luncheon.