This note is part of Noticias Telemundo's bilingual coverage, produced in conjunction with Axios and published every Tuesday and Thursday.
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Films produced by Hollywood for theatrical release in 2023 had some of the highest participation rates from diverse demographics, both in front of and behind the camera, on record.
And this greater range of faces not only served to tell more types of stories:
it was also very profitable
, according to the most recent version of an annual report from the University of California, Los Angeles campus.
Nine of the 10
highest-grossing films made in English globally had a starring cast where at least a third of the actors were from Latino, Black, Asian or Indigenous populations, the UCLA analysis found.
Additionally, for 7 of those 10 blockbuster films the largest number of opening weekend tickets were purchased by a Latino, Black, Asian, or Indigenous American audience.
In 26.4% of the films studied by UCLA (produced by Hollywood, in English, that reached the top 200 global box office positions) they had a cast where at least half of the actors and actresses are black, Latino, Asian or indigenous.
The proportion of films released in cinemas whose scripts were written by people who were Latino, Black, Asian or of Middle Eastern origin was 22.2%, and that of diverse directors was 22.9%.
All of those
percentages are the highest recorded
since UCLA began measuring the data in 2011.
"Investing substantially in more creative people from diverse backgrounds must be a business priority. It may be the only way for the industry to remain financially and creatively sustainable going forward," says Ana-Christina Ramón, director of the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative at UCLA, in a statement.
[The great year of Puerto Rican cinema: meet three filmmakers who triumphed with “films that are unique”]
The data is released days before the annual
Oscar
ceremony , in which the participation of more demographic groups has also been noted.
In all acting categories, for example, there is at least one actor or actress from black, Latino or indigenous communities.
Among them are the Afro-Latino Colman Domingo (as lead actor for
Rustin
) and the Latina America Ferrera (as supporting actress for
Barbie
).
[It would be] a greater financial risk to reverse this incremental progress in diversity and inclusion in the industry."
Ana-Christina Ramón, UCLA researcher
In other categories there is also a greater presence of diverse voices.
For example, Vidas Pasadas,
co-produced by David Hinojosa,
is nominated in the best film category .
The Mexican Rodrigo Prieto is nominated for the cinematography of
Assassins of the Moon,
and one of the nominees for best international film is
The Snow Society,
starring Argentine and Uruguayan actors to represent a real-life story.
The UCLA report has
a flat point
: artists of Latin descent continue to have less representation as filmmakers, screenwriters or in casts than the weight they have in the American population.
That has held true for several years even as Hispanics in the United States and many Latin American countries are large contributors to box office revenue and important subscribers to
streaming
services .
Still, 2023 was also a good year for Latino communities in Hollywood.
['Blue Beetle': the Latin film that is almost a letter to the family]
They had the
leading roles in five of the 10 highest-grossing films worldwide
;
There were four screenwriters of Latin descent behind some of the highest-grossing films, and also four Latin directors responsible for some of the 200 highest-grossing English-language films of 2023.
Among those protagonists are those of
Jenna Ortega
and Melissa Barrera
, with the main roles of
Scream VI
.
That edition was the highest grossing to date of the entire
Scream
saga .
However, UCLA researchers emphasize that these advances in 2023 may not mean advances in subsequent years.
"These gains are seen with projects that received the green light for production about three years ago. But today the context is very different, and is more politicized," says Darnell Hunt, professor of sociology at UCLA and one of the researchers of the Hollywood report.
For example,
neither Ortega nor Barrera are returning
as the leads of
Scream VII
.
Ortega said that she has other commitments, such as filming the series
Wednesday
, while Barrera was fired from the project because the production house was upset that the Mexican shared on Instagram a fundraising campaign for people in Gaza affected by the Israeli war and Hamas.
UCLA researchers indicate that stopping commitment to diversity behind and in front of the cameras, given the box office results seen last year, would be more
detrimental to major
Hollywood production companies.
"At this point it seems like a greater financial risk to reverse this incremental progress in diversity and inclusion in the industry," says Ramón.