Out of the 1,200 films from 2017-2018, only ONE LATINA DIRECTOR was hired. (Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Inclusion in the Director’s Chair?: Gender, Race, and Age of Directors across 1,100 Films from 2007-2017)
Latinas are the largest ethnic minority in the U.S. population, yet we are not fairly represented on screen or behind the camera. I wanted to create a space where Latinas are seen, where we have the ability to garner studio work, and create mainstream content. So I created the Chicana Directors Initiative (CDI), a non-profit created to successfully launch Latinas into sustainable careers in the entertainment industry with fair representation and equal pay.
CDI provides the steps necessary to break into studio and union work by fortifying each member’s resume with credits (independently with film festivals or even through the Tongal platform), by connecting our members, and promoting collaboration. As a community, we succeed.
Though we’re relatively new, CDI boasts an impressive roster of directors, whose bios and filmographies we include on our website for visibility. CDI is not only a community for Latina directors, but is also home to quite a few notable Latina cinematographers as well.
Chicana Director’s Initiative meets once a month in Los Angeles to network, help one another with their projects, and discuss future accelerator programs. Though Chicana has different meanings, here it means a Latina that’s connected to her roots. Any female-identifying director or cinematographer is welcome to join the movement. To find out more about how to get involved, either through membership or sponsorship, drop us a line on our site!
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Note From Tongal: “Rise of Latina Directors and Cinematographers" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
