Hispanics and Latinos Are The Biggest Moviegoers. The Big Screen Doesn’t Reflect That

The signs that it’s officially Hispanic Heritage Month are all around us, be it a Google Doodle or an annual film festival. But the national attention paid to Latinos and Hispanics this time of year belies a persistent reality, according to a new report: Latino and Hispanic Americans are still underrepresented and poorly represented in popular films.

Released on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month (which ends in mid-October) the report from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative surveyed leading Hispanic and Latino actors and characters with speaking parts across 1,300 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2019. The report’s authors also assessed the number of Hispanic and Latino directors, casting directors and producers.

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