THE Netflix (NFLX) diversity audit was conducted last year by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, an entertainment industry diversity think tank, which unveiled its findings on Friday. The researchers examined 126 original Netflix movies and 180 series with original script posted on the platform from January 2018 to December 2019.
Demographic analysis revealed only 4.5% of the main cast members it was for Latinx actors and filmmakers during that two-year period, although Latinos represent about 18% of the US population.
The percentage of black cast members on Netflix reached 22.7% in 2019, down from 16.2% in 2018. About 13% of the United States is black. Asian individuals, who represent about 6% of the United States, were about 7% of Netflix’s main cast in 2018-2019.
Women of all races, who represent about 51% of the United States, accounted for 52% of leads and co-leads in original Netflix movies and series over the two-year period. The researchers also said that Netflix needs more content centered on Native Americans, members of the LGBTQ + community and people with disabilities.
Lead author Stacy L. Smith says Netflix is ”doing great” when it comes to leading roles that go to women and most people of color. But the streaming service – and Hollywood in general – still has a major problem giving the green light to films and shows made by and starring Latinos, which researchers have determined to buy more cinema tickets per capita than any other racial demographic. from the USA.
In 2018, Latinos bought 23% of movie tickets sold in the United States, according to a study by the Motion Picture Association of America. The collective purchasing power of US Latinos reached $ 1.3 trillion in 2015 and was projected to reach $ 1.9 trillion in 2023 before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Nielsen data.
“The industry is on the ground with representation from Latinx,” Smith told CNN Business on Thursday. “We hope that numbers like this help to really start a movement in the community.”
Netflix said this week it needs to give the green light to more original Latin content. The studio recently hired former Sony film executive Alexander Zahn to manage its independent film team and chose Jennifer Lopez to play a killer in a new film called “The Mother”.
“Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera is also set to make her directorial debut on a new Netflix series called “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” – based on the best-selling novel by author Erika Sánchez.
“It must be companies like ours and other studios helping out in this space,” said Netflix’s vice president of Global Film, Scott Stuber, of recruiting Latin American talent during a virtual symposium on Thursday. “It is important for us to reach out to people in this community to tell stories, but also to help build bridges. It is something that we are working hard as a company.”
Hollywood studio executive Jaime Davila Jr. founded Campanario in 2014 to help give voice to more Latinx actors and filmmakers. The former producer of the Bravo chain, 36, whose father worked in the C-suite of Univisión and Televisa, says that the lack of Latinos in executive leadership in large studios and the misconceptions about the Latinx public are to blame for the lack English-speaking, Latin American films and TV programs.
“Often, because we speak Spanish, they are like, ‘Oh, let’s start our Spanish edition on that,'” Davila told CNN Business. “My goal is for Hollywood to wake up. We show them that there is a large audience. What are you doing for them?”
Davila’s studio produced and sold several successful shows for major studios, including Disney-owned Netlfix and ABC. Netflix bought “Selena: The Series” from Campanario before it aired in December.
Both Smith and Davila said that Hollywood needs to hire more Latin American executives.
“There are not many Latin producers and guardians in these networks,” said Davila. “There are incredible stories that can come out of our community. I am not doing something crazy or secret. I am just covering the world.”
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