The make-believe world of movies generally does not reflect what America looks like in real life. A study by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school found that Hispanics made up only 4.9 percent of the film roles in the top 100 grossing films of 2013 even though they are 17 percent of the U.S. population. 

What can be done to defeat this lack of representation and combat stereotyping? 

Austin-based nonprofit organizations Latinitas and Con Mi MADRE are putting together an Austin Latinas in Film panel to attempt to answer those questions, discuss the current state of Latinas in the film industry, and learn about some of the amazing projects our panelists are working on.

Meet the Panel: 
Elizabeth Avellan – Co-Owner/Vice President of Troublemaker Studios and President of EYA Productions
Sharon Arteaga – Producer for Republic Ventures Group 
Chelsea Hernandez – Editor of Arts in Context (KLRU) and Director of Building The American Dream
Sandy Avila Ramirez – Latina in Entertainment?

Our moderators for the evening include: 
Iliana Sosa – Artist Services Manager at Austin Film Society

Emily Alpuche – 4th-Grade Latinitas Ambassador 

This is the second annual Hispanic Heritage Month panel hosted by Latinitas. Last year’s panel was Las Voces: Austin Latinas in Journalism, which featured panelists from Ahora Sí, the Austin American-Statesman, the Texas Tribune, KUT-FM, and Univision.