The National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) is teaming with Disney, Amblin, Starz and the Motion Picture Association to launch Latino Lens: Producers Pipeline Incubator.
"With the Latinx community’s spending power growing towards $2 trillion and an audience reflecting nearly 20% of the box office and 58.9 million of the U.S. population, the industry must include Latinx in the conversation as it relates to the financial growth and future of this business," said NALIP.
The goal is to "mold and cultivate" the next generation of producers, and to make sure they reflect diverse voices.
Who gets to tell the story and control the distribution pipeline gets to help shape the culture, a power generally denied minorities because they were not the executives in the room making those decisions. The Rev. Jessie Jackson has labeled diverse access to media the civil rights issue of this century.
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The incubator program will train participants, up to a dozen in the first year, in TV and movie production and distribution, so that "fresh, inclusive" perspectives are promoted.
That will come via an eight-week pilot program, including curriculum and mentorship elements, those mentors and teachers being established producers with current industry deals. Four of the participants could get six-months paid fellowships at Disney and its production partners, Amblin, and STARZ, with those studios getting final say on who gets the fellowships and whether they will be offered at all following the eight-week program.
Among the topics to be covered in the incubator program are development deals, negotiating tactics, data analysis, story development, pitches, and financing.
