Friday, November 15, 1996
PERCEPTION:
Latino screenwriters strive for piece of Hollywood pieBy Migdia
Chinea-Varela
When I tell people that I’m a professional screenwriter and
18-year member of the Writers Guild of America, West, it often
happens that even if they are not in the entertainment industry,
they want to tell me a story about it.
Sometimes they tell me about the article they read in "Calendar"
some 10 years ago on how Latinos  now a majority in the state
of California  intend to more or less recreate show-business.
Or they recall the tale of a young film director  a Latino
himself who is said to have made a movie for under $7,000 Â
was catapulted into a million-dollar studio contract. But, I often
find myself insisting (sometimes after adding a few tales of my
own) that any illusion of Latino success masks a good deal
more.
For example, back in June of 1993, I attended some Civil Rights
hearings which examined the exclusion of Latinos from the
entertainment industry.
The Hollywood Writers Report, which is commissioned by the
Writers Guild of America, West, is an "annual" statistical report
on the employment of all professional writers/WGAW members in the
entertainment industry. The last such report was in 1993. According
to the 1993 Hollywood Writers Reports, Latinos comprise 1 percent
of the WGAW membership. And our employment ratio is even
smaller.
CBS’s solution to the problem was to set up an "access" program
at the network. The problem was that under this program
professional Latino writers were required to work as "trainees" for
half the minimum wage. It was only later that I discovered that my
guild of 18 years had given its blessing to CBS in the name of
"affirmative action." And that in fact, the Guild had managed to
squelch all criticism of these kinds of "access" policies by
labeling them "voluntary," and by stating: "50 percent of something
is better than one-hundred percent of nothing."
When I complained to my guild, it ignored me. And the handful of
Latino WGAW members  too intimidated to voice any concerns
about the CBS program  stayed out of the fray.
The Guild, for its part, has continued to defend its dubious
programs, while hosting high-profile media conferences , thus
assuming a rather conspicuously fast-paced "leadership" position in
the struggle for its version of equal employment opportunity.
As for me, I am a now junior at UCLA.
However, I can’t dismiss the fact that I was brought up on and
by the tube. It formed the most powerful cultural, social and
ethical impact of my formative years. These were the television
shows and movies of the ’60s, and for the most part, they were made
in America.
The day that I came to this country as a Cuban refugee child
was, in many ways, the most exciting day of my life. Part of me was
coming home. That’s how powerful the effect American movies had on
me; movies tinkered around in my brain.
As Latinos, we believe our political and emotional responses
rest in the quality and integrity of future generations of film and
television creators. We all know that the medium is much too
powerful and important an influence on the way we live, the way we
see ourselves and the way others see us.
As artists, Latinos have a moral responsibility to write and
produce and direct our own stories and projects that offer a sense
of our values at the very least. Ultimately, if we do our homework
and our work is good we will provide the audience with a new set of
notions that will leave them freer and better able to cope with the
world we live in.
I’m painfully aware that affirmative action, what little there
is of it, may be the only way minorities are given a chance to
compete. However, for me, it has become a stigma of sorts. In my
view, there can be no affirmative action without segregation Â
nor any end to the segregation if our names must be kept on
separate lists. I’d like to propose instead a simple scenario: a
fair job market where employment is commensurate with ability
regardless of gender, racial or ethnic background. I make a pitch,
they like my story, I get the job. Why not?