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Continued:
Positive Latinos Films
The Premiere Weekend Club is lending a voice to the
passion and pent-up emotions that exist on a widespread basis throughout
much of the Latino community. This movement will be a lightning
rod for Latinos and non-Latino supporters who will feel empowered
by the ability of each individual to affect real, concrete change
through strength in numbers.
Their members will be kept informed of positive Latino films that
are in development, pre-production and production through their
newsletter and web-site. They will be notified via fax, e-mail,
mail, and/or by phone whenever Hollywood distributes a positive
Latino film. The Million Moviegoer March will generate around $6
million for any endorsed film on its premiere weekend. These will
be significant numbers for any lower budgeted studio or production
company film. The numbers will be staggering for any shoestring
independent film (a film with a budget under a million dollars)
picked up for distribution given that Halloween holds the
domestic box office record for a shoestring independent film at
$17 million overall. Hollywood will not ignore these numbers.
The Premiere Weekend Club is providing a safety net
for Hollywood by making the label, "Latino film" into a marketing
hook. "Latino film" will become an element, similar to the casting
of a star actor who has demonstrated an ability to draw an audience,
that will guarantee a certain amount of box office success for a
film. The Premiere Weekend Club is assuring
Hollywood that the success positive Latino films have shown in the
past will continue in the future.
The Premiere Weekend Club has conducted scientific
research through the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
that conclusively demonstrates that Latino films have consistently
made large profits for Hollywood. The majority of Latino films distributed
over the last 15 years have been hits relative to their budget and
most of the others have at least broken even. The films that did
not deal in negative stereotypes and had likable lead characters
have almost all been hit films. Out of 12 positive films, 11 were
modest to major hits and just one film lost money. La Bamba,
for instance, cost $6.5 million and made $54 million at the domestic
box office. Stand and Deliver cost $1.4 million and made
$14 million at the domestic box office and Like Water for Chocolate
cost $2 million and made $23 million domestically. In addition,
several Latino films have performed very well on home video. For
instance, the $7 million budgeted Desperado made, in addition
to $25 million at the domestic box office, $19.4 million on home
video. This is despite the fact that Hollywood has usually marketed
Latino films on a more limited basis than non-Latino films.
These research results were to be expected, since Latinos comprise
such a large percentage of the movie-going audience. In fact, the
MPAA reports that Latinos are the fastest growing movie-going audience
in the United States, generating 15% of domestic box office monies,
which translates into over $1 billion dollars spent at the box office
each year. Furthermore, Latinos attend movies in larger numbers
than any other minority group, including African Americans. (Hollywood
makes several African American films a year, which indicates there
is some degree of recognition that there is a considerable audience
for these films, and Hollywood will soon recognize the large audience
that exists for Latino films.) Latinos account for half of the movie
tickets bought by the prime movie-going audience (people between
the ages of 12 and 34) in Los Angeles theaters and make up a significant
percentage of prime moviegoers in several large urban markets. The
numbers also show that Latinos are more likely to see a movie on
its opening weekend than non-Latinos, which will facilitate recruitment
for the Premiere Weekend Club. 40 million
Latinos live in the United States and the Latino population is growing
so rapidly, it is projected that the total will reach 50 million
within 6 years.
The Premiere Weekend Club represents a social movement
that is generating considerable excitement in the Latino community.
Due to the movement's positive focus, they will also benefit from
the support of many non-Latinos as well. The Million Moviegoer March
is similar to the Montgomery bus boycotts that were spearheaded
by Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1950's. The business that owned
busses discriminated against African Americans despite being dependent
on their money for financial survival and profit. African Americans
united and refused to ride the busses until the owners did the right
thing and treated African Americans with the respect and dignity
they deserved.
The Premiere Weekend Club will enjoy widespread support
inside and outside of Hollywood, because, instead of threatening
to punish studios and production companies with boycotts, picket
signs, and bad press, we are offering a reward for the recognition
of the massive Latino market. Through the Premiere Weekend
Club's efforts, Hollywood executives will understand the profound
financial clout that Latinos have at the box office. Hollywood will
profit immensely and will respond in an affirmative manner. This
is a positive, win-win situation for all.
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