On Sept. 30, Amazon Studios will present Voices/Voces: An Entertainment Celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month.
"The Latiné community is comprised of many rich and dynamic cultures with multilayered stories to tell. To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re thrilled to present a Voices/Voces event with an esteemed group of creators, performers and community members from the pan-Latin diaspora,” Latasha Gillespie said, who serves as the global head of diversity, equity and inclusion for Amazon Studios and IMDb. “Our Voices/Voces event aims to entertain, initiate honest dialog, and drive industry change. We think everyone who tunes in will have a great time and be part of some very important and enlightening conversations.”
The one-day virtual event will highlight ontributions to the entertainment industry by the Latiné community through conversations, panels and a stand-up set from comedian Gina Brillion. It will be available to stream on Amazon Live and Amazon Studios DEI Twitch.
Participants of Voices/Voces include talent behind and in front of the camera. The lineup includes actor John Leguizamo, showrunner Gloria Calderón-Kellett (One Day at a Time, With Love), Yolanda Guillen (Amazon Studios casting executive), The Boys’ Laz Alonso, Variety editor Clayton Davis, Rep. Joaquin Castro, Malu Miranda (Amazon Studios head of originals, Brazil), Javiera Balmadeca (Amazon Studios head of local originals, Spanish-speaking Latin America) and Lorenza Muñoz (senior global awards executive, Amazon Studios).
Voices/Voces will kick off at 9 a.m. with an introduction by Gillespie, with Leguizamo’s lightning talk about the breadth and depth of community to follow. Later, the event’s focal conversations will explore how Amazon originals are resonating in the U.S. and across borders and how Latiné representation has evolved on screen. It will cap with a stand up set by Brillon.
Through Voices/Voces, Amazon Studios aims to celebrate the over 60 million people living in the country who the U.S. Census labels as Hispanic and to acknowledge the complexity of this non-monolithic group of various rich cultures. Through its programming and events, Amazon Studios assures it is all about diving deep into entertainment industry data to have honest conversations and amplify and cultivate stories from historically excluded storytellers.
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Photography by: Neil Rasmus/BFA.com
