In Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the virtual DGA Latino Committee Meeting on October 13 was preceded by the conversation, Latinos in Hollywood with Director Ben DeJesus.
Moderated by Director SJ Main Muñoz (Chicago Med), DeJesus spoke about his work on his recent PBS American Masters episode, “Lights, Camera, Acción” and also discussed topics including his entry into directing and his upcoming projects.
During the conversation, DeJesus expressed his admiration for the work of the Guild and the Committee. "I think that this organization itself, this Committee itself, is a great example of what happens when we band together. And we're not banding together as ‘I'm Mexican…’ or ‘I'm Puerto Rican…’ or ‘You're Cuban…’ We're banding together as storytellers first and foremost, and then we're doing it from our authentic point of view of where we came from."
DeJesus has over a decade of experience in the US Multicultural/Latinx markets, creating over 100 hours of television, documentary, non-fiction, music and branded projects. In addition to “Lights, Camera, Acción,” his directorial credits include the documentary feature, John Leguizamo's Road to Broadway; the CBS special, Essential Heroes: A Momento Latino Event; episodes of Bunk’d, Bodega de Pasión, EOP Comedy Show and Xtreme: On the Verge; the television documentaries, Raul Julia: The World's a Stage and Tales from a Ghetto Klown; and the video Hispanicize #DetiDepende.
DeJesus joined the DGA in 2017.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Latino Committee was created as a networking group to advance career and job opportunities for Latino DGA members by improving craft skills, networking, and making Latinos better known to the Hollywood creative community. The current Committee Co-Chairs are Directors Edward Ornelas and Jay Torres and Second Assistant Director Alicia Zaragoza.
See video from this event in the gallery below.