A new study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative paints a dismal picture for Latino representation on screen and behind the camera.

Researchers analyzed the top 100 grossing films of each year from 2007-2018 and found that nearly half of the 1,200 movies in the sample failed to include even one speaking character identified as Latino. Overall, only 4.5% of speaking characters in the most popular movies from this 12-year period included Latino characters, with only 3% or just 15 movies featuring Latinos in a leading or co-leading role. The study showed that there had been no meaningful change in representation in more than a decade.

Female characters fared worse than their male counterparts for representation. Of the films that lacked any Latino characters, 70% of the films failed to include a female speaking character, while about 57% lacked a male speaking character. For the purposes of this study, researchers used the term Latino to describe content creators and characters from a variety of Spanish-speaking and Latin backgrounds.