{"id":2452066,"date":"2026-06-09T22:17:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2452066"},"modified":"2026-06-09T22:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:17:31","slug":"jessica-alba-sofia-vergara-tracy-brennan-and-nina-garcia-on-latin-representation-in-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/jessica-alba-sofia-vergara-tracy-brennan-and-nina-garcia-on-latin-representation-in-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Tracy Brennan, and Nina Garcia on Latin Representation in Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In 2023, Jessica Alba and Tracy Brennan, the co-head of motion picture talent at CAA, launched the group Culture Makers over a shared concern that Latin representation in film and TV continued to lag. They recruited peers in all areas of entertainment to come together to network and promote more opportunities for Latinos. Since it started, new relationships, film projects, and collaborations have come about through Culture Makers.<\/p>\n

On Monday, co-hosts Alba, Brennan, ELLE editor-in-chief Nina Garcia, and Sofia Vergara held Culture Makers\u2019 third annual event, presented by Tequila Don Julio and ELLE. The party honored designer Willy Chavarria, and guests included Becky G, Natalia and Vanessa Bryant, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, Robert Rodriguez, and Miguel. \u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to join Jessica, Nina, and Tracy in hosting this event this year,\u201d says Vergara. \u201cHaving an event to that creates community and helps to foster ideas of collaboration, creation, and supporting each other was of course something I wanted to be a part of. It\u2019s an opportunity to celebrate who we are and where we come from.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nino Mu\u00f1oz<\/span><\/figcaption>

Willy Chavarria and Jessica Alba.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How is Culture Makers different in 2026 than it was in 2023?<\/h2>\n

Tracy Brennan:<\/strong> Our community has just come together. When Jessica and I started this, we knew each other peripherally. We were running in the same circles and seeing each other at events but had never really spent time together or had a meaningful conversation. Our group is much more bonded, so much more in communication. People are coming out for one another, celebrating each other, letting each other know when there\u2019s a project they\u2019re working on or a movie coming out and how we can all get together and support and repost things for people. There really wasn\u2019t a cultural hub in our community where we could all come [before].<\/p>\n

People are like, \u201cHey, this movie\u2019s happening.\u201d That way people have information, not just from their representatives, and are able to throw their hats in the ring.<\/p>\n

Jessica Alba:<\/strong> I think [we were] starving for a community like Culture Makers and our group chat and a space where we could really support one another and be a sounding board for one another. People are super active on it all the time.<\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Every time we have one of these events, Jessica\u2019s amazing at getting these statistics out quickly, eloquently, and articulately. Education is key because when you\u2019re not connected to other people, you don\u2019t realize your power. But because of the Latino purchasing power, we do have real power. Hopefully people care and are excited and want to support the Latin community, but people also care about their bottom lines.<\/p>\n

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\"beverly<\/p>\n
Stefanie Keenan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Vergara, Brennan, and Alba.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What projects and collaborations have come about as a result of relationships made through Culture Makers?<\/h2>\n

JA: <\/strong>When we put it together, Culture Makers was really about having that backyard cookout vibe where we could have deep and meaningful conversations and connect with one another. What comes out of that are projects and working together. [I spoke with Michael Pe\u00f1a] and was like, \u201cMichael, what do you want to do?\u201d He said, \u201cIt would be cool to do a family movie. It\u2019d be cool to do an action movie, a heist movie.\u201d And I was like, \u201cRobert Rodriguez, would you want to do a fun action, family, heist movie?\u201d And so Robert joined us.<\/p>\n

James Cameron obviously brought me into the world as an actress, but being an indie darling was really because of Robert Rodriguez early in my career. We have this movie called Incognito<\/em> that was sold at Cannes. Danny Ramirez and Victoria Alonso joined [Culture Makers] and did a movie called Baton<\/em>, and the cast is pretty much all Latino.<\/p>\n

TB: <\/strong>It\u2019s also about connecting the dots because I think a lot of people within our community weren\u2019t aware of the accomplishments of other Latinos. Enrique Melendez, who\u2019s Jenna Ortega\u2019s stylist and one of the very few Latin stylists, was at the Culture Makers event in year two. I was promoting him because I worked with Jenna and was saying to everybody, \u201cYou should know this guy.\u201d All of a sudden, he started getting calls from people.<\/p>\n

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\"beverly<\/p>\n
Stefanie Keenan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Natalia and Vanessa Bryant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What are the biggest challenges facing Latina women in creative fields today?<\/h2>\n

JA: <\/strong>I think the biggest challenge is, frankly, representation. A lot of the gatekeepers just frankly don\u2019t know people who look like you or work alongside someone who looks like you, so many times they feel like they\u2019re really putting their neck out. A lot of people are risk-averse and they\u2019re trying to hang onto their jobs and don\u2019t want to shake the boat. They feel like it\u2019s a huge risk, even if you are wildly qualified, talented, and right for the job.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s rhetoric that we all have to go up against to really change a narrative that\u2019s untrue about our community and seems to drown out a lot of the good work we\u2019ve done and the progress we\u2019ve made. What\u2019s so imperative about this group and what we\u2019re doing every day is to continue to show up and represent who we are and show little boys and girls, no matter who you are, where you\u2019re from, that all different kinds of people can be leaders and in positions of power.<\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Unfortunately, a lot of the roles that are created specifically for Latinos are very stereotypical. I represent Demi\u00e1n Bichir [the third Latino to be nominated for Best Actor, ever]. After he was nominated for an Oscar, the same year as many prominent movie stars, the only casting submissions that were coming in for him were cartel leaders and he really did not want to continue to perpetuate that stereotype.<\/p>\n

It was just very eye-opening and illuminating, in an unfortunate manner, that people were not thinking of him, somebody who\u2019d just been nominated for an Oscar for a beautiful performance, for anything but that kind of role. It\u2019s incumbent on us to help promote new voices, new writers, new directors, and identify them, support them.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s asking, \u201cHey, I need a straight offer,\u201d but everybody would like to at least have the chance to put their art forward, for other people to look at it and see a new idea and equal the playing field a little bit.<\/p>\n

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\"beverly<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Do you see any progress being made in any of these areas?<\/h2>\n

TB:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s still tough, to be honest.<\/p>\n

JA:<\/strong> It\u2019s still tough.<\/p>\n

What are the goals for Culture Makers moving forward?<\/h2>\n

TB: <\/strong>In my dream world, I would love to continue to grow Culture Makers. I\u2019d love to do an event in New York. We started it here [in L.A.], but it would be fantastic to have a presence on the East Coast and really unite our group across the entire country. I would love to grow it internationally as well.<\/p>\n

I just got a movie sent to me the other day by a Guatemalan filmmaker for a client. I\u2019d never heard of the filmmaker and I sat and watched the movie and was like, \u201cWow, this is so impressive.\u201d So I think [I would like] for us to continue to grow, unite, and be a presence on a global level.<\/p>\n

JA:<\/strong> It would be incredible to have a fund where we could start to really put money and resources into developing these incredible projects. Oftentimes, it\u2019s that $10,000 to $50,000 check that can make all the difference in something actually being created or not.<\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> Although in film and television, the statistics are not moving in a positive direction, I have to say music is unbelievable and has had massive breakthroughs. The Latin music scene is massive and it\u2019s broken all kinds of records in the last few years, which is really exciting and inspiring.<\/p>\n

JA:<\/strong> Another big piece in the narrative around spaces where you don\u2019t always see us is definitely in fashion. Karla Mart\u00ednez de Salas, editor of Vogue Mexico<\/em>, and Nina Garcia have always been advocates and supporters of people who are part of our community and others. Nina\u2019s incredible. She\u2019s this fairy godmother who makes space for people who are Latino in the fashion world. What a huge impact that makes on culture and representation.<\/p>\n

Willy [Chavarria] has definitely leveraged his platform and his shows to tell really beautiful stories that are authentic. They feel like home. For me, when I watch a Willy show on my phone, my iPad, or my computer, I watch it over and over again, like a telenovela, like a Broadway show. There\u2019s a narrative; it\u2019s romantic, it\u2019s tragic, it\u2019s beautiful; it\u2019s celebrating. It\u2019s really talking about what\u2019s going on in the world. He\u2019s very much inspired, I believe, by what\u2019s happening in the world and how to make our community stand up in a beautiful way with dignity and pride. And doing it on a stage in Paris.<\/p>\n

Even the silhouettes he uses, it\u2019s all like a callback to Chicano culture, which is what I grew up with. I have such an affinity towards Willy, his storytelling, and his courage around being able to love who you love and not having any barriers on that, because certainly in our culture, there\u2019s still a big machismo thing that he stands up against. I\u2019ve been a fan of his for so many years. It\u2019s really incredible that we get to honor and showcase him at Culture Makers. Hopefully we\u2019ll see all of us wearing more Willy on the red carpet.<\/p>\n

TB:<\/strong> The other just fun thing that Jessica really has spearheaded is celebrating someone, whether they\u2019re a known celebrity or an incredible chef or a cook or baker or what have you. Jessica has made sure that every single vendor at our event is somebody from Los Angeles who is Latin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a great opportunity to highlight local vendors within Los Angeles. There have been so many different new foods, shops, restaurants, and different things that I had no awareness of that she\u2019s brought to the table and given a platform to shine.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.elle.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2023, Jessica Alba and Tracy Brennan, the co-head of motion picture talent at CAA, launched the group Culture Makers over a shared concern that Latin representation in film and TV continued to lag. They recruited peers in all areas of entertainment to come together to network and promote more opportunities for Latinos. Since it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2452067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[310910,481736,285977,466866,285684,455134,481735,436397],"class_list":["post-2452066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-7546e966-dc30-4ed7-91c3-8640620fb6c6","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-8","tag-shorttitle-culture-makers-celebrates-latin-talent","tag-subsection-celebrity-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Jessica-Alba-Sofia-Vergara-Tracy-Brennan-and-Nina-Garcia-on.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452068,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452066\/revisions\/2452068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}