Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Actress Zoe Saldana launches platform to promote positive Latino representations

Despite being the fastest-growing ethnic population, Latinos remain underrepresented in the media and actress Zoe Saldana has taken upon herself to fight against the lack of representation in the entertainment industry, where Latino film and television actors in major roles are rare and where negative stereotypes of Latinos persist.

“Mainstream media misrepresents and omits positive role models or figures that are actively bringing change and reshaping their communities. They do a good job of being sensational in a way that sells, but not in a way that informs and unites our community,” says actress, activist and entrepreneur Zoe Saldana.

The Star Trek, Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy actress believes in the power of role models, which is why she wants BESE to shine a light on untold and positive stories of Latinos geared to Millennial and Gen Z audiences. “Zoe moved the needle forward. We want to inspire people to achieve new heights and change perspectives outside the Latino community,” states Daniel Batista, co-founder and president of BESE, who left Latino the digital video company mitú last year to develop and launch Saldana’s startup.

According to Batista, BESE will focus on intellectual property – developing premium, high-quality original content that is authentic and that showcases how Latinos are integrated into American culture. BESE kicked off with a Saldana-narrated brand video on the last days of February and launched its first video from editorial team on March 1.

“I am very hands on because I’m building BESE for myself and children. When they’re old enough, I want them to be able to see proper representation of who they are as Americans, so they have a sense of proprietorship within their own land and have a sense of service, commitment and community” says Saldana.

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