Is Deal ‘Another Slap Against Community’?

Is a deal to develop Latino programming for Warner Bros. Television a chance for minorities to work in the broadcast industry after decades of shoddy treatment by powerful executives?

Or, is the studio deal yet one more racial exclusion that represents the predicament of Latinos in Hollywood?

It depends on whom you talk to.

The deal, which calls for the development of comedy and drama series for network and cable, was awarded last week to Silverlight Television, which is run by Stephen Drimmer and Heidi Rotbart.

Neither Drimmer nor Rotbart is Latino, nor does either speak Spanish, and that has sparked a furor among Latino artists who are growing more vocal about the barriers they face in Hollywood.

“Why should [Drimmer] be doing programming for us? Why should he be talking for us?” asked Alex Nogales, spokesman for the National Hispanic Media Coalition.

Drimmer counters that he has represented Latino talent for nearly nine years and is the right man for the job, regardless of his skin color.

“Our mandate from Warner Bros. is to be a conduit for all Latino talent,” Drimmer said. “That’s our job. Believe me, if we get a show on the air, there will be Latinos producing it, writing it and--for sure--Latinos acting it. We’re going to be opening opportunities for Latinos at the networks.”

The announcement of Drimmer’s deal comes five months after the major networks trotted out their new lineup of 26 shows. To the horror of minority activists, there was not one actor of color in any of the leads. Media attention to the absence of color in the lineups coupled with several initiatives by activists spurred executives to insert a few minority actors into some new shows.

“[The Silverlight deal] is another slap against the community,” Nogales said. “They don’t learn. They did this stupid thing with 26 new shows with not one person of color in a lead role. They got all this criticism, but they still don’t learn. At what point do reasonable men and women say, ‘This is wrong’ ”?

A recent incident has rubbed salt in the wound of the Latino community. One of its most successful film directors-producers, Gregory Nava of “El Norte,” “Mi Familia” and “Selena,” recently pitched a prime-time drama series to Warner Bros., focusing on a Latino family in East L.A.

“They passed on it,” said Susana Zepeda, who runs Nava’s production company and described their relationship with the studio as “excellent.” “We found it interesting that this deal was made only one month after our project about a Latino family was passed on,” she said.

Dan Guerrero, a longtime producer of English- and Spanish-language television shows, has received countless calls since Drimmer’s deal was announced.

“It’s certainly galvanized the Latino community in Hollywood,” he said. “But you’ve got to be realistic. This town is all about relationships,” he said referring to Drimmer’s solid friendship with the president of Warner Bros. Television, Peter Roth. Executives at Warner Bros. Television declined to comment.

A veteran Latino in the industry, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said initially there was positive reaction to the studio’s dedication to development money for Latino projects. “Then I was aghast that [Warner Bros.] went to a company that doesn’t have any expertise,” the veteran said.

Ray Blanco, a Latino television producer in New York City, called the deal an “outrage.”

“But Warner Bros. Television is not the only game in town,” Blanco said. “I hope the other studios will avoid this recipe for disaster and will take a hard look at qualified individuals who have [stories] to tell, the knowledge and the context.”

Drimmer insists his roster of Latin “mega stars” testifies to his sensitivity and savvy in promoting Latinos. But his most famous client is actress-singer Maria Conchita Alonso, whose celebrity has waned in recent years.

Nogales said he and other activists will demonstrate and make this a “public relations nightmare for Warner Bros. Television,” if the deal is not amended to include a Latino executive. Drimmer said that sounded like blackmail, adding he would not be bullied into hiring a full partner.

“It’s not about this particular production entity or this particular deal. It’s bigger than that,” said producer Guerrero. “It sends a message that is too often out there, that, ‘Gee, there must not be any Latino executives who can handle this.’ ”