"Changing Latino Storytelling," Featuring Cristina Escobar

In this thought-provoking episode of Chateau Bow Wow, host Geraldo Uscategui is joined by special co-host Manny Cabo for a powerful conversation with journalist, critic, and change maker Cristina Escobar.

From meeting at Sundance to discussing the harsh realities of Latino representation in Hollywood, this episode dives deep into the systemic challenges facing Latino creators, filmmakers, and storytellers today. Cristina shares her mission behind Latina Media Co and explains why authentic storytelling, cultural criticism, and representation matter now more than ever.

The conversation explores everything from Hollywood’s shrinking opportunities for Latino voices, the lack of industry investment, diversity statistics in media, and the importance of creating your own lane rather than waiting for permission. Geraldo and Manny also reflect on resilience, independent filmmaking, and the responsibility creators have to tell stories that truly reflect Latino culture beyond stereotypes.

This is an honest, inspiring, and highly relevant conversation for artists, filmmakers, journalists, and anyone passionate about culture, creativity, and representation. 

Key Takeaways

• Why Latino creators must stop waiting for permission
• The importance of authentic cultural storytelling
• How independent creators can build their own platforms

Episode Highlights

• Cristina Escobar’s journey into journalism and media criticism
• The harsh reality of Latino underrepresentation in Hollywood
• Why Latino stories deserve bigger budgets and support
• Independent filmmaking and creating your own opportunities
• The future of Latino-focused media platforms and storytelling

To learn more about Cristina Please visit.  https://cescobarandrade.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hola mi gente and welcome to today's episode of Chateau Bow. I have several guests today. I have my awesome producer, Manny Cabo, and I also have a super, super special guest, uh Christina Escobar. Uh Christina and I uh came across each other in Sundance, and um I heard her speak briefly, and um I made it my mission to have her on the show one day. Had I, you know, planned to do this um a lot sooner, I I I wish I would have done that, Manny, you know. But um it took a while to get going.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Better late than never, man.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Better late than never. But Christina uh uh is really um was sitting down with her today. She's a powerful voice in Latino entertainment and journalism. She's intelligent, uh charismatic, deeply connected to storytelling and culture, and I'm really happy to have her here today.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Is she in the waiting room yet? Uh I don't think so, but we will know. As a matter of fact, let me say. No, we she might be in there. She's very, very efficient. I'd be surprised if she was. Yeah. Yeah, she is there. Should we let her in? I would think we should let her in. Sure? Sure. Hey, you're the host, man. You tell me when I'm the gatekeeper, so you're headed to your live. Let's let her in. And uh she should be coming on shortly. And there she is.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

There she is.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Hola, Chris.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Hola, I misspelled my own name. How do I fix that?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

How do you misspell your own name? You know what? Let me see if I could help you out there. It's a C H, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

No. Okay, no, no, there's no Escobada. Christina Escobad. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm looking, I'm so blind. Well, I tell you what, if you don't know how to spell your own name with us, you're like you're really in trouble. We're in trouble here. Christina Escobad, is that good?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, Clado. Thank you. I'm just a path. Good to see you, Christina. Good to see you too. How are you? Do I sound okay?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

You sound amazing. You sound awesome. Hi. I don't know if you remember me. Do you remember me from Sun Dance?

SPEAKER_00 1:45

I do. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Um I'm okay. I was very happy to meet you over there. And um uh we haven't had a chance to catch up. Um we have a lot of friends in common. Um I was chatted with I had uh Mailin Kalienis here um uh a couple weeks ago. I flew her in and I was hoping to fly more people in, but the way the schedule worked out, um Manny got sick, so I blame him. Sure. And then I got sick as well. I'm always the fall guy. Yeah, yeah. So I'm doing a few remote uh uh episodes here before we break for our our midseason break. And so um I'm glad to have you remotely at the very least.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

I I feel bad because I I didn't even know I was gonna host today or co-host, if you will, so I feel bad tag teaming here, but you know, I figured, you know what, we've we've had our introductions already, so we got that out of the way. We broke the ice. So I said, listen, I said, Jerry, you gotta have her on the show. And I know that since we both saw you in Park City, all your words really resonated with me. And the first word that came to mind, if you remember, I'm alluding to this our interview was authenticity and and how you're able to bridge the gap with everything that you say and you have this inclusive mentality, but really focusing on you know the deficit of the Latin culture in cinema, but we'll get into that. He's the host. I wanna I don't even know. I'm just gonna shut up.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

I'm just gonna shut up. Um one of the things that I've noticed, again, I you know obviously I read up on you and everything, and my favorite thing that I saw again, your resume is super impressive. My favorite thing that I see is ChangeMaker. That's so awesome. Please please tell me about that journey.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's easy to look at the world around and be like, oh, it's rough out there. There's so many things that are wrong. Our country, our society is heading in the wrong direction. Um, but I take a lot of hope in that like this world, this country is largely what we make it, and we can be forces for good in the world. And I think about it as myself, is like, well, what are my unique talents and skills and like positional power and how can I use that for good? And so, you know, that is what I have done at Latina Media Co. Because I firmly believe that if this world is gonna move to be fair and just for everybody, that everybody needs a chance to tell their own story and evaluate it. Um, and there's a lot of really amazing people, and I know you've had some of them on the show who are working on the telling your own story aspect of it, but not as many people are working on the evaluate it. And I think when we have a mass of critics who don't represent the per the population at large, where white guys are twice as loud as it makes real sense for them to be, um, when you look at the demographics, that we do ourselves a disservice in terms of understanding what is quality, what art matters, what art is good, what is important. And so at Latina Media Co., we found I co-founded it to help be an explicit invitation to Latina and queer Latinx folks that we too can be cultural critics, that our hot takes, um, thoughts, opinions, loves, hates, whatever are just as important as everybody else's, and that we should have that space to talk to each other, to sound off, and like let the world know what we care about.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Nice. Very nice. I've always felt that um we weren't giving chances. Like you see a show that's uh Latino driven or or uh the the the main character might be Latina or or and it just seems uh that that the shows aren't given enough running time, enough runway to take off. Um what has been your experience and and spreading the word to to give us a chance?

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yeah, I mean I definitely think the cancellation um is real, the pathway to cancellation is real. Even our shows that do really well sometimes still get canceled. It's not just numbers. To me, I envision a studio exec having to make tough decisions and looking at a show that doesn't resonate with him personally and it feeling easy for him. And I'm using that uh pronoun purposefully, although there are women execs um purposefully. Um and it makes it easy for them to cut. They make those decisions, you know, based partly on numbers and partly on gut. And I think we fall behind both ways. Sometimes our shows do succeed number wise, sometimes they don't, but they tend also not to get the marketing dollars, right? Maybe not to get the production dollars. I think of like Selena, a series, and on Netflix, like that show should have had the same budget as the crown. Like Selena is our royalty in it, man. It did not, right? It did not.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Um I thought it was great though. I thought it was great.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

I thought it was okay. But really?

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Just okay? I thought it was great. I loved it. Cause yeah, because I you still see too many things like that for us.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah. I mean, it was a top performer. It topped the charts. I think like you could see, like, there were times when like they were driving and they were like super clearly on a sound stage with like a terrible blue screen behind them. And that was just like money, you know. Really? You know, I didn't notice that.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

I didn't notice that. What's crazy is you're so you really supported boasting more about the film, but you weren't crazy about it. So that's that's a pretty wild economy then. It's pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I mean, okay, so that was the series. I liked the documentary a lot. Um, no, I wrote about that series and saying it was okay. And like, but we should be able to have okay stuff too. Like, I think there's a lot of pressure for us to be twice as good, to get half as far. And um, you know, we should have a range of like Artura stuff and lowbrow stuff and reality television, like the Real Housewives of Miami just got paused and like that's annoying too. That one was ours. Um and so, you know, what we do on Latina Media Co. is we definitely privilege reviewing and talking about those shows, knowing that they maybe don't get the same marketing budget. If we're not talking about it, then nobody knows about it. Um, and to try to do some of that work. But like honestly, the studios need to put some money behind our products, which are good. I think a really strong example is like the second season of Hintify. Like we loved the first season, and I know even like my like Latino super fans, they didn't even know when the second season came out because they spent no marketing dollars on it. And of course, then it underperformed. Nobody knew it was there.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

I haven't, I didn't even see that. I don't even know about it. Um I love the show. It's good.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Yes, I I I love the fist. Now I have to. I have no choice. Every time I see uh Annie Gonzalez in in LA, you know, I see her just in these events and stuff. I just give a little fist bump. Like, what's up? She's like, what's up? Every time I see, you know, I don't I don't hang on people, you know. I just give a little fist bump. What's up, Annie? Come on, you know, and I keep it moving, you know, because I I don't know how like that, you know, but I'd love to have on the show one day. Um you've had a chance, Christina, to interview uh so many talented people. What separates the artists who truly have a lasting impact from the ones who who uh uh simply chase fame?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yeah. Oh, that's a great question. Oh, that's a good question. Yeah, you would teleprompt. Somebody wrote it. It's probably you, no. Um I mean, I think it is so hard for anyone in our community to break through that um I'm not even sure we're like able to answer that question. Like, I remember I interviewed the cast of um Primo. Do you remember that show? It got one season. It was great. It was by Shay Sarano, it was like a coming of age story. I think it was on um Prime's free channel that has since dissolved. All of them spoke about, like, I wanted to ask them like what excited you about this role? And like pretty much all of them were like having a role where I got paid. Like, yeah, we don't even necessarily, and they were great. They were like all so good. It was an ensemble cast. We so rarely even get like the chance to like make those strategic decisions. Um, just trying to like nudge our feet in the door that I think it's really hard. I do want to say though, that like I've gotten to interview Justina Machado and like she is exactly like how you think she would be. She's funny and warm and smart. And it's like I can see why she is one of our rising talents because she is so authentically herself everywhere she goes and she brings that like same energy. So I do think that is a distinguishing factor, but I think a lot of times we don't even really get the chance to like maneuver in that way.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

Yeah, I agree, I agree. And that's the whole thing is they won't they won't green light anything that's untested. There's no untested concepts that they'll do. And it's like, well, how do you test it if you never give it a green light? Everybody's scared. Yeah. So useful, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah. I want to say, like, remember Betty, ugly Betty? Like that show did great. And then where were all of our other telenovela crossovers? It was tested, it was proven, and then they still said no. So, you know, shenanigans on their part, they're lying to themselves and to us.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Yeah. Well, they had to make a 17th Spider-Man is what it is. Yeah. Of course, you know. We were just talking about that yesterday, too.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

So many movies get shunned and everything. But one of the things that you spoke about that I want to actually bring it to his attention, which was very alarming. You said that Latinos as a whole, we comprise 20% of the population, yet just barely, at best, 3% in the entertainment industry. And I know, as I say, that chaps my ass. So talk to me more about how you feel and how that's a that's a visual. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So that's a that's a rough one.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Yeah, it is rough. And I think what's scary to me about that is, you know, in the last like decade, we had this big boon in entertainment products with the streamy era where we got a lot more scripted shows, we got a lot more shows. And in that expansion, Latinos held our same percentage. Um and it it depends on like what, you know, are you looking at writer, are you looking at director, are you looking in front of the camera, lead roles, whatever? The percentages are very, but nowhere do we get anywhere close to 20%. So it's like three to I think like seven and a half percent, depending on what metric you're looking at. Um but we held steady in those percents, which meant that we got a lot more products because when you know the number of stream of shows being in production doubles, we doubled, right? And so there was more to watch, which was great. Um, and you also now have access to older shows because of like the streaming glut, right? So you can make those choices and watch those shows, but it's contracting now. And what's gonna happen? Are we gonna even keep our three to seven and a half percent? I hope so, but I don't know. And the numbers are not still out. But I I do know that like women are directing less stuff, like there is a contraction, and that number of uh women directors is really an important one because when a woman directs a film, it statistically has better representation. More women, more people of color, more Latinos. So we're seeing this like Hollywood step back, this like cowardice around producing the quote unquote like diversity stuff that they used to produce. But I want to say it's cowardly for a lot of reasons. Maybe because their folks are scared of new things, but also because we are their audience. You know, Latinos, we show up at the box office, we subscribe to streamers at higher percentages, and so they leave us behind at their peril. Um, and we'll uh just have to see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

The the things that I like, I I have uh, you know, I write films and I write uh books and screenplays and some of the stuff that I've that I've uh made, I'm I I won't lie, my my my my deeper stuff, right? It it's I I I haven't got a budget yet. So I'm not gonna say forced, but uh I make lower budget things. I make lower budget things that we can afford to make. They're easier, they're easier to shoot, they're they're more economical. And I'm hoping that my work actually uh you know in the future resonates that I can make the stuff that I want to make. You know. Um I've signed on now with a few people and you know I have several contracts that I, you know, about obviously I can't talk about, but um the things I can talk about, and uh maybe you could help with this too, is um I write family, strong Latino family stuff. That's the stuff I want to make, right? But um right now I'm making more, you know, more you know, I I would I wouldn't say uh uh not smart, but it's more horror. It's more, you know what I mean? Just just just more fluff.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

It's more entertaining stuff, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Yeah, definitely. But the stuff that I really want to do, I I can't get a budget for, you know? So what would you advise people in my position, again, and again, you know, you're you you've seen it all, I'm sure, uh uh to stay the course. How would you advise that?

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Yeah. I mean, that's hard. And I think you're not alone. That's the first thing I would say. And I think sometimes we get a lot of rejections, and it's really hard not to take it personally, not to internalize it. And so just hearing how you set that up, I think you're already in the right space because you're aware that like you've got really cool stuff and really cool ambition, and the problem is outside of you. I think that's first of all, like the most important thing to start with. And then I want our stuff to have big budgets, but like I don't know, filmmakers are gonna filmmake and we're gonna figure out ways to get stuff done. And maybe it's not gonna get the big budget, but sometimes, you know, figuring out how to do stuff on a lower budget builds some really like interesting innovations. Um I think that can be true in the distribution models as well. So, you know, one of the things I thought about a lot at the last Sundance I went to and I heard a lot of discussion around it's because, you know, we're seeing these big media mergers, and there's per if they go through, I hope they don't, you can take action against them, call your state AG um attorney general to say oppose it, but like uh the film industry as a as it has existed is collapsing in a lot of ways that feel really scary, but also maybe our opportunities for us to build something new and something different. And I heard at Sundance Ava Duvernay talk about this, and like when you have that creative impulse, you're you you have to let it out, right? Like it's in you and it's like it's like eating or having sex. Like you have a drive for it, you need to like go get it. And so, you know, to keep doing that, and maybe we have to find new ways and let maybe that's stressful and more work and frustrating, but I think there's also a chance for excitement as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Well, here's the thing I I I I don't want to interject prematurely, but I may be a little biased because you know I've encountered, you know, we've had some great heartfelt dialogue, and obviously I've worked with Jerry, so I may be a little biased when I say uh one of the things that separates those opportunities, because I'm more of an opportunistic person, I'm very positive as well. So I think resilience plays a big part. And you have to take the the nays, the hardships to heart. And Jerry's very resilient. And you know, flux, not for nothing, but we've got what, 20 international laurels. I would like to see you create something from Latino-oriented just to see how well received it would get. Will it get 20 international? Maybe more, maybe less. I don't know. So but you don't know unless you execute. And both of you have certainly proven, have a very strong resume that you got to get your word out there. You know, our job is to create. We have this conversation all the time. Don't attach your emotion to the end result. Don't give two shits where it goes. Just create, put your best work out there. But make sure that you do the legwork, put in the reps to get the best probable opportunity to get that film out there. And everyone gets so discouraged when they get the nose and this and the and you know, all the narratives that are going on, whatever the case may be. And that's fine. The world will continue, but it's up to the creator to put forth the best effort to get that product out there. Correct me if I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

No, I agree. And you can't wait for permission. You have to go, you have to do the thing. And sometimes you have to build it on your own. And like, you know, like so. I co-run Latina Media Co. or an indie media outlet. And like, like, you know, do I love being the one who has to like file file our taxes? No, that is not why I started it, you know? Like, but it is part of it. You have to learn new things, and you know, filing our taxes enables me to be able to platform all sorts of new upcoming and established writers and critics. And like there is the joy in that. And had I waited for another publication to come along with like financing and all of this stuff, like it wouldn't exist. And we were founded in 2018. Like we've been rolling for a while, we've built a cool audience, we've attracted cool supporters, and we're doing a thing and you know, on our own. And nobody allowed us to, and um, we do it well.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah, and that that that's that's really great, man. Um I know that when I that was my first sun dance when I went at when I met you. And um, I've never been colder in my entire life. That's all he talks about. I'm from New York and I've been cold. I've never been that cold in my life. It was cold. It was it was horrific. Um but I'm but I'm so happy that I went because I I I I came across you, of course, we made an acquaintance, and I came across my actually my determinant attorney, which I met uh Heidi Vacarano, who's awesome also. Um I've always supported my Lin Kalienis and Latino Filmmakers Network and all that stuff is I I just love that stuff, and I just love to hear everybody speak and everybody you go give their stories because we're we're we're equally yoked in that struggle. Um so Hollywood, like you said, is collapsing, I think, right? And it's but it's evolving into something else. Um where do you think Latinos have made the the biggest strides in the progress? And uh where do you think we still for short?

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Oh, that's another really good question.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Oh, it's what I do. I read the process.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

I have good questions, but it's my part. Uh it's harder being on this side, I think.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Yeah, you're getting thrown back at you. You don't like it, do you?

SPEAKER_00 20:34

No, I like it. I do like a good question. So I think we have made strides in organizing um and talking to each other about what matters in founding institutions uh like Latina Media Co., but also in networks. You know, I think one of the things, and this is maybe specifically for the Latina side of it, is like we are excellent network builders, we're excellent connectors and conveners. Like we do that in our personal lives, we do it in our professional lives. And I think we've seen a lot of progress in doing that and what can happen when we do that and we build our power. Um, you know, our community is not perfect. And sometimes when we do that, we end up like replicating structures that don't serve us. Like maybe it's sexism, maybe it's the racism inside our communities, maybe it's classism, maybe it's feelings we have about who's immigrated when, where and it's like pre-existing templates that have been out there already set, I guess. Yeah. And so I think we do have more work to do on those structures to make sure that they're inclusive of Afro Latinos, they're inclusive of queer folks, like and that we're inclusive of indigenous folks, and that we're building something not just different, but new, right? That we're rejecting old power structures that maybe we got, we brought with us from our home countries. Maybe we're replicating here in the United States, and that we can really build a different sense of our community, of who we are, of how we want to handle power. And I think there's a lot of opportunity there. Um, and you know, it's a it's a scary time for our community. Um, there's a lot of stuff happening in our nation where we're, you know, being targeted in all sorts of different ways. Um, but I think on the Hollywood side, we have this ability to clean our own house and move forward stronger together. And that's going to be the only way to move up and out and to create the new things that we need, which you do see some of, right? Like our own streaming platforms, our own network distributions. Like that stuff is coming. It's built and it's growing. And so um supporting each other and supporting each other in non-hierarchical ways is is my prescription for ads.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

That's a great answer to a tough question.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

I I agree. Listen, I think we need to leverage, I think this is a great opportunity for us. You know, Hollywood may be crumbling, but however, it might be setting and paving the way for new innovative ideas. I know that happens all the time. You know, we we really need to leverage these opportunities, and that's the problem. When you're constantly thinking of the voids and thinking negatively, you don't see these as opportunities. I do. I'm like, wait a second. If things are crumbling, something new has got to get built in its place. That's that's my ideology.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

What do they say? Never let a crisis go to waste. Like that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Yeah, let's do that. Investment, it happens in stocks every day. People buy the dip. It's the same thing when you buy the dip.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Yeah. I know that I hit a lot of walls and and I'm kind of stubborn and actually uh my line and I spoke about this. I'll I'll knock on the door and and you know, I'll ask, I'll send a message, I'll try, and somebody doesn't answer me. I'm like, well, that's your answer. You know, and she's like, No, Jerry, you can't do it like that. I'm like, oh man, I just I just don't know. I remember that conversation. Yeah, I just I I I don't like knows, but the world is full of them, right? Um so I started building my own brand. Um, you know, I'm I'm people don't know it, but I'm socially awkward. You know, I'm not a great networker. I I I just not so I bring like, you know, um I don't I don't know if you're familiar with uh Emily Aguilar. She's uh she's uh a filmmaker and she's awesome, and she I plan uh to have her here as a guest in the world. We met her out there as well in Parks. Yeah, actually, yeah. Um she's a momentum product uh no momentum productions, right? Yeah. Um so she's like I I send her as the as the as the the frontline. I'm like, go talk to people, and she comes over and she's so easy with that. She's just like, hey, can I join your table? And everybody's like, sure. Go, go, go. And they just network. I just slide in behind you, like, hi, I do it, I'm part of the package. Um But um what I've what I've done is again I've created my own thing because again, I got tired of the nose. And so I had I started to green light my own projects, you know. And it helped, of course, having a little bit of financing, you know. Uh it it helped being able to build a thing and building a talent pool. Um your thing is a little different, right? Your thing is is basically you're you're the machine.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Welcome to Chateau Bow Wow. This is where culture speaks loud, where Latino excellence takes center stage, where stories are raw, unfiltered, and undeniable. Hosted by acclaimed writer, director, and creator of the international sci-fi hit Flux, italoge Uzkategi brings you powerful conversations with the artists, filmmakers, performers, and visionaries redefining entertainment worldwide. This is heritage, this is hustle, this is impact. Chateau Bow Wow, where powerful voices shape the future.

SPEAKER_02 25:39

There's an administrative side to it that you have to you have to do. You have to do the taxes, you have to do the incorporation, everything. Um What kind of resistance did you get? Did anybody ever tell you, no, you can't do that, Christina? I mean, you know, you need to dish you have to go to this avenue, or did you just say I'm doing this?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Because you're you're getting it from both sides, you know, uh as a female as well. You know, let's let's let's harp on the obvious here. The uh let's address the elephant in the room.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

There is that side of it. I mean I write as a freelance journalist as well. And I get turned down sometimes. And I also want to say I get I think some turned down because of not being not having access to some of the old boys' networks. That's true. Um but also I've you know achieved a fair amount. I get to write for fancy places like Rogerebert.com. I'm on one of their I'm one of their regular TV critics on NPR. Like I've done some stuff. Um and when I was coming up and now still, why I think it's so important that I have my own publication is that one, I get to platform others and like teach other Latina, queer Latinx folks that like we can do this and like give them the skills because a lot of times, and it's the same on the your side, I think, is there's a lot of gatekeeping. A lot of this industry is about who you know. Um, and you know, I didn't I didn't go to know Harvard, like I don't go to USC, like I don't I my parents don't know anybody like um Harvard School of Hard Knots, maybe that's about it. So, you know, we have to build our own networks and break down those gates so that others can learn. And that's what I do at Latina Media Co. And I think that is important. And I also think that like sometimes the no is telling you something, but sometimes the no is saying they don't understand. They don't know why your story is important, why this angle is important, they don't understand your community, and our community is diverse and powerful and strong and interesting. And so we deserve to have our stories told and evaluated, um, and that we should go forth and do that stuff. And so, you know, sometimes being told to wait makes your product better, um, but sometimes it stalls you indefinitely, and you just kind of have to make those calls on your own to go and do it. And um there's no magic formula to figuring that out. You just have to kind of listen to yourself and the people who you trust and who understand you and go and make those calls. Um and sometimes it's fun, right? Sometimes that's fun too, that process.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

How is traveling for you? Um uh you you have a family, correct? Um I do, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Is that is that hard? Is that hard? Um, I it it's She's got a paw.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Didn't you see her pause? She's like, I do.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

It it beats the it beats the hell out of me.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

I mean, I don't do it that often. So like Sundance is so special and so amazing. I go to Sundance and I get to invited to other film festivals, and I really have to make some choices between them because I have little kids. They're finishing up first and third grade this week. Great years. Yeah, so cute, so good. And I get to go to Field Today and the ice cream social and like some of those things because I'm choosing to do that and not always to be traveling and out there. Like maybe some of it is because I also don't love networking. Um but really not.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Oh, yeah, I don't love it. I didn't get see, I didn't get that from her. I I saw her on stage. I'm like, wow, she's commanding everything. She's authentic, she's well spoken. And you know, that's interesting because you see that. I made a a um, what's the word? I'm judging a book by its cover, and meanwhile, the underlying truth is you really are it. And same thing with him. Like, I would never anticipate that he's one of those antisocials. It's uh but his behavior is the polar opposite of what he's saying, which is pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Well, sometimes you have to force yourself to do it. And so, like, I like public speaking. You saw me doing public speaking.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yeah, loved it.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Love it, love public speaking.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Um, I love what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Networking. Those are different things going up to strangers and being like, hi, I'm Christina. Can I sit here? Like, I don't that that's not as much me. Um, but if you put me at a table, uh, I can talk to anybody. Um and so I think part of it is like recognizing your own strengths and leaning into them. Like maybe I don't love networking. I still do it sometimes, but I try to position myself in places where I think I will be successful. Like I go to events where I get invited to speak because I like public speaking and I think I'm good at it, and it makes the networking so much easier for me. Um, because then people know me and they have questions for me. Um, and I'm able to talk and engage on that level. So yeah, I don't travel that much, but when I do, it's strategic. I think that was your question.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

Yeah, yeah. Um, I I think I did too much of it uh the last year or so, and now I'm being a little more uh uh selective in in the the events that I go to. I just went to uh I Mahang Foundation over there in LA and that was great. And I get I met some really good people. Um what what's next do you think for for for our culture? Like what what's gonna be our our moment if you have any kind of thoughts on it?

SPEAKER_00 31:07

I think we need to get through this political moment where we are being um so attacked and so many of our folks are scared to literally leave their homes, um, whether because of their status or someone in their family's immigration status, um, or just the way you look, right? Like I live in New Mexico and like we have a big indigenous population and they're being racially profiled. So we need to get through this. Um, we need to figure out what is most important to us, and then we need to build those things in allegiance with folks who are like-minded. You know, this too shall pass. Um, and I think we're gonna look back on this era, and some people are gonna have some pretty bad looks, right? Some people are doing some stuff right now where they're messing around and they're gonna find out. Um, and so it will turn and um there'll be a reckoning, and I hope that we are able to move forward and move our community interests forward in ways that are new and exciting and productive.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

I I would like to see like our version of BET. I would like to see our version where it's Latino-based, but maybe primarily English speaking, because we have such a huge population uh that that's here. And, you know, if you're able to go back to the island, you know, a few times in in your lifetime, you're kind of lucky, right? Um but I like to see something established like that, you know, where where where again Latino, but primarily English speaking, and we can float, you know, blur the line whenever we want, you know, like like we do in conversation, you know, we go we go speaking Spanish and then we'll suddenly throw something like you know, uh empanado or Spanglish at its best. Yeah, Spanglish, and we blur the line whenever we want.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Right? Um It would be good not to see the same recycled faces, the same stereotyped patterns, you know, cast typing the whole nine yards. So I get it. Yeah, I would have to conceive of that.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Sure. I would like a break from the Notco story for sure. There's gotta be other things that our communities to talk about. Um yeah, but I do think some of that is actually happening online, you know, like the BET model was like network TV cable station, and like uh not so much a thing. But there are Latino focused streamers, like I think we can build those things and lean into those things. And part of it is like us knowing about them. We we run stories about them at Latina Media Co so folks can know. Um, but I I think that that stuff is like we're working on it. This stuff is coming. Um, it's up to uh us to support it. And we do show up at higher numbers, um, but we need to know about it and we need to populate it and get excited about it. And invite others in too, right? Like our stuff is cool. Everyone should be interested in it.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

We gotta tell our stories, you know. Nowadays, with the advent of so much media, I mean, we have access to so much technology. You could literally create a full-length feature, short, whatever, with your cell phone. It's just having the the audacity to say, you know, I got a pretty damn good story. And what better person to tell your story than you? So we need some some leaders, we need some representatives to basically go out and say, guys, go tell your story. Some Latinos would be that Cuenta tu historia, mi hermano, or whoever it is, go out there and tell your story. There's so many there there really are impactful stories that we have that we don't even realize. When we start looking, you ever wonder you start telling your story like, man, I've been through a lot. I didn't even realize you don't know how much you know until you have to teach somebody.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Yeah. For sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

What I'll say is is again, I I I write a lot. Um, even though you see the same movie, like we we we we we speak about the the same movie, the same, the same stereotypes and everything. So uh I and and me too, I'll have a few characters that are drug dealers, you know. I have a few characters that that you know that are again do things against the law, but that's not everything that we are. It's we're just uh you know, it's a microcosm of the population, right? I have, you know, a lot of my writing is Latino doctors, Latino lawyers, Latino cops, Latino, you know, anything. Babysitter, it doesn't matter. We we just have more than one story to tell. And that's when I write, I like to shine a light on on our people, um, our representation in film and in television and in media. And it's something that I have to be honest, I didn't always think I would be doing. Right? I I I would write things, um, you I again this is our really first time speaking in death, but I, you know, I I don't I don't drink anymore, I don't smoke anymore, not anything like that. Um but when I was younger, I would come home and I would write, just scribble, just write. So I I think I my mind was telling me I want to be a writer, right? But I just didn't know what I was doing. And it took a long time to format that. Um so I didn't know that this was what I was gonna do. And now I'm like, hey, I'm not doing anything else but this. You know, this is it. I'm a storyteller, right? So uh uh Christina, when when you I guess uh I again I I I won't go into age, but at what point did you know this is what I want to do?

SPEAKER_00 36:11

That's a great question. You know, I had a tough journey around that. When I was a girl, like my kids' age, I wanted to be a writer. I knew I wanted to be a writer, I read voraciously, I like wrote stories in my notebooks. Um, but then I internalized messages from society, not from my parents. My parents were always great, that nothing I could write would ever be good enough, that um, you know, I was never gonna be Tony Morrison, so I should just give up. And I kind of did. Um, I stopped writing for myself. I stopped writing fiction, but I didn't actually stop writing. Um I became I was an English major at university, and I went into like nonprofit activist work and I wrote a lot, but I wrote like newsletters and grant applications, really unsexy uh institutional voice stuff. Um, and then you know, I'm maybe you've gathered, come somewhat politically oriented. And when um Trump first took office all those years ago, I looked around and was like, how did we get here? What happened? And I felt like one of the things that had happened was that people like me, me also, were quiet and weren't really clear and honest about who we were, about what our communities are like, um, and really about sharing our humanity. Because I think that's part of the problem, is not everybody understands what our community even is, right? Um, and why we're valuable and why immigrants are valuable, and that we're just like people, like everyone is just a person. And so I took that moment as a challenge to start speaking and writing as myself. Um and it's been a beautiful journey since that moment of founding Latina Media Co., doing a lot of freelance writing, um, pushing myself and my arguments to better understand what I like and what I don't like and why, and to approach media, not as necessarily like a puzzle piece, but as like a how can I explain what's like going on here, what's important about something. And I love that work. I love doing that explanation, walking folks through um and sharing my worldview and perspective. And so I just would encourage folks that like if you have something that you're holding back on, it can be really scary to go and try to live your dream because then what if you fail? What if you don't actually like it? Like there's this like hurdle about it, but when you cross over, and even you know, like maybe you don't win the biggest accolades. Like, I don't have any pulitzers, you know, but like I love it out there. I love what I do, and it is a privilege and a joy. And so I think we need to do a job of defining success internally because a pulitzer, whatever, is an external accolade. And like, who cares? Like, congrats to those people, but like I who cares? I care that I am doing something of value to my community that I love and that gives me joy and that feeds me and feeds my family, and that my kids can see me going out and doing that stuff, and that I am proud of me, and they are proud of me, and my community is proud of me. And like, what else do you need? It's todo, no?

SPEAKER_02 39:41

Mm-hmm. Well, I don't I don't think we're gonna get a better answer than that. No, really not. I think it comes down to your right to a solid self-audit, what makes us truly happy. Yeah. Yeah. Um I'm so happy to have you here, and again, I appreciate you stopping in. Um Thank you for having me. Uh honestly, uh again, w we weren't planning on doing any uh too many remote things. I'd prefer to have people in the studio and everything. But again, with the timing what happened, and he got sick, and I got sick, and um then I shut down in June for the for the midseason break. So this happened to be very uh uh, you know, it's a fortunate connection that we did with the timing and everything. And I and I thank you for doing this on very short notice. Um I was you know what?

SPEAKER_01 40:19

You're right. Because I was like, I I don't know, man. She's busy, she's bombarded, but I'm gonna But but You got me.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

You got me.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

I took a chance, I said, you won't know. What's the worst thing that can happen? She can't do it, and here we are.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Yeah. Um Well, thank you so much. I want to say it's been a pleasure. These have been great questions and I think important conversations for us to have out loud um in front of folks and you know, internally. So thank you. Thank you for inviting me on.

unknown 40:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

Yeah. Um what are your handles? Let what do people find your work?

SPEAKER_00 40:49

Yeah. Follow me on C Escrar Andrade, you know, Latina, so I got the big long name. Um on Instagram. That's the number one way. And follow Latina Media Co. Uh, also on Instagram. Primarily go to our site, Latinamedia.co. Um, and you'll be able to really see a pretty cool, diverse set of opinions and like different ways of approaching things. You know, we recently ran a story on MIA, the new Peacock show, starring a Latina, talking about what's ex exciting about that show. Um, and it ran right next to a critique of um my killer nannies and talking about how we the, and they're both narco shows. So like we are debating it internally. Um, and I think that's really of value. So come play with us, check us out. And if you are a Latina, queer Latinx folks who's always been like, I love media, I have lots of opinions about it. Let me tell you, you can be a writer, you can be a critic. Hit me up. I respond to every single pitch email that we receive. You can see our pitch guide, we are transparent, and we need more of us doing this work. Um, it is fun and it is important. And you know, that's the best.

SPEAKER_02 41:59

I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. I told you she's fun. Didn't I tell you? Yeah. Yeah. Well, again, we we didn't really get to talk too much at Sundance because I again I am socially awkward. I got my back to the wall and people just like. Me too. I like being in the corner. Yeah, people like Jerry, you okay? You're like, I'm fine as long as I stay here, you know. Um Yeah, my social battery isn't what it used to be. I'm shy too, as you can tell. I've always been kind of shy. Okay, Randy. Um this has been an awesome. And again, this is uh, you know, we as as a people, you know, we we we all have our different story, and I'm I'm happy that we're able to dive into your journey and um into the evolution of you know with the Latino voices in entertainment and what it really takes to build a credibility and especially in today's in uh in in today's media landscape, you know, and and that's impressive. And again, you I I I I love your answers, I really do. Um and I appreciate you taking the time to uh to sit here with us. Um Christina, any final thoughts, mission statement, anything you want to say?

SPEAKER_00 42:55

No, I think we we covered it. Um, you know, at if you want to sound bite, um at Latina Media Co., we platform Latina and Queer Latinx Perspectives in Media, and we do it because white guys write two-thirds of movie reviews despite making up thirty percent of the population, and women of color combined. So that's everybody black, Asian, indigenous, Latina write just four percent of movie reviews, and that gives a distorted sense of what's important and what's quality and what matters. So I invite our community to join us and come be a part of changing that.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

Amen. Thank you so much. Amen today.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

Thank you so much. Christina Escobar, once again, awesome, awesome, awesome uh uh interview. This was uh uh this is great, and I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

It was a pleasure. You're awesome, Christina. Thank you. Send me the links when it's up, but let me know if you need anything else.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Um it'll be the audio first and then and then it takes like a week or two after to do the uh the YouTube for some reason.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

I know the producer, so I mean I can I'm I'm in good with them, so we'll see. Okay, let me know.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Thank you so much, Christina. Thank you. This is Chateau Bow. Uh today with the special co-host of uh Manny the Voice Cabo. And again, an awesome, awesome guest, uh Christina Escobal. Um, you got her handles, check her out. Um, and thank you for tuning in. This is Chateau Bow. Stay blessed, guys.