ABOUT

Herstory

Chica Luna Productions is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop and support women of color who use popular media to engage social justice themes and are accountable to their communities. Founded in September 2001 by three working artists who gathered to produce progressive multi-media projects, Chica Luna has since grown to include members in both New York and Los Angeles, and has established a track record of partnering with like-minded individuals and organizations toward promoting socially conscious media by, about and for people of color.

In October 2005 we opened a community-based studio in El Barrio New York that will serve us to further produce popular media and expand our multi-media organizing.

DID YOU KNOW?

* Women comprised 7% of all directors working on the top 250 films of 2005. Ninety three percent (93%) of the films had no female directors.*
* Only .2% of those were by women of color.
* Women comprised 16% of all executive producers working on the top 250 films of 2005. Sixty four percent (64%) of the films had no female executive producers. *
* Women accounted for 11% of writers working on the top 250 films of 2005. Eighty four percent (84%) of the films had no female writers.*
* Of 839 writers employed on 95 TV shows in 1999, 6% were African American, 1% were Latino, .3% were Asian American and none were Native American. Women of color were only 1%.
* Women in the U.S. earn 2/3 of what men do.
* Women artists earn only 1/4 of what men artists do. Women of color are lucky to even be able to earn a living through our art.

WHY A NEED FOR CHICA LUNA?

Media images wield tremendous power in shaping our beliefs and behaviors. Communities of color regularly consume entertainment media that objectify our women and represent them as one-dimensional stereotypes that ranges from the welfare queens to sexual deviants. These images define people of color for those who have little contact with our communities, yet who hold the power to impact our lives. From legislators who utilize these destructive images to enact policy that limit our access to employment, education and other opportunities for advancement, to members of our communities who internalize these depictions and ignore, excuse and perpetuate abuse and violence. Therefore, Chica Luna exists to create mass media within a social justice framework so as not to replicate the stereotypes produced by the entertainment industry about women-of-color.

*Data collected from The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2005 by Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D., School of Communication, San Diego State University. For the full report, please visit The Celluloid Ceiling.