EXCLUSIVE: Joel M. Gonzales, the current board president and executive director of Latino arts advocacy group Nosotros, has joined with philanthropist and entrepreneur Amber Butaud to launch Untold Content Group. The production company will develop, finance and produce film, TV, documentary and podcast projects that the company says will be “diverse, authentic and culturally reflective of today’s global audience.”
Jessica G. Ramos; Tyler Childs
Under the structure, Gonzales, also the former Head of Latinx Content at Confluential Films, will run Untold’s Los Angeles offices, while Butaud will oversee the 4TheOneStudio production facility located in Houston. That production hub will be available for mid-level productions, commercials, music videos and includes a podcast recording studio.
“The primary directive for Untold Content Group is to work with a diverse range of rising and established storytellers to develop a slate of universally appealing content that inspire, enlighten and enrich the lives of the audience,” Gonzales said. “My goal is to be a leader in positive representation for not only my Latinx/e community but all underrepresented groups and ethnicities.”
The company is already underway on a slate that includes projects about Ricardo Montalbán (who founded Nosotros) and Black rodeo Hall of Famer Fred Whitfield; documentaries Los Regionales (The Regionals), a bilingual English-Spanish series that explores the roots, tradition and transformation of Mexican regional music, and Burn Pits: Casualties of War, a feature from Zara Hayes (Showtrial, The Battle of the Sexes) about the controversial use of burn pits by the U.S. military during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and is developing a series of nonfiction podcasts with Erick Galindo of Sin Miedo Productions.
Backing comes from Texas-based Butaud and Cassy Butaud along with Steve Bowen from Waterstone Entertainment.
“Being of two different ethnicities and cultures, Joel Gonzales and I found our common ground in our faith and our belief in bringing inspiration into the world,” Amber Butaud said. “We truly believe that if we all take the time to listen to one another’s stories, we will find that we have more in common than we think. And that there, y’all, changes the world one connection at a time.”