The past year has seen Eva Longoria direct the Oscar nominated Flamin’ Hot, form the Banijay-backed Hyphenate Media Group with Cris Abrego, and be awarded $50 million for her advocacy and charity efforts by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. That’s along with the Desperate Housewives alum’s other day jobs on upcoming seasons of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Apple TV+’s Land of Women, and more. A dedicated Disruptor from the drop, true multi-hyphenate Longoria wants to see a shift in Hollywood, and she has the pillars of demographics and demand in her sights.
DEADLINE: You’ve touted Hyphenate as a production banner, a business incubator, a talent agency and a bottom-line centered wake-up call. How does that mix work in the Hollywood of today?
EVA LONGORIA: Cris and I know there’s a better way to do business. This is exactly a disruptor point of view, because that’s exactly what Hyphenate is. We’re in an industry that wants to keep us in our lanes, as creatives, as people, as Mexican Americans, and any other type and nationality as well.
I really believe that the strikes of last year were not only necessary to reset the industry, but they were a direct result of creators taking back their power and interrogating these existing systems. The systems no longer work, they don’t produce a creative environment. They are archaic, and expensive.
DEADLINE: How do you mean?
LONGORIA: For me, I was constantly in these overall deals, that could not serve my ambitions. Cris and I looked around and saw, wow, there’s a huge whitespace, no pun intended. The current paradigm of how our business works is the first thing that’s diluted out of the development process is diversity. We want to see the industry shift from quantity back to quality, but not lose diversity in the process.
DEADLINE: With diversity officers, programs and productions first on the chopping block of late, that doesn’t sound like something the studios and streamers are inclined to do.
LONGORIA: It should be, because if any company is going to grow they’re going to have to figure how to attract Generation Z. They’re going to have to make undeniable, inclusive content for the most diverse generation we’ve ever seen and Hyphenate is here to do that.
DEADLINE: A McKinsey report released earlier this year estimated that Hollywood could pull in $12 to $18 billion more annually if there was more Latino representation on both sides of the camera. A 2021 study conservatively predicted another $10 billion boost in yearly revenue if the representation of Black Americans improved. In an industry that makes about $179 billion annually, that’s at least an extra $22 billion being left on the table. How do you battle against that?
LONGORIA: You battle every day. Look, it’s not a question of whether there’s space for this inclusive content. That’s the wrong question. The question is who nowadays really can afford to leave $18 billion on the table? This is about a business solution.
Part of the point of Hyphenate is not to ignore the money on the table. We’ve decided to create content for the growing market, not the shrinking market. Half of Gen Z is non-white. A full 25% of Gen Z is Latino. The question should be, who’s going to want to miss out on making the most compelling content for that generation?
DEADLINE: The premise is clear, but how do you overcome the pressures towards the status quo?
LONGORIA: If we at Hyphenate focus consistently on delivering premium content, which doesn’t mean pricey, I think we can overcome the pressure all these silos and vertical integrated companies face to buy from within or use the same people. Our business model makes us have skin in the game, take risks as well with the studios and networks and platforms. That changes the status quo, that changes the relationship and that’s what I want. I don’t want to be an employee. I want to be a partner, there’s value in that for everyone.
Read the digital edition of Deadline’s Disruptors/Cannes magazine here.
DEADLINE: Speaking of value, earlier this year, you were awarded $50 million from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez as part of their Courage & Civility prize for philanthropists. Your Eva Longoria Foundation has been in the trenches for more than a decade, providing educational and economic programs for Latinas. How did this award come to pass?
LONGORIA: I gave a speech at this Women in Film dinner this awards season, and I said, “You know who helps women? Other women.” So, if you are ever in a position of power to hire someone or recommend someone, recommend the woman, hire the woman on their merit, because nobody else is going to do it. Unknown to me, Lauren was in the audience, she later told me, and she thought, “I can help.” The award is bigger than any industry award I could ever get. It allows us to continue to scale what we’ve been doing at the foundation with STEM education for girls, microloans and an infrastructure of opportunity. It’s the most important work I can do.
With the foundation and with Hyphenate, I want to build a pipeline of skills and talent. That’s the real value.