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Eva Longoria has revealed her fears over flagging support for diversity, equity and inclusion (Dei) programs in the U.S.

The former Desperate Housewives star, director and producer, who is also known for her activism in support of the Latino community, was responding to a question about the recent spate of Dei cuts in the U.S. in an onstage conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival.

“It’s funny, this kind of pendulum of Dei programs that are being cut back, and a lot of great directors and writers that come out of those programs will suffer. because they give opportunity where opportunity is not usually there,” she said.

“It’s much harder for women to break through in Hollywood, and it’s much harder for people of color to break through,” she said.

“I don’t think there’s a studio exec in a tower going I don...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Weekly Commentary: The National Board of Review, New York Film Critics and Los Angeles Film Critics Association chose three different cinematographers for their picks as the best of the year.

Rodrigo Prieto won a combination prize from NBR for his work on “Barbie...

Jesse Garcia in Flamin’ Hot Photo: Searchlight Pictures Flamin’ Hot is about—you guessed it—the hugely popular Cheetos snacks that currently comes in a range of flavors, including Flamin’ Hot Limón, Flamin’ Hot Asteroids, and Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch, which are all nestled within the Frito-Lay/PepsiCo corporate multiverse.

Jesse Garcia in Flamin’ HotPhoto: Searchlight Pictures

Flamin’ Hot is about—you guessed it—the hugely popular Cheetos snacks that currently comes in a range of flavors, including Flamin’ Hot Limón, Flamin’ Hot Asteroids, and Flamin’ Hot Chipotle Ranch, which are all nestled within the Frito-Lay/PepsiCo corporate multiverse. But...

Searchlight’s Flamin’ Hot trailer delves into the true story behind the popular (but messy) Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Jesse Garcia (Quinceañera) stars as Richard Montañez, the janitor at a Frito-Lay factory who helped turn the industry around by cooking up a spicy version of the cheesy snack food.

“My journey is the journey of billions of people,” said the real Richard Montañez. “Being Mexican, being born in a labor camp, I’ve been fighting my whole life. I don’t know what it’s like not to fight.”

Director Eva Longoria calls Montañez the godfather of Hispanic marketing.

“That was his gift: seeing that nobody was paying attention to the Hispanic consumer. His gift wasn’t making a recipe in a chemical lab. His genius and talent and where he broke through was saying, ‘You guys, there’s a huge segment of the population in the United States that nobody is paying attention to,...

Biopics, especially those that err on the side of mainstream and are helmed by a major studio, can and do go wrong. From bad casting to lacking scripts, to directorial faux-pas and even sensational stories that muddle the truth, the world has had its fair share of flawed glimpses into the lives of history’s most compelling people.

Richard Montañez, the man who claims to have invented the “flamin’ hot” Cheeto is one of those people, especially when one takes into account the times his story has been allegedly debunked. But his biopic, aptly titled “Flamin’ Hot,” is far from bad, lacking, or flawed. Eva Longoria’s directorial debut about the power of identity and resilience is too much fun to miss out on in spite of whether or not the real story holds weight.

Jesse Garcia stars as Montañez, a scrappy and charismatic self-proclaimed “vato” from Southern California who...

Producers Eva Longoria and Charles D. King shared their frustrations today at the Produced By conference, relating that studios tell them they looked for diverse crew members, but couldn’t find any. MacRo CEO King and UnbeliEVAble Entertainment founder Longoria said they are creating a database of diverse talent they can present to studios when faced with that question.

“We have to do the work,” Longoria said at a keynote talk for the Produced By conference. “Every time I produce something, I bring my crew list.”

Longoria and King said they share the list amongst each other, and with other filmmakers like Ava DuVernay. DuVernay has gone a step further, creating the Array Crew database, accessible by studios.

Even with a list of resumes, Longoria said producers must advocate for talent to get a chance. Longoria is directing the movie Flamin’ Hot for Searchlight Pictures. She was met with resistance...

Unplugging Trailer — Debra Neil-Fisher‘s Unplugging (2022) movie trailer has been released by Vertical Entertainment. The Unplugging trailer stars Eva Longoria, Matt Walsh, Nicole Byer, Al Madrigal, Lea Thompson, and Keith David. Crew Brad Morris and Matt Walsh wrote the screenplay for Unplugging. Leo Birenberg created the music for the film. Federico Cantini crafted the cinematography [...]

Continue reading: Unplugging (2022) Movie Trailer: Eva Longoria & Matt Walsh star in Debra Neil-Fisher’s Digital Detox Family Comedy...

Eva Longoria has wrapped production on her directorial feature debut, Searchlight Pictures’ “Flamin’ Hot.”

“I’m so honored to have led this team in telling a beautiful story where people can see themselves in these characters and are inspired by the endless beauty and talent that is so rich in our community,” Longoria tells Variety exclusively. “Every day we were on set, I was reminded again and again by our amazing cast and crew that our community is smart, creative and endlessly talented.”

From a script by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez, the film tells the story of Richard Montañez, a Mexican American who turned the iconic Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snack into a global pop culture phenomenon. The film is produced by DeVon Franklin (“Breakthrough”) for Franklin Entertainment. Searchlight has yet to set a release date.

“From the moment I found Richard Montañez’s story, I was inspired by...