Moctesuma Esparza

Moctesuma Esparza (born March 12, 1949) is an American film producer and the CEO of Maya Cinemas, a theater chain catering to the United States Latino audience. He is also a partner of Robert Katz in the company Esparza/Katz Productions.

He is "an outspoken promoter of Latino films"^[1] and many of his films focus on Chicano themes. He has produced over twenty films, several of them for television, and has won over 100 awards.^[2][3]

A participant in the 1960s-era movement for the civil rights and equality of Mexican-Americans, Esparza remains committed to public service, donating his time to educational, cultural, and professional organizations, especially those that aim to educate Latinos in the business of media production.^[2]

Childhood and education

Esparza was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California. His father, a refugee of the Mexican Revolution, migrated to the United States in 1918. His father's awareness of the motivations behind the Revolution imbued him with a strong sense of social justice.^[2] As a child, he viewed Spanish-language films in the many Los Angeles theaters that offered such fare.^[1]

During the 1960s, he participated in the Chicano Movement, agitating for the civil rights of Mexican-Americans. He was one of the organizers of the 1968 Chicano Blowouts, a series of youth-led protests inspired by educator Sal Castro in which Mexican-Americans demanded equal educational opportunities. His role in the walkouts as "liaison to the press,"^[2] which led to his interest in the media. The movement is memorialized in his 2006 HBO film Walkout.

He studied theatre arts, motion pictures, and television at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his B.A. in 1971 and M.F.A. in the same field in 1973.

Film career

Esparza's earliest work in film was in service to the Chicano Movement. He filmed a speech given by Reies Lopez Tijerina at UCLA, as well as the 1970 Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War. The Moratorium footage became his first documentary, Requiem 29. He also helped organize Chicano student conferences and the Media Urban Crisis Committee, which analyzed the effects of media on minority communities and recommended that members of those communities attend film school.

After graduating from UCLA, he worked for the children's television program Sesame Street, developing bilingual segments. Shortly thereafter, he produced the pilot and the first season of the PBS program Villa Alegre, which won multiple awards.

Following the success of Villa Alegre, Esparza became an independent producer of documentaries. He also filmed a production of the Chicano comedy troupe Culture Clash, A Bowl of Beings, prior to breaking into Hollywood with The Milagro Beanfield War.

Maya Cinemas

In 2005, Esparza opened the first multiplex in the Maya Cinemas chain, a 14-screen theater in Salinas, California. Since then, he has opened 16 other multiplexes in California, with 26 more scheduled to open in Texas. Maya Cinemas primarily shows first-run Hollywood films, sometimes with subtitles in Spanish, but also screens foreign and independent films. The concessions offer traditional snacks such as popcorn as well as "Latino favorites like burritos and churros."^[1] They all feature Mayan motifs, hearkening back to the Los Angeles theaters of Esparza's youth.

In 2007, Esparza resigned from the board of trustees of the California State University system. After planning to open a Mayan Cinemas at the Campus Pointe Project at California State University Fresno, a neighboring landholder who also planned to open a cinema presented a legal challenge, charging that Esparza had a conflict of interest in developing the project while sitting on the board of trustees. Despite the University's finding that there was no conflict of interest, Esparza resigned out of "respect for the intent of the government code to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest."^[4]

Filmography

Production credit

• Moe (2008) (executive producer)
• The Startup (2007) (executive producer)
• Walkout (2006) (HBO)
• Gods and Generals (2003) (executive)
• Price of Glory (2000)
• Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) (executive, made for television)
• Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) (executive, made for television)
• Butter (1998) (executive, released on video as Never 2 Big)
• Rough Riders (1997) (TV) (executive)
• The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997)
• Selena (1997)
• The Avenging Angel (1995) (made for television)
• The Cisco Kid (1994) (TV) (executive)
• Gettysburg (1993)
• The Ambulance (1990)
• The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
• The Telephone (1988)
• Radioactive Dreams (1985)
• The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982) (made for television)
• Only Once in a Lifetime (1979)
• Agueda Martinez: Our People, Our Country (1977) (producer)

Television

• Villa Alegre, PBS

Public service

• Member, Board of Trustees, California State University (2004-2007)
• Chair of the Board, New America Alliance (2000-03)
• Co-Founder/Board member, National Association of Latino Producers
• Founding member, Cesar Chavez Foundation (2002- )
• Corporate Board of Directors, Motion Picture Television Fund
• Advisory Board, National Hispanic Media Coalition
• Board of Directors, Museum of Latin American Art
• Founder and Board of Directors member, Los Angeles Academy of Arts and Enterprise Charter School^[5]
• Board of Advisors, Minority Media Telecommunications Council

Quotes

References

External links

• Moctesuma Esparza at the Internet Movie Database