Edward James Olmos is teaching young Latinos how to succeed in Hollywood — and life

Edward James Olmos, posing in a Burbank underpass in August, is the founder and chair of the nonprofit Latino Film Institute, which hosts the annual Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival and whose other programs include the ambitious Youth Cinema Project, which operates in 16 California school districts. And people start looking in and saying, ‘Wow, where did this come from?’” Edward James Olmos hugs Eva Longoria, director of “Flamin’ Hot,” at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival last May. The report’s authors concluded, “YCP holds great potential for impacting students’ lives as learners by effectively implementing the research based practices that support both academic learning and social emotional learning by creating positive climates in schools and classrooms, and engaging them in active learning communities that foster their social and emotional development.” This year, the California Department of Education awarded the Latino Film Institute a one-time $500,000 investment for the Youth Cinema Project. Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, who has championed legislation giving tax incentives to Hollywood to pursue more equity- and diversity-based policies, said in an email that she hopes that the funds she helped secure for the Youth Cinema Project will “help support the next generation of entertainment workers who look more like the city of L.A. and the people of California.” Carrillo called Olmos “a great thought partner, offering advice and insight.” Ah, sorry, to repeat — this is not a story about Edward James Olmos, who agreed to do this interview only if it would focus on the Latino Film Institute and YCP, not on him. He genuinely, genuinely is personally committed.” Latino Film Institute founder Edward James Olmos poses with, from left, actor-director Gloria Calderon Kellett, Youth Cinema Project executive director Erika Sabel Flores and Amazon Studios executive Latasha Gillespie at an announcement ceremony for Amazon’s partnerships with the institute in October 2022.