HISPANIC HEROES
Funds Needed for Completion: $ 565,000.00
Estimated Completion Date: 12/01/2009
Synopsis
A document of the courageous exploits and sacrifices that Hispanic-American soldiers have endured for their feeling of gratefulness and patriotism to the United States
HISPANIC HEROES pays tribute to the tens of thousands of brave Hispanic-American soldiers who have fought for the United States since World War II. Hosted by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Edward Baca, this documentary will stand as a record piece of 20th century U.S. history and will focus on the enormous contribution Hispanic Americans have made, far out of proportion to their numbers.
As nearly a quarter of the U.S. population is of Hispanic origin, there's a huge audience who wants and needs to know about this testament to Hispanic-American heroism.
Budget:
$ 565,000.00
Project's Financial Needs
Funds from this site will be used to travel to cities like Washington, DC and New York to meet with corporations in order to raise the majority of the funds from a corporate sponsor. Funds will also be used to build a website and distribute promotional materials to prospective sponsors.
Other financial Support
National G.I. Forum
LULAC
PBS Network
are supporting the production of this project.
Current stage of production
Pre-Production
Estimated Completion Date
12/01/2009
Background
Hispanics who have fought for this country have never received the proper acknowledgment in our history books or by the media. This, despite the fact that they've served in the U.S. Armed Forces and distinguished themselves far out of proportion to their numbers.
In World War II for instance, out of a total population of 2.7 million Hispanics in this country, about 500,000 were in various branches of the military. That is to say, almost a fifth of all Hispanics living in the US at that time, served in World War II. The Hispanic enlistment rate, as would also be the case for Korea and Vietnam, was higher than the population at large in relation to their percent of the total population.
In the Vietnam War, Hispanics answered the call to combat in unprecedented numbers and paid a heavy price. One out of every two Hispanics who went to Vietnam served in a combat unit. One out of every five was killed in action. In fact, Hispanics had a 19% casualty rate compared to 12% for U.S. soldiers as a whole.
Surely, time dictated the need to tell the stories of these brave men. Our goal is to introduce the public to the compelling true stories of a collection of heroic soldiers, all Hispanic, who put their lives on the line for this great country in military conflicts dating back to World War II but focusing on the last twenty-five years, from the Persian Gulf War to the current Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Target Audience
Hispanics are the largest minority in the United States, with an estimated population of 41.3 million, representing 14.2% of the total U.S. population. They are estimated to grow by more than 1.7 million a year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
63% of Hispanics in the U.S. are of Mexican origin; 10% are from Puerto Rico, 4% are from Cuba, 3% from the Dominican Republic and 3% from El Salvador. (Source: Pew Hispanic Center, 2005, tabulations from 200 census)
More than one eighth of the people in the United States are of Hispanic origin. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Hispanics accounted for 40% of the country's population growth between 1990 and 2000. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
From 2000 to 2004, Hispanics increased 14% while the non-Hispanic population increased just 2% during the same time period (Source: Pew Hispanic Center, 2005)
The median age for Hispanics is 25.8 years - 10 years younger than the median age for the united States as a whole. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Hispanic youth account for more than 34% of the total U.S. Hispanic population and more than 18% of the total U.S. youth population. By 2020, Hispanic youth will make up 23% of all U.S. youth.
U.S. Hispanic purchasing power has surged to nearly $700 billion and has been projected to reach $1 trillion by 2010. (Source: HispanTelligence)
Hispanics account for over 13% of the documented U.S. labor force and are expected to increase to 20% by 2010. (Source: HispanTelligence)
Hispanic college enrollment in four year colleges increased 29% from 1996 to 2001 (and 14% at a 2-year college). (Souce: Pew Hispanic Center)
Production Personnel
Lieutenant General (retired) Edward D. Baca served in America’s Armed Forces for 41 years. After retiring from active duty military service and prior to forming Baca Group, General Baca consulted in both the public and private sectors and devoted his time to community service. He was in constant demand as a keynote conference speaker and served as a role model for Hispanic and other minority youth.
In 1993, he acted as On-Air Spokesman and Voice-Over Narrator for “Heroes Hispanos”, a three-hour documentary that covered the gallantry and heroism of Hispanic-American soldiers who fought in all of America’s wars from 1776 to the Present Day. In September 1998, he formed Baca Group as a management and training consulting firm dedicated to not only doing a good job for clients but helping clients to do “good” in the broadest sense of the term. His vision is that Baca Group will seek to help clients with projects that will benefit community and nation and make the world a better place to live.
General Baca's military career included 41 years of distinguished service culminating in an appointment by the President of the United States of America to the position of Chief, National Guard Bureau in the Pentagon in Washington D.C. In this position he oversaw the Army and Air National Guard in the 54 States Territories and the District of Columbia. This included having regulatory authority for approximately 500,000 Guard members in almost 3000 communities nationwide. He had an annual budget of over $9 billion and was the Custodian and Accountable Officer for facilities and equipment valued at more than $100 billion. As Chief, National Guard Bureau, he served as the channel of communications between the Department of Defense and state/ territory Governors on all National Guard matters. He was the principal advisor to the Secretary of The Army and Chief of Staff of the Army and Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force on all National Guard issues. Previously he served for 12 years as Adjutant General of New Mexico, Chief of Staff of the New Mexico National Guard and in diverse command and staff assignments with responsibility for personnel, financial, administrative, and logistics functions.
ARTHUR LOW
In terms of recognition in the advertising industry, Arthur Low has won far more national awards than any other copywriter in Florida. In a poll conducted by the South Florida Business Journal, he was named by his peers as the top copywriter in Miami-Dade County.
Mr. Low has also won considerable recognition in the documentary field, working with Robert Seoane on the 3-hour documentary, Heroes Hispanos, and the English language version, Hispanic Heroes. His work won an Emmy Award for Best Script.
Mr. Low is a Miami native, but spent eight years in New York working for a number of major advertising agencies. For three of those years, he was the sole writer on the British Airways account, handling all conceptual and production work in television, radio and print. For his work on British Airways, he also won several major awards at the Cannes Film Festival. He has also done a great deal of work over the past 25 years for both Univision and Telemundo, developing numerous videos as well as other creative work. He has worked very closely on various projects with such Hispanic-American luminaries as José Ferrer, Ricardo Montalban, Edward Olmos and Rita Moreno.
The Miami native has also done creative work for Aeromexico, Bacardi Rum, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Carnival Cruise Lines, Sandals Resorts, Sheraton Hotels, Hilton Hotels and Visa International. Currently, he is also doing international marketing and advertising for major real estate projects in Europe, the Dominican Republic, and throughout Central America.
