Following a successful first masterclass, Nosotros Organization rolled out their second installment of the Entertainment 101 Series called— How To Build Your Brand.  

Written by: Eddie Ramos

This post was originally posted on February 13, 2020.

This post was updated on April 23, 2021.

Nosotros Organization Vice-Chair representative and my good friend Natalia Ochoa was gracious enough to invite me to this enlightening event. You may also remember Natalia from the first podcast episode of The Modern Actor podcast called Networking The Right Way.

Hosted by Eric Rovner, Founder and CEO of Rovner Media and former Agent at WME along with Bob Aniello, Ceo at Treehouse Management, the program gathered a full house of aspiring Latinx artists at NBC Universal. Rovner and Aniello longtime supporters of Nosotros Org. introduced the class to understanding branding and viewing themselves as a business.  

The Latinx community is America’s fastest-growing population, and The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, one-quarter of the population will be Hispanic or Latino. Ostensibly, the entertainment industry has taken notice and is focused on diversity inclusion across its platforms. Rovner, estimates billions of dollars are being spent on content creation to provide its growing Latinx audiences. 

Despite recent polls finding that overall, minority representation in acting roles has increased, numbers remain slow-moving for Latino actors.

Regardless, both Rovner and Aniello really hit on the point that now is the time to establish your identity and create a 20- year vision for your career. Each student was encouraged to utilize “reverse engineering”, a method that rapper Ludacris and many other creatives have used by seeing your end goal first and then taking the actions necessary to get there. 

Read: A Daily Routine for Actors

Students were also instructed to embrace the full gamut of their talents, (directing, acting, writing, singing, etc.) and confidently display that across their social media platforms. Aniello says if he’s interested in a potential client he will view their Instagrams as another way to get a sense of the actor’s type and personality. Rovner seconded this process and is seeing a spike in Tik Tok and other short-form content as being a crucial component for an actor’s media presence. 

My biggest takeaway from Thursday’s masterclass was branding yourself as an actor in today’s industry can be boiled down to finding your identity, uniqueness, and authenticity. Fundamental to the discussion was the idea of transforming the narrative for actors and connecting with others who are passionate as a way to combat stagnation and complacency.  “Now is the time to grab the bull by the horns,” said presenter Eric Rovner. 

Nosotros, the oldest Latino arts advocacy organization in the United States, was founded by Hollywood legend Ricardo Montalbán in 1970. The organization, built on the notion of unity, serves as a voice for Latinos in the entertainment industry.