Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- When film documentarian Maria Agui Carter and other Latino producers banded together 13 years ago to address their underrepresentation in mass media , the mission seemed daunting and desperate , Carter said . `` We used to be few hundred people that started in 1999 , very frustrated at lack of access , trying to kick down the doors '' of major media and film making outlets , Carter told CNN . `` Through our own community building , we finally realized that we are the ones that we were waiting for . '' The National Association of Latino Independent Producers now touts a newsletter of industry trends with 10,000 subscribers , and this week the group will address how the nation 's second-largest group watches more television , buys more movie tickets and consumes more media than any other ethnicity -- and yet comprises less than 1 % of executives in Hollywood . `` We are celebrating the incredible explosion of Latinos in the media both in front and behind the camera , '' Carter , board chairwoman of NALIP , said Tuesday . `` There are great improvements in the representation of Latinos , especially in television , but there are very few directors , vice presidents and above , film and TV executives and very few at the major and mini-major studios and few in the ( talent ) agencies and the management companies , '' Carter said . `` That , of course , affects the opportunities that Latinos in the media are able to take advantage of , '' she said . The group 's efforts have taken on urgency as the latest U.S. census shows that Hispanics have exceeded the 50 million mark and are officially the country 's second-largest population group , surpassing African-Americans . At its annual conference beginning Friday in Universal City , California , the group will honor actress Rita Moreno , who has won an Oscar , an Emmy , a Tony and a Grammy Award , and will feature a keynote speech by director Robert Rodriguez , who will be launching a new cable network called El Rey for Latino and general audiences . NALIP describes itself as the nation 's pre-eminent association for Latino independent film and video makers . The NALIP 2012 conference , called `` Diverse Voices , Universal Content , '' is chiefly sponsored by Time Warner ( the parent company of CNN ) and the National Latino Media Council . `` It 's a deeply empowering moment because it 's the one time of year when Latinos in the media gather into one community , '' said Carter , who also writes , directs and produces documentaries and feature films through her firm Iguana Films . `` We have generated a really powerful feeling of belonging and an ethos of Latino artists supporting one another , '' she said . The group points out how the presence of minority industry writers in film and television has been stuck at 6 % since 1999 and the percentage of minority directors is even smaller . Meanwhile , Latinos are estimated to spend $ 1 billion on U.S. filmed entertainment and hold $ 1 trillion in general market buying power , NALIP says . On Saturday , the organization will discuss `` race and the media '' in a closing plenary that will look at how systemic , economic and cultural factors affect representation in mass media . Joseph Torres , a NALIP board member and co-author with New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez of `` News for All the People : The Epic Story of Race and the American Media , '' said among the ways to remedy the inequities is continued training of `` the new generation of film makers . '' Advocacy groups also need to hold media companies accountable through federal laws and policy , said Torres , who also is senior director at the national media reform and public interest group Free Press . Government policy `` determines who are the corporate gatekeepers , who owns media outlets under mergers , and whether the Internet will continue to remain a communications network for people to express themselves , '' Torres said . One such example is how the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Justice Department last year approved the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal , and now Comcast is starting the Aspire cable network for African-Americans led by Magic Johnson ; the Revolt network for pop music by Diddy Combs and MTV veteran Andy Schuon ; and Rodriguez 's El Rey network , Torres said . The El Rey network would be `` the biggest opportunity , the biggest bellwether trend , for opening mainstream media to Latinos , '' Torres said . `` It 's one of the biggest opportunities to come around in a while for Latinos , to have a presence in cable television , '' Torres said . `` It 's going to be an opportunity for jobs and producing content . ''
National Association of Latino Independent Producers has 10,000 followers of its newsletter . `` We are celebrating the incredible explosion of Latinos in the media , '' group 's leader says . But the group will discuss challenges at an annual conference this week .