The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) hosted its 2020 annual Impact Awards Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on Friday (February 28) in Beverly Hills, Calif, celebrating the Latinx community’s progress in media over the past year.

Emcees Justina Machado and Jacob Vargas welcomed nearly 500 attendees, coming together to support NHMC’s advocacy work for a more inclusive entertainment industry toward the Latinos, at the star-studded gala at the Beverly Wilshire.

Attendees included: Alberto Zeni,Alejandro Anda, Annie Gonzalez, Carlos Santos, Diego Tinoco, Eddie Martinez, Elle Paris-Legaspi,Gabrielle Ruiz, Gloria Calederon Kellett, J.J. Soria, Jesse Garcia, Karrie Martin, Laura Patalano, Linda Yvette Chavez, Marvin Bryan Lemus, Nadine Velazquez, Niko Guardado, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Karey Burke, Marie Sylla-Dixon,Patricia Riggen, Peter Villegas, Raquel Justice, Tanya Saracho, Toby Emmerich, Zulay Henao, and more.

Actress America Ferrera was honored among others with the Outstanding Series Producer Impact Award. The mother-to-be, 35, was simply glowing last night as she gave a groundbreaking speech in front of her Hollywood peers.

“Thank you to our allies in the room – those of you who are not particularly from the Latino community – and yet, you have the capacity to see the value of our lives, of our stories; you invest your money in our storytellers and give real creative power to our voices,” she said.

“If you empower us, we will deliver beautiful content and voracious audiences – and we promise to make it a party!”

Ferrera also revealed earlier in the afternoon that she would be leaving NBC’s hit workplace comedy Superstore after it’s upcoming fifth season finale.

Film director Kim A. Snyder has returned to Sundance Film Festival 2020 with another groundbreaking documentary, US Kids, sharing the untold accounts of heroes who survived tragic mass shootings in America.

Following the success of her Peabody award-winning documentary Newtown in 2016, Snyder now taps into the aftermath of a mass shooting that occurred on Feb.14, 2018, when a gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others, in what became the deadliest shooting at a high school in United States

Film Synopsis: Determined to turn unfathomable tragedy into action, the teenage survivors (Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Sam Fuentes, Jackie Corin, Bria Smith, Alex King, Alex Dworet, Annika Dworet, and Natalie Barden) of Parkland, Florida catalyze a powerful, unprecedented youth movement that spreads with lightning speed across the country, as a generation of mobilized youth take back democracy in this powerful coming-of-age story.

NDLYSS spoke with Snyder at the world premiere on Jan. 25 at The Marc Theatre in Parc City, Utah to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on the making of the project.

The veteran director is currently seeking distribution.