Moctesuma Esparza
| Moctezuma Esparza | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 12, 1949 East Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Film producer, entertainment executive, entrepreneur, community activist |
| Years active | 1973-present |
Moctesuma Esparza (born March 12, 1949) is an American producer, entertainment executive, entrepreneur and community activist. Moctesuma Esparza is well known for his contributions to the movie industry and commitment to creating opportunities for Latinos everywhere. He is the CEO of Maya Cinemas, a theater chain catering to the United States Latino audience. He is also a partner with Robert Katz in the company Esparza/Katz Productions. Moctesuma founded Maya Entertainment in 2007, a vertically integrated media content company providing full service motion picture distribution and production.
He is "an outspoken promoter of Latino films" and many of his films focus on Chicano themes. He has produced over twenty films, several of them for television, and has won over 200 awards.
A participant in the 1960s-era movement for the civil rights and equality of Mexican Americans, Esparza remains committed to public service, donating his time to educational, cultural, and professional organizations, especially those that aim to educate Latinos in the business of media production.
Esparza was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California. His father, a refugee of the Mexican Revolution, migrated to the United States in 1918. His father's awareness of the motivations behind the Revolution imbued him with a strong sense of social justice. As a child, he viewed Spanish language films in the many Los Angeles theaters that offered such fare. Moctesuma was a theatre major in high school. He acted, played the saxophone, and loved movies.
He attended the School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his B.A. in 1971 and M.F.A. in the same field in 1973. During his sophomore year at UCLA, Moctesuma created an ethno-communications program at the film school. He wrote a proposal, made the curriculum, and successfully created (and was a student in) the first multicultural film program in the United States.
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