The Chicano Hollywood Film Festival has named Oscar-nominated makeup artist and character designer Ken Diaz as the inaugural recipient of its Community Impact Legacy Award, presented by Pure Flix Familia, the upcoming Spanish-language faith and family entertainment destination from Great American Media. The award, announced during the festival's Closing Night Awards Ceremony, honors individuals who exemplify faith, servant leadership, and a lifelong commitment to strengthening families and communities.
Diaz's Hollywood career includes acclaimed work on films like Blood In Blood Out, American Me, and Training Day, but it is his personal journey of faith and his dedication to community service that made him the unanimous choice for this honor. In 1991, Diaz was shot in the leg after confronting young gang members spray-painting graffiti beneath a Los Angeles freeway overpass. During his recovery, a friend prayed with him and introduced him to Jesus Christ, sparking a spiritual transformation that would reshape his life and career.
Soon after, Diaz became involved in a church in Pico Rivera, where he worked alongside former gang members who shared dramatic presentations based on their own lives. Their stories revealed the violence and consequences of gang culture, but also the hope found through faith, forgiveness, and redemption. That encounter changed Diaz's perspective, leading him to understand the humanity of those often judged by their past. As he told the Los Angeles Times, "I had gone from wanting to beat these kids…to having a deeper understanding of them. I realized the humanity of the hurt, damaged people who just need love and guidance."
This understanding brought authenticity to his work in films that portray gang life not as something to glorify, but as a reflection of broken lives that can be transformed through hope and redemption. Diaz continues this commitment through his service with Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program. He serves on the Advisory Board of Homeboy Media, which creates pathways into the entertainment industry for formerly gang-involved and formerly incarcerated individuals.
"Ken Diaz has spent a lifetime creating unforgettable characters on-screen, but his greatest legacy is the lives he has touched off-screen," said Johnny Murillo, founder of the Chicano Hollywood Film Festival. "His story reflects the values this award was created to recognize: faith, redemption, service, and a commitment to helping others discover hope and purpose."
Denise Crayne, Chief Financial Officer of Great American Media, echoed those sentiments: "The Community Impact Legacy Award recognizes people who use their gifts to make a lasting difference. Ken's remarkable career speaks for itself, but what makes him truly deserving is the way he has invested his faith, influence, and compassion in the lives of others."
Diaz's work with Homeboy Industries and Homeboy Media helps develop filmmaking programs that provide career training and job placement for roles both in front of and behind the camera, producing projects that reflect the organization's philosophy of kinship, redemption, and hope. His lifelong commitment to faith, family, and second chances makes him the ideal inaugural recipient of this award, according to Murillo.
