Q&A: Filmmakers Discuss 'VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos'

In the new three-part series "VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos," host John Leguizamo takes viewers on a captivating journey, delving into both well-known and lesser-known stories of Latino history. Spanning thousands of years, from the Ancient Empires of the Inca and Aztec, all the way to the present day, the show shines a light on the rich and often overlooked history of Latinos.

PBS spoke with the filmmakers behind "American Historia," director Ben DeJesus and creator/host John Leguizamo, to learn more about their creative approach to the series, the collaborative process of working with historical advisors, and how AI technology supported their storytelling initiatives.

What was your creative vision for the look and content of the series?

John Leguizamo (Creator, Host and Executive Producer): Our creative vision for the series was to create a new visual ‘history book’ that more accurately represents the incredible contributions of Latino people going back hundreds and thousands of years — not just to the birth and success of the United States, but also to many of the technological and scientific advances from the ancient empires that are still pillars in society today. It’s a lot of ground to cover and it has to be good television. I’m proud that we were able to pull it off in a way that was not just enlightening, but also entertaining.

Ben DeJesus (Director and Executive Producer): As storytellers, we wanted to create a series that was visually dynamic and vivid to best connect to all kinds of viewers, not just Latino audiences. Despite their absence from many history textbooks, these are fascinating stories full of intrigue, drama, innovation, perseverance, and high stakes, often in the face of oppression. We interviewed dozens of academic experts at the top of their respective fields, while John was able to visit many of the sites where the history actually took place. John has an infectious curiosity, and we wanted viewers to feel like they were on this journey with him. Above all else, it needed to be accurate, so with our team of historical advisors we delved into extensive research and fact-finding missions that sometimes felt more like a deep investigation versus just another television series.

You knew there would not be images from the earliest periods of history, really until the advent of photography in the late 19^th century – what were your original plans to portray the early eras?

Ben: Since we’re covering history going back thousands of years, we knew that bringing these stories to life visually would be a challenge. We featured art from the period, while also shooting artifacts and locations, and filming where the historical events took place. We were liberal in using all different types of media – photography, painting, antique and modern illustrations, and graphic design, while also ensuring the greatest historical accuracy possible.

John: There’s a problem, of course, with historical records and imagery, best summed up by the famous saying that “History is written by the victors.” Images of indigenous and Latino or Afro-Caribbean populations that are preserved from the 16^th century – even up through the Civil War – are the work and through the perspective of the more powerful – from the conquistadors to the 19^th century railroad barons.

How did the advent of artificial intelligence, as a tool to generate images, change your plans – instead of more traditional artist renderings or stills of artwork?

Ben: Fairly early in the process we realized that we could also leverage the new technology and tools available for filmmakers to help breathe life into this rich history. We used generative AI to create new images, drawn from countless items of source material, that would more faithfully represent the looks and indeed the dress of early Latino and Afro-Caribbean people, tribes, and leaders.

Images created were reviewed and approved by a team of prominent historical advisors, for authenticity. The architecture, wardrobe, weaponry, and the hybrid illustrations of our Latino ancestors were closely vetted and considered to be historically accurate.

John: But again, being historically accurate was the most important factor for the entire series. Behind every single AI-generated image was a team of talented human artists and designers who had to guide and refine the process along the way. Lots of trial and error, but well worth it, because whether it’s Incans or Tainos from hundreds of years ago, these were actual people that walked the earth, and showing their impact helps the audience better connect to the history.

We also enlisted a who’s who of renowned actors including Benjamin Bratt, Edward James Olmos, Rosie Perez, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, and many more to bring to life historical quotations from eyewitnesses of the time periods American Historia covers.

How did you choose which characters and scenes to represent using AI tools?

John: While I was researching, writing, and performing my one-man Broadway show Latin History for Morons, I was amazed by the incredible richness of our history and the characters who existed during those times. So we already had a sense of the stories we wanted to cover. In my play I’m able to bring some of these people to life through my performances with a bit of a lighthearted tone. But for this series, we wanted to be more reverential to the material. There were triumphs of course, but also tragedy. The many types and forms and sources of imagery help make all of it more accessible, relatable, and ironically more real for viewers.

Ben: We focused first on making sure the characters were relevant to our main thesis of highlighting the overlooked contributions of Latinos throughout history. Whether it was the Mayas’ incredible achievements in astronomy or the thousands of Latinos who fought in the Revolutionary War, it was all about telling compelling stories with extraordinary characters. Once that was decided, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work on making the series not just educational, but entertaining.

We only used AI-generated images for the least-documented periods of history – more so in the pre-Columbian era (Episode 1), when cameras did not exist and surviving artwork is limited; less so as we moved into the late 1800s (Episode 2) with the advent of photography, and were able to include more black-and-white archival stills; and not at all in the 1900s (Episode 3) when a full range of photographs and footage was available in historical archives.

And following our motif of creating a new visual ‘history book,’ we only used AI to create stills, in the style of illustrations that you would find in textbooks. No video was created with generative AI. We had an amazing team of graphic designers who edited each generated image, bringing a human touch to tie them together in a cohesive artistic style, and also helping viewers to distinguish between archival images (like the black-and-white stills seen throughout Episode 2) and those storybook-style images that began as AI creations.

Once you decided and had rough images, what was the process for approval?

Ben: After using text-to-image generative AI tools to create the first round of rough images, we had to make sure they helped propel the story forward. Then came the refining process. Every AI-generated image was reviewed by our researchers and advisors for historical accuracy – and when something didn’t pass the test, our team of talented visual effects artists made the necessary revisions to get it right. Whether it was the recreation of the ancient pyramids of Mexico’s Teotihuacan or portraits of the Taino indigenous people, everything needed to be historically accurate and was edited until it was.

So your historical advisors were deeply involved in the review for accuracy?

Ben: Every second of our series was reviewed by our historical advisors – not just the AI, but every word spoken on camera was vetted by our advisors and signed off for accuracy by our advisors.

John: For me, we had to get the history right. Not just mostly right in an opinionated and subjective way, but 100% right.

Ben: I always tell people that John’s office looks like a grad student studying for mid-terms. The number of historical books he devours is mind blowing. But that wasn’t enough in this case. We needed to be able to stand behind the truth of what we were sharing. So we brought in the heavy hitters of Latin history to make sure we were fully accurate:

Davíd Carrasco, Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University, who specializes in Mexican American history of religion and Mesoamerica; María Elena Fernández, Professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Northridge, who has been teaching history of the Americas, Chicana/o history, and women in Latin America for 20 years; and José C. Moya, Professor of History at Barnard College with a focus on global migration. All three are renowned experts in their fields, and their depth of knowledge in different facets of Latino history perfectly complemented each other and what we set out to accomplish in this series.

Our three advisors reviewed the full series and gave notes on in-progress cuts, which we incorporated as we continued to refine the storytelling. In the end, all signed off with their full approval, both narratively and in terms of historical accuracy.

José Moya told us: “This is great: engaging, informative, and insightful… I could not find any error, questionable statement, or bias.”

Davíd Carrasco said: “The historical accuracy is impressive and innovative in all you have uncovered. Congrats on the hard historical work you and colleagues have done on America Historia.”

And María Elena Fernández offered this feedback: “It was an honor to be included in the American Historia documentary series on camera and as an expert reviewer.

American Historia's power is making Latinx people visible in U.S. history, like documentaries before it, but its profound and singular contribution is explaining the meaning for our people, represented by John Leguizamo's passionate perspective.

In the context of a history of invisibility in the education system and popular culture, and at a time when we are more maligned and criminalized than since the civil rights era, American Historia heals those who the history of our ancestors has been kept from them. And simultaneously it serves as essential education for those who don't know or harbor any doubts about the integral value of Latinx people in the social, political and economic development of the U.S. This is history from the heart, at a time when we most need it.”

What do you see as the future of this kind of illustration in documentary film?

Ben: I believe that using the latest technology to tell the best possible story is always going to be adopted and absorbed into documentary filmmaking. Similar to how recent nature documentaries have brought dinosaurs back to life in a way that’s accurate and much more compelling than just shooting static bones in a museum. But again, accuracy must be at the forefront of any of these endeavors. I like to think of AI technology as just another tool now available in my artistic toolbox – not to replace the work of talented artists or to take shortcuts, but to enhance the work we’re already doing to tell these important stories.

John: I imagine that when the first cave painters began telling stories of the past visually, instead of just verbally, they too raised the eyebrows of their fellow Neanderthals. But by using the tools they had access to at the time – in their case, paint – they were able to share their exploits and mark their presence, in a more long-lasting way. So I believe, as storytellers, we have an obligation to use all the tools available to us within reason, to make a more meaningful impact on audiences.

Stream "VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos” on pbs.org and the PBS App.