The Chicano Hollywood Film Festival has named Oscar-nominated makeup artist and character designer Ken Diaz as the inaugural recipient of the Community Impact Legacy Award, presented by Pure Flix Familia. The award, announced during the festival's Closing Night Awards Ceremony, honors individuals whose lives exemplify faith, servant leadership, and a lifelong commitment to strengthening families and communities.
Johnny Murillo, founder of the Chicano Hollywood Film Festival, praised Diaz's legacy beyond his on-screen work. "Ken Diaz has spent a lifetime creating unforgettable characters on-screen, but his greatest legacy is the lives he has touched off-screen," Murillo said. "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, emphasized that Diaz's personal journey and ministry made him the unanimous choice. "Ken's remarkable career speaks for itself, but what makes him truly deserving of this honor is the way he has invested his faith, influence and compassion in the lives of others," she said. "His commitment to mentoring others, supporting second chances and pointing people toward hope reflects everything this award was created to celebrate."
Diaz's path to this recognition includes a transformative experience in 1991 when he was shot in the leg after confronting young gang members. During his recovery, a friend prayed with him and introduced him to Jesus Christ, beginning a spiritual transformation. He became involved in a church in Pico Rivera, where he worked alongside former gang members who shared dramatic presentations based on their lives. That encounter reshaped his faith and his approach to storytelling.
"I had gone from wanting to beat these kids…to having a deeper understanding of them," Diaz recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "I realized the humanity of the hurt, damaged people who just need love and guidance."
His experiences brought authenticity to films like Blood In Blood Out, American Me, and Training Day, portraying gang life not as glorification but as a reflection of broken lives that can be transformed through hope and redemption.
Today, Diaz continues his commitment through service with Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program. He serves on the Advisory Board of Homeboy Media, the organization's film and media initiative creating pathways into the entertainment industry for formerly gang-involved and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1988, Homeboy Industries provides hope, healing, and opportunity through job training, education, mental health services, tattoo removal, legal assistance, and workforce development. Through Homeboy Media, Diaz is helping develop filmmaking programs that provide career training and job placement while producing films and television projects reflecting the organization's philosophy of kinship, redemption, and hope.
Murillo highlighted Diaz's integration of faith and profession. "Ken has never separated his faith from his profession," he said. "Whether mentoring young artists, helping tell authentic stories on screen, or creating opportunities for men and women rebuilding their lives after incarceration, he has consistently used his God-given talents to serve others. That lifelong commitment to faith, family and second chances makes him the ideal inaugural recipient of this award."
