Relativity Media has appointed a successful Latino producer as the head of a new addition to the studio: the multicultural division.

Matt Alvarez will begin his position as executive vice president of production and president of the new division this month, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Alvarez's production credits include 2005's "Are We There Yet?" and the 2014 hit "Ride Along." The latter had just a $25 million budget but earned the most money during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend ever, breaking records with $48.1 million. "Ride Along" ultimately made over $153 million worldwide, and a sequel will be released in January of 2016.

"Matt Alvarez is one of the most creative and successful executives in our industry and is the perfect person to build out our new multicultural division," Tucker Tooley, Relativity president, said in a statement.

Alvarez also created production company Cube Vision with rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube, which is currently working on an N.W.A. biopic titled "Straight Outta Compton."

Relativity's multicultural division will work on projects with filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. Its first movie will be "Beyond the Lights," which was written and directed by Gina-Prince Blythewood, an NAACP Image Award winner, according to IMDb.

"He has a keen eye, remarkable relationships and an incredible track record," Tooley's statement said. "We have had a great experience working with him on 'Beyond the Lights' and look forward to building off that success."

"Beyond the Lights" stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Belle"), whose mother is from England and father is from South Africa, IMDb reported.

"Relativity is a wonderful home for filmmakers and creative talent as I learned while collaborating with them on 'Beyond the Lights,'" Alvarez said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "I am excited to work with Tucker, [production president] Robbie [Brenner] and their entire team on implementing our vision for a multicultural division."
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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