These Latina creators are championing one another and making content for the community
Latina showrunners have been at the forefront of creating new worlds that celebrate their culture and show a different view of life as Latinos.
There’s Gloria Calderón Kellett, who created “With Love” and was the mind behind the remake of “One Day at a Time.” And there’s Debby Wolfe, who is currently the showrunner of NBC’s “Lopez vs. Lopez,” which stars comedian George Lopez and his daughter Mayan Lopez. The third season premieres Oct. 18.
Latinos, along with many other underrepresented groups, continue to face a number of challenges in the industry, including lack of opportunities, pay equity, show cancellations and more, after last year’s writers strike.
“We didn’t make s— for about six months,” Tanya Saracho, who created the Starz series “Vida,” tells TODAY.com. “Now we’re not making stuff because everyone’s making less. The studios, networks and streamers, they’re firing people, they’re downsizing and even some Latina executives that were championing us, they’re gone.”
In September, the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC) released the 2024 LDC U.S. Latinos in Media Report stating that despite U.S. Latinos making up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, only 9.8% of main cast roles in scripted shows are Latino. Out of the 198 scripted shows analyzed in the report, Latinos held 11 of the lead roles. For market parity to be achieved, the number would need to increase to 38%.
Latinos also spend “almost 50% of their time watching TV on streaming platforms yet are the least represented of all groups in streaming films, making up 11% of main cast roles,” the report states.
There’s no lack. The people are out there. There’s wonderful actors, there’s wonderful directors. I’ve met a ton (of people) that are wonderful. It’s lack of opportunity.
Gloria Calderón Kellett
And when it comes to unscripted television, Latinos are “critically underrepresented.” Additionally, Latino directors only account for 8% and screenwriters for 4% in movies.
“There’s no lack. The people are out there,” Calderón Kellett tells TODAY.com about the Latino talent in Hollywood. “There’s wonderful actors, there’s wonderful directors. It’s lack of opportunity. We’re still in a space where there’s not that many opportunities.”
The LDC’s Latinos in Media Report also found that the entertainment industry could generate about $14 billion to $18 billion per year if it were able to achieve proper Latino representation in TV and film production.
“We’re also American,” Calderón Kellett adds. “We can be on any show, it doesn’t have to be just Latino shows. I spent the first 15 years of my career on… other shows that had no Latino characters. So hire us for those too.”
Linda Yvette Chávez, co-creator of Netflix’s “Gentefied” and “Flamin’ Hot” screenwriter, tells TODAY.com that there’s a “whiplash” in Hollywood. She’s seen firsthand the shift during the pandemic to “really try to make a change in representation.”
And now, she’s found “more of a pushback” on the stories she’d like to tell, “less trust and less willingness to take risks, which shouldn’t be that way.”
“The industry takes risks on all kinds of people all the time, people who don’t look like us,” she continues. “You get burned out on convincing people why your stories are important, or why you and your community are important.”
Below, seven past and current showrunners get candid being Latina creators in Hollywood.
Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Gloria Calderón Kellett
Credits: Creator of Prime Video’s “With Love” and the “One Day at a Time” remake. Producer of “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” wrote/produced “Devious Maids,” “iZombie,” “Rules of Engagement,” as well as directed on “Lopez vs. Lopez,” and “How I Met Your Father,” and others.
How to sell a show: Tell a great story. Some people come in with big poster boards of pictures and decks, and that’s all fine. Any show I’ve sold, I’ve sold because I told a great story. I was like, “OK, you’re never gonna believe these people and what they did!” If you can tell them a great story and you can get them excited without any visuals, you got something!
Worry for future showrunners: I worry about future showrunners who don’t have set experience so that when they finally do get in the driver’s seat, I don’t know that they’re going to know how to drive the vehicle. We, who are over 40, have had the luxury of not only writing on shows, but also being on set and producing our episodes — or at least watching other people produce their episodes. We don’t have the same systems in place right now. All we can do is try to teach the people that work under us as best we can, and hope that those people do the same, and that it has its own positive ripple effect.
Shoutout: Marissa Diaz — I met her during Spotlight Dorado, which is McDonald’s program that gives money to Latino writer/directors to make their short films. (She) won and is now a writer on “Lopez vs. Lopez.”
Linda Yvette Chávez
Credits: Co-creator and co-showrunner of Netflix’s “Gentefied” with Marvin Lemus. Wrote the 2023 film “Flamin’ Hot” and is currently adapting “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” with America Ferrera.
Biggest win in Hollywood thus far: For “Flamin’ Hot” to have reached a mass audience, be nominated for an Oscar for “The Fire Inside” by Becky and Diane Warren, that’s insane. I was also admitted into the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). That was a win to feel like I can have some power here. I can have a voice that represents the people that I represent.
Tool that helped her career: Therapy is such an important thing not only as a writer, as a creative, as an artist. It helps to remove any blocks that might be keeping you from staying dedicated to your craft. As an artist and a storyteller, it helps you hone in on your voice because it helps you understand who you are as a person.
Shoutout: Debby Wolfe — I don’t think she’s received nearly enough attention for the work she’s put into getting “Lopez vs. Lopez” up and running — and especially getting it going into a third season. She’s the first Salvadoran-American showrunner with a series on broadcast television!
Claudia Forestieri
Credits: “Gordita Chronicles” creator. Worked as a producer and writer on “Selena: The Series” and was a writer on “Good Trouble.”
The current state of the industry for Latino creators: I’m not gonna lie to you. Many of my really close friends are writers that are Latine, we’re all having a hard time. I really don’t know what the future holds. I know that it’s harder out there. I’ve pitched a couple of shows this year, and it just feels like the bar has been raised a lot more because there’s less being made.
If she feels pressure to write Latino content: No, almost everything that I’m writing has a Latino character or a Latino theme. There have also been other projects that people have reached out to me that have nothing to do with Latino culture, but because it’s in the tone of what I write. I usually write comedy, dramedies with heart — an issue at the center — funny but has substance. I love writing about Latino characters, Latino cultures. We’re an underserved community and I’m happy to do that.
Shoutout: Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz — She wrote and directed a short that’s so funny, brilliant, and just shows off what she can do not only as a writer but as a director. She’s going to be even bigger than she is.
Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz
Credits: “Gordita Chronicles” showrunner, co-executive producer of “One Day at a Time,” “Love Life,” and “Diary of a Future President.” Writer on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Abby’s.”
Challenges she faced as a showrunner: Casting our show. Our star Cucu (portrayed by Olivia Goncalves) was an unknown child actor of color. We really had to convince people that she was the right choice over someone who had, like, Disney experience. The other big challenge was production. We filmed in Puerto Rico during COVID and hurricane season, so you ran into a lot of challenges with the weather and infrastructure. The power outage situation in Puerto Rico interfered with our production. We needed the flexibility from the streamer to provide the budget that we needed and the flexibility to shoot the show that we sold them. Luckily, we were able to have them come see for themselves.
Changes she wants to see in Hollywood: A better respect for work-life balance and to see big writers rooms again. The number of people in a writer’s room have been shrinking as budgets have gotten smaller. When I started my first job, there were 15 people in a writers’ room. Granted, it was for a show that had a 24-episode order, so there was more work to be done. But as I kept working, the number of writers got reduced. I would also love to see writers on set who produce their own episodes because that has become a rarity. How are we going to create the next generation of showrunners if writers don’t know how to produce anything?
Shoutout: Gloria Calderón Kellett and Eva Longoria — Watching Gloria run “One Day At a Time” was really incredible for me. She instantly wanted to help me and mentor me and be a friend. I’ve learned so much from her. Eva didn’t just shoot the “Gordita” pilot and bounce. She stuck around and made sure that we had her as a bulldog for whatever we needed.
Ilana Peña
Credits: Created “Diary of a Future President.” Writer on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and director on “Gordita Chronicles.”
Experience as a showrunner: It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I want to do it again and again. It is a job that I could not have done without the support of my community. This was the first time I was casting a show, I was hiring department heads. I wanted a really inclusive crew. You do everything. It’s an amazing job and I had to learn by doing it, which is what ended up being a really unbelievable gift.
Hopes for the future of Hollywood: I would like for creators of all backgrounds to have their shows and ubiquity, so that we’re not pigeonholing those shows as the identity of the person making them.
Shoutout: Former assistant Cristina Cibrian — She’s an amazing writer and I see so many big things for her. There are things that I am collaborating with her on because I just want to be part of the Cristina world.
Tanya Saracho
Credits: “Vida” creator. Produced and wrote on “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Looking,” as well as a wrote on “Devious Maids.”
How other Latinos helped her career: Marta Fernandez at Starz. I would not be here if it wasn’t for her. Three years in (Hollywood) and she handed me the keys to “Vida” without a babysitter. That is unheard of and it would never happen now. There are two people who have been key for me and I worked with very early on. One is Gloria Calderón Kellett. She took me under her wing like a big sister. The second is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, our fanciest Latino showrunner, who developed “Riverdale.” He’s my darling friend. They’ve been key for me.
Changes she wants to see in Hollywood: So many of my dear friends have such great stories to tell. I hope that we get to tell those stories because they’re interesting, rich, good, and they belong in the landscape of what’s happening right now. I hope the world gets to see our (work).
Shoutout: Writer Jenniffer Gomez — She started as my script coordinator on “Vida” and by the end she was a producer. She became indispensable and has grown up to be such a steady, strong writer. We’re working on a gay Annie Oakley show right now.
Debby Wolfe
Credits: “Lopez vs. Lopez” creator. Executive producer and writer for “Love, Victor,” “The Connors” and “One Day at a Time.” Writer on “Primo” and “Whitney.”
Paying it forward to other Latinas: When I was staffing for “Lopez vs. Lopez,” I met with so many talented Latino/Latina writers. As more of us are coming into power, we are also mentoring the future generation. My room is mostly Latino. I bring them with me to produce the episode, meaning I bring them into costumes, into props, into casting, into editing, all the way to final sound mix. I had a showrunner that did that for me early on, and it’s something that I do because we just need more of us in power, as showrunners and also as executives. No one else is going to care more about advancing Latinas than Latinas.
Tool that helped her career: Film school. I’ve got to write, direct and produce like eight short films. I still use everything that I learned in film school to this day as a showrunner. When I moved to L.A., I took classes and writing programs. I took improv. I think that was also useful because in a comedy writers room we do a lot of improvising. I’m a big believer in continuing my education because you’ve got to be the best of the best.
Shoutout: Jaleese Ramos — My really talented and amazing former assistant who got into the ABC writers program, which is so hard to get into. She’s in the process of staffing and looking for gigs.