The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) welcomed ten writers that will participate in its 2021 Series Scriptwriters Program. Selected from hundreds of submissions from across the country, the cohort was celebrated last week by NHMC as well as Tim McNeal, Walt Disney Television; Claudia Prado, Univision; Diana Rodriguez, Union Bank; Pete Corona, Netflix; Clint Odom, T-Mobile; and Robert Baltazar, NBCUniversal among many others.
The selected writers include: Linzy Beltran, April M. Sanchez, Diego Moreno, Michel Lichand, Eli Vazquez, Ana Defillo, Rolando Gomez, Desiree Carcamo, Samantha Renee Cordero and Linda Dillon Moya, who were feted at a special event by NHMC President & CEO, Brenda Victoria Castillo. Program Mentor and former NBC V.P. of Script Development, Geoff Harris also spoke as well as former graduates of the NHMC’s writers’ program.
To date the writers’ program has served nearly 200 diverse alumni who have gone on to write for series such as The Umbrella Academy, The Flash, Cruel Summer, Generation, Resident Alien, Santiago of the Seas, Legendary, Painkiller, Indebted, Selena: The Series, and more.
Some notable NHMC Series Scriptwriters Program alumni include Emilia Serrano (Writer, Untitled Paramount+ Feature, CO-Executive Producer, ABC’s Mixed-ish); Sierra Teller Ornelas (Executive Producer, Peacock’s Rutherford Falls), and Rob Sudduth (co-executive producer, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, co-executive producer, ABC Untitled TV Movie). Also, writers Jessica Lopez, Jorge Ramirez.
“We are always elated to see a new group of writers start this program. They are the future of the industry. From the next staff writers to your favorite show’s showrunners,” said Castillo, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. “As we have done so for nearly twenty years, we continue to advance Latinx writers in an industry that has yet to fully utilize our community’s rich and diverse talent.
NHMC was created to bridge the gap and connect the entertainment industry with well-equipped writers who are ready to tell authentic stories. NHMC’s Series Scriptwriters Program was held virtually from June to July of this year, and was proudly sponsored by Univision Communications, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal Telemundo, T-Mobile, Netflix, Union Bank, and ViacomCBS. During the virtual program, ten talented Latinx writers emerged themselves in a writers room-style lab, where they learned from industry leaders and completed 30-minute to 1-hour pilots in drama or comedy. Among guest speakers were Erika Kennair, Zayre Ferrer, Pete Corona, Emilia Serrano, Lainie Gallers Tarter, Davah Avena, Alex Tse, Ryan Cassells, Kristy Grisham, and Mitch Graham.