DeVon Franklin To Produce With Eva Longoria Directing
Exclusive To Latin Heat
By Luis Reyes
“The triumphant journey of Richard Montañez from Pepsico plant janitor into the echelon of the same company’s elite corporate suites is material more than suited for a Hollywood script. It is a story of triumph over adversity and a rise from marginalized obscurity into the brightness of celebrity.”
Enrique Castillo review of A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie — April 1, 2014 on latinheat.com.
In a town where books becoming films may sometimes take up to twenty years or longer, Montañez began meeting with established Latino and non-Latinos producers about five years ago, which eventually led to a deal with award-winning Film & TV producer DeVon Franklin’s (Miracles From Heaven) production company Franklin Entertainment.
Montañez’s middle son Steven had contacted producer DeVon Franklin who had offices at Fox Studios and was just coming off the success of Miracles from Heaven. “Devon is a humble, capable young man, and has experience with inspirational movies,” Montañez explained. “I wanted Flamin’ Hot to be a movie that inspires, gives people hope and brings people together.”
Franklin also expressed to Montañez that it was a love story toward corporate America in which the CEO of a company took a chance and changed the game in corporate America. With that, “Franklin and my son Steven and I aligned,” Montañez declared.
With DeVon on board as producer, a bidding frenzy ensued amongst Hollywood studios. DeVon reviewed the offers and it was mutually decided they would go with Fox Searchlight because of the company’s track record with films with diverse casts.
A Boy, A Burrito and a Cookie details how a son of Mexican immigrants, working as a janitor at the Frito Lay plant came up with the idea to infuse Cheetos with the unique flavor inspired by the Mexican grilled corn on the cobb — an elote — spiced in chili and lime. At the plant, Montañez would ask for the throwaway batch of un-cheesed Cheetos, then he would take them home and experiment with added chili and lime on the Cheetos to get the taste just right.
When PepsiCo President Roger Enrico put out a call for fresh ideas for the company, Montanez phoned Enricoon the East coast, his secretary amused that the janitor was calling the President of the company, put him through. Enrico informed Montanez that he had two weeks to prepare a presentation, as he would be coming to California to hear his idea. Montañez and his wife went to the library and looked up marketing presentations which they proceeded to copy. Two weeks later Montanez presented his idea to the CEO, and with that he changed the face of snack foods in America with his Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Flamin’ Hot, the movie is now on a fast track for production and on August 26th it was announced that actress/producer and TV director Eva Longoria would be making her feature film directorial debut as the director of Flamin’ Hot.
“I was hired at Frito lay as a janitor in 1977, worked on the idea in 88 and it didn’t hit the market until 1990 and it blew up,” recalls Montañez during an exclusive interview with Latin Heat.
It was a billion-dollar idea that catapulted Montañez up the corporate ladder where he currently serves as Executive Vice President of Multicultural Sales and Community Activation. His success in his executive position at Pepsico has led to his being nicknamed the “godfather of Hispanic branding.”
Richard was born in Southern California and was the eleventh child born to his parents. “The house we eventually lived in is now part of the Ontario Airport,” he recounts. He spent his early years in insular farm labor camps where Spanish was his first language. He was later bused to all-white schools (desegregation school busing) and the frustration of not being able to catch up linguistically let him to finally abandon his high school studies altogether and go to work.
“You must understand there was no bilingual education at the time and there was a lot of separation and discrimination”. He jokingly refers to his speaking a “cartoon English.”
The film is based on his memoir, A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie published in 2013. Flamin Hot is scripted by Lewis Colick (Ladder 49) and will have a three-story arc, first with Montañez as an 8-year-old boy in a farm winery labor camp, followed by his teenage years and then his time at Frito Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga plant when he was hired as a janitor and his successful invention of the Hot Cheetos was born.
“It took me a long time to understand what had taken place in my life,” Montañez relays.
When his mom sent him to school on the first day of 3rd grade with a burrito for lunch, he was embarrassed. It was back in the 1960s. “Very few people had seen a burrito,” he writes in his memoir. “There I was with this burrito and with everyone staring at me. I put it back in my bag and hid it.”
The next day, when he asked his mom to make him a bologna sandwich and a cupcake like the other kids, she instead packed him two burritos, one for him to eat and one for him to use to make a friend. By the end of the week, the eight-year-old entrepreneur was selling burritos for 25 cents each.
“I learned at that moment that there was something special about being different, that there was a reason that we all just couldn’t fit into the same box,” Montañez writes. “My mom said to me, ‘This is who you are’. The next day I shared the burrito and I realized it’s OK, and I fell in love with my culture.” he recalls during the interview.
Now a sought after motivational speaker as well, the author/entrepreneur started receiving calls from Hollywood producers expressing interest in his story and that’s when Montañez began thinking, “maybe there is something there.”
He entertained the idea and discussed it with his wife Judy, as he has always done. This is the reason why the film story is also about his grandmother, his mother and his wife Judy, he wanted to honor the importance of the Latina in the family life and culture.
“All three pushed me. My wife filled out the job application [for the Frito Lay plant] for me. She has always been my inspiration. When I’m down, she pulls out the original job application to remind me of how far we’ve come,” he adds. “No way we can do this movie without honoring Latinas and that is another reason for Longoria’s involvement as a director,” he states.
“Eva Longoria came to the production meeting prepared and blew everyone away with her vision and presentation. She related to me her experiences as a Chicana, she sold it with her passion,” He exclaims. “No question in my mind, no question about it.”
To date, the most successful box-office Latino themed films, La Bamba, Spy Kids and Selena have emphasized the American dream, family empowerment, and music stardom. Flamin Hot is the classic rags to riches underdog story and the American dream. “But the movie is not just for Latinos. I see it as starting off like La Bamba and transitioning into the Wolf of Wall Street” Montañez explained.
Montañez has plans to produce other movies as well. “What do I know about the movie business? Nothing, but look, I am doing it, producing a movie.”
His goal is to open doors for Latinx in Hollywood in light of the recent USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report that found Latinos vastly underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera.
“My story in Hollywood will bring other people along. I was able to do it and changed the numbers somewhat on corporate boards and marketing departments,” Montañez enthused. “I didn’t kiss anybody’s ring and did not get anyone’s permission. One needs to break ranks and go for it and do it,” he emphasizes.
“The ball is rolling on the movie now that we have our director, casting is underway and things are moving quickly.”
Latin Heat will keep you updated with all the latest news and info on Flamin Hot as production progresses.