TV Writer Shea Serrano has created an eight-episode coming-of-age, single-camera comedy, inspired by Serrano’s life growing up on the southside of San Antonio. It follows a San Antonio teenager balancing college aspirations, societal expectations and a hectic home life anchored by his single mom and five uncles who each think they know best and are intent on steering their nephew in “the right” direction in FreeVee’s Primo.

Co-executive produced by Mike Shur (co-creator of Brooklyn Nine-Nine). Primo follows the daily life of Rafa Gonzales (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a wide-eyed 16-year-old, being raised by his relentlessly matriarchal mother, Drea (Christina Vidal), who not only rules Rafa’s life but also his five overbearing uncles, Rollie (Johnny Rey Diaz), Mike (Henri Esteve), Ryan (Carlos Santos), Jay (Jonathan Medina) and Mondo (Efraín Villa), as they survive day-by-day.

Diaz-Siverio, a relative newcomer with Primo being his series regular role, admits he did not have prior experience of growing up with older brothers. “I had a lot of older cousins whom I spent Summer vacations with,” he explained. “They let me know I was at the lower end of the pecking order.” While Christina Vidal, chimes in about her sibling rivalry experience. “I was the youngest with two sisters and a brother. I remember my brother practicing karate on me. Someone was always bossing me around.”

Vidal, on the other hand brings an extensive career as an actress and singer to the table. She is best known for her roles in films such as Life with Mikey (opposite Michael J. Fox and her debut at age 12), Brink!, Freaky Friday, See No Evil, and her title role in the Nickelodeon sitcom, Taina (2001–2002), followed by Code Black (2015-16) and Training Day (2017). As a singer, at age 17, she joined a girl group called Gemstone (with Jade Villalon and Crystal Grant). In 2002, she provided guest vocals on the remix of Will Smith’s summer hit, Black Suits Comin’ from the Men in Black II soundtrack. She also recorded a track for the workout CD called Byou from Sabrina Bryab of The Cheetah Girls.

Vidal understands the dilemma for Rafa in this series, navigating his way through his junior year in high school, attempting to find his place in a family that has no boundaries. “It is chaos for Rafa,” she affirms. “All the uncles are at the house all the time, eating the food, bossing Rafa around as if they live there.”

“Rafa is used to the chaos. He’s never known anything else”, Diaz-Silverio adds. “Through it all he is trying to concentrate on three things: he wants to bond with his friends as he is nearing the end of high school; he’s sure he just met the girl of his dreams, Mya (Stakiah Lynn Washington); and he just found out he has a real chance to become the first person in his family to go to college.”

Diaz-Silverio started his acting career at a young age in live theater and film. Now 21 years old, although he plays a lot younger, Diaz-Silverio also has a film e starred in with Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman in Zach Braff’s A Good Person (MGM). Other works include Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise at the Signature Theater and he was nominated for a 2023 Helen Hayes Award for his work in John Proctor Is The Villain at Washington D.C.’s Studio Theatre.

“I was raised by a single mother and I did have five uncles who all lived nearby in South San Antonio,” screenwriter Serrano tells us. He mixed in elements of his married life. “Mya is based on my wife, Laramie, who I met during my first year of college. We both graduated and went on to become teachers.”

Serrano’s road to screenwriting was serendipitous. “After college, I became a middle-school science teacher. My wife went through a difficult pregnancy and couldn’t work for a while. I looked at different jobs I could do while still teaching. I became a sports writer for a local neighborhood paper, making fifteen dollars per article.” Then over the next eight years, Serrano worked his way up to writing for ESPN.

“Then one night I was out having dinner with Laramie and discussed with her writing a series about the people who were important to me,” he explained. She thought it a was brilliant idea. Serrano called his friend Mike Schur. “Mike liked the concept and guided me through the whole process,” he recalls fondly. “I am amazed. This is my first screenwriting job, an eight-episode television sitcom. I am simultaneously overwhelmed and overjoyed.”

Primo debuts May 19, streaming on Amazon Freevee. Over the course of the eight episodes, Rafa, his mom, uncles, friends, and crush—will all help one another grow in ways they expected…whether they like it or not. It is also very, very funny.

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If you missed the first season of the groundbreaking TV series Gentefied, well don’t be left out this season. The show’s second season drops on Nov. 10, 2021 on Netflix. You can always catch up with the story by binging on the first season and then going on to the following season.

Latin Heat caught up with cast members, producers, writers and got the scoop on what we can expect in season two. Carlos Santos who plays Chris Morales gave us a glimpse into his new love life. Annie Gonzalez talked about her character Lidia, the strength of her character, and the need to always appear strong. But it is obvious there is trouble in paradise. Lidia and her baby daddy Erik Morales (played by Joseph Julian Soria) are going through a bumpy road, but can their baby keep them together? We shall find out. Ana Morales, played by Kerrie Martin Lachney, seems to be moving on from a deeply passionate relationship with girlfriend Yessika Castillo (Julissa Calderon). But whatever is going on in their personal lives, they are all focused on how to stop the deportation of “Pops” (Joaquin Cosio). We catch a few glimpses of what is in store for each of their characters, but that was only the salsa on the tacos.

Cast members and creative and Netflix execs executives got together to celebrate the show’s upcoming release at an event titled A Taste of the BLVD. It was a starlit night in the heart of Montebello, just a few miles away from Boyle Heights, which is the Mexican-American neighborhood depicted in the show.

It was a Hollywood Soiree on the Eastside with the red carpet rolled out and the spotlight shining on the talent as they walked the carpet and did interviews with media outlets like Latin Heat, Variety, Hip-Latina and so many others that are keeping an eye on this hit show.

Netflix executives and Executive Producers Charles King, Aaliah Williams and America Ferrera joined the celebration. Eva Longoria, a long-time friend of Ferrera, showed up to support and in the process had a mini-reunion with Annie Gonzalez and Jesse Garcia, who play husband and wife in her feature film directorial debut film Flamin’ Hot.

Showrunner extraordinaire Gloria Calderon Kellett was also in attendance. Her date was Isis King (Hey Qween!, The Q Agenda), one of the stars of her upcoming Amazon series With Love, which is set to premiere on Dec. 17.

In one evening not only did we celebrate the upcoming second season of a hit show with an all-Latino cast (and producers) created by Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chavez, but on this momentous evening in Montebello, California, we had five powerhouse producers/showrunners in attendance–Ferrera, Longoria, Calderon Kellett, Lemus and Chavez–plus co-producer Luisa Leschin. This is one for the records!

On Nov. 12 everyone is invited to Gentified day at the eatery BLVD MRKT, for a further celebration of the premiere of the show. Everyone is welcome to party like the cast did–maybe some will be there? Who knows? But I can guarantee you will like the delicious food and the vibes!

At the end of the day, this event was created to bring more attention to Gentefied, but the sentiment of the true meaning to our community was stated by Julissa Calderon when she said: “This is what it’s all about, places like this, shows like Gentefied. It’s a beautiful thing. We are pushing the needle forward, we are pushing our people forward and BLVD MRKT is doing just that.”

The other regular or recurring cast members include Joaquin Cosio (Casimiro “Pops” Morales), Alma Martinez (Lupe Ladera) Pops’ girlfriend, and Brenda Banda (Norma),

The venue BLVD MRKT was founded by Barney Santos and Evelyn Santos with the mission to promote community and economic development through entrepreneurship. They also help aspiring restaurateurs of color overcome barriers to becoming successful restaurant owners with their first of its kind incubator program.

Bel Hernandez is the Publisher and CEO of Latin Heat Media. She has been covering Latino in Hollywood since 1992. She was recently named to the Hollywood Foreign Press Membership Selection Committee and was awarded the Publisher of the Year by the National Association of Hispanic Publications

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