Nell Serrano, played by Rodriguez, is a broke and newly single disaster. Five years after leaving her life and career behind, Nell finds herself on a quest to restart both. The twist in her story comes when she lands a seemingly mundane job – writing obituaries. Little does she know that this job, which she initially considers a dead-end (pun intended), becomes the source of unexpected life advice from the most unlikely places. It is adapted by from the pages of “Confessions of a 40-something F**k Up” by Alexandra Potter

Rounding out the cast is including Hannah Simone as Sam, Lauren Ash as Lexi, Rick Glassman as Edward, Joshua Banday as Dennis, and Angela Gibbs as Cricket, adds layers of complexity and humor to the narrative. The chemistry among the cast members is palpable, contributing to the show’s undeniable appeal.

Casey Johnson and David Windsor, the creative minds steering the ship, not only serve as creators but also as executive producers. The series boasts an impressive lineup of executive producers, including Gina Rodriguez, Dean Holland, and Wonderland Sound and Vision’s McG, Mary Viola, and Corey Marsh. The series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.

Season 2 Premieres Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 8:30 p.m. EST

Follow “Not Dead Yet” (#NotDeadYet) on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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By Catherine Jones

I don’t want to admit this (especially publicly here on this platform), but I did not watch the romantic comedy series Jane the Virgin during its successful run on the CW network from 2014 to 2019. Not one episode. Yep, as a self-proclaimed Latina “girl power” kinda feminist and a long-time journalist covering the U.S. Latinx community, I didn’t watch a show loosely based on a popular Venezuelan telenovela called Juana la Virgen. And I’ve loved telenovelas since I grew up watching them with my abuelita in Miami, Fla.

Sure, It was my day job (and it’s also my passion) to highlight Latinos/as doing amazing things in the U.S. Latino community. But, again, I somehow missed the boat on watching Jane the Virgin in primetime.

Why am I making this confession now (as disturbing as it may be)? Because I’ve seen the errors of my way! I now get it. I see why the show was No. 1 during its debut. I understand why it’s currently one of the most streamed, binge-watched TV series on Netflix. And I understand why my tween and teen daughters love watching it as much as I loved watching telenovelas with Abuelita back in the day.

It’s pure genius – a modern-day masterpiece of storytelling (and I was an English literature major in college, so I know not to make declarative statements like these if I can’t back them up).

Created by Jennie Snyder Urman, the show’s premise revolves around Jane Villanueva, a 20-something-year-old Latina who becomes accidentally artificially inseminated and ends up pregnant, despite having never been sexually active.

And then the true telenovela unravels from there, following Jane’s journey as she navigates the challenges of her unexpected pregnancy, her relationships (including a unique one with her baby daddy Rafael Solano, played by the handsome Justin Baldoni), family dynamics (with her Abuela and single mom, played by Ivonne Coll Mendoza and Andrea Navedo, respectively), and her pursuit of her career aspirations (which included trying to become a telenovela writer and romance author).

I knew that Jane the Virgin was a dramedy, with over 1 million viewers per episode, but no one told me, as I’m now sharing with you, how darn witty it is. Even the website Rotten Tomatoes, known for rating TV shows and movies, gave the series 100% Rotten Tomatoes, a top honor not accomplished by many.

From the show’s narrator breaking the fourth wall to guide us viewers through Jane’s life, to the use of social media hashtags, to addressing contemporary dilemmas like an accidental sex tape, Jane the Virgin is as hip and relevant today as, say, ABC’s Modern Family. Or as any episode of NBC’s The Office. Yeah, it’s that good.

The fact that the cast is diverse, with Puerto Rican actress Gina Rodriguez in the lead, is just the cherry on top. And its use of Spanish and English, and Spanglish? That’s just gravy for anyone who loves the exploration of cultural and social themes in the U.S. Latino community.

To those of you looking to relive younger years of telenovela watching at home, but with a new generation and an updated twist, I’d like to recommend watching Jane the Virgin on Netflix, y pronto. Plus, according to a recent OK! Magazine interview with Jaime Camil – who played Jane’s Telenovela star father, Rogelio de la Vega, there may be a Jane the Virgin reunion with 10 new episodes. What!?

So, don’t be like me and miss out on the fun this time around. Your future self may never forgive you for missing the boat … along with all of the new family bonding that comes with watching a great telenovela.

This article originally ran on Nuestro Stories 

The post The Telenovela You Must Watch..or Re-Watch first appeared on .

Gina Rodriguez is the star and Executive Producer of ABC’s comedy series, Not Dead Yet (debuting February 8), playing Nell Serrano, a woman attempting to jump start her life and the career she left behind five years earlier. “Nell is a self-described disaster, says Rodriguez. Returning to the newspaper she used to work for, she lands the only position available…writing obituaries. “She’s just ended a five-year relationship and is broke. Her life becomes complicated by a job she didn’t even want when Nell begins getting life advice from the dead people she’s writing about.”

Marking Gina Rodriguez’s first television series since her Golden Globe-winning five-year run   on CW’s Jane the Virgin (2014-19), Not Dead Yet, adapted from Alexandra Potter‘s book, Confessions of a 40-Something F**k Up, also stars Hannah Simone (New Girl), Lauren Ash (Superstore), Rick Glassman (As We See It), Joshua Banday (Upload), and Angela Gibbs (Hacks, Black Jesus). 

When asked how it feels being an Executive Producer on the series, she explains, “Well, in real life, I am about to have a baby. I accidentally got pregnant right before the show started. My husband and I were very excited about it, but it wasn’t planned. I was so afraid.”  Rodriguez explained to Dean, their pilot director, the situation and that she was not about to get any smaller, on the contrary. “He just smiled and told me, ‘You are pregnant. You are a miracle.  Just live in it, and we’ll figure it out.’  And they did.” 

Dean Holland, also an Executive Producer, helped craft the show. “We came up with very creative ways to cover the belly, whether it was costumes or her office cubicle.”  “They used plants, even a refrigerator,” quipped Gibbs, who plays Cricket, the widow of Nell’s first obituary subject, and who befriends Nell. “The directors were ingenious.” 

Another ingenious aspect of this series is the built-in need to have guest stars in each episode to play the recently deceased who interact with Nell. “Oh, we have so many incredible people, Rodriguez exclaims. “We have Rhea Perlman, Paula Pell, Ed Begley, Jr., Telma Hopkins, Brittany Snow, Julia Sweeney and more to come. We got very lucky.”

Executive Producer, Casey Johnson, who co-wrote the pilot with Holland talked about the writing process, “During our writing sessions, we sort of discovered that we both always loved to read obituaries.  Even the most ordinary-seeming person is fascinating if you just pay attention.  And so that’s something we love about these characters. There are some people who lead extraordinary lives. Our guest stars have so much to work with in playing them.”  

Rodriguez connected with her character on a family level.  “My fascination with the people who came before me in my family is one of the reasons I connected with this show so much,” she explained. “I have always felt like my ancestors have been around, have been with me, have been present in my journey, taking care of me in those moments of fear or doubt.”

As far as what we can expect from her character, Rodriguez had quite a lot to say, “You might meet some of Nell’s family. But it’s more about me playing a person going through an experience of establishing her identity. For sure, she can never deny her roots, but it’s not the plot. I’ve been deconstructing my identity for the past eight months, and I am nothing.  I’m just dust, guys. It’s great to play somebody who gets to fail but also gets to learn from her failures. It’s really cool to be playing this role at a time when I’m continuously unraveling and rebuilding myself.”

Rodriguez has had an adventurous life. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest daughter of Puerto Rican parents. At the age of seven, Rodriguez performed at the salsa dance company, Fantasia Juvenil. She focused on salsa dancing until age 17 when she began acting. She went on to voice the title character of the Netflix animated action adventure series, Carmen Sandiego and  portrayed Frida Kahlo in the world premiere of Casa Blue in the United Kingdom.

When asked if the Latino culture she grew up with is present in Nell’s life in the series, Rodriguez retorts, “It’s impossible for it to not. I’m always Latina.  It’s so much of my identity. I have writers that are creating a woman and her experience, a human, and I always bring something of myself to everything I play.” 

Hannah Simone, who plays Sam the editor of the Life & Style section of the newspaper interjects, “I think it’s kind of groundbreaking and refreshing that you have this show with these three women at the top of the call sheet. But this is not a show that’s about women.  You have two women at the top of this call sheet who are women of color. But it’s not a show about being any particular ethnicity. That’s usually how it was in the past.  You always had to explain yourself or define the show by those identities.”

Not Dead Yet premieres with back-to-back episodes Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. The series will be available to stream on Hulu from Feb 8.

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Thirty-somethings Peter (Day) and Emma (Slate) are two strangers who run into each other by happenstance on the same weekend where they both endured an emotional tragedy: they were both unexpectedly dumped by their respective partners, Anne (Rodriguez) and Noah (Eastwood). While commiserating together about their heartbreaks, Peter and Emma find out their exes have moved and found new loves. So the broken-hearted pair hatches a plan to break up their ex-partners’ romances, hoping to win their hearts back.

The cast also includes Manny Jacinto as Logan and Clark Backo as Ginny, Anne’s and Noah’s new significant others.

I Want You Back is directed by Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence), Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (Love, Simon writers; This Is Us co-showrunners). The film is produced by Peter Safran and John Rickard of The Safran Company and Aptaker and Berger of The Walk-r Up Company. Additional cast members include Mason Gooding, Dylan Gelula, Jami Gertz, Isabel May and Luke David Blumm.

The film will premiere exclusively on Prime Video Feb. 11 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

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Gina Rodriguez’s breakout role in The CW’s Jane the Virgin came to a close in 2019 after five seasons. This series launched her career and allowed her to expand into executive producing the series and directing three of the episodes.  

Most recently, Rodriguez starred in Netflix’s Awake as Jill, a former Army medic who is also a former drug addict trying to get her kids back after a setback. After a devastating global event wipes out all electronics and eliminates people’s ability to sleep, Rodriguez goes on a journey to save her daughter played by Ariana Greenblatt. Critics lauded her performance as “heartfelt” and with “forceful determination” on rogerebert.com.   But these days, there are more and more opportunities for work behind the camera, and she is loving it.

In June, Rodriguez was in Hawaii directing an episode of Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. During a recent  Collider interview, she talked about her work on Awake and voicing the mom in the Netflix’s hybrid limited series Lost Ollie.  When asked about her own producing projects, she inquisitively asked, “Which ones?”  It seems she has a few.  

First announced in 2018, Carmen Sandiego, which she is producing with Netflix, is still in the queue.  She enthusiastically talked about the projects currently on the launchpad through her I Can and I Will Productions company, and her transition into producing.  

“I started in front of the camera side.  So venturing into [the] producorial space has allowed me to really learn so much about the creative process,” she explained.  She talked about the two films she is producing with Netflix, one she is currently filming and the romantic comedy, Players, which is in development. She also explained she has three television shows in all stages of development.  

“It’s really fun to birth…to be a part of cultivating and creating something, which is something I didn’t do before, and now I am more in that, and that has been a real shift,” she said contentedly.

This past June, Rodriguez announced another film under production at her I Can and I Will production shingle.  She will be starring and producing, as well as making her feature directorial debut on the untitled sports drama, which will also star Ryan Garcia, a professional Mexican boxer and lightweight champ.  Rodriguez is all in with this project as she will also co-write the screenplay with actor and playwright Bernardo Cubria (The Giant Void in My Soul).  Garcia will play a fictional version of himself as Alex Guerrero, a boxer who struggles with mental health. 

Rodriguez is not new to the boxing world.  She grew up watching and attending boxing matches with her father, Gino Rodriguez, a former professional boxing referee and will bring that knowledge to the writing.

As for Garcia, he is a boxing star.  He began boxing at the age of seven and turned professional at 17.  After winning multiple national championships as an amateur and several professional fights in Mexico, Garcia signed with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy.

Rodriguez has already honed her producing skills on television. She is the executive producer of the comedy-drama, streaming television series created by Ilana Peña, Diary of a Future President, and starring Tess Romero and Selenis Leyva (Orange Is the New Black).  The series, in which Rodriguez has a recurring role has been picked up for a second season by Disney +.  It will premiere on August 18, 2021.

Gina knew early on while doing Jane the Virgin that she wanted to explore the possibilities beyond acting.  And while she expands her talents, she also focuses on bringing a variety of untold stories to the screen, projects that show the multi-faceted side of what it means to be Latino/a in the U.S.

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How long can you survive on no sleep and zero electronics? Global hysteria ensues after a mysterious catastrophe wipes out all electronics and takes away humanity’s ability to sleep. Scientists race against the clock to find a cure for the unexplained insomnia before its fatal effects destroy the human race.

When Jill (Rodriguez), a former soldier, discovers her young daughter may be the key to salvation, she must decide: protect her children at all costs or sacrifice everything to save the world.

Rodriguez who rose to fame in the title role of the TV series Jane the Virgin, has starred in other Netflix Originals including the animated series Carmen Sandiego and Someone Great (2019). Arianna Greenblatt, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has made a splash in Hollywood at just 13 years old. Her credits include Avenger: Infinity War, Love and Monsters and The One and Only Ivan.

Other cast members include Lucius Hoyos, Frances Fisher, Shamier Anderson, Finn Jones, Gil Bellows, Barry Pepper and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Awake is directed by Mark Raso (Kodachrome, Copenhagen) and will release on Wednesday, June 9, on Netflix.

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Originally from Miami Florida, Pena received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Northwestern University.  Moving to California she began working as a production assistant.  She soon landed an assistant position to Rachel Bloom, the creator and showrunner of the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  That is when her writing career stepped into gear. She was promoted to a writing assistant and then writer where she wrote a few episodes for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Peña then created and pitched Diary of a Future President and the rest, as they say, is history.

This past May Disney+ announced that Diary of a Future President would get a second season.  The executive producing team which, aside from Pena includes Gina Rodriguez n(also makes cameo appearances as the President of the United States) includes Robin Shorr, Emily Gipson, Brad Silberling and Lewis Abel.

“Since day one on Diary, CBS Studios has been so supportive of my vision and voice,” said Peña. “I am incredibly grateful to the team for giving me a creative home to tell meaningful, inclusive stories.”

With a hit show and a production deal in place, Peña is creating worlds through her writing that resonate among Latinos and beyond.

Peña is represented by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

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Written by Bel Hernandez Castillo

Latinos know what to expect every year when the nominations for Hollywood’s “highest awards” are announced — not much.  This year Hollywood delivered the same old “#OscarsSoWhite and #OscarsSoBlackandWhite.

In an article by Carlos Aguilar in the New York Times he wrote that “Ms. [Jennifer] Lopez was the only Latinx performer with a real shot of recognition in the major categories this year…”  However, the stellar performance of Cuban-American actress Ana de Armas in Knives Out was singled out by several critics as deserving of an Oscar nomination — and she too was snubbed by the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Make that two snubs of two deserving talented Latina actresses.  

The few-saving Oscar nods went to Antonio Banderas for Best Actor in Pain & Glory; Mexican Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto for The Irishman; Jonas Rivera for one of the three writers for Toy Story 4; Spain’s Pain & Glory nom for Best Intl Film; and the team of Robert Lopez/Kristen Anderson Lopez for the music and lyrics of Frozen II.  

But there was a bigger cause for celebration today, and it had nothing to do with the Oscars.

On Monday January 13th Mayor Eric Garcetti launched the LA Collab which was co-founded with Beatriz Acevedo, founder of mitú and president of Acevedo Foundation, and Ivette Rodriguez, president of AEM. 

The goal of LA Collab is to advance Latino access and representation in entertainment through collective impact. An unprecedented effort to connect Latinx talent, executives, and creators to opportunities in the entertainment industry — and double Latino representation in Hollywood by 2030.

It was attended by an impressive list of the most powerful Latinos in Hollywood, and studio and production executives, all there to show support.

The goal of LA Collab is to collaborate with the many established Latino organizations who have been working — some for decades, to address similar goals of inclusion and jobs.  Many of the executive directors of these organizations were in attendance.

“Latinos are a powerful force in L.A.’s culture and economy,” said Mayor Garcetti. “On big screens or small, in front of the camera or behind it, our studios, actors, directors, and producers inspire the world with the power of their creativity and imagination — and LA Collab will elevate new voices and empower the next generation of Latinx creatives.”

Since the 60’s the “Decade of the Hispanic” has been proclaimed to be imminent, from local newspapers to national media like Time magazine.  Everytime the hopes of the Latino community were lifted at the possibility of change coming, they would collectively hold their breath, only to be once again disappointed when the “decade” didn’t materialize.  By the 90’s they became jaded and stopped believing the “Decade of the Hispanic” would ever arrive.  

Flash forward, and without any fanfare, the “decade” is finally here.

You could sense it in the packed hall of the ELA Arts Collaborative where the press conference took place. It was standing room only with powerhouses in attendance that included Eva Longoria (Grand Hotel), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin), Edward James Olmos, Eugenio Derbez (Overboard, Latin Lover), director Patricia Riggen (Miracles From Heaven), Endeavor Talent’s Alexis Garcia; Writer Ligiah Villalobos (Go Diego, Under the Same Moon), DeVon Franklin (Flamin’ Hot, Miracles From Heaven).  Also supporting, but not present at the gathering are J.J. Abrams, Eli Roth, Esai Morales, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Blum, Zoe Saldana and more signing up.  The initial funders include Annenberg Foundation, Warner Media, and Endeavor Content

Back in the early 80’s, other than Ricardo Montalban and Rita Moreno, there were no Latinx stars. The star making roles for Latinos were simply not there. It can be said that Gregory Nava and Robert Rodriguez were the seminal directors that inspired the growth of the Latinx talent pool in Hollywood providing many roles in their films. Nava, produced and directed his first film El Norte in 1984, then went on to make Mi Familia (1995), and Selena in 1997). When legendary indie “Rebel Filmmaker” Robert Rodriguez produced (Desperado (1995), El Mariachi (1992) he made sure to employ many Latinos. Nava and Rodriguez cast two of the now most recognizable international Latina stars in their star making roles, Jennifer Lopez in Selena and Salma Hayek in Desperado.  Still 36 years later Latinos are the least represented minority in films other than Native Americans.

According to a report by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Latinos represent nearly 25% of the box office. Yet a recent study by USC Annenberg showed that Latino representation has been stagnant over the past dozen years, averaging roughly 3% of all leads and co-leads in motion pictures.

This year, LA Collab will focus on reversing this trend by collaborations with Latinx creators and top producers, filmmakers, buyers, showrunners, and industry allies.

“The near invisibility of Latinos in Hollywood was the catalyst to rally Hollywood behind this crisis to create change together,” said Acevedo, co-founder of LA Collab. “By facilitating unprecedented collaborations between the creative community, studios, buyers and other influential allies, LA Collab will ultimately drive exponential growth for the industry and our community.”

“As a Latina, I want to see more actors who look like me onscreen and behind the camera,” said actor, director, and producer Longoria. “I started my own production company to create content from our community, and I became a director/producer to be in a position to hire people who look like me. With LA Collab, I want to open the door for many more Latinx creators and fuel the emergence of a better entertainment industry that elevates and celebrates the diversity and richness of my culture.”

Several other entertainment leaders from the founding coalition are supporting LA Collab’s mission by providing access and hands-on experience to emerging Latinx creative talent, including Eli Roth, who will support Latinx horror filmmakers via his digital platform, Crypt TV; and Lionsgate’s Pantelion Films and Pantaya, which will actively search for new bilingual voices for their scripted OTT and studio projects.

LA Collab has already secured the following deals for the Latinx creative community:

• A finance development deal for a feature script with Endeavor Content
• A scripted proof of concept deal with WarnerMedia’s 150
• A development deal for a documentary with Shine Global
• A podcast development/pilot deal with Southern California Public Radio’s LAist Studios 
• A blind digital pilot deal with pocket.watch

LA Collab has partnered with The Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC) to complete a report summarizing the group’s achievements over the course of its first year, and track the progress of Latino representation with the development of a first-of-its-kind Database of Latino Working Talent in Hollywood as a master tool for LA Collab’s success.

The LA Collab advisory committee will serve to support and amplify the initiative’s mission and projects. Members include:

• Axel Caballero, WarnerMedia, VP, Talent Incubation and Artistic and Cultural Innovations
• Deputy Mayor William Chun, Mayor’s Office of Economic Development
• DeVon Franklin, Franklin Entertainment, President and CEO
• Alexis Garcia, Endeavor Content, Partner
• Ruben Garcia, Creative Artists Agency, Executive
• Lorenza Munoz, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Managing Director of Member Relations and Awards
• Marlis Pujol, Producer
• Genna Terranova, Amazon Studios, Head of Programming and Audience Development
• Mary Vernieu, Betty Mae Casting, President

Other LA Collab supporters include:

• Blumhouse Productions
• Bad Robot
• FREE THE WORK
• Hello Sunshine
• Hispanic Heritage Foundation 
• National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP)
• National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)
• Sundance Institute
• United Talent Agency
• Women in Film

For more information on LA Collab and a full list of partners, please visit lacollab.org.

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By Bel Hernandez

The fact that Gloria Calderon Kellett, Executive Producer/Showrunner (One Day At a Time) signed an “overall deal” with Amazon Studios this past week is a major “Big Deal”. For starters, this would be a major accomplishment for any woman in Hollywood, the fact that she is Latina puts her in an elite group.

This is not Calderon Kellett’s first TV deal. Her hit show, the adaptation of Norman Lear’s One Day At A Time, she worked with writing partner Mike Royce, falls under their current overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, which lapses in June 2020. At the time of this deal’s lapse, her three-year overall deal with Amazon begins.

Calderon Kellett belongs to an elite group of Latinas that have secured deals at TV or cable networks. Other Latinas who have had or still have production deals are America Ferrera with a deal at NBC/Universal; Salma Hayek with an overall film deal at Lionsgate; Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) has a TV overall deal with CBS; Zoe Saldana whose deal with DreamWorks Animation’s AwesomenessTV is to produce original content for the company’s forthcoming Awestruck service; and Eva Longoria who has had two deals, one with ABC under which she produced Telenovela and one with Fox Studios under which she produced the recent Grand Hotel which also aired on ABC.

However, Calderon Kellett’s Amazon deal has the distinction of being a three-year deal and she is the first-ever Latina writer/creator to sign an eight figures deal.

Calderon Kellett began her career in entertainment as a playwright whose scripts went on to win distinction and awards. She did stand up, writing her own comedy routines before turning to a career writing for TV. In 2005 she joined the writer’s room on How I Met Your Mother and she has worked herself to the top of her game from there.

Calderon Kellett is not only making news as an Executive Producer/Showrunner she has also joined the small ranks of woman directors in Hollywood and is one of only a handful of Latinas who have taken their turn directing for TV. While on hiatus from producing One Day at a Time, she directed an episode of the reboot series Mad About You. Her other directing credits include having directed episodes on One Day At A Time and Mr. Iglesias on Netflix.

When Netflix canceled One Day at a Time earlier this year after the third season, there was a social media uproar with audiences and critics alike calling for its return. Netflix did not reverse the cancellation, however, the series was picked up by POP TV giving them a fourth season which is set to premiere in the Spring of 2020.

With Latino TV writers as a whole only making up 2.8%  of all writers staffed on TV shows, the percentage of Latinas, derived from that percentage is much smaller. With that in mind, what Calderon Kellett has accomplished becomes even more impactful as this twice Emmy nominated and Peabody Award nominee only getting started.

The Latino community is lagging when it comes to TV writers and more specifically executive producers/showrunners. This community needs a prolific writer/showrunner with not just one, but several Latino series on the air. Longoria has been leading in this area, with having had two series in the past five years go to series. Both Telenovela (under the ABC deal) and Grand Hotel under the FOX deal aired on ABC. Both these series starred an all Latino cast, however, both were canceled after only one season.

Calderon Kellett’s One Day at A Time already a three seasons series will premiere its 4th season on POP TV. And, if Calderon Kellett chooses to produce more Latino themed content under her Amazon deal, she would be the front runner for the title of “the Latina Shonda Rhimes”. It’s a tall order, but given Calderon Kellet’s track record, it could well be a possibility.

The post Gloria Calderon Kellet Is A “Big Deal” at Amazon first appeared on .

Hola mi Gente! Well, let’s get down to business and talk about some major casting announcements currently trending.

The Latest:

Gina Rodriguez will be playing the title role as the scrappy, headstrong young lawyer who lands a career-making case with an upper-crust law firm, in the HBO Max feature film Bobbie Sue. Charles Stone III will direct from a script written by Owen Egerton and Dana Fox.

Rodriguez, who just in July wrapped her run on Jane the Virgin after shooting 100 episodes, has been keeping quite busy. In addition, to having wrapped two acting roles on two films, Awake and Kajillionaire, she is currently in pre-production on her CBS comedy web television series, Diary of a Female President, created by Ilana Peña. The series about a young Cuban-American girl who embarks on a journey to become the future president of the United States. is being produced under Gina’s own production company I Can And I Will, and is set to premiere on Disney+ in 2020. Rodriguez will be directing and also recurring in the series as the President of the United States. She will be the first Latina to play the POTUS!

And let’s not forget that Gina will be producing the live-action Carmen Sandiego feature film also under her production shingle.

In addition to these projects here are a few more on slate:

Femme: A TV drama about four young women from different walks of life who meet online in a secret feminist social media group and become unlikely friends and strong allies. Being developed for the CW.

Have Mercy:A TV drama written by Dailyn Rodriguez (Queen of the South, Ugly Betty, Night Shift) an hourlong series about a Latina doctor who is unable to practice once she moves to Miami, demoted to nurse she starts an illegal practice out of her home.

Illegal: A TV series written by Rafael Agustin (Jane the Virgin) based on his own undocumented status and set up at the CW. It will feature the first undocumented family on TV!

Edgar Ramirez Stars Opposite Jennifer Garner in Yes Day

The man who wowed as Gianni Versace in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Edgar Ramirez (Hands of Stone, Point Break) will now be playing Jennifer Garner’s husband on Netflix’s Yes Day. Playing their children will be Jenna Ortega (Elena de Avalor, Jane the Virgin), Julian Lerner (Happy), and Every Carganilla (The Haunted Man)
The film will be directed by Miguel Arteta (Like a Boss, Beatriz at Dinner) and produced by Jennifer Garner.

Based on a children’s book by Tom Lichenheld and Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the story is a fun idea where the parents (Ramirez and Garner) attempt to make it through an entire day by only saying, “yes” to their children’s requests. Garner, Lawrence Grey, Ben Everard, Nicole King, Adam Marshall, Mark Moran and Daniel Rappaport. Entertainment 360 and Grey Matter Productions are also producing

In The Pipeline – Like a Boss

Director Miguel Arteta’s upcoming Like a Boss, is the second film working with Salma Hayek is set to premiere in January 2020.

Starring Salma Hayak, Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne in a story about two female friends with very different ideals who decide to start a beauty company together. One is more practical, while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle. It sounds like a fun film.!

Based on a story by Danielle Sanchez-Witzel and written by Adam Cole Kelly and Sam Pitman. “The world of beauty is about to get ugly” you all!

And that is it for now! Follow me on Instagram @BelsCOOList

The post Gina Rodriguez Is Scrappy in “Bobbie Sue”; Edgar Ramirez On “Yes Day” first appeared on .