Actress Lindsay Navarro will star in Lifetime’s Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez, a film about the 14-year-old North Conway, New Hampshire who survived nine months of captivity and abuse at the hands of her captor. The survivor herself, Abigail Hernandez, will executive produce the dramatic movie.

Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez is, according to a press release from the cable channel, the true story of high school freshman Abby, who vanished while walking home from school. Her disappearance kicked off her home state’s largest search and left her family, investigators and the community mystified of her whereabouts. The teen was kept in soundproof container and forced to wear a shock collar while enduring psychological, sexual and emotional abuse. Despite suffering daily torture, Abby kept hope alive that she would one day be able to see her family again.

Canadian-born Navarro is known for her roles in the web series Life XP and the Netflix series Haters Back Off.

Playing Abby’s mother Zenya is Erica Durance, best known for her role as Louis Lane in the WB’s
Superman series Smallville as well as Kryptonian Alura in the CW’s Supergirl. The kidnapper Nathaniel Kibby is portrayed by Ben Savage, star of both the ABC series Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World.

Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez is produced by Sprott Productions Inc. in association with Johnson Production Group. Joining Navarro as co-executive producers are Stacy Mandelberg and Michael Vickerman, who also wrote the script. Jessica Harmon directs.

The movie is set to premiere Feb. 26.

Featured Photo: Lindsay Navarro and Ben Savage in ‘Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez’ (Credit: Lifetime)

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By Julio Martinez

After many years of playing mainly fictitious characters in TV and films, Scrubs and Devious Maids star Judy Reyes is glad about taking on the role of a real person in a new Lifetime project. She co-stars in Torn From Her Arms, a movie depicting the harrowing true story of an immigrant mother and her daughter who must find their way back to each other after being detained and separated by immigration authorities in the U.S. The movie debuts Oct. 30. 

Torn From Her Arms follows Cindy Madrid (Fátima Molina) and her six-year-old daughter Ximena (Camila Nuñez), who fled violence in El Salvador for safety in America, only to be torn apart upon crossing into the U.S. under the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy against undocumented immigrants. Detained in different states, mother and daughter endured inhumane living conditions, inadequate medical care and the emotional toll of being apart.

The case of Madrid and Ximena made headlines worldwide and shook America to its core in 2018. Tragedy and danger marked their long journey. Madrid’s boyfriend was reportedly killed in their home country as they were coming north and her daughter was almost snatched from her, too. 

In the film, Reyes plays Thelma Garcia, a Texas immigration lawyer who works tirelessly to reunite the mother-daughter duo after their forced separation in the Lone Star state. 

“Of course, I had heard of the stories of parents being separated at the border and the reports of the mistreatment of children,” says Reyes in an interview promoting the film. “I was excited to be cast as a real-life person who accomplished so much against overwhelming odds.” 

A production of Ozy Media and Motion Picture Corporation of America, Torn From Her Arms is directed by Mexican filmmaker Alan Jonsson Gavica, whose feature credits include the award-winning films Morenita, el Escandalo and La Carga. The script was by screenwriters Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol, who have worked together on TV series like Ginny & Georgia and Perception.  

Reyes immersed herself in immigration law and also got to know the attorney she plays in the movie to get more insights into her prominent immigration case. “After I got the script, I started studying the Zero (Tolerance) Policy which began in 2018,” reveals the actress. “Then I met with Thelma Garcia, the lawyer whom I portray, and got more specific details about the procedures involved in reuniting this mother and (her) daughter. I realized that being able to portray a person who was such a vital part of this story was a true gift to me.” 

From the attorney, Reyes says she learned that practicing immigration law is tough because losses often outweigh victories. “However, when you get that win, you know you have changed that person’s life forever,” she states. 

The actress was also impressed by the lawyer’s devotion to immigrants. “I was delighted to meet Thelma and spend time with her,” she says. “That was really mind-blowing. She is in her 70s and she is still an active advocate for immigration.” Reyes adds, “It often gets complicated but she knows in her heart and soul it is the right thing to do. This matter-of-factness is what makes Thelma Garcia a true hero.”

Another hero portrayed in the film is ProPublica journalist Ginger Thompson, who broke the story of Madrid and her child. The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter is played by Gloria Reuben, star of ER and Mr. Robot.

In time for film’s debut Lifetime, the cable TV network partnered up with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children, to produce a public service announcement featuring the cast from Torn from Her Arms. Lifetime is also donating $10,000 to KIND to help in their efforts to raise awareness to the ongoing issue of family separation at the border. The video features Judy Reyes, Fatima Molina and Vicky Araico and will air on Lifetime following the movie’s premiere and will run on both the network and KIND’s social and digital platforms.

Featured Photo: Judy Reyes in ‘Torn From Her Arms’ (Credit: Lifetime)

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Justina Machado is best known for her comedic roles as Penelope Alvarez on the Netflix and CBS sitcom One Day at a Time and Darci Factor in The CW dramedy Jane the Virgin. She takes a decidedly dramatic step forward in the Lifetime movie Switched Before Birth, portraying Anna Ramirez, a woman who wishes to become a mother but struggles to concieve. Directed by Elizabeth Rohm, the film premieres Oct. 23. 

Switched Before Birth follows Olivia Crawford (Skyler Samuels) and her husband Brian (Bo Yokely), who stretch themselves to financial limits after multiple miscarriages and failed in vitro fertilization trials. While going through her latest round of IVF, Oliva meets and becomes fast friends with Anna Ramirez (Machado), who is struggling to have a child after years of focusing on her successful restaurants.

Interviewed with her friend and the film’s director, Elizabeth Rohm, Machado just smiles when asked about the role she is playing. “I really don’t have a formula for this,” she says “I’m always looking at the character. And I really could relate to what she had to offer. Anna Ramirez loved everything that was going on in her life. The only thing she couldn’t deal with is what she couldn’t have. We all know what that feels like.”

When Olivia and Anna both become pregnant the ladies celebrate and begin to prepare for their babies. But Anna suffers a devastating miscarriage and struggles to move forward while her marriage to restaurateur Gabe Ramirez (Yancey Arias) crumbles. When Olivia and Brian finally welcome their twins, Olivia feels her life is complete, but the couple’s world is turned upside down when they discover one of the babies is biologically the child of Anna and Gabe’s that had been implanted into Olivia by mistake. Now pitted against each other, Olivia will do anything to keep the baby that she carried, while Anna will stop at nothing to bring her son home.

“Justina just kills it as Anna,” says Rohm. “People don’t know how we have our miracle babies. IVF is still considered to be like pioneering in the wild west. I think this movie will do a lot to help people understand what is possible in this modern age.”

Machado points to her friend and adds, “And this powerhouse was also the director. I’ve acted with her. Elizabeth is a talented lady. As for me, I just dig into the script. It is so much fun to be able to be this character and truly show what she is going through.” The actor and director might work together on another project. Rohm hints that she and Machado may team up again for a reboot of the 1980s police drama Cagney & Lacey.

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By Karina Noelle Castillo

Influenced by his experiences as a Mexican-American, television and film producer Mark Roberts is passionate about bringing Latino stories to the screen. “There’s a lot of conversation about Latino stories, about Mexican American stories, about Mexican immigrant stories. There’s so many different stories that fall into the category of Latino, now Latinx,” Roberts explains, and is why he feels he and actor/producer/TV host Mario Lopez work so well together.  “I think Mario and I have a tendency to really connect on our journeys as Mexican Americans. So we have a tendency to really be positive about who we are, about what we’re capable of”.

Roberts and Lopez recently teamed up to produce Feliz NaviDAD, one of the first movies to go into production during the pandemic for the Lifetime Network. This marks over a handful of collaborations for Roberts and Lopez over the past fifteen years, which includes their current hit TV show The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia currently airing part two of their first season on Netflix. 

Roberts began his career on the iconic film The Three Amigos when he was 19 years old. Transitioning from a studio tour guide, Roberts jumped on the opportunity to become a production assistant on the film. He was responsible for wrangling the extras on this comedy classic and the experience helped fuel his passion for filmmaking. 

His first break was on Los Angeles station of Telemundo when Eddie Dominguez, the general manager at the time, brought him on board to produce a Christmas Special. Although Roberts didn’t have any experience as a full fledged producer at the time, Dominguez didn’t see a problem. He recognized that Roberts was not afraid of the challenge and gave him the support to dip his toes into his first major producing endeavor. 

Roberts is also a seasoned documentary producer. His most recent project was Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire. The documentary premiered last year at the  Palm Springs International Film Festival. Almaraz, who passed in 1989 from his struggle with AIDS, was a prominent Mexican American artist and early proponent of the Chicano street arts movement. Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire is a retrospective of his impact on the Chicano and American arts community through his influential art and cultural activism. “His story was so rich and he was so talented and I didn’t understand why people didn’t understand who he was,” states Roberts. “Through the documentary work I figured out that, Latinos and Mexican artists that lived here in the United States weren’t categorized in the same way that American and European Artists were. So they were sort of a forgotten bunch.”

Continuing with the goal of bringing the Latino experience to the masses, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia is a perfect example of what Roberts does so well. The series premiered early this year on February 17th. It spotlights a 15 year old scientist Ashley Garcia (Paulina Chavez) as she moves across the country to pursue a career in robotics, all while trying to navigate the peaks and valleys of her newfound teen-dom. 

Roberts talked about how he and Lopez came to the idea for the show.  “Originally our conversation was very small about ‘Hey let’s do something about a genius kid that happens to be Latino and that comes from this great line…and is a genius.’ And over a ten year period it developed into Ashley Garcia. The evolution of it was Seth Kurland coming in, and Netflix coming in…But the heart of it is creatively was wanting to do something that’s positive.” 

The idea for the TV film Feliz NaviDAD was hatched while Roberts walked and talked from one of Lopez’s jobs to another. With such a busy person, Robert says you have to catch him in between jobs. “On this one day, we had been wanting to do a Christmas movie ourselves, [with a ] Latino theme because there’s not a lot of Christmas movies with a Latino theme. So, we were in the elevator and he looks at me and says ‘How hard could this be?’ So that afternoon I sort of wrote what we talked about,” said Roberts. 

As luck would have it, Roberts was having dinner that night with one of their investors in their Casa Mexico Tequila venture. The investor expressed interest in the creative duo’s next filmmaking project and upon hearing the news of their Christmas film, he signed on to fund the script and get things started. From there, screenwriters Peter and Eliza Murrieta were hired and they found themselves in pre-production film. 

“It’s this beautiful story about a father and a daughter and how ‘this song’ became an anthem for her when she was little; she didn’t know it was the Feliz Navidad song [by Jose Feliciano], she thought it was Feliz NaviDAD about her dad. So they connected on this different level and she wants him [her dad who is a widower] to find a new love and she wants him to find the spirit again, and that happens in the movie.”

The shoot began in the first week of June and as one of the first project to shoot during the pandemic. There was much more to prepare for, as Roberts explained it, a “wild” ride. He detailed the extra precautions the production needed to take in order to get the go ahead from SAG-AFTRA and the other unions/guilds.

“It added an additional layer to everything we did, on and off the set. We put a lot of thought and research into our protocol and learned from the CDC, state, county and industry groups as they adjusted each week. I’m not sure if we were the first, but I know we were one of very few films shooting at the beginning of June, so we had to make sure our crew and cast understood the plans clearly. This was a new experience for everyone. 

As filmmakers, we are used to obstacles, big and small – we sort of thrive on forcing a square peg into a perfect circle. But add the ever present gravity and unknown of unpredictable Covid-19 and it felt like producing a film while being a contestant on Wipeout! Was today the day a crew member tested positive? Would our actors be affected? We started each day with precautions and protocol and when the DP was ready with the first shot, we all focused on what we came to do. I did get the sense it was important for people to work and for those of us who put Feliz NaviDAD together, we were committed to bringing this film to completion for the holidays 2020. 

We did follow strict protocol. A negative test was required before arriving on location. Testing once a week was mandatory. Temps, heart rate and a questionnaire before anyone went on set, everyday. Temps before you received your individually wrapped lunch. No craft service! That was tough. Movie sets love snacks.”

Mission accomplished by the team.  Feliz NaviDAD is now in post production and is due out for the holidays in December 2020.

In addition to the film and television projects Roberts has is also partnered with Lopez on the Casa Mexico Tequila brand with Olympian boxer Oscar de La Hoya as a partner. Casa México was a big hit at Lopez’s wedding a few years back, with his friends and family becoming major fans, so when the opportunity arose, they decided to become partners with Don Buccio, the founder of the tequila. The group of partners recently travelled to Mexico to shoot a commercial as they are getting ready to launch a major marketing campaign for the brand.

And if his talent and working on multiple productions didn’t extend far enough, Roberts also has a podcast called Let’s Get Into It with fellow filmmaker and makeup artist Rod “Tuddy” Rinks, in which the pair look to inspire aspiring filmmakers by providing them with invaluable lessons from their experiences with production over the years. For more information on Roberts’ projects you can follow him on @iceroberts on Instagram.

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The popular cable channel Lifetime is celebrating their 30^th anniversary of the first Lifetime Original Movie, by announcing over 50 new original films set for release between May and December of 2020, including Mario Lopez’s newest Christmas film project, Feliz NaviDAD.

Feliz NaviDAD is written by Peter Murrieta (Wizards of Wavery Place, One Day at a Time and Cristela) and produced by Mark Roberts (Mexico’s Next Top Model, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia and Carlos Almaraz: Playing with Fire). Melissa Joan Hart will be directing. The film stars Lopez and Paulina Chavez as his daughter (Ashley Garcia in The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia).

In Feliz NaviDad Lopez plays is a widower struggling with his first Christmas after the passing of his beloved wife. His daughter makes it her mission to help him rediscover his Christmas spirit. Lopez will be both star and the executive producer of this heartwarming Christmas family-friendly movie.

It has been highlighted as one of the featured films for Lifetime’s yearly Christmas film block tradition It’s a Wonderful Lifetime. This will be Lopez’s second-holiday film with Lifetime, after the rom-com A Very Merry Toy Story (2017).

Hart will join Lopez in Feliz NaviDAD as the film’s director and actress. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Hart revealed that Lopez himself asked her to direct this film. Hart has made a name for herself as a television director, which including the original Netflix series The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, which was co-created by Lopez. Feliz NaviDAD will also be the third rom-com holiday film collaboration between Hart and Lopez, including their first and most popular film, Holiday in Handcuffs (2017).

While Lopez is primarily known for his role as A.C. Slater in Saved By the Bell and playing Greg Louganis in the TV movie Breaking The Surface: The Greg Louganis Story. He has been doing a lot of work as an entertainment host, currently on Access Hollywood.  Recently he has been producing a multiple TV shows and films, such as Champs, A Very Merry Christmas, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, and the Saved by the Bell reboot.

Though there are concerns about film projects, either starting or finishing during this uncertain time of COVID-19, according to iHeart Radio’s On with Mario Lopez, the production has gotten the green light to begin production on June 8th.

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