The works of Chicano lawyer, activist and author Oscar “Zeta” Costa may now become a TV series, and perhaps a movie, too nearly 50 years after his unresolved disappearance. Writer, producer and showrunner Natalie Chaidez has reportedly acquired the film and TV rights to Costa’s semi-autobiographical books Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo and The Revolt of the Cockroach People.

Both books, hybrids of fiction and autobiography, tell Costa’s account of coming of age in the 1960s, his personal challenges, activism and self-discovery in a fictionalized version of himself through the main character, the Chicano lawyer Buffalo “Zeta” Brown. Both works were published a few years before Costa disappeared during a trip to Mexico in 1974.

Chaidez is an accomplished Latina filmmaker in Hollywood. Her credentials include executive producing series like Heroes, V, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 12 Monkeys and Hunters and Queen of the South. Heroes earned her several award nominations, including the Primetime Emmy, Image Awards and Writers Guild of America Awards. For its part, Queen of the South, an action/crime/drama that recently ended after five seasons on the USA Network, won an Imagen Award and about ten other nominations.

Currently, Chaidez is a showrunner on USA Network The Flight Attendant, a series that has won two Rockie awards at Canada’s Banff World Media Festival. 

To develop the projects based on Costa’s books, Chaidez has teamed up with Phillip Rodriguez, a filmmaker who produced a documentary on the late Chicano author, The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo (2017). Rodriguez also produced another documentary on the late L.A. Times and Univision journalist Chicano figure, Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle who was killed by a County Sherrif at the 1971 Chicano Moratorium. He has also produced several other TV doc series for PBS.

Joining Chaidez and Rodriguez is up-and-coming screenwriter Joe Loya, who was a writer on Queen of the South with Chaidez. Loya has also written for NBC’s crime action series Taken.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Acosta rose to prominence when he moved to East Los Angeles and joined the Chicano movement in the late 1960s. As a lawyer, he represented the leaders of the historic East L.A. Walkouts lead by students in support of civil rights and better education for Mexican Americans.

“Oscar Zeta Acosta has been a passion of mine since I first encountered his books in an East LA library,” Chaidez told the trade publication Deadline, which first reported the deal. “Acosta’s story is one of the deepest and cinematic stories in the Latinx canon. I’m thrilled to bring his story to life,” added the filmmaker, who is of Mexican and Irish descent. 

Acosta is said to be the basis for the character of Dr. Gonzo in the 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. The novel was made into a movie of the same title directed by Terry Gillam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro — with the later Puerto Rican actor playing Dr. Gonzo. 

Featured Photos: Natalie Chaidez (Credit: Fox) / Oscar “Zeta” Costa (Credit: Wikipedia)

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Pancho Mansfield, eOne’s president of global scripted programming and exec producer of the pilot for Netflix’s hit series Queen of the South, announced his entertainment company is developing the series based on the murder mystery board game for Fox Entertainment. 

Clue was launched first in the United Kingdom in the 1940s and is now owned and published by the American game and toy company Hasbro. More than 150 million games have been reportedly sold worldwide, including versions in Spanish and Portuguese.

For the development and production of the new series, eOne and Fox have joined Hasbro’s content studio and Bento Box Entertainment, with the latter also serving as the animation studio. 

‘ICONIC’ GAME
“We’re thrilled to team up once again with our great partners at Fox and Bento Box on this exciting new series,” said Mansfield in a press statement. “Clue is an iconic whodunit property that exudes mystery and intrigue, and has fans all over the world. We can’t wait to share our reimagined animated version with audiences.” In addition to Queen of the South, Mansfield has worked as an executive producer in few other projects like the series A&E television horror series Demien and the Spike physical reality game show Pros vs. Joes. He is also credited as an executive in a long list of projects, including the TV series Sirens, The Glade, Lights Out, Blade: The Series, Queer as Folk and Resurrection Blvd.   

The perennial board game favorite has produced various editions globally in its seven-decade-long history, including eight North American versions.

“‘Colonel Mustard…In the Conservatory…With the lead pipe.’ By just hearing these colorful phrases alone, you immediately know what they mean — leaving no mystery as to why Clue is one of the most beloved board games-turned-IP of all time,” said Michael Thorn, president of entertainment of Fox Entertainment. “We couldn’t be more excited to develop it as an animated series along with eOne and Bento Box.”

ON THE BIG SCREEN
In 1985, the game was adapted into the film Clue, directed by BAFTA winner Jonathan Lynn (The Distinguished Gentleman). The film featured a stellar cast: Academy Award nominees Eileen Brennan (Private Benjamin), Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles), Lesley Ann Warren (Victor Victoria) and Michael McKean (A Mighty Wind); Primetime Emmy nominees Tim Curry (Tales From the Crypt), Christopher Lloyd (Taxi) and Martin Mull (Veep); and Lee Ving (Flashdance).

Launched under the name Murder! in 1949, Clue was created by Englishman Anthony E. Pratt, who reportedly did it during WWII to pass the time during lengthy air raid drills. In the game, players try to solve the murder of Mr. Boddy, the host of the game’s “dinner party.” Players must untangle clues to determine who among the party’s six guests–Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green and Dr. Orchid–committed the crime. There 324 different plots for players to solve. The Hasbro board game is sold in over 30 countries. 

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Dailyn Rodriquez and Ben Lobato will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers alongside Executive Producer David T. Friendly on the upcoming fourth season of USA Network’s Queen of The South for Fox 21 TV studios and Universal Content productions.

Queen of The South starring Alice Braga is based on the best-selling book La Reina Del Sur by Antonio Perez Reverte. It tells the powerful story of Teresa Medina (Braga), a woman who is forced to run from the Mexican cartels and seek refuge in America.

Dailyn was born in the Washington Heights area of New York City and attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts from which she graduated with an MFA in dramatic writing. In 2001 she earned a position in the ABC/Disney Studios Writing Fellowship and has been working as a writer ever since on such television shows as Ugly Betty,  Night Shift, and The Glades. Lobato was an executive story editor on The Following.

Latinos In Space: Santiago Cabrera and Isa Briones Join the cast of new Star Trek spin-off series with Patrick Stewart.

Santiago Cabrera and Isa Briones have been cast in the CBS All Access untitled Star Trek series that will mark the return of Captain Jean Luc Picard played by Patrick Stewart who will lead the series into further adventures in the final space frontier. Stewart originated the role of Captain Jean Luc Picard in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series that ran for seven years and more than 170 episodes and starred in two Star Trek feature films spawned from the series.

The handsome Cabrera was most sought after by television, cable and streaming producers for leading roles in several series pilots this season before deciding on the Star Trek series in which he pilots the star fleet vessel. The Venezuelan born, British- Chilean Cabrera starred for two seasons on the CBS supernatural drama Salvation and on the NBC series Heroes. He also had a recurring role on HBO’s Big Little Lies, played Aramis in the BBC series The Musketeer and appeared in the feature film The Last Knight. Cabrera is represented by APA

Isa Briones was part of the first national touring company of Hamilton and its youngest cast member at age 19.  The actress had a role in American Crime Story: The Assasination of Versace.  Briones hails from Los Angeles and her parents are both actors.  Briones, who is Philipina-American worked with LA based East West Players before moving to New York and auditioning for the touring production.  She is represented by Piper/Kaniecki/Marks management.

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The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) announced today that Yalitza Aparicio ( Roma‘) and Veronica Falcon (Queen of the South) will be honored at this year’s Impact Awards on February 22, 2019 which will be held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

For 22 years the NHMC has been recognizing Latino talent on film and TV at the Impact Award, usually held in February prior to the Academy Awards. It is at these awards gala where Latino talent is recognized for their work, in front, and behind the camera. Also lauded are Hollywood entities and individual that believe in diversity and the inclusion of Latinos on both sides of the camera.

This year’s most lauded Mexican actresses to date Aparicio, she becomes only the second Latina to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category (Salma Hayek was nominated in 2002 for Frida) With over 28 nominations for her role in Roma, winning the “New Hollywood Award” at the Hollywood Film Awards, she will add an Impact Award, and hopefully an Oscar to her list of acheivements.

Also an honoree that evening will be Falcon whose standout performance in Queen of the South has led to many tuning in to the USA Network for three years in a row.

Founded in 1986, by Armando Durón, Esther Renteria, and current president and CEO Alex Nogales, NHMC was created as a response to the lack of Latino representation in local news markets serving sizeable Latino audiences. Over three decades of advocacy, NHMC has increased the representation of Latinos behind and in front of the camera through media advocacy within the entertainment and news industry and with in-depth legal analysis for public policy reforms that advance affordable, open and secure communications.

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For media inquiries, please contact Alison Sotomayor at communications@nhmc.org

The post NHMC To Honor “Roma’s” Yalitza Aparicio and “Queen of the South’s” Veronica Falcon To Be Honored at NHMC Impact Awards first appeared on .