The acclaimed Mexican director and producer Patricia Riggen has a body of work as a director and producer that is enviable. This year the Imagen Awards have nominated Riggen for the 38th Annual Imagen Award for Best Director – Television for her moving work on the critically acclaimed streaming series Little America on Apple TV. The Imagen Award will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, December 3rd at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. This is Riggen’s 4th Imagen Award nomination for a Best Director and has previously won for the feature films Under the Same Moon (2008), Girl in Progress (2012), and The 33 (2016).

The Imagen Awards recognize excellence in Latine representation in the entertainment industry, and have chosen Riggen as a finalist in the Best Director category this year for her exceptional contributions in television. Little America has garnered widespread acclaim for its compelling storytelling that explores the diverse and inspiring stories of immigrants in the United States, offering a unique perspective on the American experience.

Riggen’s nomination is a testament to her talent and consistent dedication to bringing these powerful Latino/e/x narratives to the screen. She masterfully directed the 2nd season finale episode (episode 8) of the Apple TV produced series.

The Little America episode, entitled ‘The Indoor Arm’, tells the true story of Celia (played by Victoria Canal), an El Salvadorian arm amputee who struggles to adjust to her new life after immigrating to America to be with her sister Marianna (played by Teresa Ruiz). This very important episode shines a light on the struggles, triumphs and self-acceptance of an immigrant in the U.S who also deals with daily physical challenges. Both Latina actresses in this episode are also nominated for an Imagen Award. Actress Victoria Canal is nominated for Best Actress – Comedy (Television) in her first acting role ever and the wonderful Teresa Ruiz for Best Supporting Actress – Comedy (Television). The episode also features moving performances by Academy Award nominee June Squibb (Mrs. Danforth) and award-winning actor James Saito (Ray).

“I’m honored to have been nominated once again for an Imagen Award. The support and encouragement that Helen Hernandez and the Imagen Foundation has given me throughout my career is truly humbling. Filming this episode of the “Little America” series holds a very special place in my heart. Having the opportunity to tell a true story about the struggles immigrants in the U.S. have always faced but with the added element of showing the struggles and triumphs of individuals with different abilities was so important to me.  We rarely see stories like this on screen.” – shared Patricia Riggen.

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Riggen is no stranger to accolades, having previously received numerous awards for her work as a director and producer. Riggen gained widespread acclaim with her feature film La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon), which was acquired in an unprecedented sale by Fox Searchlight at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and became one of the first  Spanish-language box office sensations in the United States. Riggen’s remarkable career includes receiving a Student Academy Award for her short film, La Milpa (The Cornfield) and earning the Jury Prize at the Sundance for her documentary Family Portrait.

Her filmography includes the features Girl in Progress and the Disney Channel hit Lemonade Mouth, recognized with a DGA Award nomination. In 2015, Patricia helmed The 33, a film recounting the Chilean mining accident in 2010, followed by the successful Sony Pictures feature film Miracles from Heaven, which grossed over $73 million at the box office. Her versatility extends to directing both streaming and network episodic television, where she has excelled with series such as Amazon’s Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and most recently Hulu’s Dopesick. Currently, Riggen is working on her sixth feature film project, G20, an action-packed thriller featuring Oscar winner Viola Davis, scheduled for release in 2024.

For more information about Little America CLICK HERE.

For more information about the 38th Annual Imagen Awards: 

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Because WGA writers had to fire their agents due to the packaging battle, Latina TV and feature writers, a group traditionally underrepresented in Hollywood, were in danger of losing ground. Enter LaListaTV.com, a volunteer-run peer-to-peer group that mentors Latina TV and feature writers from staff to executive producers. LaListaTV was started by Judalina Neira and Diana Mendez after Mendez worked with Nkechi Okoro Carroll and heard about the Black Women Who Brunch (BWB) group. The Latina writers group membership has now swelled to over 125+ writers and continues growing.

“Latina writers are among the least represented group in Hollywood and our group is more critical than ever,” says Judalina Neira, who is a Co-Executive Producer on Netflix’s The Girls on the Bus.

“LaListaTV is one of our most successful initiatives,” Neira continues. “Every week we receive requests from showrunners, producers, and executives eager to access our spreadsheet of Latina writers.”

La Lista’s members desire and need to educate and assist each other with projects, advice, mentorship, and workshops that have helped to amplify these women writers and fill in the gap when it comes to finding writing talent. The group meets several times a year, “And we have our upper-level writers available to advise lower-level writers on anything from how to handle politics in the room to how to write and sell a pitch to how to find a good accountant,” says Mendez currently co-developing a pilot for Gaumont Television. “This group is about sisterhood and it’s about survival – helping each other stay in the game long enough to level up to creator and showrunner so that we can help other writers level up too.”

“With the statistics from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative highlighting the need for more inclusion, and the WGA stating that less than 5% of writers are Latinx, LaListaTV wanted to do what we do best once again: Help each other rise up,”  says Emilia Serrano, currently a Co-EP on High School Musical | The Musical: The Series? on Disney+.

“We’re constantly brainstorming ways to show the industry that we’re here at every level, and we’re never giving up.”

For more information, please email LaListaTV@gmail.com

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