By Julio Martinez
Promised Land, a generation-spanning drama about a Latinx family vying for wealth and power while maintaining their winery in California's Sonoma Valley, debuts Jan. 24. With dialog in both English and Spanish, it will be one of the very few bilingual shows on English-language broadcast networks to do so.
The new bilingual series with an all-Latino cast is anything but ordinary, says writer and executive producer Matt Lopez, who researched California viticulture, drawing from real-life Mexican-American families who have conquered the prolific science of wine and winemaking in Northern California.
John Ortiz in Promised Land (Photo: ABC/Raymond Liu)
“The familial relationships certainly don’t move in a straight line,” says Lopez. “The patriarch is Joe Sandoval, played by John Ortiz, who runs a successful wine empire with his wife, Lettie (Cecilia Suárez).” Their security is challenged by Margaret (Bellamy Young) who was Joe’s love and muse when he was young and beginning his journey to success.
“The series does lean into this love triangle that spans the test of time,” says Lopez. “The experiences that Joe and Lettie have gone through together can't be surpassed. Whereas, Margaret represents for Joe the promise of a new country and a new horizon that he experienced as a young man and has not forgotten.” Complicating the proceedings are the machinations of a dynamic cast of Latinx series regulars, including Augusto Aguilera as Mateo Flores, Christina Ochoa as Veronica Sandoval, Mariel Molino as Carmen Sandoval, Tonatiuh as Antonio Sandoval, Andres Velez as Carlos Rincón, Katya Martín as Juana Sánchez and Rolando Chusan as Billy Rincón.
The cast of Promised Land (Photo: ABC/Raymond Liu)
The dialogue in the first two episodes is spoken 50 percent in Spanish with English subtitles, which might indicate ABC’s beginning to target Spanish content consuming U.S. Latino. The inclusion of internationally known actors like Mexico’s Suárez and Spain’s Ochoa in the cast is another indication of the appeal to Spanish-speaking audiences and not just in the U.S. but around the world.
Lopez did extensive historical research on Latino involvement in the California wine industry in crafting the series. They included such major vineyards owned and operated by Ceja Winery in Napa Valley and the Robledo Winery in Sonoma Valley.
Matt Lopez (Photo: ABC)
“Latinos have been growing wine in California since the Spanish colonial days,” says Lopez. “I love both Napa and Sonoma.” However, the series writer had to choose where Promised Land takes place and chose the bigger but less popular valley. “I wish I could say that there was some highly specific reason that we set the series in Sonoma,” explains Lopez. “It's just such a beautiful region. I think, probably in the public imagination, it’s a little less well-known than Napa but has deep roots and some up-and-coming winemakers. That was really exciting to me. That's what drew me to Sonoma.”
Lopez is a homegrown Disney talent. He segued into writing and producing through the Disney Writers Program after a career as an attorney and business affairs executive for DreamWorks.
His other recent projects include an upcoming Latino reboot of Father of the Bride for Warner Bros., starring Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan; the family comedy Alexander, for Disney+; and Wraith, a horror-thriller for Netflix. Lopez also created and executive produced Gone, a TV police procedural drama series produced by NBCUniversal International Studios.
Lopez considers Promised Land to be a love letter to his family, especially his Cuban grandfather. He refers to his cast and mostly Latino crew as ‘la familia.’
Promised Land is set in Sonoma Valley, part of California's wine country. (Photo: ABC)
“That really means something to me,” says series star Ortiz, who is perhaps best known for his antagonist role as Arturo Braga in the Fast and Furious franchise and Clyde in Jack Goes Boating, which earned him a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. “I've been lucky enough to be acting and making a living at it for 30 years, but this is the first leading role I've ever been offered,” he says. “I love these people. And I show up to work even when I'm not called to be at work.”
For her part, Suárez says she likes playing a woman who is anything but simple. “I think the thing I appreciate the most is the way Matt has created my character,” she says. “Not only is Lettie a mother, a partner and a wife, she's also a full woman with desires, with doubts, with complexities and contradictions.” Born in Mexico, Suárez is not only an actress but a prominent activist working with the United Nations and the European Union against femicide and violence against women. She has starred in film, television and theater across the U.S., Mexico and Spain, is the first woman to receive the Premio Cuervo Tradicional, a lifetime achievement award from the Morelia International Film Festival.
Ochoa agrees with Suarez and credits the writers for creating Promised Land’s multilayered roles. “I feel that the dichotomy is really in all of us,” she says. “The way that Matt and his writers have crafted the characters taps into something that is very human for all of us.” She adds that the series’s characters have rich lives, which appeals to her the most. “My character, Veronica, in particular for me, was someone who we hadn't seen, especially on primetime television,” states Suarez. “So, I think that seeing a Latin woman, Stanford MBA-educated, with complexities and a family life was something that I had to do, and I would fight tooth and nail for.”
The one non-Latin woman in the cast, Young, plays a character who is causing the most friction in Sandoval’s life. “And I am enjoying every moment of it,” she affirms. “I feel inordinately lucky.” A trained singer and actress, Young played Ma Walton in The Waltons: Homecoming and starred in the FOX series, Prodigal Son. The actress joined the cast after the series’ pilot had been completed. “Grand schemes don't seem to play in an actor's life,” Young says. “I was added very late to Promised Land. I didn’t just read the script. I got to watch this pilot.” The actress regrets missing the experience of banding together with her castmates to tell the story from the beginning. “But I got the pleasure of watching the pilot and seeing this story and seeing the performances,” she says. “It was like watching a symphony. I saw my place in the symphony and exactly where I wanted to be in it. It's been an experience that has been absolutely unprecedented in my life. I believe the television audience will love Promised Land as much as we love making it.”
Adam Kolbrenner and Maggie Malina also serve as executive producers on Promised Land. Executive producer Michael Cuesta will also direct. The series is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios.
The series will also be available on Hulu.
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