R1: Jennifer Lopez, Oscar Issac, Eva Longoria. R2: John Leguizamo, Alexis Carra, Walter Perez R3: Justina Machado, Adam Rodriguez, Camille Guaty
By Bel Hernandez
Last year’s pilot season brought audiences two Latina themed favorites, the CW’s Jane the Virgin and ABC’s Cristela. This pilot season looks even more promising for Latino participation both in front and behind the camera — at least at the pilot stage.
Hollywood is patting themselves on the back with claims that this pilot season will be a diverse one. Jennifer Salke president of NBC Entertainment whose network has given Eva Longoria comedic series Telenovela a straight to series order said about diversity this year: “On top of just wanting to reflect how the world looks, diversity is good business. And I think that’s finally started to sink in during the last two years,” However, that is yet to be proven out.
Eva Longoria, through her company UnbelEVAble sold eight pilot’s this season, out of those only Telenovela, her one hour dramedy about a diva-ish telenovela actress who’s behind the scenes life gives her onscreen life a run for its money, is currently shooting a pilot. NBC believes in this plot enough to order it straight to series.
However, just because a pilot gets made does not mean it will make it to series. Usually every summer the networks hear about 500 pitches for new TV shows from writers and producers. With an estimated 120 pilot scripts bought across the board by broadcast, cable and increasingly, online platforms collectively. In January of the following year an average of 20 scripts (for the major networks, cable orders are usually less) are given a pilot order. The elimination process continues after the pilot is shot, where more are eliminated after network execs have a see. Only a handful actually make it on the air and grab enough interest and ratings to make it through one season, let alone become hit TV shows. Which ones will they be this year?
Not all pilots premiere in the fall season lineup. Networks strategically push some into midseason where usually they premiere the following year in the spring. Examples of these shows would be Empire which premiered last month and American Crime (which stars among the impressive cast Benito Martinez, Johnny Ortiz, Felicity Huffman & Timothy Hutton ) set to premiere March 5, 2015 10pm/9pm c.
At this time in point, pilots have finalize their star casting, with some pilots having already been shot, some have already been cancelled.
The strategy for the casting of Latinos this pilot season seems to be the teaming of Latinos leads with OTLs (Other Than Latinos); unlike last year when Jane and Cristela were cast with a mostly Latino cast. (The two exception could be Silvio Horta’s The Curse of the Fuentes Women picked up by NBC and cable network Cinemax’s Blanco)
Here then is a rundown of what pilots have, or will be casting Latino (or should be). We invite you to play the guessing game of which pilots who include Latinos (either in front of or behind the camera) will win out this season. Join in and play “The Running of the Pilots” to see which cross the finish line. Rooting for your favorite is allowed, just leave us a comment with your predictions
*Updates will be made as casting is announced or pilot is picked up or not.
*Latino talent in Red — (as in sizzling Hot)
ABC – (25 Pilots Ordered)
DELORES & JERMAINE – (Not Going Forward)
LOGLINE: An odd couple for the new generation.
CAST: Jermaine Fowler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennia Fredrique, Roy Wood Jr., Gary Perez, Christina Moore, Ernie Hudson
THE 46 PERCENTERS – (Not going forward)
Cast: Angela Kinsey, Ian Gomez, Jason Antoon, Nazneen Contractor
Anti-romantic romantic comedy about the 46-percent of the population who choose to stay married, told through the POV of three couples.
Creatives: Sherry Bilsing-Graham (w, ep), Ellen Kreamer (w, ep)
Studio: Warner Bros. Television/Gavin&Roxie&Hap Productions
THE KING OF 7B – (Not going forward)
Cast: Craig Ferguson, Carla Jimenez, Kirby Howell-Baptiste
Agoraphobic recluse Prentiss Porter ventures outside for the first time in 20 years when he spies what could be his soulmate moving into the building across the street. He will embark on an incredible journey of discovery right outside his front door.
Creatives: Howard Franklin (w, ep), Dan Fogelman (ep), David Frankel (d), Ben Karlin (ep, sr)
Studio: ABC Studios
UNTITLED JUDAH MILLER – (Not going forward)
Cast: Greg Grunberg, Megan Hilty, Efren Ramirez, Tony Rock, Marissa Jaret Winokur
When a Tony Award-winning mother and a risk averse, cerebral father are blessed with a son who is a natural-born competitive athlete, they are forced outside their parental comfort zones and into the high octane world of youth sports.
Creatives: Judah Miller (w, ep), Tom Lassally (ep), Jonathan Berry (ep)
Studio: 20th TV/3 Arts
UNTITLED MOLYNEUX – (Not going forward)
Cast: James Roday, Melanie Griffith, Raphael Alejandro, Katherine Reis, Majandra Delfino, Zoe Colletti, Spencer Tomich, Harrison Holzer
Through a combination of genetics and dynamic home schooling, Kip and Mona Lisa Mitchell find themselves raising extraordinarily intelligent kids. When Kip returns home from the military to be a stay-at-home dad, he experiences firsthand the challenges of parenting kids who have genius IQs but limited life and social skills. Inspired by the book by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding.
Team: Wendy Molyneux (w, ep), Lizzie Molyneux (w, ep), Brian Grazer (ep), Francie Calfo (ep)
Studio: 20th TV/Imagine TV
DRAMAS
MIX – ( Not yet decided)
Cast: Camille Guaty, Walter Perez
A one-hour dramedy that explores the realities of modern-day families — multicultural, multigenerational, built through divorces, affairs and adoptions — set against the backdrop of a revered family restaurant at a crossroads.
Creatives: Writer/EP Jennifer Cecil (Private Practice); EP Rashida Jones, Will McCormackStudio: Warner Bros Television, Le Train Train
RUNNER – (Not Going Forward)
Cast: Paula Patton, Adam Rodriguez
After believing her husband to have died in a plane crash, wife and mother Lauren Marks discovers him to be alive and well, traveling with a mysterious woman who uses Lauren’s stolen identity. Thrown into a world of secrets and crime, Lauren finds herself running into Mexican cartels and people from her past she had hoped to forget. Rodriguez plays Troy, who is hated by Lauren’s family, but who may be the only one that can come to Lauren’s aid.
Creatives: Writer/Exec. Producer, Michael Cooney; Exec. Producers Peter Horton, Ian Sander, and Kim Moses. Showrunner/Exec. Producer and Jon Cowan.
Studio: Fox Century Television
WICKED CITY – (Ordered to Series)
Cast: Adam Rothenberg, Gabriel Luna, Erika Christensen, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ed Westwick, Taissa Farmiga
Character-driven, “true-crime” procedural explores sex, politics and popular culture across various noteworthy eras in Los Angeles history. In Season 1, two L.A. cops search for a Bonnie & Clyde-esque serial-killing team amidst the coke-infused rock ‘n’ roll revelry of the 1980s Sunset Strip.
Creative: Steven Baigelman (w, ep), David Hoberman (ep), Todd Lieberman (ep), Laurie Zaks (ep), Tom Shankland (d)
Studio: ABC Studios/Mandeville
Gabriel Luna:
True Detective (TV Series) – Miguel Gilb (3) currently filmming
Pre-Prod.: For three Border Patrol agents working a remote desert checkpoint, the contents of one car will reveal an insidious plot within their own ranks. The next 24 hours will take them on a treacherous journey that could cost them their lives. Directed by Greg Kwedar
Post-Prod: Freeheld: New Jersey police lieutenant Laurel Hester and her registered domestic partner Stacie Andree both battle to secure Hester’s pension benefits after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Director Peter Sollett. Julianne Moore, Steve Carrell, Ellen Page. RELEASE DATE Oct 2, 2015 (United States)
Matador (TV Series) 13 episodes
First Job Prison Break in 2008
Rep: The Arch Talent Group
Peter Gallagher and Carissa Stewart
ABC FAMILY – (5 Pilots Ordered)
RECOVERY ROAD – (Ordered to Series Premieres Early 2016)
Cast: Samantha Logan, Sebastian de Souza, Alexis Carra
Based on the book by Blake Nelson, Recovery Road is about a teen girl who has a reputation as a party girl and is dealing with addiction. Sebastian de Souza plays bad boy Wes Stewart, another patient in rehab. Alexis Carra plays Cynthia McDermott the a high school guidance counselor who discovers Maddie’s problem and sends her to rehab.
Creatives: Written by Bert V. Royal (Easy A) and Karen DiConcetto (Ruby & The Rockits). Executive Producers are Danielle VonZerneck (Left to Die), Beth Miller (Revenge of the Bridesmaids), Craig Piligian (Survivor)
Studio: Piligrim Studios.
AMAZON
THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE – (Ordered to Series)
Set in 1962, it explores an alternative reality in which Nazi Germany and Japan won World War II and occupy the United States, with the East Coast controlled by the Nazis and the West Coast owned by Japan, and a chunk of the Midwest still up for grabs. Based on Philip K. Dick’s novel.
CAST: Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank, Rupert Evans, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Joel De La Fuente, Rufus Sewell, DJ Qualls
Creatives: Frank Spotnivk (w, ep), David Semel (d, ep), Ridley Scott (ep), David W. Zucker (ep), Stewart Mackinnon (ep), Christian Baute (ep), Isa Dick Hackett (ep), Christopher Tricarico (ep), Jordan Sheehan (co-ep), Kalen Egan (co-ep)
Studio: Scott Free
UNTITLED CASANOVA PROJECT
STUDIO: Amazon Studios/Electus
TEAM: Stu Zicherman (w, ep), Ben Silverman (ep)
LOGLINE: Chronicles a little-known period in the life of one of world history’s most famous libertines and playboys. After Giacomo Casanova’s wicked escapades run afoul with the inquisitors in his native Venice, he is sent to prison. The drama focuses on what happens next –– after escaping, the once-materialistic and womanizing Casanova moves to Paris with nothing, determined to start his life over.
CAST: Diego Luna, Bojana Novakovic, Miranda Richardson, Ben Daniels, Amelia Clarkson
CBS – (18 Pilots Ordered)
SUPER CLYDE – Sitcom
Cast: Charlie McDermott, Diane Guerrero
The story follows a meek, unassuming fast-food worker (McDermott) who decides to become a super hero?.
Creatives: Executive Producer, Greg Garcia (Does not claim to be Latino…but with a name like Garica – something’s got to give)
Studio: CBS TV Studios, Amigos de Garcia
LIMITLESS – Picked up for series
CAST: TBD
Drama: Picking up where the 2011 film left off, the drama follows Brian Sinclair as he discovers the power of the mysterious drug NZT and is coerced into using his newfound drug-enhanced abilities to solve weekly cases for the FBI.
Creatives: Writer/EP Craig Sweeny. EPs: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Neil Berger, Bradley Cooper
TAXI – 22 – Comedy (Previously developed for HBO)
Cast: John Leguizamo
The series centers on a misanthropic and politically incorrect NYC cab driver, and is based on the French-Canadian hit series of the same title.
Creatives: Writer/Exec. Producer Tad Quill; Exec. Producers: Francois Flamand & Patrick Huard , Nancy Sanders, Mark Armstrong, Dennis Erdman & Clark Peterson, James Gandolfini; Co-EP John Leguizamo, Jeff Golenberg, Sam Maydew
Studio: CBS Television Studios
Joanna Garcia Swisher
UNTITLED TOMMY JOHNAGIN PROJECT – Comedy
CAST: Tommy, Johnagin, Joanna Garcia Swisher
Inspired bycomedian Tommy Johnagin’s life will be about a standup raising a family in a small Midwestern town. Garcia Swisher will play the female lead, Michelle, an accomplished pediatrician married to Tommy (Johnagin), with whom she has a daughter, Ashley.
Creatives: Writer/EP Bill Lawrence, EPs Jeff Ingold (Ground Floor) and Justin Halpern (Cougar Town) and Patrick Schumacker.
Studios: Warner Bros. TV
FOX – (14 Pilots Ordered)
MINORITY REPORT – Drama
CAST: Wilmer Valderrama, Meagan Good, Stark Sands, Laura Regan, Daniel London, Li Jun Li
Ten years after the end of Precrime in Washington, D.C., one of the three Precogs struggles to lead a “normal” human life, but remains haunted by visions the future, when he meets a detective haunted by her past, who just may help him find a purpose to his gift.
WRITER: Max Borenstein
OTHER EPs: Kevin Falls, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, D Mark Mylod
NBC – (22 Pilots Ordered)
LOVE IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD – (Drama)
CAST: Rockmond Dunbar, Cynthia McWilliams, Colin Donnell, Monet Mazur, Meta Golding, Brian Tee, Nadine Velazquez
Race, sexuality and gender roles collide when three diverse couples put modern marriage to the test.
Writer: Diana Son
Creatives: Mikkel Bondesen, Kristen Campo
TELENOVELA – Comedy (Straight-to-series 13 episodes order)
Cast: Eva Longoria, Amaury Nolasco, Jencarlos Canela, Diana Maria Riva, Jose Moreno Brooks, Alex Meneses
The drama behind the scenes with a telenovela star played by Eva Longoria. She is Ana Maria the most beloved telenovela star in Latin America. The dramatic games she play to try and stay on top of her game.
Creatives: Writer/Eexc. Prod. Chrissy Pietrosh, Jessica Goldstein (Cougar Town); Eva Longoria, Ben Spector; Director/Exec. Producer Steve Pink
Studio: Universal Television, Unbelievable Entertainment
THE CURSE OF THE FUENTES WOMEN – Drama
Adan Canto
Cast: Adan Canto, Rachel Ticotin, Christina Vidal, Katie Sarife
Magic realism comes to TV in a story of a magical and mysterious young man who emerges from the sea, to come and enfuse a new passion into the Fuentes women lives. It is a generation of women which includes the beautiful Lola, her mother Esperanza and her troubled psychic daughter Soledad.
Creatives: Writer/Exec. Producer Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty); Exec. Producer Andrew Maher
Studio: Warner Bros. Television, Silent H
OLD SOUL – (Not Going Forward)
A young woman struggles to find herself, meanwhile she works as the aide to a group of elderly people.
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Ellen Burstyn, Fred Willard as Hector, Rita Moreno
SHADES OF BLUE – Drama (Straight-to-series order 13-episodes)
Cast: Jennifer Lopez
Harlee McCord (Jennifer Lopez) is a single mother and dirty cop recruited to work undercover for the FBI’s anti-corruption task force.
Creatives: Writer/Exec. Producer Adi Hasak (3 Days to Kill); Exec. Producer Ryan Seacrest, Nina Wass, Elaine Goldsmith Thomas, Benny Medina; Showrunner/Exec. Producer Jack Orman; Eo-Exec. Producer Mike Daniels; Director/Exec. Producer Barry Levinson
Studio: Universal Television, Nuyorican Productions, Ryan Seacrest Productions, EGTV, H’s Films
UNTITLED MONICA POTTER PROJECT – Comedy
CAST: Monica Potter, Josh Hopkins, Eddie Cibrian, Donald Faison, Rory Scovel, Allie MacDonald
A woman juggles her busy family life as well as her three ex-husbands, which proves to be difficult when she starts dating again.
Creatives: Writers Exe. Producers Sherry Bilsing-Graham, Ellen Kreamer and Exec., Producers Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Kleeman
Natalie Martinez
WARRIOR -Drama
CAST: Will Yun Lee, Natalie Martinez, Holt McCallany, Lance Gross, Rila Fukushima
In a grounded, contemporary multicultural and sometimes magical milieu, a damaged heroine works undercover with physical and spiritual guidance from a mysterious martial arts master to bring down an international crime lord.
Creatives: Writer/Exec. Producer David DiGilio, Exec. Producers, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
HBO
SHOW ME A HERO – Drama
Oscar Issac (Rt) on set with director Paul Haggis
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Alfred Molina, Winona Ryder
(This show is already picked up and shooting)
Based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Belkin, the six-hour mini stars Oscar Isaac as Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the nation, who finds himself thrust into the center of a racial controversy when a federal court orders him to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of his town, Yonkers, NY.
Creatives: Co-Creators/Exec. Producers David Simon (The Wire), Lisa Belkin, William F. Zorzi; Producer Gail Mutrux
CW – (4 Pilots Ordered)
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE – Anthology
Cast: TBD
The reinvention of the horror/fantasy/thriller anthology series based on the 1980s series. Each episode will feature at least one story with a completely different cast.
Team: W/EP Joe Hill; Exec. Producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Mitchell Galin, Heather Kadin, Jerry Golod
Studio: CBS Television Studios, K/O Paper Products
A&E
THE RETURNED – (Premieres March 9th)
Cast: Kevin Alejandro, Elizabeth Winstead, Mat Vairo, Sophie Lowe
Kevin Alejandro will play the town’s sheriff Tommy Moran. When the dead suddenly reappear in a small local town families are reunited, the lives of those who were left behind are challenged on a physical and emotional level.
Creatives: Producer Carlton Cuse, Director Keith Gordon
Cinemax
Shiloh Fernandez
BLANCO – Drama
Cast: Alex Hernandez, Amaury Nolasco, Audrey Esparza, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Erik LaRay Harvey, Frana Potente, Sebastian Arcelus, Shiloh Fernandez
Drama about an uptown gangster who uses his status as a confidential informant to turn the tables on law enforcement and build his criminal empire
Creatives: Director/Exec. Producer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Writer/Exec. Producer Mark Rosner, Exec. Producers Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg
STUDIO: Fox TV Studios/Lakeshore Entertainment
SHOWTIME – (4 Pilots Ordered)
CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND – (Not going forward) CAST: Rachel Bloom, Santino Fontana, Michael McDonald, Donna Lynne Champlin, Vincent Rodriguez III
Rachel is a successful, driven and possibly crazy young woman who impulsively gives up everything – her partnership at a prestigious law firm and her upscale apartment in Manhattan – in a desperate attempt to find love and happiness in that exotic hotbed of romance and adventure: West Covina, California.
Creatives: Exec. Producers Aline Brosh McKenna, Rachel Bloom , Director/Exec, Producer Marc Webb
Studio: CBS Television Studios
USA NETWORK
QUEEN OF THE SOUTH
Alicia Braga
Cast: Alice Braga, Justina Machado, Adriana Barraza, Hemky Madera, James Martinez, Joaquim de Almeida
Arturo Perez-Reverte’s novel by the same name, begins production this January 16th in Mexico. The pilot order has been given to Fox Television Studios from a script written by Joshua John Allen, Jeremy Fox and Aaron Harvey.
Studio: Fox 21 Television Studios, Exec. produced by M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller, (who wrote the pilot), and David Friendly and Pancho Mansfield.
EVIL MEN – (Not Going Forward)
Cast: Dallas Roberts, Clifton Collins Jr.
follows an upstanding, middle-class family man whose life is turned upside down when he is approached by a frighteningly powerful entity and commanded to kill “evil men” or see his family – along with his city – utterly destroyed. However, the gleeful psycho who is meant to be his first target, instead begins teaching him how to carry out his new destiny.
* Show that will most likely cast (or should be) Latinos
ABC
LA CRIME
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Erika Christensen
No cast has been announced for the role of Paco Contreras. We know this must be cast Latino.
In the murder capital of the country – 1980s Los Angeles – Detective Jack Roth is experiencing déjà vu; taking on the case of a young girl’s murder, Jack sees similarities that match with killers he’s chased before. Now forced to team up with Paco Contreras, the man responsible for his old partner’s demise, Jack must reconcile with the past to get a jump on the Sunset Strip Killer. Meanwhile, the sadistic smooth-talker Kent Galloway devises new ways to kill in order to gain the recognition he craves
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