Stay ConnectedJoin your host, Rubén Mendive, as he compiles a list of Latino/a/x/e writers you need to know. Each episode features an in-depth interview with a writer on where they’ve been and where they’re headed.
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A PROUD LATE-BLOOMER, DAUGHTER TO IMMIGRANTS, NOW TRAUMATIZED & SEARCHING FOR A HYPNOTIST
Helen Fernandez shares her upbringing between Phoenix, San Antonio, and Mexico, navigating toxic assistant gigs and breaking through via the NBC TV Writers Program, how getting staffed on Happy's Place and not being asked back taught her the highs and heartbreaks of working in TV, and creating the live comedy show Single Riders Only to explore the absurdity of modern dating!
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A QUEER LATINO-INDIGENOUS DRAG QUEEN TURNED FILMMAKER
Reuben Bernardo Qhapaq shares his journey from Ecuador to San Francisco, surviving chronic illness and a rigid adoptive home, finding community as a teenage runaway in the city's underground Latino drag scene, going from high school dropout to AFI graduate, and why his upcoming short Esta Noche honors the queer elders who helped him survive.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A PROUD QUEER, AFRO-NUYORICAN WRITER, ACTOR, & PRODUCER
Ronald Hinton shares growing up with his grandmother in NYC's Upper West Side, reclaiming pride in his roots through writing, launching his Queerty-nominated web series Natives to spotlight queer life in public housing, and building community through the Queer Voices: NYC Film Festival.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A TEXAN PERUVIAN LATINA WRITER OBSESSED WITH FANTASTICALLY FLAWED WOMEN
Alessandra Jara Del Castillo shares growing up between Peru and Texas, discovering screenwriting at UT Austin after starting in journalism, breaking into writers' rooms through Twitter and mentorship, channeling her love of messy family dynamics into her scripts, and gaining rare production access as an assistant thanks to generous showrunners.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A MIXED-RACE WANNABE RAPPER DIY LATINO FILMMAKER
Kahlil Maskati shares growing up half Puerto Rican and half Indian in New Jersey, finding his creative voice through rapping and filmmaking, getting staffed on So Help Me Todd after the Paramount Writers Mentoring Program, and how making his indie feature Do I Shock You Like Lightning? led him to direct a new Chicano detective short set in Bakersfield.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A BOUNDLESS & LIMITLESS LATINX WRITER
Yohanna Baez shares growing up Dominican in L.A., how a short doc on climate justice in her native DR sparked her storytelling path, her move to NYC to pursue the indie route, and turning All Night Deli—a genre-blending audio series about bodegas, designer drugs, and interdimensional portals—into a podcast, video game, and manga.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A QUEER ECUADORIAN WRITER FROM QUEENS
Sebastián Rea shares his journey from Ecuador to Queens, his hustle as a teen party promoter, working with Tribeca and Jennifer Lopez's Nuyorican Productions, and how the NBC TV Writers Program led him to his first staff job on Peacock's upcoming limited series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A BOSS BABE LATINX WRITER WHO BUILT HER OWN LADDER & HELPS OTHERS CLIMB UP IT
Tawnya Benavides Bhattacharya shares what it was like growing up in a tiny farming town in Eastern Washington, how uncovering family secrets led her to embrace her Mexican roots later in life, why she founded the screenwriting school Script Anatomy, and how a relentless work ethic helped her staff on shows like Bel-Air, A Million Little Things, Ginny & Georgia, and My Life with the Walter Boys!
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A QUIETLY CHAOTIC GENRE-BENDING INDIGENOUS/CHICANO WRITER
Elijah Sariñana shares his upbringing in California's Central Valley, his journey from progressive rocker to writing horror and sci-fi rooted in Mexican mythology, his reconnection with his Nahua heritage, and how a La Lista mixer landed him a gig on Nocturno: Tales From the Shadows, Sonoro's Danny Trejo–narrated horror podcast!
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
A BIRACIAL BISEXUAL BIPOLAR LATINA WRITER
Chynna Ladage shares her upbringing in Burbank with her Mexican and Indonesian family, her experience traveling the country while working on Catfish: The TV Show (MTV), her journey overcoming imposter syndrome to finally call herself a writer, and how she worked her way up from office PA to story editor on All American (CW)!
Instagram - @lalistapodcast
Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks
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