Los Angeles, United States
Recounting the events that have marked her life and her community is the lesson Puerto Rican screenwriter learned from Dominican parents Claudia Forestieri in her attempt to get into Hollywood and tell stories for a Latino audience, despite multiple phone calls. still doesn’t have enough display on screens.
“They always encourage him to write something personal because it will be a story that no one else will have, and this will be a letter of introduction to who you are and what your point of view is,” explains Efe Forestieri, who arrived. to Los Angeles for over 10 years looking for an opportunity to bring Latino stories to television or film and fill the gap in the industry.
However, he says he had reservations about writing about his life and persuading a Hollywood producer to give his project a shot.
It was the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and the ongoing attacks on immigrants and their communities that prompted her to find inspiration for “The Gordita Chronicles” in her own life experience.
THE STORY OF THE IMMIGRANT “GORDITA”
Despite having a US passport since birth, Forestieri claims to know what an immigrant encounters in the US, and a lot more about the adaptation problems foreign children face.
Born to Dominican parents, the Latina writer moved with her family to Miami, Florida in the 1980s when she was only seven years old.
“It was very difficult because I didn’t know the language and the culture. They told me I needed to change, and they started calling me ‘la gordita’. It was a very shocking combination,” he recalls.
In addition, Forestieri and his family came to a stage where immigrants were singled out as generators of violence in South Florida.
The screenwriter highlights how Time magazine declared on its cover in 1981 that South Florida was a “Lost Paradise,” a photo special that showed when Miami was known for its cocaine traffickers, the crime wave and an influx of immigrants. from Haiti and the Mariel boats from Cuba.
“There were a lot of negative stories in the press, and that had a big impact on the image of Cubans and other nationalities in Miami. Despite the fact that the criminals were only a very small percentage, we all got these accusations,” he says.
THE VALUE OF LATINOS
Forty years later, things have changed in Miami, Forestieri acknowledges, a transformation largely due to Spanish and immigrant hands.
“This new face of Miami is largely due to our contributions,” he says proudly of the city he calls his home, where “The Gordita Chronicles,” a comedy set in the 1980s about a girl, takes place. Dominican 12 years old.
HBO Max approved the making of the show’s pilot this month.
Forestieri brings the experience of being part of the writing team for “Selena: The Series,” a Netflix production that premiered December 1, reviving the legend of the Queen of Tex-Mex.
The Puerto Rican was also part of the screenwriters of “Good Trouble.”
HARD BARRIERS TO TUMB
To reach these teams, the 46-year-old Puerto Rican has spent more than 10 years of her career knocking on dozens of doors and training on NBC, HBO and Disney.
“It’s a very hard road. You have to work on other things to pay your rent and survive. You have to give up a lot of things to have a chance that may never come, and for Latinos the effort is double, or the threefold, ”he says.
The absence of Latino stories in film and television is such a problem that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus led a House Judiciary Committee hearing a few weeks ago to address the inequality.
The Caucus and the House Oversight and Reform Committee in October requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office to prepare a report on the matter. The ultimate goal of the application is to “enforce federal equal opportunity requirements” in the film, television, and publishing industries.
“It is time for the federal government to investigate this issue of the racism of the system and the exclusion of Latinos in industries such as publishing and Hollywood,” Congressman Joaquín Castro, chairman of the Caucus, said in a statement.
And the thing is, Latinos, who make up 18% of the population in the United States, make up just 4% of American cinema. A much lower figure than that of African Americans who represent 17% of all images in Hollywood cinema.
“There are many obstacles, such as convincing producers that our stories appeal to all audiences, not just Latinos,” Forestieri warns of one of the myths that have arisen in Hollywood about Spanish issues.
Right now, the Puerto Rican is focused on executing her creation and approving a first season.
He is also working on expanding the concept of his short film “Unimundo 45”, which tells the adventures that take place in a Spanish news broadcast in the US.
“It’s a different world full of characters of different nationalities and experiences, but one that brings together the effort and spirit of immigrants in the United States,” he concludes.