John Ortiz (HBO’s Togetherness) has been tapped as a main lead of ABC’s drama pilot Promised Land.
Written by Matt Lopez, the project is an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley.
Ortiz will play Joe Sandoval, the patriarch of the Sandoval family, a wealthy vineyard-owning family in the Sonoma Valley. Joe took a small vineyard owned by a former rival and turned it into a wine and beverage empire, alienating many, including members of his own family, along the way. More than just a savvy corporate fighter, Joe can do every job there is to do on a vineyard, but finds himself at a crossroads when an enemy from his past resurfaces.
Previously cast in the pilot are Mariel Molino as Camila Sandoval, the youngest daughter of the Sandoval family, Christina Ochoa as Veronica Sandoval, the eldest daughter of the Sandovals, as well as Andres Velez Carlos Rincón, a young immigrant who comes to the Heritage Vineyard in search of a better life.
Lopez executive produces with Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment Group. ABC Signature is the studio.
Ortiz is currently shooting the Paramount feature The In Between with Joey King. He made a directorial debut at the Atlantic Theater with the Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven. His latest film, The Fallout, just won the Jury Prize at SXSW. He is repped by Gersh, Principal Entertainment LA and Schreck Rose Dapello & Adams.