EXCLUSIVE: 2022 finalists for the Latinx List, showcasing top works by up-and-coming Latinx screenwriters, have been unveiled by The Latin Tracking Board, NALIP, the Untitled Latinx Project, and The Black List.
The batch of selected scripts consists of five original pilots and six original features. Among the finalists are Daniel F. Pérez (2096) and Makana Lani (Contingent), who have received WGA-minimum script deals from Netflix, through the Latinx List’s partnership with the streamer announced last summer.
“By providing this opportunity, the Latinx List is kicking the door wide open for emerging writers, and I’m humbled to be selected among such talented creatives,” said Lani. “As a queer, underrepresented writer, I’m thrilled to be writing a script for Netflix–a company that’s truly following through on their mission of championing diverse voices.”
“I’m thrilled that 2096 is part of this year’s Latinx List, and so excited to develop with Netflix!” said Pérez. “Thank you to The Black List and partners.”
Black List founder Franklin Leonard said he encourages “anyone in need of good writers to read these scripts, whether you’re looking for a Latinx writer or not. We’re incredibly excited to see what comes of Daniel and Makana’s development deals with Netflix and all of these projects, wherever they end up.”
Untitled Latinx Project founding member, writer Gloria Calderón Kellett, added that the advocacy group “is so thrilled to once again partner with the Latin Tracking Board, NALIP, and Netflix to bring better representation and opportunity to underrepresented communities.”
“LATB is proud of all the incredible and compelling stories read during this process,” said LATB’s Andrea Juárez Wax in closing, “and we’re excited to see what the future holds for the selected writers in this project.”
The Latinx List launched in 2019 to help promote storytelling from historically-overlooked writers, and has since helped amplify the work of 20, providing new opportunities and pathways for advancement in the industry. Notable alumni of the program, which last year secured Hulu script deals for three writers, include Aitch Alberto (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), Esteban Arango and Erick Castrillon (Blast Beat), Juan Avella (Bolichicos), Niko Gutierrez-Kovner (Beef, Perry Mason), Dax de la Monta, Juan Carlos Fernandez (HBO Max’s Green Lantern), Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan (Luna Likes), David and Francisco Salazar (Nowhere), Anna Salinas (Loot), and Francesca Sloane (Mr. and Mrs. Smith).
More information on the writers and projects selected for the 2022 Latinx List can be found below.
PILOTS:
Celina Paiz & JB Herndon
SICK MONEY
An immigrant nurse inherits a fortune and a curse when her longtime patient, a wealthy Manhattan recluse, leaves her the family empire.
Daniel F. Pérez
2096
An emerging writer works as an assistant on an edgy and provocative teen drama series as he struggles to adapt a masterpiece of literature by a deceased Chilean novelist.
Diego Lanao
THE RIGHT ONE ALIVE
After years of struggling to find his perfect match, a hopelessly romantic English professor finally meets his soulmate — only to discover she’s already dead.
Hernán Barangan
KILLING TIRES
When a young woman is overwhelmed by the stresses of being her father’s only caregiver, she gets pulled into the dangerous and illegal world of takeover street-racing.
Marissa Díaz
COCHINAS
Malinche, a third generation closeted “cochina,” decides to live life “cochina and proud,” because her bisabuela didn’t cross the hot Mexican desert for her great-granddaughter to be a sixteen-year-old virgin, DUH!
FEATURES:
Daniela Bailes
SHE LIVES
The Garcia family is forced to confront the sins of their past after a demonic spirit takes possession of their hard-fought, ultra-modern East Los Angeles home.
Esteban Bailey
THE STRANGE MONSTER AT THE RIVERA HOUSE
Aida and her daughter Aidita are struggling to survive the ravages of a hurricane that has devastated the island of Puerto Rico, when they suddenly find a strange creature living in their backyard that could be the solution to all of their problems…or so they think.
Gabriela Garcia Medina
LITTLE CON LILI
A 10 year-old girl, her working class mother, and estranged grifter grandmother must con their way across America, determined to find the girl’s long-lost father.
Gabriella A. Moses
EL TIMBRE DE TU VOZ
Yaneris, a Dominican teenager, plots a way to escape her hometown of Sosúa, where becoming an escort seems to be her only fate. After unexpectedly falling in love with her ex-pat boss’s son, she decides he may be the ticket to a new life — for both her and her disabled sister.
Makana Lani
CONTINGENT
In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Mia and Emily escape from the city to their secluded lake house—only to be met by the house’s unhinged former owners just as a violent storm hits. Trapped inside, it’s couple versus couple and only one marriage will survive.
Marcos Soriano
AYÍTI: THE LAST DAYS OF PARADISE
In 1503, on the island of Ayíti, a young native boy is orphaned when Spanish conquistadors raid his village and slaughter the indigenous population in their lust for gold. He is adopted by Catholic Friars and raised in Spanish society, but upon awakening to the atrocities perpetrated against his people he takes up arms and leads a fierce rebellion against the colonizers. Based on true events.