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The Met Gala may have been the last glitzy event to avoid picket signs.

As of 12:01 a.m. on May 2, members of the creative community on both coasts (and production hubs in between) have traded the finery of that event for fire and brimstone on picket lines. The breakdown of the Writers Guild of America’s contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has unleashed a torrent of emotion not seen among Hollywood union members since the last time the WGA went on strike, in 2007. The strike promises to bring even more upheaval to a marketplace that is already grappling with the fallout from technological disruption and still rebuilding from the pandemic. Six weeks of tense negotiations made it clear that the industry faces a reckoning after a decade of the Peak TV content boom that has strained Hollywood’s creative infrastructure to its breaking point.

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Before his Hollywood career as a screenwriter and CEO of the Latino Film Institute, Rafael Agustin was a Southern California teenager just trying to get his driver’s license.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t drive; rather, it turned out that he wasn’t legally permitted to. Although Agustin had clear and fond memories of an early childhood in his native Ecuador before immigrating to Los Angeles with his parents, he had had no idea that the three had been living without papers ever since. That meant no driving, no four-year university and no international travel — although, as the former Jane the Virgin writer details in his recent memoir, that didn’t stop him from doing two of those things well before he secured his green card and, eventually, citizenship.

Illegally Yours, which was released July 12, debunks many of the caricatures — both...

Latinos in Hollywood have been a topic of discussion for years, and due to the cancellation of critically acclaimed HBO Max series "Gordita Chronicles," the shelving of the Leslie Grace-starring 90 million Batgirl movie, and the casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro (double whammy), Hollywood has recently generated criticism from Latinx people in and out of the industry. US Latinos account for 20 percent of all US Americans, with a buying power of over 1.7 trillion, and as avid entertainment consumers, we are the ones who showed up at the box office in 2020 and 2021. We have to turn this pivotal moment into a turning point of positive change for Latinxs in Hollywood.

To move forward, we have to understand the current state of Hollywood's film and television Latinx representation. This requires us to analyze our complicated history. I'll focus on two of the most glaring issues at hand: the never-ending stereotypes...

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Months before the Justice Department blessed the 43 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger, 30 members of Congress warned the agency in a letter that the resulting competition vacuum could allow the newly formed giant to ignore what consumers want. Among the antitrust concerns they pressed was that it could dampen diverse and inclusive programming — which has become a common criticism after Wbd canned its 90 million HBO Max film Batgirl, the first DC movie led by a Latina, Leslie Grace.

“There’s been no indication with Batgirl that they’ll shop it around,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So this incredibly gifted Latina actress and wonderful story get thrown down the drain for a tax write-off.”

In the four months since the deal closed, CEO David Zaslav has overhauled the entertainment powerhouse. During an Aug. 4 earnings call, he trumpeted a 10-year plan for...

When I first saw Latino Filmmakers Network's Instagram post of "Gordita Chronicles"'s cancellation on HBO Max, I was disappointed but not surprised. In 2022, Latinx shows continue to get canceled at a rate that makes it hard to not take personally. If a critically acclaimed family sitcom with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating couldn't survive the curse of the Hollywood Latinx family TV show, what can? Many believed this was the one. Since the cancellation was announced, the public's passionate outrage has manifested into a full-on #SaveGorditaChronicles digital campaign with the hope that another network picks up the beloved show. As Lfn said, "We want to see what happens in the 2nd season. Somebody pick it up!"

Related: The "Jibaro" Episode of "Love, Death + Robots" Is Emmy-Nominated - but the Title Doesn't Make Sense

On Friday, an HBO Max representative acknowledged the show's critical acclaim and loyal following. They...

Wilmer Valderrama is developing a TV series based on the Disney western Zorro for Disney Branded Television. Valderrama is set to executive produce and star as Don Diego de la Vega and his alter ego, the titular masked horseman.

The project is executive produced by former Disney Branded Entertainment President and Chief Creative Officer Gary Marsh under the multiyear production deal for his banner at Disney General Entertainment, and John Gertz of Zorro Productions, Inc.

“We’re reimagining this Disney classic as a compelling period piece, set in Pueblo de Los Angeles, but told in a very modern telenovela style — with richly drawn contemporary characters and relationships set against the action, drama, suspense, and humor of the original, iconic Zorro,” said Ayo Davis, President of Disney Branded Television. “Wilmer shares our commitment to reflect the interesting and rich diversity of the human experience and we look forward to delivering a...

Exclusive: NCIS co-star Wilmer Valderrama has renewed his first-look deal with CBS TV Studios, the studio behind the popular CBS drama series. Valderrama stars as Special Agent Nick Torres on NCIS, which was just renewed for an 18th season. He has been on the show since Season 14, with the first-look producing pact running parallel to his acting deal for the show.

Under the first-look agreement, Valderrama has developed several series projects for CBS TV Studios through his Wv Entertainment banner, including Hipster Death Rattle, a dark comedy based on the book by Richie Narvaez, with writer Rafael Agustin and Corinne Brinkerhoff; as well as the previously announced, The Turners, a half-hour single-camera autobiographical family doctors comedy from writer Naomi Ekperigin at ABC with Two Shakes Entertainment co-producing; and Patriots From the Barrio, a WWII drama about a Mexican-American unit, based on the book by Dave Gutierrez, from writer John Covarrubias.

The Center for Cultural Power and Jill Soloway’s 5050by2020 have selected the 10 artists for its The Disruptors Fellowship. The fellowship supporting emerging television writers of color who also identify as transgender, non-binary, disabled and those who have been or are currently undocumented. The program looks to shift the status quo in Hollywood by investing directly in artists who have been impacted by systems of oppression and are working towards solutions.

The Disruptors Fellowship was originally planned to be an in-person 14-week program in Los Angeles, but due to the pandemic, it will now be a virtual program.

“This time in our lives more than ever, we need to hear from diverse and inclusive voices, and the timing of the fellowship could not be more fortuitous,” said Favianna Rodriguez, President of The Center for Cultural Power. “We are fortunate that we are able to select from an abundance of talent...

On the heels of an Academy Awards ceremony that found South Korea breaking into the Oscars for the first time with the history-making “Parasite,” and at a critical moment for diversity in the entertainment community, the Center for Cultural Power wants to disrupt Hollywood inequality with a new initiative for artists of color. In partnership with the Time’s Up-inspired movement 5050×2020, the Oakland-based Center for Cultural Power has announced the first-ever The Disruptors Fellowship, a five-month program that will be awarded to 10 artists of color who identify as trans and/or non-binary, disabled, undocumented and/or formerly undocumented immigrants. Head to the fellowship’s website for information on how to apply here. The deadline to apply is March 13, 2020, and while the fellowship takes place in Los Angeles, non-la residents are welcome.

Unfolding beginning in May through August of this year, the fellowship will feature master classes, one-on-one coaching and feedback,...

While stories that directly depict the stories of refugees and asylum seekers seem few and far between, even in the increasingly more crowded content landscape of television, sometimes such tales can be hiding in plain sight.

“What is ‘Game of Thrones’ if not the story of Jon Snow, who saves a bunch of refugees, gets killed by his people for doing so, gets brought back from the dead, and survived the politics of his nation, then goes beyond the Wall to start his own chapter of Amnesty International?” pointed out Rafael Agustin at the Atx Television Festival on Saturday.

Agustin, who is a writer on “Jane The Virgin,” took part in a panel entitled “Storytellers on the Frontlines of Change: The Refugee & Asylum Seeker Crisis,” which was led by Amnesty International’s tactical campaign manager Ashley Houghton and was designed to foster more thought towards and progress of more direct representation of refugees’ stories.

With the approach of the fifth and final season of The CW’s Jane the Virgin, creator and showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman said fans can look forward to some of her best work and a satisfying ending.

“It’s some of our best stuff ever,” she said at Vulture Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday. “We’re very proud of the episodes.” The show is also going exactly as Snyder Urman always planned, and she’s embracing its approaching end with satisfaction. “I pitched the way it’s going to end when I pitched the show,” she said. “We’re on the path that was the story I felt like I wanted to tell, so it’s exciting, because we’re getting to that ending.”

Snyder Urman also said the final season of the show centered around the character of Jane Villanueva will likely air in March on Wednesday nights,...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Beautiful Dreamer,” the 19th episode of the 14th season of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Grey’s Anatomy” has revealed that Sam Bello (Jeanine Mason), a surgical intern working at Grey Sloan Memorial, is an undocumented immigrant and a Daca recipient.

For the episode titled “Beautiful Dreamer,” producers enlisted the consulting services of Define American, a non-profit organization dedicated to humanizing immigrants through media.

“‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has always ​been ahead of the cultural curve, and Define American is honored and privileged to have worked with their expert team in charting new territory about how undocumented Americans are portrayed on network television,” Elizabeth Grizzle Voorhees, managing director of creative initiatives at the organization, said in a statement exclusively for Variety. “Define American is incredibly proud of tonight’s episode​, which​ is a ​highlight of ​our work in helping the entertainment industry...

Amid the Trump Administration’s hotly debated positions on immigration, actress Gina Rodriguez is working on two timely television pilots centered on Latino immigrants. The shows, which will be aired on the CW and CBS, are all about the Hispanic community. Both programs will be produced by I Can & I Will Productions, the Jane the Virgin star’s multi-media company, and CBS TV Studios.

The first series titled Illegal is based on the life of Rafael Agustin, one of the screenwriters of Jane The Virgin, who was born in Ecuador and immigrated as a child to the United States. The plot of the show,...

With dozens of castings announced and new projects coming down the pipeline each week across television, film, and theater, it can be near-impossible to keep up. Luckily, Backstage is here to help. Every Friday, we’re rounding up the week's industry news you shouldn’t miss so you can be sure you're firmly in the know! Gina Rodriguez moves behind the scenes.This is a power move. Gina Rodriguez, the Golden Globe-winning star of “Jane the Virgin,” has sold two respective immigration dramas to CBS and The CW, under her production banner, I Can & I Will Productions. The first of the two projects, “Illegal,” will be written and co-executive produced by “Jane the Virgin” writer Rafael Agustin. The second, “Have Mercy,” will be written and executive produced by “Queen of the South” co-exec producer Dailyn Rodriguez, and will depict a Latina doctor prohibited from practicing when she immigrates to Miami.

Plus: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross to score ‘Patriots Day’

Sundance Institute has announced the 11 original spec projects selected for its third annual Episodic Story Lab.

Selected artists and projects are: Devil’s Due (Connie O’Donahue and Jeremy Nielsen); Dmv (Marlena Rodriguez); Illegal (Rafael Agustin); Lovely Women (Eboni Freeman); and Marfa (John McClain).

Rounding out the participants will be: The North (Donald Joh); The Olympians (Colin McLaughlin); Tales Below Dixie (Mike Flynn); Winterovers (Nilanjana Bose and Jakub Ciupinski); The Wolfman Of Pacoima (Calvin Lee Reeder); and Your Majesty (Hilary Helding).

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whose credits include The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl, will compose the score for Patriots Day Mark Wahlberg reunites with his Deepwater Horizon director on the Boston Marathon bombing drama alongside John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons and Michelle Monaghan...