‘Selena’, ‘Veneno’ among Latino biopic explosion in Hollywood

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo haven’t met Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, also known as “La Veneno”, at her best. They’ve often seen the prolific trans performer and bombastic – then unhealthy media personality – leisurely eat a sandwich and sit on a sidewalk with her friends from her sex worker days. Nary a fan begging for an autograph was in sight.

Yet the actor-writer-producer-director knew that her story not only deserved to be heard around the world, but also a story that would undoubtedly shine as bright and stun as hard as the firecracker in its prime. With that in mind, they created “Veneno,” produced by Atresmedia and Suma Latina, and generated a wave of buzz in the United States after its November release on HBO Max. The legendary RuPaul has praised the show on social media, Variety has included the biopic on its list of the 15 Best International Series of 2020, and it currently holds a Critics Score of 100% Tomatometer and a score of d. 98% audience for online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

“Cristina has always bragged about being a global sensation, and look, she finally made it,” Calvo says.

“Veneno” isn’t the only TV biopic from last year to be based on the life of a Hispanic icon. From “Luis Miguel: The Series” to “Selena: The Series” and “Isabel: The Intimate Life of Isabel Allende”, the supply of stories about famous Latinos, Latinas and Spaniards suddenly started to increase.

For many, this is a ‘finally’ moment, after years of hungering for this content from the more than 60 million self-identified Hispanics in the United States and the creators who have long had these stories in. their hearts and minds.

As Isabel’s executive producer Isabel Miquel says: “Latin America has a wide variety of characters to choose from, artists and politicians. [And] there are lives that strike because they are linked to history, or to critical political events, or because they require emotional disruption and evolution.

However, with more global platforms looking to serve large audiences, Hollywood is learning about these projects in a new way.

“We create content that shows North American audiences, as well as the world, how great the quality of our stories is, and how well we tell our stories, and how our essence and soul bleed through them. people we choose to highlight. And there is simply a demand for exceptional stories and exceptional biographies, regardless of their country of origin, ”explains Miquel.

Before Netflix landed the two-part drama “Selena: The Series,” Moisés Zamora struggled to sell Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who invented “Tejano’s Music Queen,” as a captivating television.

“Maybe that’s because three or four years ago the market didn’t consider Selena big enough to be taken seriously. Now, of course, after the show’s popularity, everyone’s thinking, ‘Oh my God, I wish I had bought it,’ Zamora says, ‘but looking back it’s 20/20, right? “

Zamora also attributes the globalization of entertainment and Gen Z’s indifference to subtitles as one of the driving forces behind the influx of Hispanic biopics to television.

“They are not afraid of legends. I think it has a lot to do with the generation’s desire to know more about these icons that are part of our cultural make-up and are essential to redefining identities. Selena died before most of these kids were even born, but she’s still a role model. I think everyone is looking to the past to reassert their future, ”he says.

Miquel notes that you can’t just adapt the life of just any celebrity on a series: some may be famous, but the drama is always what sells. For this reason alone, she had confidence in the marketability of “Isabel”, given that the titular Chilean subject is considered the most widely read Spanish-speaking author in the world and whose multitude of highly acclaimed books have been translated. in 42 languages.

Confidence that these stories are not too specialized or specific to a community or country has to come from the creatives behind them. Their passion and knowledge of the elements of the story that are universal can help convince buyers.

“The hardest part of selling ‘Veneno’ was getting people to understand that Cristina could leave anyone transfixed, but we did,” Calvo explains. “Whenever people would come up to us and say things like, ‘Wow I didn’t think I would like the show because I’m not gay,’ I always say, ‘Wait, wait, you like’ Dexter , ‘but you are not a serial killer. You like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, but you are not a surgeon. You don’t have to be completely tied to a story or a person to be moved by them.

Likewise, the long-held belief that Latin and Spanish series and television are only for the Hispanic community has collapsed, ”Calvo continues. “We’ve opened up the market, which just keeps getting bigger and more powerful, and we’re creating great content that the whole world is consuming.”