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Gladys Santos, Ginsberg/Libby
gladys.santos@ginsberglibby.com
 

LOS ANGELES (June 14, 2024) — Film Independent and FX have named the six Fellows selected for the inaugural Film Independent Imaginar TV Incubator for Fearless Latinx Creators, in collaboration with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP). Daniela Bailes, Marissa Díaz, Jessica Gonzalez, Eric Reyes Loo, George Pérez and Eliana Pipes were chosen for this new program.

The Imaginar TV Incubator supports Latinx Creators as they participate in a series of workshops, conversations and individual meetings designed to provide them with valuable support and insight into the FX Networks drama programming brand, and direct access to industry leaders.

“This inaugural cohort of Imaginar Creators is a reflection of the impressive talent and bold voices within the Latinx community,” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with these six writers to help them gain an even stronger foundation to successfully develop and pitch original television shows and build meaningful relationships with seasoned showrunners and executives.”

“Our team at FX is excited to work with the outstanding fellows selected for this inaugural group of Fearless Creators,” said Kevin Wandell, SVP of Development for FX Entertainment. “With our partners at Film Independent and NALIP, we look forward to building new relationships with these artists and give them direct insight to the development process at FX as they create pitches for the next wave of groundbreaking drama series.”

The first part of the two-week Incubator will be a four-day intensive focused on workshopping selected one-hour drama pilots, deepening pitch skills, and gaining access and insights into the FX development process. Creators will pitch their original one-hour drama pilots to FX at the conclusion of the initial intensive. Over the remainder of the program, Creators will have individual meetings with creative advisors and executives to develop a second original drama concept that will be pitched to FX on the final day of the Incubator. A $3,000 grant is awarded to each participant, along with travel grants as required for selected Creators’ participation.

Advisors and guest speakers include Wendy Calhoun, Elaine Chin, Kelly Kulchak, Robbie Pickering, Loretta Ramos, Dailyn Rodriguez, April Shih and Veena Sud.
 
The Imaginar TV Incubator for Fearless Latinx Creators Fellows and their projects are:

Daniela Bailes

Daniela Bailes is a versatile scribe whose work travels across genres. She began her career in New York working at Elle magazine and learned to write scripts by breaking down classic Rod Serling teleplays at the Paley Media Center during her lunch break. Daniela recently worked on the Paramount science fiction series, The Shift, created by Star Trek veteran and Hugo nominee Kathryn Lyn. Her horror script She Lives was included on the 2022 Latinx Black List sponsored by Netflix. She was also selected for the Rideback Rise Content Accelerator, and for Sundance’s 2023 Episodic Lab.

Project: The Letters
Logline: After discovering her mother’s extensive correspondence with a notorious serial killer on death row, Violet finds herself entangled in family secrets when a similar murder occurs in her own backyard.

Marissa Díaz

Marissa Díaz is a Tejana writer, director, and producer, and the winner of McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado. She worked on Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste, Girls, Generation and Welcome to Blumhouse Live. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Episodic Lab, Shondaland Women Directing Mentorship, Rideback Rise, PGA Create and The Black List, as well as Film Independent’s FX Imaginar TV Incubator, Episodic Lab, and their CNN Original Series Docuseries Intensive. Marissa holds a BFA in Film & TV Production from New York University, and an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program, where she was awarded the Stark Special Production Grant.

Project: Low Rent
Logline: A low-rent Tejana inadvertently confronts a criminal, swampland poaching syndicate, after coming to blows with her neighbor over a parking space.

Jessica Gonzalez

Jessica is a Cuban American author and screenwriter who writes about angry girls and pretty monsters. She studied English at Florida State University and earned an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California. She was the showrunner’s assistant on season one of Diary of a Future President (Disney+). On season two, she was the writers’ assistant & script coordinator, before being promoted to staff writer. Most recently, she was a story editor on Keep This to Yourself (NBCUniversal). She was also a Spring 2021 Las Musas Hermanas mentee for the manuscript of her first YA fantasy novel.

Project: The Starfish Gentleman’s Club
Logline: Gifted – or cursed – with the ability to grow back body parts, sisters Lottie and Florence are forced to live as walking organ donors until Lottie flees to an underground speakeasy, seeking help from an old flame.

Eric Reyes Loo

Eric Reyes Loo is a Los Angeles-based TV writer/producer and playwright. His plays have been produced nationally. His most recent world premiere, Simple Mexican Pleasures, will open in San Francisco in April 2025. In TV, Eric leaped from Staff Writer to Co-Producer in his two years on the AwesomenessTV show, Guidance. That led to writing for Netflix’s AJ and the Queen, co-created by Michael Patrick King and RuPaul. Since then, he has developed shows with the actress Laura Bell Bundy, RaqMar Entertainment and Hillman Grad.

Project: Superstar
Logline: At Interview Magazine in 1975, a young ambitious Latina navigates the Warholian world of sex, drugs and celebrity in pursuit of her own 15 minutes of fame.

George Pérez

Bilingual, Cuban-American George Pérez is a proud 2024 Film Independent Imaginar TV Incubator for Fearless Latinx Creators Fellow, as well as a recent Sundance Latine Fellowship recipient and Sundance Episodic Lab Intensive Fellow. His anti sex-trafficking television pilot episode for The Life has been screened at the Harvard School of Public Health as well as at SeriesFest and ITVFest. Pérez is compelled to write stories that are Cuban-American specific but connect us all through deeper themes of overcoming adversity, the loss of innocence and the turbulent quest for personal freedom and expression in the face of intolerance.

Project: Los Cubanos
Logline: A Cuban family, newly arrived in Union City, NJ as part of the 1980 Mariel Boat Lift, is coerced into becoming drug traffickers and assassins, echoing the past they left behind.

Eliana Pipes

Eliana Pipes is a playwright and screenwriter based in her hometown of Los Angeles. She was a staff writer on season one of Spartacus: House of Ashur with Starz/Lionsgate. As a filmmaker she’s been awarded the Academy Gold Fellowship through AMPAS, the Sundance Institute Latine Collab Scholarship, WAVE grant, and Outfest x Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Award. Her play Bite Me premiered Off Broadway with WP Theater and Colt Coeur, and Dream Hou$e premiered in a triple co-production across the east coast. Playwriting awards include the Alliance Kendeda Prize, KCACTF Steinberg Award, and Leah Ryan Prize.

Project: The Young Lords
Logline: In 1969 East Harlem, young Black and Puerto Rican activists create the Young Lords Party, taking daring political action to change their community. Then they fell apart.
 
Celebrating 30 years in 2023, Film Independent Artist Development programs support creative voices and diverse perspectives in film and television by giving filmmakers crucial resources they need to advance their projects and build sustainable careers. Alumni of Artist Development programs include 2024 Spirit Awards nominee Tze Chun (I’m a Virgo), Linda Yvette Chavez and Marvin Lemus (Gentified), Silka Luisa (Blade Runner 2099), LaToya Morgan (Duster), Robbie Pickering (Gaslit) and Beth Schacter (Billions).
 

ABOUT FX

FX, a division of Disney Entertainment, is a global multiplatform brand that develops, produces, commissions and markets original programming for Hulu and the FX and FXX linear channels in the U.S., and Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other international territories. The FX brand mark appears above the title across its entire slate of originals. Over the past two decades, FX has been responsible for some the most-critically acclaimed and award-winning shows on television. Some of the brand’s current and legacy titles include the dramas American Horror Story, American Crime Story, The Americans, Damages, Fargo, Justified, Nip/Tuck, The Old Man, The Patient, Pose, Rescue Me, The Shield, Snowfall and Sons of Anarchy; the comedies Archer, Atlanta, The Bear, Better Things, DAVE, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows; and a growing slate of docuseries and documentary films including The New York Times Presents, Welcome to Wrexham and Dear Mama.
 

ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling in all its forms, and to foster a culture of inclusion. We support a global community of artists and audiences who embody diversity, innovation, curiosity and uniqueness of vision.

In addition to producing the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the organization supports creative professionals with Artist Development programs, grants and labs. Signature mentorship program Project Involve fosters the careers of talented filmmakers from underrepresented communities. Education events and workshops equip filmmakers of all ages and experience levels with tools and resources. Global Media Makers, a cultural exchange program produced in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, provides career-building opportunities for international film professionals. And year-round screening series Film Independent Presents offers a robust program of unique cinematic experiences, including screenings, conversations, Live Reads and Bring the Noise musical events.

For more information or to become a Member, visit filmindependent.org.