The Black List Launches The Latinx List With The Latin Tracking Board, Mijente, NALIP, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Remezcla And UnidosUS

Dino-Ray Ramos

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EXCLUSIVE: The Black List is expanding its scope of inclusion and representation in Hollywood with The Latinx List. The inaugural list, a roster of promising screenplays written by Latinx writers, will include literary adaptations, stories based on true events, the immigrant experience, and other narratives encompassing the Latinx experience.

The Latinx List is a collaboration of Franklin Leonard’s The Black List, The Latin Tracking Board, Mijente, NALIP, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Remezcla and UnidosUS. It will be officially unveiled at the 2019 NALIP Summit, which kicks off today in Los Angeles.

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The newly launched Latinx List includes the stories The Black List and all aforementioned organizations would like to see onscreen. The stories about the Latinx community for the Latinx community continue to give shine to vital stories that promote the need for authentic representation in film that not only entertains but puts the lens on cultures. In turn, the stories can help change hearts and minds around the world.

“The last two years have cast many of the consequences of a movie industry that doesn’t look like the country or the world into sharp relief,” said Leonard. “The scripts on the Latinx List are remarkable opportunities to tell great stories and do good business in the process. I look forward to seeing them on-screen.”

Remezcla’s Film & TV Editor Vanessa Erazo adds that Latinos make up only 5% of movie roles, making them vastly underrepresented in front of the camera. “With The Latinx List, we hope to spotlight screenwriters who will create opportunities for Latino talent to thrive in front of the camera and behind it,” she states.

Scripts on The Latinx List were sourced via blcklst.com, or came as nominations from the participating organizations. Selected scripts were written by at least one Latinx writer and feature a Latinx or Latin American character in a prominent role.

The Latinx List continues the Black List’s diverse partnerships that include The GLAAD List of unproduced LGBTQ-centric screenplays as well as The CAPE List, a bank of unmade film scripts centering on Asian Pacific characters and experiences.

Below you can read the loglines of the scripts on the very first Latinx List.

ABEL by Gabriel Quintero: Abel, a young, undocumented immigrant who resorts to prostitution to make ends meet, perpetuates a series of lies after falling for Francisco, a first-generation Mexican-American who seems to have it all.

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Henry Alberto: Based on the book by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, set in 1987 El Paso, follows two teenage Mexican-American loners as they explore their friendship and the difficult road to self-discovery.

BEST MEN by Michael Lara: Lifelong friends, Javier and Ryan, are reunited to celebrate Ryan’s wedding, but when an unexpected visitor from their past brings an unpleasant surprise, Ryan’s illegitimate son, they find themselves forced to go to ridiculous lengths to contain this scandal and save the ceremony.

BLAST BEAT by Erick Castrillon & Esteban Arango: BLAST BEAT is an irreverent coming of age drama set in the Y2K about Carly, a Colombian metalhead genius, and his deviant rival younger brother, Mateo, who struggle to fit into their new lives after moving to suburban America. But when their undefined status in the broken immigration system threatens to split their family apart, they must make a choice that will change them forever.

BOLICHICOS by Juan Avella: In 2006 Venezuela—at the beginning of the country’s collapse—a privileged and greedy 20-year-old recruits the maid’s strait-laced son to carry out a currency exchange scam that swindles millions of dollars out of the country’s poorest citizens, but inadvertently ends up turning brother against brother. Inspired by true events.

HEADBANGERS by Francesca Sloane: 1997, Philly. This is the story of racist Ethan: a punk, teenage skinhead that is forced to move into an all Black and Chicano neighborhood, parenting his kid sister with his estranged boozer grandma. While falling in love for the first time: with a young woman, with rap music and with the role of being a big brother, Ethan makes an irreversible mistake that changes everything.

LUNA LIKES by Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan: When Anthony Bourdain dies, his biggest fan, a melodramatic Mexicana teen, decides it is her DESTINY to become the next great culinary/travel documentarian extraordinaire! (Her words, not ours.) Only issue is, she and her family are undocumented and they see her rise to fame as a dangerous career choice.

THE OTHER SIDE by Barbara Cigarroa: Set in Brownsville, Texas, during the child migration crisis, Lucy, a low-income Mexican American teen, is confronted with her own need for escape when her father decides to sponsor two undocumented minors for money.

ADRIAN Y SEBASTIAN by David & Francisco Salazar: Facing immigration issues in the U.S., a couple must confront the fears of rejection or risk losing each other.

WASHING ELENA by Maria Victoria Ponce: Set in Richmond, California, WASHING ELENA follows 31-year-old Indalia’s struggle to solve the mystery surrounding her best friend Elena’s sudden death. To find answers, Indalia must confront the realities of Elena’s surprising conversion to Islam, leading Indalia to challenge her own biases, vices and lingering guilt.

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