EXCLUSIVE: We have the finalists for the 2024 Latine List.
The partnership between the Latin Tracking Board, NALIP and The Black List have selected 10 projects that represent some of the best rising talents in Latin-e/a/o/@ storytelling in film, TV and theater.
Following the List’s core mandate, this year’s selected scripts probe the scope and depth of genres and voices — past and present.
“This collection shines a spotlight on Latine characters, settings and narratives that capture the intriguing complexities of our culture,” the Latin Tracking Board said today. “Each script offers a unique perspective, celebrating the originality and richness of Latine experiences.”
In fact, several writers on this year’s Latine List have received pervious industry praise and recognition for their work.
Rebecca Iliana Kahn and Christian Moldes were selected for the 2024 Sundance Screenwriters Intensive. Daniel Hernandez-Zapata’s The Soloist received the Tony Cox Episodic Screenwriting Award at this year’s Nantucket Film Festival. David and Jamie Holt Aguilar Rodríguez’s King of the B’s was chosen as the Best Pilot of 2024 by Harvardwood. Arianna Ortiz is an alumni of The Writers Lab and is participating in the Stowe Story Labs Advanced Development program. Stephen Reyes is a Rideback Rise Circle member. Eliza Cossio has appeared on The Daily Show and been a staff writer on Our Flag Means Death and This Fool.
“The 2024 Latine List showcases an outstanding array of projects that reflect the richness of Latine storytelling and highlight the incredible talent and creativity of the writers behind them,” said Diana Luna, Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers: “This year’s finalists exemplify the diverse experiences within the Latine community, reminding us of the power of storytelling to connect, inspire, and elevate our voices.”
Added Black List founder Franklin Leonard: “McKinsey & Company released a study last year concluding that ‘the industry could generate an additional $12 billion to $18 billion a year in annual revenue if Latine representation in Hollywood improved.’ Here are some scripts to start with.”
Launched in 2019, the Latine List is the third-longest-running Black List diversity list initiative after the GLAAD List and CAPE List.
Here is the full list of the 2024 Latine List titles, writers and loglines:
¡AY BENDITO!
Rebecca Iliana Kahn (Feature)
Puerto Rico, 1955. A nurse is determined to get her sister into a radical contraceptive pill trial. But when unanticipated side effects emerge, resentments between the sisters come to a head. Inspired by true events.
BODY BROKERS
Gisella Bustillos (Pilot)
United by a terrible secret that could land them behind bars, a sorority girl and her brooding bestie find themselves knee-deep in the sinister underground network of people buying and selling cadavers.
KING OF THE B’S
David and Jamie Holt Aguilar Rodríguez (Pilot)
In 1950s Golden Age Hollywood, Roger Corman is a genius Stanford-educated engineer hellbent on making a name for himself in showbiz. But when the studios reject him, Roger decides if he can’t make it IN Hollywood, he’ll make it AROUND Hollywood by getting down and dirty in the world of B-movies.
PENNY AND FINN
Eliza Cossio (Play)
In Cold War America, a comedy duo goes through a professional breakup and romantic breakdown.
QUINCE KINGS
Christian Moldes (Feature)
Two undocumented teenage brothers infiltrate quinceñeras to quickly assimilate and provide for their destitute family in El Paso, Texas, but their scheme unravels when one of them falls for the mayor’s daughter.
RE-LIFE
Jacky Watson (Pilot)
In a future where all war is waged in a virtual reality, a rookie soldier’s consciousness is torn from her body and she must find out who’s behind the “glitch” before she’s stuck forever in the virtual war zone.
RED HALO
Jerónimo Arellano (Feature)
At the Yale School of Art, a millennial Dominican American artist struggling to find her voice explores a new technology that allows users to experience the lives of others remotely, connecting with an experience provider in the Dominican Republic trying to live his life to the fullest in the throes of a terminal illness. When the lines between their realities blur, she sets out to find him in the real world.
ROADRUNNER
Stephen Reyes (Feature)
During a Death Valley training run, disgraced Mexican marathon runner Diana Tochtli finds herself pursued by a relentless monster and must complete the longest run of her life or die trying.
THE BASTARD CHILDREN OF JAVIER ORTIZ
Arianna Ortiz (Feature)
A Mexican-American family man’s dreams come true when he finds the long-lost siblings he has always wanted. Desperate to bond with them, he soon discovers that he comes from a band of ruthless Texas bandits and that he might not make it home for dinner… or make it out alive.
THE SOLOIST
Daniel Hernandez-Zapata (Pilot)
After winning a prestigious fellowship at Boston Symphony Orchestra, unknown violinist Paco Rosario must learn to navigate the callous and shady world of classical music, where the only way to the top is to trust no one.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.