Hulu to Premiere “How I Met Your Father,” Featuring Francia Raisa, in January

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Francia Raisa is heading back to the small screen in January…

Hulu’s How I Met Your Mother spinoff How I Met Your Father, featuring the 33-year-old Mexican & Honduran American actress, will premiere on January 18, 2022.

The news was announced in a video (above) featuring series stars Hilary Duff, Raisa, Suraj Sharma, Tien Tran, Chris Lowell, and Tom Ainsley.

In How I Met Your Father, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, in the near future, Sophie (Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends – Jesse (Lowell), Valentina (Raisa), Charlie (Ainsley), Ellen (Tran) and Sid (Sharma) — are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.

Francia Raisa (grown-ish) will play Sophie’s roommate/bestie Valentina. She is an aspiring stylist. She is impulsive and adventurous and Sophie relies on Valentina’s ability to cheer her up when she gets down. In the pilot, Valentina has just returned from London Fashion Week with the gorgeous, British Charlie.

Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall also forms part of the cast in the role of Duff’s Sophie in the future, who is telling her son the story of how she met his father, much like Josh Radnor (and Bob Saget’s) Ted Mosby did in the original series.

Other recurring cast includes Daniel Augustin, Ashley Reyes, and Josh Peck.

Haaave you heard? #HIMYF premieres January 18, only on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/D4d9pf7SFO

— Hulu (@hulu) November 17, 2021

Ashley Reyes to Appear on Hulu’s “How I Met Your Father”

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Ashley Reyes has landed a Father of a role…

The Latina actress has landed a recurring role on How I Met Your Father, Hulu’s straight-to-series spinoff to the long-running CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother.

In How I Met Your Father, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, in the near future, Sophie (Hilary Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends – Jesse (Lowell), Valentina (Francia Raisa), Charlie (Tom Ainsley), Ellen (Tien Tran) and Sid (Suraj Sharma) — are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.

Reyes plays Hannah. Smart, practical, devoted to her job, Hannah is Sid’s (Sharma) girlfriend who’s a surgical resident in Los Angeles, so they are forced to maintain a long distance relationship.

Reyes, who was a series regular on Starz’s American Gods, recently shot the indie film Slayers opposite Abigail Breslin and Malin Akerman. A breakout from the 2016 LAMDA showcase, she made her Broadway debut in The Play That Goes Wrong.

Francia Raisa to Star in Hulu’s Comedy Series “How I Met Your Father”

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Francia Raisa has laded a Father of a role…

The 33-year-old Mexican/Honduran American actress has been cast as a lead opposite Hilary Duff in How I Met Your Father, Hulu’s straight-to-series spinoff to long-running CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother.

Raisa and Duff will be joined on set by Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran and Suraj Sharma.

Created and written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, How I Met Your Father is set in the near future, with Sophie (Duff) telling her son the story of how she met his father, much like Josh Radnor (and Bob Saget’s) Ted Mosby did in the original series.

The story starts in 2021 as where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.

Raisa will play Valentina, Sophie’s (Duff) roommate. She’s an aspiring stylist and Sophie’s great friend. She’s impulsive and adventurous and Sophie relies on Valentina’s ability to cheer her up when she gets down. Valentina has just come back from London Fashion Week with the gorgeous, British Charlie.

Duff also produces the series, which will use a multi- and single-camera approach similar to its predecessor. How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas executive produce How I Met Your Father, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television.

Raisa plays Ana Torres, a first-generation Cuban-American and roommate to Yara Shahidi’s Zoey Johnson, on Freeform’s Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish. Her previous credits include Netflix’s Dear White People, The Mindy Project and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, among others.

Gloria Calderón Kellett Developing “With Love” as First Series Under Overall Production Deal with Amazon Studios

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Gloria Calderón Kellett is bringing the Love to Amazon…

The 46-year-old Cuban American television writer/creator’s GloNation Studios and Amazon Studios have set With Love as the first series under Calderón Kellett’s overall deal with the streamer.

The one-hour romantic dramedy, created and written by the One Day At a Time co-creator, had been fast tracked since the pitch stage with the goal to launch it during the 2021 holiday season.

Additionally, Calderón Kellett has set up three other series projects for development at Amazon Studios through GloNation as part of her deal. The wide-ranging slate includes Shakespeare-themed high-school drama Verona, co-created by Calderón Kellett; Glowing Up, a half-hour adult animation musical series based on the graphic novel Mismatched, a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma; and Dating the Lopez Ladies, a half-hour animated comedy created by Calderón Kellett.

Glowing Up and Dating the Lopez Ladies follow Calderón Kellett’s foray into animation with the well-received special episode of One Day At a Time, which was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Meanwhile, With Love and Verona mark a return to the hour-long side for Calderón Kellett, who previously worked on Devious Maids and iZombie.

With Love follows the Diaz siblings, Lily and Jorge, who are on a mission to find love and purpose. The Diaz siblings cross paths with seemingly unrelated residents during some of the most heightened days of the year –the holidays.

“I started writing as a way to create characters and stories that represented myself and the community I love,” Calderón Kellett said. “After such a heavy year, there was nothing I wanted more than to see a happy, warm, loving family that looked like mine, celebrating trauma-free and falling in love. So, to be bringing that family to life as my first project with Amazon Studios feels especially personal and is incredibly exciting. I cannot wait to share With Love this holiday season!”

The holiday series is currently in prep, with production set to begin in June. Its pilot episode will be directed and executive produced by Meera Menon.

“With Love is a special project and Gloria at her best, creating a world with a vibrant family at its center, hysterical circumstances, and so much heart and soul. We’re so proud of what’s to come of this series and can’t wait for the world to fall in love with it,” said Marc Resteghini, US and Global Head of Development for Amazon Studios.

Here are details about the three other projects from Calderón Kellett’s GloNation Studios in the works at Amazon:

VERONA
As Shakespeare so famously wrote, all the world’s a stage… and never is that truer than as a teenager, when you are performing for yourself, your peers, your parents, and social media. Verona is an hour-long drama series which takes the classic Shakespearean stories you know and love out of the renaissance and into present-day high school. The highs are still high, the lows are still low, but one thing is certain… high school drama is about to get a lot more poetic. We follow the Del Castillo sisters Nico, Delilah, and Inez as they play out familiar stories interweaved together in fair Verona where we lay our scene.
Created By: Roja Gashtili & Julia Lerman, Kelly Younger and Gloria Calderón Kellett.
Writers / Executive Producers: Roja Gashtili, Julia Lerman

GLOWING UP
Based on the graphic novel Mismatched (a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma), Glowing Up is a half-hour adult animation musical series centered on Evan Horowitz, an out and proud Latino/Jew amateur matchmaker and wannabe makeup influencer. Evan is an old-school romantic who dedicates himself to getting true love to trend at his high school in Queens — through singing, dancing, and contoured cheekbones. A big gay musical comedy that focuses on love and celebrates LGBTQIA+ youth.
Writers / Executive Producers: Debby Wolfe & Marcos Luevanos
EPs: Gloria Calderón Kellett and Will Graham (for Field Trip)

DATING THE LOPEZ LADIES
A half-hour animated comedy series following plus-sized powerhouse Ilana Lopez. She’s a 25-year-old artist who runs a wildly successful comic strip about dating called Sharp Curves following the misadventures of her alter-ego Gabby. Gabby becomes all too real and is the devil on Ilana’s shoulder in life as well as on the page. When Ilana’s mother, the 49-year-old glamorous divorcee, Sofia visits, she points out that fictional Gabby has more fun than real-life Ilana. It makes Ilana and her friends energized to start a date club and take their romantic conquests seriously. Inspired by the young people, Sofia decides to join her daughter and friends in date club! Adventures and hilarity ensue.
Creator/Writer/EP: Gloria Calderón Kellett

Calderón Kellett, a leading voice in Latinx storytelling on television, was executive producer/co-showrunner, director and actress on Netflix/Pop’s One Day At A Time, which was universally praised for its authentic and nuanced portrayal of the the Latinx experience.

She began her TV writing career as a staff writer on the CBS comedy series How I Met Your Mother, rising to co-producer and earning an ALMA Award for one of her scripts in 2008. She then worked as a writer-producer on such series as CBS/Sony Television’s Rules of Engagement, Lifetime’s Devious Maids and the CW’s iZombie before taking on One Day at a Time.

Gloria Calderón Kellett Appointed to Television Academy’s Executive Committee

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Gloria Calderón Kellett is joining the Television Academy’s executive committee…

The 45-year-old Latina television writer, creator and One Day at a Time executive producer is among the six new appointees to organization’s executive committee, as chosen by the organization’s chairman and CEO, Frank Scherma.

Calderón Kellett is joined by Issa Rae, Rob Mills, Anonymous Content’s Dawn Olmstead, Amazon Studios’ Vernon Sanders and Apple TV Plus’ Zack Van Amburg.

“We are thrilled to be able to leverage the collective expertise of this talented group of Television innovators as we navigate this extraordinary time in the history of our industry,” Scherma said. “Their leadership provides invaluable insight that will allow the Academy to play an integral role in shaping the evolution of the medium.”

The six appointees will work closely with the Television Academy’s officers and board of governors to develop and guide the direction of the Academy for the 2021 term, the organization said.

Here’s more on Scherma’s new executive committee members:

Gloria Calderón Kellett: Executive producer, co-creator, co-showrunner, director and actress on One Day at a Time. Other credits as a writer/producer include Devious Maids, Rules of Engagement and How I Met Your Mother. She also directed episodes of Mr. Iglesias, Merry Happy Whatever, United We Fall and the Mad About You revival; and recently sold her first feature film, We Were There Too.

Robert Mills: Senior vice president, alternative series, specials and late-night programming, ABC Entertainment. Mills oversees development, current production and specials for ABC, with shows such as “American Idol,” “Shark Tank,” “The Bachelor” franchise, “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” He also handles late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the “Fun & Games” programming block.

Dawn Olmstead: Recently named CEO and partner of Anonymous Content. Prior to that, she served as president of Universal Content Productions, overseeing all creative and business operations of scripted and non-scripted content for the studio.

Issa Rae: Actress, writer and producer. She created and stars in HBO’s “Insecure,” for which she has received multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Rae’s film credits include “The Hate U Give,” “The Lovebirds” and “Coastal Elites.”

Vernon Sanders: Co-Head of Television at Amazon Studios. Sanders oversees scripted and unscripted original programming produced for Prime Video and IMDb TV alongside Albert Cheng, including “Fleabag,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” and “The Boys.” Prior to Amazon, Sanders served as executive vice president, current programming for NBC.

Zack Van Amburg: Chief content officer and head of worldwide video for Apple TV Plus. Van Amburg oversees all aspects of strategy for video programming globally including the launch of the platform. Prior to Apple, he served as president of Sony Pictures Television.

Meanwhile also elected to the Academy’s board of governors as representatives on the executive committee for the 2021 term: Eva Basler, daytime programming; Kim Coleman, casting directors; Nicole Marostica, public relations; and Lois Vossen, documentary programming.

Cris Abrego, Chairman of the Americas, Banijay, and President and CEO, Endemol Shine Holdings, who was recently elected to serve a two-year term as the Television Academy foundation chair, will also serve on the Television Academy’s executive committee.

Ana Villafañe Lands Lead Role in CBS’ Comedy Project “History of Them”

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Ana Villafañe is ready to make history…

The 28-year-old Cuban and Salvadoran-American actress/singer, the star of the Gloria Estefan Broadway musical On Your Feet!, will star as the female lead in CBS’ comedy project History of Them.

From One Day at a Time co-creator/executive producer Gloria Calderon Kellett. the semi-autobiographical project is a multi-cultural (Latinx & white) romantic comedy about how two friends, Luna (Villafañe) and Adam, fell in love, narrated by their future daughter, using the couple’s social media from present-day (Instagram/Twitter/Facebook) as a guide.

Villafañe’s smart and spunky Luna runs a successful Latinx food truck business with her parents. Despite this, she struggles with what she wants and doesn’t feel like a fully-fledged grown up yet. She wants to find love and figure out who she is separate from her very tight-knit family, and her journey will be full of bumps and bruises as she navigates the rest of her twenties.

Director Pam Fryman, who helmed several episodes of Netflix’s One Day at a Time reboot, including the key opening one, has come on board as director/executive producer.

History of Them, from Sony Pictures Television Studios and CBS Television Studios, landed at CBS in August in a very competitive situation with a big pilot production commitment. While it hasn’t been formally picked up to pilot yet, attaching Villafañe and Fryman, combined with the size of the commitment, a green light is expected.

Kellett executive produces via her Glo Nation banner alongside Marc Provissiero of Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Fryman.

Villafañe made her Broadway debut as Gloria Estefan in the hit musical On Your Feet!, earning the 2016 Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut Performance. On the screen, she played the female lead in Max Steel and starred in the Hulu original series South Beach. Her other credits include Los Americans, Rizzoli & Isles and Mozart in the Jungle.

History Of Them marks Kellett’s return to CBS and to the hybrid comedy format. She began her writing career as a staff writer on the network’s hybrid comedy series How I Met Your Mother, which was executive produced and directed by Fryman.

Guerrero to Star in CBS’ Comedy Pilot “Distefano”

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Diane Guerrero is preparing for a culture clash…

The 30-year-old Colombian American actress has been cast as the female lead opposite Chris Distefano in Distefano, CBS’ comedy pilot from How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and Sony Television.

Inspired by the Distefano — an Italian American from Brooklyn and a new dad who married a Puerto Rican woman — Distefano centers on Izzy (Guerrero) and Chris (Distefano), two twentysomethings raising their newborn daughter and merging their meddling families – one Colombian American, one Italian.

The script was originally written with Izzy as Puerto Rican, but the character is now being reworked for Guerrero’s background, as representing her community is extremely mportant to her.

Guerrero’s Izzy is the love of Chris’ life and the mother of their 3-month-old baby. Annie Potts portrays Chris’ Irish Catholic mother Helen.

Bays and Thomas wrote the script based on a story they co-wrote with Distefano, with HIMYM director/executive producer Pam Fryman directing and executive producing.

Guerrero, best known for her role on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, was previously attached to star and executive produce a drama series project for CBS/CBS Television about undocumented immigrants based on her memoir In the Country We Love.

She’s also had a recurring role as best friend Lina on the CW/CBS Television Studios dramedy Jane the Virgin, teamed with Jane exec producers Jennie Snyder Urman, Ben Silverman and Paul Sciarrotta.

Guerrero and her OITNB castmates recently picked up their third straight Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Gomez Cast in Netflix’s Latino Remake of “One Day at a Time”

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Isabella Gomez’s Day has come…

The Latina actress has been cast in Netflix‘s One Day at a Time, a Latino remake of the classic Norman Lear sitcom, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The new multi-camera iteration will center on three generations of a Cuban-American family living under one roof.

Gomez has landed the series regular role of Elena, the radical teenage daughter of single mom Penelope. Elena is described as a 14-year-old girl who is in the throes of becoming a woman. A proud nerd, idealist and social justice warrior, Elena is opinionated and not afraid to speak her mind. But while she is Internet-wise, she is more foolish when it comes to the real world. She is particularly confounding to her more old-school grandmother, Abuelita Lydia.

Gomez joins Six Feet Under‘s Justina Machado, who will play Penelope, and Rita Moreno, who will play Lydia.

In the original ’70s series, Bonnie Franklin‘s single mom had two daughters, played by Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli. This time, Elena will be joined by a younger brother, Alex, who has yet to be cast.

The all-Latino One Day at a Time reboot finally got the Netflix pickup in February after prolonged talks. Lear is attached as an executive producer, along with How I Met Your Mother alum Gloria Calderon Kellett and Men of a Certain Age‘s Mike Royce, who are set to co-write and serve as co-showrunners. Michael Garcia will also exec produce, with Brent Miller onboard as a co-exec producer.

The comedy is produced by Act III Productions, Snowpants Productions and Small Fish Studios in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Gomez’s previous credits include Modern Family and Matador.

Del Rio Joins the Cast of Fox’s Upcoming Musical “Grease: Live”

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Grease is the word for David Del Rio…

The 28-year-old Latino actor has joined the cast of Fox’s upcoming musical Grease: Live.

Del Rio, who starred in the Broadway musical In the Heights, will portray T-Birds’ Putzie in the live event.

Del Rio joins the ensemble cast that includes Julianne Hough (Sandy), Aaron Tveit (Danny), Vanessa Hudgens (Rizzo), Carlos PenaVega (Kenickie), Keke Palmer (Marty), Carly Rae Jepsen (Frenchy) and Kether Donohue (Jan).

Meanwhile singer, Jessie J, will open the live event with a new version of “Grease (Is the Word).” The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb wrote the song, which originally was performed by Frankie Valli in the animated opening title sequence of the movie and went on top the pop charts.

Also joining the creative team is Glee and Annie choreographer Zach Woodlee. His credits also include the 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother and 2008’s MTV Movie Awards, as well as the films Eat Pray Love, Hairspray, 27 Dresses and 17 Again.

Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski are directing the production, which Fox airs on Sunday, January 31 — live in the East and delayed in the West.

Del Rio’s other credits include Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Troop, Pitch Perfect and Spare Parts.

Lopez to Guest Star on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Jennifer Lopez is ready for a little recreation…

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and American Idol judge has booked a guest-starring role on the seventh and final season of NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

Lopez, who will headline her own NBC cop drama Shades of Blue in the near future, will reportedly play Leslie (Amy Poehler) and Ben’s (Adam Scott) hot nanny.

For this final season, the couple is now living in the year 2017 as the parents of triplets as per last season’s ending. “

I think everyone feels like, ‘We don’t want to overstay our welcome. We want to go out on a high note,’” executive producer Michael Schur told Entertainment Weekly last May.

Other celebrities set to guest star on the upcoming season of Parks and Recreation include Rachel, Jon Hamm, Megan Mullaly and Natalie Morales.

Lopez previously made high-profile guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother and Will & Grace.

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