Former TV News Producer Showcases Latin Culture With New Series ‘Gordita Chronicles'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 12: Claudia Forestieri attends the HBO Max “Gordita Chronicles” Red Carpet Premiere Event at Valentine DTLA on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for HBO Max)

Working in the newsroom helped her become a better series writer, said Claudia Forestieri, creator of the new comedy "Gordita Chronicles."

“By day I was a full time journalist and by night an aspiring series writer,” Forestieri told Telemundo 52, as she recalled the years she worked as a reporter, an assignment editor, and a news produce for various Telemundo stations.

“Telemundo helped me become a TV writer. When we do news, you have to pitch stories every day, and if your story didn't get picked, you can't sit and cry about it, you have to keep pitching ideas, know how to meet a deadline, and able to summarize a story quickly, so news prepared me well to be a TV series writer,” said Forestieri.

I wanted to showcase the life of the immigrant that is never shown, the fun side, the happy side, the positive side, and show the wonderful things about the Latin culture and how our culture and the American culture can come together and create a beautiful community.

And even though she loved being a journalist, her heart's desire was becoming a writer for a television series, and nine years later, after years of sacrifice, tears, sleepless nights, and being almost 3,000 miles away from her family, the Dominican immigrant created a series that has received support from HBO Max and the actresses and executive producers, Eva Longoria and Zoe Saldaña.

IT WASN'T EASY

“I started from scratch. I didn't have any contacts; I didn't know anyone in this industry. I sacrificed a lot, I missed many weddings, vacations, but in the end my family understood.

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Forestieri, who left Miami at age 35, said arriving to the West Coast with a mission forced her to prepare for the challenge she was about to face. “I had to fall in love with the journey. I had to learn to be a better writer, take classes.”

THE SERIES “GORDITA CHRONICLES”

After having been accepted into several writing programs, in 2018 Forestieri did her first screenwriting job, and in 2019 she collaborated on the Netflix series Selena.

Then in 2021, Right during the pandemic, HBO Max announced they had chosen the series “Gordita Chronicles”, and that Zoe Saldaña and Eva Longoria would become the executive producers of this project.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: Eva Longoria, Zoe Saldana, Claudia Forestieri and Olivia Goncalves attend the HBO Max "Gordita Chronicles" Red Carpet Premiere Event at Valentine DTLA on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for HBO Max)
Eva Longoria, Zoe Saldaña, Claudia Forestieri and Olivia Goncalves attend HBO Max's "Gordita Chronicles" Red Carpet Premiere Event at Valentine DTLA on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for HBO Max)

Inspired by the life of Forestieri, the protagonist of “Gordita Chronicles”, Carlota, “Cucú” Castilli (Olivia Goncalvez), is a 12-year-old girl who, along with her parents and older sister, left the Dominican Republic to pursue the American Dream in 1985 after her father, an airline marketing executive, got transferred to Miami.

The series shows how young Cucú faces the challenges of being an immigrant in a new world, showing her courage, humor, mischief, as well as the importance of her culture and family.

“I wanted to write a script that was personal. I was an immigrant girl, I wanted a better life, I had to learn a new language, a new lifestyle in a new country, and make new friends,” said Forestieri.

"I wanted to reflect the life of the immigrant that is never shown, the fun side, the happy side, the positive side, and show the wonderful things about the Latin culture and how our culture and the American culture can come together and create a beautiful community," she added.

The writer added that most immigrants who arrive to a new country “want a better life, they want the country to be better” and that is precisely what the series will show.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: Cisely Saldana, Mariel Saldana Nazario, Zoe Saldana, Claudia Forestieri, Olivia Goncalves, Eva Longoria, Savannah Nicole Ruiz, Juan Javier Cardenas, Noah Rico, Diana Maria Riva, Loni Love, and Cosette Hauer attend the HBO Max "Gordita Chronicles" Red Carpet Premiere Event at Valentine DTLA on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for HBO Max)
Cisely Saldaña, Mariel Saldaña Nazario, Zoe Saldaña, Claudia Forestieri, Olivia Goncalves, Eva Longoria, Savannah Nicole Ruiz, Juan Javier Cardenas, Noah Rico, Diana Maria Riva, Loni Love and Cosette Hauer attend the premiere of "Gordita Chronicles" at Valentine DTLA on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for HBO Max)

And regarding the title "Gordita Chronicles", Forestieri said, "well, I never really liked people calling me "gordita" (fat girl), I actually wanted to forget about that, but for Hispanics, nicknames are a term of endearment, and in English (these nicknames can come across as offensive) so I embraced it, and it was important to include because this was a part of me, this defined me."

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