Claudia Forestieri and Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz serve as the creator and showrunner of the Latin-focused comedy series for HBO Max, Gordita Chronicles, making them the first female Latinx showrunner and creator duo. The series is executive produced by Zoe Saldana and Eva Longoria.
Inspired by Claudia’s own life experience, the show centers around a Latina reporter looking back on her childhood as a chubby, willful and reluctant Dominican immigrant growing up with her eccentric family in 1980s Miami. The lighthearted series addresses themes around immigration, xenophobia, and body positivity and stars newcomer Olivia Goncalves, Diana Maria Riva, and Juan Javier Cardenas.
Claudia’s previous work for Telemundo earned her five Emmys and a GLAAD Media Award. Brigitte is known for her work on Brooklyn Nine Nine, People of Earth, and Love Life.
"We came up with this idea that we were going to make a 'Juan Hughes' film, which is like in the world of John Hughes, the look of John Hughes, the way it was shot, the color palette, but with Latinos. And so we put a little bit of a Latinx spin on that."
"When you immigrate, it's kind of like you're going through adolescence because you're in a new place. You feel weird in your own skin. You're learning new things. Everything is changing. You feel awkward. So that also helped us connect the adult stories to the children's stories.”