How two first-generation artists made their bilingual love letter,Gentefied.
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Ten times, in front of some of the industrys biggest players, they pitched their dramedy,Gentefied.
They prepared so much they could talk four seasons into the shows future if someone asked.
We were both like,Oh my God, Chavez said.
The show is also a love letter to its creators backgrounds.
We werent trying to show other people that were good; were showing ourselves that we are good.
I want to see that onscreen.
That was our focus.
How do we capture that?
My entire life, the question was,Where the fuck do I belong?, Lemus said.
Why cant I find something that feels like home?
And it was devastating.
I had never experienced a place that was MexicanandAmerican and they were doing both proudly, Lemus said.
This was all of me, all of my identity in one place.
She brought the idea to Macro founder Charles King.
With Kings support, Williams gave Lemus the green light to look for a writing partner.
She had plenty of reasons to be wary.
Chavez formed a company with friends, shooting parodies and helping Univision launch a digital internet for Latinxs.
But that whole time, I still had imposter syndrome, she said.
A lot of the folks I came into contact with made me feel that I wasnt good enough.
She remembers lighting a candle and talking to her grandmothers spirit.
I told her I cant do this anymore, she said.
I keep fighting people who dont want to hear our stories.
I keep begging for people to see us as important.
I cant keep struggling financially to do what I think is my calling.
Soon after she completed the program, Lemus emailed her.
But then they met.
I wanna see the homeys, the compadres, and I want it to be bilingual.
And I told her I want it to be the best thing possible.
I thought,This dudes crazy, but I like it, Chavez recalled.
And I was like,We get to do seven short films?
Wait, for real?
There, owner Chuy Tovar served themcafe de ollaevery morning as they trauma bonded over their personal histories.
But in America, your identity is very individualistic.
Its a gray area.
After reading the scripts, Ferrera signed on as an executive producer and offered to appear in a cameo.
Lemus directed all seven episodes over ten days, then Macro went to work looking for a distributor.
The combination of the two of them at the pitch meetings sold it, King said.
Marvins funny as hell; hes got this charm and comedic side.
In the end, two of the seven networks fighting forGentefiedbattled it out: Netflix and Starz.
But Lemus and Chavez say it wasnt much of a contest.
I think about where are my cousins watching?
I want my little cousins back home in the hood of Bakersfield to watch this show.
They rewrote the pilot, drawing on their personal experiences.
Im still trying to pass that test!, Lemus joked.)
This is real!, Chavez said.
At the end of the night, Lemus walked over to Chavez and started crying.
