We are creating culture and that affects perspective and eventually that can change legislation, i think it's not just TV we're making -- not when you're brown people. When you're brown people and you get to make a show like this, it's a political act.

Tanya Saracho

Categorized in : Entertainment

I was a playwright who was still learning the ropes when Starz took a chance on me to create and showrun 'Vida.' They nurtured and supported me during every step of the strenuous process, and that is a debt that cannot be repaid.

step me learning chance

No one guided me through it, but here is how it happened: I was in New York doing a play, and an agent got in touch with me and said he wanted to take me out for lunch. In the theatre, they never want to take you out for lunch, so I thought, 'Yes!' I went, I ordered steak, and he told me he thought I should write for TV.

thought me you lunch

In TV, you're a 'writer for hire.' That means you're trying to guess what your boss wants and delivering that story. There's a lot of spitballing. The big thing is 'breaking story,' which means coming up with a story. You do it by episode and put it all up on a board.

your story you boss

You're on set more when you produce an episode, and it's long hou... by Tanya Saracho

You're on set more when you produce an episode, and it's long hours, but you learn so much.

learn more you long

I'm sad about my theatre career, but I've also fallen a bit in lo... by Tanya Saracho

I'm sad about my theatre career, but I've also fallen a bit in love with TV!

career sad theatre love

I don't think that 'Vida' is just for Latinos. I don't think 'One... by Tanya Saracho

I don't think that 'Vida' is just for Latinos. I don't think 'One Day at a Time''s just for Latinos.

day just think one-day

I didn't understand that TV writing wasn't writing; it was pitchi... by Tanya Saracho

I didn't understand that TV writing wasn't writing; it was pitching.

tv understand pitching writing

Sometimes people of color walk into these spaces that are dominated by the dominant culture, and we have to be better, not make as much trouble.

walk sometimes culture people

I adore 'Broad City,' but the one Latino is queer for jokes. You see queerness of Latinos in this emasculated with an accent or fez on a set '70s show. It's always like, 'Ha, ha, funny emasculated immigrants.'

city see you funny

A lot of the time, because we don't have many Latinx scenarios on the landscape, not just in television or film and other media, we haven't gotten the chance to tell our story from our point of view.

view media chance time