This Queer Ecuadorian Boy from Queens just wrote on his first TV series, Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. I have to reread that because it’s still crazy to me. I trace it back to my earliest memory – I was only three at the time, but my mom took me to see Batman Returns in the theater. My first experience in the palace of cinema sparked something spiritual in me. Igniting my soul like a constellation. I found my calling.
Now tell any immigrant parent you want to pursue the arts, and they’re either going to laugh at you or tell you flat out, No. The reality is, there is no pipeline for people like us into the industry. But that doesn’t mean we can’t carve our own way. We just have to echale ganas.
No one was going to help me get to where I wanted to be. The same way no one was helping our parents or grandparents get to the United States. They had a dream and they followed it. The irony when they buckle hearing us say we want to be artists! Ha! We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams. We owe it to THEM!
So I knew I had to work ten times harder because nepotism was not an option. You best believe I was writing in between shifts at work. Waking up early or staying up late just writing one more page. Blowing my paycheck on camera equipment and dinner for my crew. And most importantly, I applied to EVERY PROGRAM. It didn’t matter if I got rejected, I would just reapply the following year.
Until I finally got the motherload: the NBCU Launch TV Writers program. To be honest, writing for TV was not where I saw myself. I had only written features, but TV was becoming a cinematic medium at this point, and to cite a great mentor of mine: “Never be precious about your opportunities.” Storytelling is storytelling, you can learn format later. This is when my career took off.
NBCU’s Launch program is TV writing bootcamp. A tight schedule of writing deadlines. Meeting showrunners and executives. Pitching yourself and story ideas. One-on-one development with executives. The mentors there taught me that to work in Hollywood is to not make art, but commerce. And if you can live in the special moments when you’re making both, then you’ve won.
I grew as a writer when I understood that. It opened me up to appreciate genres I thought I couldn’t connect with. I found my commercial voice – meaning I would always find a way to Trojan Horse a greater message into a commercial story. When I began using this strategy, I also started getting more fellowships and grants. It’s because with a commercial story, you have the greater chance of reaching a wider audience. And isn’t that what we want in the end?
As a staff writer on Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, I joined a room full of brilliant and emotional writers who I admire. They’d been working as a unit already for several years, so I was the outlier. It could have been extremely intimidating, had it not been for the mentorship of the showrunner, Patrick Macmanus. Even though I’d never written a single line of true crime (what this series ultimately is), he recognized something in my writing that resonated with him and this story. He took a big chance on me. And I was not going to let him down.
Patrick has this gravity that makes you want to be the best version of yourself. He helped me find what I brought to his wheelhouse in the Devil in Disguise writers’ room. He created a safe and nurturing space, reinforced by the complementary team he assembled – and that allowed us to really dig into ideas. We were able to become vulnerable with each other in the pursuit of discovering the heart of our story. Especially since this subject matter is so bleak, Patrick maintained a certain levity in the room. To make ten people, from different walks of life, feel comfortable sharing deeply personal things about each other – that’s the alchemy Patrick makes.
He even gave me episode five to write. By the time I was putting it together, I felt empowered – thanks to his professionalism and the way everyone in the writers’ room lifted each other up. My imposter syndrome was extinguished. He made me feel like I belonged there, and I am eternally grateful because now I know I can soar.
During production, his company brought me to set when my episode was being filmed. This experience is priceless, and while I’ve worked in feature production before as Jennifer Lopez’s personal production assistant, learning the intricacies of TV production opens up so many more opportunities. I recently signed with agents at IAG, and my manager is at RAIN. I was lucky to have met Patrick, but I’d done the work to be ready for the opportunity he provided. Now the TV series I wrote on just premiered on Peacock to rave reviews, and my career is taking off!
