The Hollywood Reporter released its list of “Hollywood’s 50 Most Powerful TV Showrunners” late last week and a single Latine made the cut for 2021 – one more than last year.
Steven Canals, the co-creator of Pose was included on the annual list four months after the TV series ended its third and final season on FX. Canals was nominated for three Emmys this year for directing and co-writing the series finale and for producing the drama series.
“What an honor to be included in @THR’s 50 Top Showrunners,” Canals tweeted.
In THR’s write-up, Canals said that he would like to create a TV series about a young mother named Gigi Garcia who uses her home daycare center as a front to work as a drug runner. He’s already pitched the idea, but no one has shown interest yet. In the meantime, he’s going to continue focusing on stories that are underrepresented in the LGBTQ community.
Gloria Calderón Kellett (One Day at a Time) was named in a secondary THR article that listed 14 additional “powerhouse showrunners to Look Out for in 2022.” THR wrote, “before anyone’s proverbial pants get in a bunch, these writer-producers are still at the top of their game – they just don’t have any recent releases,” which is why they weren’t included on the main list.
Last year, more than 270 Latinx TV and film writers, showrunners, and producers wrote an open letter demanding more representation in the industry. While THR, of course, shouldn’t be blamed for the lack of Latinx representation in Hollywood, it’s important to note that every time its “50 Most Powerful TV Showrunners” list is revealed and it lacks Latine representation, our “proverbial pants” will “get in a bunch.”