Playwright and Television Writer Tanya Saracho Named Showrunner for Starz's POUR VIDA

Starz announced today Mexican-born playwright and television writer Tanya Saracho ("How To Get Away With Murder," "Looking," "Girls") will serve as showrunner for the series in development, POUR VIDA.

"We are delighted Tanya will be joining this series to bring an authentic voice to these second-generation characters," said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director for Starz. "Tanya has the credibility, experience and talent to truly capture the essence of Latino characters in her writing. We're confident that with Tanya on board, 'Pour Vida' will resonate with and attract not only a Latino audience but the larger audience as well."

"Pour Vida" follows twin sisters, Brook and Lyn Hernandez, who inherit an East LA building from their recently deceased mother. They open Pour Vida, a new wine and tapas bar, in a building in Boyle Heights which houses a failing lesbian bar below and a village-like collection of Eastside denizens in three units above. Pour Vida is the sisters' attempt to put the "gente" in the "gentefication" of the historic barrio. They find themselves the only thing protecting the tenants from displacement, their mother's legacy from erasure, and their neighborhood from the Great White Bridge about to bring jalapeno chicken hummus wraps to the 'hood.

Saracho was born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México and raised along the Texas border, spending the better part of her adult life in Chicago. Named "Best New Playwright" by Chicago Magazine, Saracho has had plays produced at New York City's Primary Stages (upcoming) and 2nd Stage, as well as the Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, Fountain Theater, Clubbed Thumb, NEXT Theater and 16th Street Theater. Saracho was named one of nine national Latino "Luminarios" by Café magazine and given the first "Revolucionario" Award in Theater by the National Museum of Mexican Art. She is the founder of Teatro Luna (the first all-Latina Theatre Company in the nation, now defunct) as well as the founder of ALTA (Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists). She is currently in development with South Coast Repertory Theatre and Two Rivers Theatre. She is represented by UTA and Mark Orsini at Bret Adams Ltd.

The Starz-owned series is inspired by a short story by Richard Villegas, Jr. ("I [Heart] Babylon," "La Musica Romantica") and will be produced by Big Beach TV with Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshine, Sunshine Cleaning, Safety Not Guaranteed), Dan Pasternack ("Portlandia," "Starved," "Beggars and Choosers") and Erin Keating ("Portlandia," "Bunk," "The Spoils of Babylon") executive producing. Senior Vice President of Original Programming Marta Fernandez will be the Starz executive in charge of "Pour Vida."

About Starz Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television networks (Starz Networks) and global content distribution (Starz Distribution), www.starz.com. The Starz Networks operating unit is home to the flagship STARZ(R) brand with 23.6 million subscribers in the United States as of December 31, 2015, with the Starz ENCORESM network at 32.2 million subscribers. Through STARZ, the company provides high quality, entertaining premium subscription video programming with 17 premium pay TV channels and associated on-demand and online services. Starz is sold through U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, telecommunications companies, and other online and digital platforms. Starz offers subscribers more than 5,000 distinct premium television episodes and feature films every year and up to 1,500 every month, including Starz Original series, first-run movies and other popular movie and television programming. The Starz Distribution operating unit is home to the Anchor Bay Entertainment, Starz Digital, and Starz Worldwide Distribution divisions. In addition to Starz Original series, Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires movies, television and other entertainment content for worldwide home video, digital, and television licensing and sales.

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