Starz Chief Executive Officer Chris Albrecht announced at today's Starz Television Critics Association (TCA) presentation at The Langham Huntington in Pasadena, Calif. that Starz is developing "Pour Vida," a series inspired by a short story by Richard Villegas, Jr. ("I [Heart] Babylon," "La Música Romántica"). Big Beach TV will produce 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.
"Pour Vida" follows twin sisters, Brook and Lyn Hernandez, who inherit an East LA building from their recently deceased aunt who raised them. 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 aunt's legacy from erasure, and their neighborhood from the Great White Bridge about to bring jalapeño chicken hummus wraps to the 'hood. Brook and Lyn discover upon returning to East LA that they didn't just inherit a building - they inherited a pueblo. For Life.
"Marc Turtletaub, Dan Pasternack and Erin Keating, along with our partners at Big Beach TV, brought to us a story that has yet to be told on television," said Carmi Zlotnik, Managing Director of Starz. "There is heart and humor in capturing the first-generation experience."
"Big Beach TV exists to champion fresh voices, tell great stories and celebrate unique characters," Pasternack said. "We feel fortunate to have all of these elements in great abundance thanks to Richard Villegas Jr., and we couldn't ask for a better home than STARZ."
Richard Villegas Jr. was born in East LA and earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree in American Literature and Chicano Studies from UCLA and a Master's in Professional Writing from USC. Villegas lives in East LA a few blocks away from where his great-grandparents and grandparents rest in peace.
Starz retains all domestic and international multiplatform rights including television, home entertainment, and digital.
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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 channels (Starz Networks) and global content distribution (Starz Distribution), www.starz.com.
Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R) pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of September 30, 2015,
Starz and ENCORE serve a combined 55.8 million subscribers, including 23.3 million at STARZ, and 32.5 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R), along with
Starz Networks' third network MOVIEPLEX(R), air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through
Starz PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY.
Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television.
Starz Distribution's home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties.
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