Amazon inks overall deal with One Day at a Time’s Gloria Calderon Kellett
David Farnor | On 29, Nov 2019
Amazon Studios has inked an overall deal with another major TV talent, One Day at a Time’s Gloria Calderon Kellett.
Kellett was co-showrunner on the reimagining of the Norman Lear sitcom, which follows three generations of a Cuban-American family: Penelope Alvarez (Justina Machado), a newly-single mom and military veteran; her radical teenaged daughter, Elena (Isabella Gómez), who came out in Season 1; her socially adept tween son, Alex (Marcel Ruiz); and her old school Cuban-born mom (Rita Moreno). The comedy became well known and widely loved for its progressive, inclusive, feel-good and distinctive themes and characters. When Netflix gave the show the axe earlier this year, the fan outcry made it clear that its makers were creating something that resonated with a lot of people.
It wasn’t long until Pop TV resurrected the show, or until a competitive race began to secure the talent responsible for the breakout audience favourite.
Kellett began her TV career as a staff writer on How I Met Your Mother, before rising to co-producer, then working as a writer-producer on Rules of Engagement and iZombie. She has directed on One Day At A Time, Merry Happy Whatever and Mr. Iglesias. Now, Amazon Studios has signed an overall deal with co-creator, executive producer and co-showrunner Kellett, with Deadline reporting the agreement to span three years.
The deal is the first for a female Latinx writer/creator to reach eight figures and will see Kellett create and develop TV series and films through her production company, GloNation, for Amazon Prime Video.
The agreement starts in June 2020, after her current overall deal with Sony Pictures TV expires. If the family sitcom continues at Pop TV, she will continue to serve as an executive producer.
“Gloria is an incredible storyteller, who has written and created series that are not only culturally relevant, but engaging, relatable, and hilarious,” says Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “We are all delighted that Gloria will join the Amazon Studios family and excited to see the new projects she’ll bring to our Prime Video customers around the world.”
“I have been so blown away by the original series coming out of Amazon,” adds Calderón Kellett. “Their commitment to supporting creators, specifically women, has been next level. It’s clear they are committed to supporting outstanding, quality television. When I met the diverse Amazon Studios team of creative executives, I immediately felt a kinship and connection. I could see immediately that our values and ideals in creating quality programming for underrepresented voices was a shared passion. I am overjoyed to take my next creative steps with them.”
She joins a line-up of female writer-creators with overall deals at Amazon Studios, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sharon Horgan.