America Ferrera Directorial Debut Moves to Amazon MGM Studios From Netflix
America Ferrera’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Erika Sánchez’s “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” has moved from Netflix to Amazon MGM Studios and Orion Pictures, TheWrap has learned.
The 2017 book by Sanchez follows sharp-tongued teen Julia Reyes, who dreams of becoming a famous writer and moving away from her traditional Mexican immigrants parents in Chicago. She’s often compared to her sister, Olga, who died. As Julia seeks to break free of her oppressive home, she tries to uncover her sister’s truth, and in the process gains a deep understanding of the wounds her family carries.
“Gentefied” co-creator Linda Yvette Chávez will write the script. Doreen Wilcox Little, MACRO Film Studios’ Charles D. King and Poppy Hanks, Aevitas Creative Management’s David Kuhn, and Anonymous Content will produce while Sánchez and MACRO Film Studios Greta Talia Fuentes will executive produce.
The announcement is Ferrera’s next move after being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” Her moving speech in the film is considered by many the key reasons she secured the nomination. Ferrera spoke to TheWrap about it back in January.
“It was a lot of people. And it’s a premiere audience, so it’s always a friendly audience, you know, all the laughs, and the clapping, and hooping and hollering,” Ferrera recalled to TheWrap just hours after receiving her nomination. “But there was a wonderful reaction to the speech. I actually took my 3-year-old daughter with me and she sat on my lap the whole time. I was sure she was going to fall asleep and she didn’t.”
It’s not clear why the feature moved from Netflix to Amazon. This marks the second move for a project from the streamer studio. Last week, Dev Patel’s directorial debut, “Monkey Man,” received an April release date from Universal. The move marked a studio shift for the Patel film, which was initially sold to Netflix in 2021 for $30 million. That feature had been in development since 2018 with filming starting in 2021. It’s not clear when Universal purchased the film from Netflix.
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