In a competitive situation, Amazon Studios has signed a big overall deal with One Day at a Time co-creator, executive producer and co-showrunner Gloria Calderon Kellett.

I hear the pact is for three years and represents a milestone as the first ever for female Latinx writer/creator to reach eight figures. Under the deal, Calderón Kellett will create and develop TV series and films through her production company, GloNation, to run exclusively on Amazon Prime.

One Day At A Time Netflix

The Amazon Studios agreement starts in June 2020, after the end of Calderon Kellett’s current overall deal with Sony Pictures TV. Under that pact, she co-created, executive produces and co-showruns alongside Mike Royce One Day At a Time, a reimagining of Norman Lear’s 1970s classic. The praised comedy series, which ran on Netflix for three seasons, is now headed into Season 4 on Pop. If the family sitcom goes beyond that, Calderón Kellett will continue to serve as an executive producer and help the series maintain its authenticity, with Royce as sole showrunner as she focuses on her Amazon development.

The proud daughter of Cuban immigrants, Calderón Kellett has become a preeminent voice in Latinx storytelling. She is EP/co-showrunner, director and actress on One Day At A Time, whose representation of the Latinx experience through the nuanced portrayal of a Cuban family has become increasingly important at a time of growing political misrepresentation of the Latinx community.

Since its debut, the show also has drawn praise for tackling such timely topics as racism, sexism, LGBTQ issues and deportation, as well as mental health & addiction issues like PTSD, anxiety and alcoholism.

Amazon Studios

“Gloria is an incredible storyteller, who has written and created series that are not only culturally relevant, but engaging, relatable, and hilarious,” said 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.”

Calderón Kellett began her TV writing career as a staff writer on the CBS comedy series How I Met Your Mother, rising to co-producer and earning an ALMA Award for one of her scripts in 2008. She then worked as a writer-producer on such series as CBS/Sony TV’s Rules of Engagement, Lifetime’s Devious Maids and the CW’s iZombie before taking on One Day at a Time. Her directing credits include One Day At A Time, Merry Happy Whatever, Mr. Iglesias and the Mad About You revival.

“I have been so blown away by the original series coming out of Amazon,” said 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.”

Some of the female writer-creators who have overall deals at Amazon Studios include Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Lena Waithe, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Lisa Joy and Sharon Horgan.

Calderón Kellett, who started her career as a playwright, is repped by Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, Felker Toczek as well as UTA (for directing and acting).