‘Tuca & Bertie’ & ‘Gordita Chronicles’ Creators Join With WGA To Slam Warner Bros Discovery Over Cancellations

deadline.com:

The creators of series including Tuca & Bertie and Gordita Chronicles, which both were axed at Warner Bros Discovery, have taken the conglomerate to task for the recent moves.

Those joining the WGA West in blasting the WBD on Monday include Claudia Forestieri, creator and executive producer of Gordita Chronicles; Lisa Hanawalt, creator and executive producer of Tuca & Bertie; and Moisés Zamora, creator and executive producer of Whistleblower, a project in development at HBO Max.

Forestieri, whose Gordita Chronicles was canceled last summer after one season and subsequently pulled from HBO Max, said the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery “has provided pretty stark and immediate evidence that industry consolidation not only harms diversity and inclusion.” Hanawalt said that the female-led Tuca & Bertie, which was canceled in November after two seasons and being saved from its cancellation at Netflix, said, “It’s already harder for shows centered on women, and this merger cost us the support we needed to thrive.” “I got into television to counter the negative mainstream stereotypes about Latino communities and tell stories like Gordita Chronicles, which features a young Dominican girl who immigrates with her family to Miami.

The showrunner and I did everything in our power to set the show up for success, and the first season was showered with positive reviews and strong viewership numbers,” said Forestieri. “But after the merger, HBO Max was given a new mandate from its Discovery leadership to cut costs and Gordita Chronicles was cancelled just five weeks after first airing, and will now even be removed from the platform.