News
March 15th, 2022
Tanya Saracho and Gabriela Revilla Lugo are developing 15 Candles. The half-hour comedy series—from UCP for Peacock—follows four young Latinas starting high school as they overcome their feelings of invisibility while exploring what it means to leave childhood behind through the lens of the traditional female coming-of-age rite: the quinceañera.
DEADLINE
December 16th, 2021
Mattel Developing Holiday Feature ‘Christmas Balloon’ Palm Springs' executive producer Gabriela Revilla-Lugo will pen the screenplay.
Mattel is developing a feature film based on the true story of a young girl who in 2018 tried to send her Christmas message to...
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
December 16th, 2021
Live-Action ‘Christmas Balloon’ Movie in the Works at Mattel Films
Mattel Films is developing a live-action family drama titled “Christmas Balloon,” based on a real-life story involving Mattel toys, the company announced Thursday. Gabriela Revilla Lugo (“A Million Little Things”) will write the original screenplay. “Christmas Balloon” centers on a young girl..
THE WRAP
About
A daughter of undocumented immigrants, Gabby Revilla Lugo started her career with dreams of being a writer and pre-approved law school loans, which she luckily dumped in favor of a music career that equally never materialized. And while she can still rock out to Pat Benetar at the karaoke bar, or in her own mind, Gabby found her skills better suited to writing, producing, and directing tv and film, with a particular knack for the independent feature space where she worked with the likes of Damian Chazelle on the proof of concept to his award-winning film, Whiplash. Eventually, she went on to produce award-winning hits like Palm Springs, Melissa McCarthy's Netflix indie, The Starling, and Fox Searchlight's Next Goal Wins, written and directed by Taika Waititi. Gabby’s writing career took off after graduating from the Fox Writers Program, The Starz writer's Program, and The Disney Writers Program. Third program was the charm and she was staffed on ABC's hit drama, A Million Little Things, and also began teaching screenwriting at the ScriptAnatomy school. Since 2021, Gabby has sold multiple projects, landed a feature film writing job for Mattel, and optioned her own material. She most recently sold a reimagining of the beloved John Hughes film, Sixteen Candles, as a television series alongside Selena Gomez, UCP, and OJALA, led by award-winning playwright, Tanya Saracho. She has also worked with Tanya on the TV series Brujas, and is currently developing a series with Linda Yvette Chavez (Gentefied) on an unannounced project for a major studio. She is set to direct her first feature film this fall. Lugo is excited to continue telling Latine stories that exemplify more than just our collective trauma, with major heart, and the occasional fart joke.