Richard Montañez’ story resonated with me because his story is my story. Being underestimated, having the discipline and desire to be more – not have more, but be more. – Eva Longoria

When Eva Longoria came across a script written by Linda Yvette Chávez (Gentefied), she knew that hers was the unique voice she wanted for her directorial debut. Flamin’ Hot tells the story of Richard Montañez, a struggling husband and father who turns his life around to start an honest job as a janitor at Frito Lay. Driven by his curiosity and imagination (and love of Mexican cuisine), he pitches his ideas to PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico, forever changing the snack industry by creating the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto.

Longoria has emphasized that her vision was to tell an authentic story and Chávez brings an empathy and understanding of the Latino community to the screenplay. We spoke about the film, how she became involved, and the importance of capturing that authenticity. 

How did you become involved with this project and were you already familiar with Richard’s story?

I was familiar with Richard’s story, I think through an article – a Latino/a news outlet had put out one of those lists of fun facts about different people. I thought, “That’s so cool, a Latino made hot Cheetos… of course they did!”

At the time, I was busy doing Gentefied, a show on Netflix, and we were at the end of season one. We were in post-production and I was about to go in to have surgery when I got the call that Eva Longoria wanted to meet with me about a Searchlight project they needed a writer for. They needed someone to take it over and do the whole thing with her vision in mind and Eva wanted me. And I said, “I’m having an organ removed.”

It turned out that Eva had read a draft of a script I wrote, an adaptation of a book called “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” which is being directed by America Ferrera. She fell in love with the voice and said, “I want that voice for this movie.” Longoria convinced Searchlight Pictures to wait for me.

She was trying to do something different that I really appreciated. I think all of us are trying to find new, innovative ways to tell our stories. And it was really cool to see that she had this vision that was something I could get down with. She and I have a very similar voice and comedic sensibility, and I think it really worked.

So she brought me on and we met with Richard and his whole family. I heard the depth of their story and how hard they fought. And what a struggle it was when Richard was working there. I left that meeting fully electrified. It felt so necessary to hear someone who was like him, who had gone through what he’d gone through to get to where he was. Not only mainstream mass audiences, but for people who look like Richard and Judy. This film is a project that was four years in the making and it was a long journey.

Tell me about what it means to be authentic in telling this story.

For Eva, it was to capture the voice for this story. There was a previous script that wasn’t written by someone from Richard’s background. It was a great foundation for what we needed to do, but we also needed the voice of someone from the community. For me to come in and be able to sit down with Richard and Judy. They didn’t need to say more than a few words for me to understand. I knew what they experienced – I lived it. I saw my parents go through it. I told Richard I felt it in my bones. “The way that you speak, the way that you talk… I know exactly who you are because you’re my dad. You’re my cousin. You’re my uncle.” 

Linda Yvette Chávez. Photo by Kim Newmoney

Eva needed a writer on the project who was going to be able to capture where they were and where they came from. And for me personally, I think when you have a person who’s from that background, behind the scenes writing, they tend to write those characters with a lot more love than maybe others would. Because they recognize them, not only in their bad times, but also when things are good.

I had a lot of family and friends who grew up like Richard, with gangs and struggling to survive and working like he did. Oftentimes we only see one side to people like that, the scary, criminal side. I grew up with people who were like that and saw them in a different light. When they were going through a hard time with their family, when they were struggling to make it and all they had to get by was to go and sell drugs. I saw the good side of people. And I think when you have someone who can really understand that and write those characters from that place of love, it’s a lot stronger.

You get that authentic vibe because they give you the full person, including their flaws. Someone who is not of the same background might be afraid to give their characters flaws… and you can end up with these one-dimensional, really perfect, good people. Our people are not always perfect either. They have flaws and we need to be able to capture the full essence of someone.

I read that Eva wanted the film to be “comedic, effervescent and uplifting.” Is that a tall order when you’re approaching a screenplay? Did you have those qualities in mind while writing or did it pan out organically?

To be honest, that’s kind of my natural emo! It’s where I live. As much as I try to be dark sometimes, I come out the other end and I’m all about the heart and the people and the pain and the empathy. I love to find beautiful stories and the complexity of being human. And I think in our complexity, and fundamentally as humans, we want life to be OK we want to be happy. To succeed, we want to feel comforted. It came naturally with this because that’s who Richard is. Richard’s really funny when you get to know him. He’s a natural comic, and I think oftentimes, if you come from a difficult place in life, comedy is the thing that helps us keep going. With my family, we’d be going through hardship but would make a joke…because really, what else have you got? We have to feel some sort of courage and encouragement.

With Richard, he was going through really hard times. I think a lot of people went into the film not realizing that it was also going to make them cry. That’s the human experience. To get through all of those difficult times, Richard would make some jokes and mess around with people; that was his natural instinct. And I think it’s mine too. 

It can be harder with comedy. Sometimes it might not fully land for a broader audience the way it would for someone who is from a certain community. Being authentic with the comedy is the part that I think is a tall order. That’s hard because you’re working with people at the top who need to trust your writing and trust that it’s going to make people laugh. They don’t always understand it and want it to be mainstream. But that can water it down, and in order for it to be fully authentic, it has to have its nuance and its idiosyncrasies that maybe not everyone is going to get. But I trust the audience.

What research did you do? Were there sources other than Richard and Judy that you pulled from?

Richard and Judy were the big ones, I interviewed them a lot. I also did a lot of research online and there was a lot of research that came to me through our producers; details around things like the factories and how they worked, the timeline and what it was like in the 80s and so on. They wanted to watch chips being made in a factory; so how we paired the factory with the story development was really important for me. I had to show the process of making a Cheeto… but it was tied to the fact that it was learned from someone who was going to be a mentor.

I also read a lot of articles about the Cola Wars, there was actually a lot more in earlier drafts around that, some of which fell away. Roger Enrico is a really fascinating character and I did a lot of research on him. He was a working-class Italian immigrant, and that’s why he saw Richard. He was able to see him as someone who was like him and who had a vision. He recognized him as a visionary, because he himself had come from nothing.

Judy Montañez (Annie Gonzalez). Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

The research was really rich because what I needed to do was find the human story in everything. In talking to Richard, I was able to pull out more about his relationships, with his dad, Judy, his son, even the gangster who got him the job at Frito Lay. Those were all real people who were dealing with real life things, so pulling all of that was part of the process.

This was Eva’s directorial debut and as you mentioned, another of your screenplays is the basis for America Ferrera’s directorial debut. Tell me what these experiences have been like and how you all have learned from each other.

I first worked with America on Gentefied, and she directed some of those episodes. Being able to witness her direct was really beautiful and exciting.

With Eva and this film, everyone said it was her first feature. But it felt like I was working with a veteran. She’s been on sets for decades now, and I felt the same way about America. When people have been on sets for many years, they know how the sausage is made. They know how to speak with the actors in a way that only an actor can, and they know how to make decisions.

One thing I found beautiful about Eva was that she protected my time as a writer. She let me have the space in my cave to create and didn’t push for things to get done just for the sake of getting them done. She said, “Give me the best story” and I think that that really makes for a great director. Someone who knows how to choose the right people to tell the story that they want to tell, and then give them the space and the resources to tell that story. That’s what Eva did.

Just being able to witness another Latina directing was so powerful. I would show up at her house and ask her how she was doing all of the thing she was doing. For me, it was training. Watching Eva and America work, how they direct, manage crews, and how they manage being directors as women and women of color… that’s really difficult. It’s hard to be in a position of power when you’re fighting to be acknowledged as a person in that position of power. It’s hard stuff and being able to see how they function and manage is really empowering to me as I go into developing my own work and directing my own pieces. I directed my first episode last season on my show. America and Marvin, my co-creator, were both there. They were so supportive and really advocated for me. I think that’s the beauty of working with America and Eva – they both are such huge advocates. It’s necessary in order for any of us to come up in this business; we need people like them and we need to become those people.

What are some of the diverse stories you have encountered in your teaching and in your writing labs?

I’m actually working with two new creators and executive producing a series of theirs. It’s great just hearing them talk about this fantastical world that they’re creating from their cultural background, and being able to give them notes and advice based on my own experiences…being able to say “hey guys, this is what you’re going to have to do and this is what you’re going to come across”. It’s so vital, especially coming from someone who understands their experience. Telling them what needs to be highlighted in a pitch, “They’re really going to love this because it’s similar to this other thing that’s of your cultural background and that’s their only point of reference to you and your world.” It’s advice for selling something, but it’s also just exciting to hear stories that are new and innovative. It’s been really fun to be on the other side of things.

My number one advice to writers is to find their authenticity and really connect to that. Connect to who you are in the work, because that’s the thing that’s going to carry you through everything. Full circle makes you feel a little bit old, but it’s nice.