Remix: Why TV Showrunner Ilana Peña Craves Complicated Girl Characters

Latina to Latina

We continue with our favorite conversations with Latinas in the entertainment industry. Growing up, television writer Ilana Peña was a student of books, where, she says, "girls could be complicated." Now, as creator of Diary of a Future President on Disney+, Ilana brings that vision of girlhood to life. She tells Alicia about rising from assistant to writer’s assistant to writer to creator, how the early loss of her father taught her to use “grief as an engine,” and why being in charge forced her to stop saying “maybe.”

Follow Ilana @lanstagram on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Linda Yvette Chavez and Cristela Alonzo for more on creating Latina shows in Hollywood.