Franky Benítez

Encanto Productions, one of the players mentioned in the social media saga of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez and her allegations that the TV script adaptation of The Dirty Girls Social Club is “racist and sexist,” made its first comments about the story today. The company claims that the leaked script Valdes-Rodriguez received was a “draft.”

Their comments appear on LatinHeat.com, a news and entertainment website, in the following post: The Dirty Girls Social Media Wars. Here is what the article, reported by Bel Hernandez, included:

…Encanto did confirm that the script Valdes-Rodriguez got a hold off was a draft. The script has not yet been ordered to pilot and stated that Valdes-Rodriguez is fully aware of this fact. As to Valdes-Rodriguez’s allegation that Lopez had “promised” to give her final approval of the scripts, well that is a rarity in Hollywood. In this particular case, Encanto stated no deal was ever established and Valdes-Rodriguez willingly signed off to no creative consultation.

The article does a very good job detailing the events that occurred over the holiday weekend and also adds some additional information about Ana Lopez and writer Luisa Leschin, saying that they are “well known and respected in Hollywood” and that they “worked up their way up the Hollywood ranks.”

Hernandez closes with an interesting observation about social media, and we think that this is the central issue about the entire story and why we even began to get interested in it:

Social media is most certainly instant, but in most cases not as objective as say the New York Times might have been. In a matter of 10 days the Dirty Girls Social Media wars were “instantly” waged by Alisa-Rodriguez and just as “instantly” came to an end. What the collateral damage is yet to be seen, but one thing is sure, you will read about it in the social media outlets — instantly.

The Valley of Creative Differences
LatinHeat also published commentary by Nancy de Los Santos Reza called The Dirty Girls Social Club and The Valley of Creative Differences where de Los Santos Reza criticizes the public statements made in social media. One excerpt of the commentary states:

There’s an opportunity in this situation for a “teachable moment.” On any project, if you’re the writer or the producer, don’t take umbrage against someone with a different opinion. Argue, discuss, offer suggestions – do everything to get your point across. But do it in a professional manner in the privacy of a meeting, telephone call, or email. Focus on the project. Gender, religion, age, economic status – and anything else that defines a person – is not fodder for criticism. And do not break confidences shared in a professional setting.

Valdes-Rodriguez on Latina.com
In the meantime, Valdes-Rodriguez talked with Lee Hernandez from Latina.com about the recent events. The website says that Valdes-Rodriguez feels that Lopez “intentionally misled her” about the plans for the book. The entire interview can be read here: Interview with Latina.com. The website also reported that “We also reached out to Ann Lopez for comment, but her rep responded, ‘She has been advised not to comment on this.'” Valdes-Rodriguez also said that she didn’t realize that the contract she signed with Encanto did not obligate the production company to make her a consultant on the show.

Here are some excerpts of the what Valdes-Rodriguez said:

• “For me, it’s not even an ego issue. I wouldn’t care if they changed story lines at all and made it more modern—that’s fine, and I understand you have to do that when you adapt a book. But changing every single character to be, you know, not a good role model … I went out of my way to write a book that I hoped would show positive role models of educated, professional Latinas for everybody in the country to see that we exist, and it has been very depressing for me.”
• “[Ann Lopez] doesn’t have any production credits other than having been thrown onto things her husband did at the last minute. She has no formal education. Her entire Hollywood experience is related to being around George Lopez, which is fine, but his demographic audience is different than mine. I think she’s cynical—they’ve been discouraged over the kinds of battles they’ve had to wage in Hollywood over the years. They’re so cynical that they didn’t believe that what I’d written would get past the gatekeepers. They took the title literally, and it’s not literal—its figurative and it’s ironic.”

As for possible legal action between the parties, Valdes-Rodriguez said, “I’m not sure. She’s got a lawyer, and I’ve got a lawyer. At this stage, our lawyers are exchanging letters.” She also confirmed that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) stopped representing her, an action she called “clearly retaliatory” and that her lawyer would be ask for damages from Lopez, who is also represented by CAA. She also said this about her now former literary agent: “Although I did lose my literary agent because she accidentally sent me an e-mail for someone else about me, about all of this—that was very insulting.”

The social media updates continue from Valdes-Rodriguez, as she states on her public Facebook page tonight when referring to Lopez: “People cry, ‘but you’re both Latina,’ and I answer, ‘Yes. She is anti-Castro; I am a socialist. The Cuban Revolution

LATEST UPDATE January 5, 2011: This afternoon, Valdes-Rodriguez tweeted the following at 3:22 EST pm:

She followed with these successive tweets, a few minutes later:

• “On contract Ann Lopez concocted for me with CAA, my lawyer says “Boy did CAA f— you.” Not what i meant when i prayed to get laid.”
• “Wished to be a successful writer. Happened. At a cost. Price? Spending more time fighting bull—- than actually writing. For now. Sigh.”

It looks like this story won’t go away yet.