Ep 524- "20 Pounds To Happiness" Writer Josefina López & Star/Director Yelyna De León Are Here!

Today we are talking 20 Pounds To Happiness! This funny, real, and emotion movie is all the rave by critics and film festivals! Written by Sundance Audience Award-winning writer Josefina López (Real Women Have Curves, both the film and its Broadway version), 20 Pounds to Happiness is about a full-figured Latina (Yelyna De León) in a Real Women Have Curves Support Group who must decide between staying loyal to her girlfriends and risk losing the man of her dreams. About Yelena: Yelyna De León is an actress, filmmaker, artivist who hails from the southside of Chicago. She has worked on numerous TV shows (Will and Grace, Snowfall, Ray Donovan, Shameless), feature films (A Better Life, East Side Story) and docs (Behind the Mask of Zorro) to name a few. “Murder in the Woods”, a murder mystery feature film she wrote and produced, starring an all diverse cast including Danny Trejo (Machete), had a successful theatrical and drive-in release during the pandemic and is currently available in English and Spanish, on most streaming platforms, has an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, has been called "darkly funny," by Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times, and hit the Hot List in People in Español. About Josefina: Josefina López is best known for authoring the play and co-authoring the 2002 SUNDANCE AWARD WINNING film Real Women Have Curves. López started her writing career at 17 and has had over 130 productions produced of her many plays throughout the country. She has been working as a professional screenwriter in Hollywood for over 30 years with countless development deals and screenplay assignments. She has worked with many established producers like Norman Lear (“All In the Family”) and Michael McDonald (“American Crime”) to bring Latinos to television. Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on March 19, 1969, Josefina López was five- years-old when she and her family migrated to the United States and settled in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. López was undocumented for 13 years before she received Amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. Citizen in 1995. A great chat with great women! __________________________________________________________________ Check out "The Roundtable with Robert Bannon" here on BPN on the daily, on YouTube, Broadway World, and on social media! Like, comment, share, & subscribe! For more info on Robert- www.RobertBannon.com Follow Him on IG- @RobertMBannon TikTok-@RobertMBannon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices