Sunday, July 20, 2008

Jose Rivera - Writer, Producer and Director

Back in 1986, I remember tuning in to PBS’ American Playhouse to see a TV adaptation of a play, “The House of Ramon Iglesia” by Puerto Rican playwright Jose Rivera (born in San Juan, PR on March 24, 1955). The story totally drew me in, as it was one of the rare occasions where I felt that I was watching something I could relate to. The story revolves around a Puerto Rican family living in Long Island. Retired, Ramon wants to sell the house and move back to Puerto Rico. The eldest son graduated from college and comes back to inform his family that he will not be moving back to Puerto Rico. With a twist in the dream, the story of assimilation and cultural pins father against son.
The playwright, Jose Rivera wrote other plays but I personally had not seen anything recent from him, or so I thought. It turns out that he moved to Hollywood and wrote for television and film. He was the screenwriter for “Motorcycle Diaries”, the story of Che Guevara’s motorcycle trip with a friend when he was younger. The screenplay won an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay, making Mr. Rivera the first Puerto Rican to have that honor.
In addition to his film work, his television work includes writing for sit-coms such as “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Family Matters” and “Goosebumps”. He was also co-creator, writer and producer of the acclaimed but short-lived series “Eerie, Indiana.”
Currently he has two movies in production, a remake of the Korean movie “Failan” and a screen adaptation of the Jack Kerouac book “On the Road”, the latter with the same director as “ The Motorcycle Diaries”, Walter Salles. In addition to writing, Mr. Rivera has directed and written a short movie, “The Tape Recorder.”

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