Gomez to Executive Produce Latin-Themed Drama Project for Freeform

Selena Gomez is developing her Empire

The 23-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress has partnered with Aaron Kaplan and Freeform for a drama series project.

Selena Gomez

Described as a Latina Empire, the untitled drama, now in development, is set in a low income Latino neighborhood. It’s told through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl destined for greatness.

Gomez will serve as an executive producer on the project with Los Angeles high school senior Ana Cobarrubias serving as a consultant.

The project stems from an idea by Kaplan, who got the inspiration while attending The Zimmer Children’s Museum Discovery Award dinner last November. One of the speakers at the event was Cobarrubias, who captivated the audience, getting a standing ovation for her speech about making a difference in her poor East LA neighborhood and her determination to defy society’s expectations for someone like her by being a strong and confident young woman.

Inspired by Cobarrubia’s speech, Kaplan reached out to Burke with the idea for the series. Burke liked it, and the two approached Gomez, who came on board as an executive producer.

There are no plans for Gomez to act in the series. The show will be co-produced by Freeform and Universal Cable Prods.

Kaplan sought out Cobarrubias, who had said in her speech that she plans to pursue a career in cinematic arts so she could tell the stories of people from low-income neighborhoods like hers.

Gomez is also executive producing Netflix’s upcoming series 13 Reasons Why, which has set Tom McCarthy to direct the first two episodes.