Zetna Fuentes to Direct the Genre-Bending Film “Never Look Back”

Zetna Fuentes is looking forward to her next project…

The prolific Latina television director will helm the film Never Look Back, based on Lilliam Rivera’s 2019 novel of the same name, for 3Pas Studios and Amazon Studios, with Talia Rothenberg (Rebelde) adapting the screenplay.

Zetna Fuentes

Never Look Back is a modern retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Now set in the Bronx with a multicultural cast and bumping soundtrack filled with bachata, reggaeton, salsa, and hip-hop, the film is a blend of genres: fantasy, horror, and romance.

Eugenio Derbez and Ben Odell will produce for 3Pas Studios, with Jordan Rubio overseeing the project for the company.

Chart-topping singer-songwriter Romeo Santos and Artie Pabon will serve as executive producers and music supervisors through the former’s Chimbi Productions. Santos, who is known as the “King of Bachata,” will also have one of his original songs featured in the film.

Rivera is an award-winning writer who has also authored the young adult novels Dealing in DreamsWe Light Up The Sky, and The Education of Margot Sanchez. Her work has appeared in The New York TimesElleLenny Letter, Tin HouseNightmare Magazine, and Magazine for Fantasy & Science Fiction, among other outlets.

Fuentes most recently directed multiple episodes of HBO’s critically acclaimed series, The Gilded Age. She previously directed and executive-produced the pilot and second episode of Netflix’s Cursed, based on the illustrated novel by Frank Miller and Thomas Wheeler, and will make her feature directorial debut with an upcoming project from Amazon Studios and Scott Free Productions, based on the life of 2021 MacArthur Fellow, Dwayne Betts. Additional television credits include episodes of the upcoming series The Old Man (FX) and Bosch: Legacy (IMDb TV), as well as Super PumpedThe Girl from PlainvilleThe GreatThe NeversBoschJane the VirginShamelessRay DonovanThe DeuceThe ChiJessica JonesHow to Get Away with MurderThis Is UsLongmireSnowfall, ScandalGrey’s Anatomy, PitchQueen of the SouthPretty Little LiarsMadam SecretaryiZombieSwitched at Birth and The Fosters.

Upon graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Rothenberg’s first short, Bad Habits, premiered at the 2014 Cannes Short Film Corner. Her first feature screenplay, the YA thriller Swiped, was featured on the Black List. Rothenberg has also recently written on Netflix’s series Rebelde.

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