The fourth season of La Fuerza de Creer: Dulce Sazón (5×41′) was recorded entirely in Miami City, which was a great challenge for the producers. “The story had to take place in a neutral city, so the viewer could feel it could be any city in the country,” said Charlie Cartaya, director. The new season debuted on Univisión last year and will premiere on ViX in the coming weeks.
Creative Depot was responsible for the production, written by Jimena Romero and Alejandro Reyes under the direction of Cartaya and executive produced by Carlos Collazo (Creative Depot). The co-creators of the series are the National Science Foundation (who funded the project), Literacy Partners, and the Education Development Center (EDC).
“The first thing I requested was to show that there are other Latinos than Mexicans in this content. Colombians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, we have everything and everyone talking with their accent because I always say that when they take away your accent, they take away your personality,” said Cartaya, mentioning that Univisión allowed them to use this diversity of accents.
The script of Jimena and Alejandro tells the story of a Dominican mother, a Mexican father, and their three daughters (two Dominicans and one Mexican). “From then on, we had a melting pot of talents of different nationalities, highlighting Puerto Rican, Colombian, and Venezuelan, among others.”
The casting process supported the concept of diversity and was developed by Mónica Mola, director of Casting in the US and Mexico. “Our proposal included that each character had to be real, using their accents and mannerisms. We had to highlight what a multicultural family is in the US,” he noted.
La Fuerza de Creer was originally conceived as a mini-telenovela. “However, for this season, we proposed an approach closer to the limited series, betting on raising the production bill with a more cinematic visual. The proposal was well received by Univisión and its partners from the educational institutions that contributed to financing the project,” he explained.
He said it took 40 days of pre-production, 32 days of filming, and approximately 90 days of post-production to deliver the project just in time to broadcast.
“La Fuerza de Creer: Dulce Sazón allowed us to tell a very emotional story within a family environment that reflects the Hispanic reality in the US. This type of project, with a more realistic and everyday approach, has allowed us to tell a story that stands out for its inclusivity, and at the same time gives an educational message to parents about how to inspire curiosity in their children,” commented Collazo.
He added that the opportunity of collaborating in this community service project with leaders in the Hispanic market, such as Univision and ViX, excites them personally and honors them as a company. “The results on Univisión were very positive, and we expect something similar on ViX.”
Cartaya added that Rafael Rodríguez, as producer, and Óscar Lobo SVC, director of Photography, “led a dream team of professionals who mostly come from making movies and commercials. That guaranteed us the quality of our product.”
Cartaya also highlighted the “incredible” work of the three children. “We made a great choice casting them because they complemented the families perfectly, in addition to the professionalism they demonstrated despite their young age and also because of the responsibility of the weight of their roles in history.”
Watch the trailer of La Fuerza de Creer: Dulce Sazón season 4
Univision launches La Fuerza De Creer 2 starting January 7 at 2pm
