HBO Wraps "Like Water For Chocolate" In Mexico
Filming has wrapped throughout Mexico for the new HBO Original series Like Water For Chocolate, based on the novel by Laura Esquivel. Production took place in Mexico City and in Haciendas (ranches) in the State of Tlaxcala, involving approximately 1,200 people from the cast and crew.

Bringing to life the endearing characters from the story, the cast for Like Water For Chocolate is led by Irene Azuela as Mama Elena and Azul Guaita as the beloved character Tita. Ari Brickman is Don Felipe and Ana Valeria Becerril portrays Rosaura, Tita’s sister and love rival. The young Andrea Chaparro interprets Gertrudis and Andrés Baida portrays Pedro, Tita and Rosaura’s romantic interest; Ángeles Cruz plays Nacha, the ranch cook and Tita’s mentor, and Louis David Horné is Juan Alejandrez.

To prepare for their roles, the cast took classes in cooking, dancing, and horseback riding. Additionally, each department worked with historians to refine details regarding the period in which the story takes place.

The special locations in the State of Tlaxcala will also be a core part of the series. The beautiful natural landscapes, as well as the unique Haciendas selected to serve as the setting of the story, will allow the audience to be immediately transported to the universe of Like Water For Chocolate.

Portraying the entire period was challenging, not only in the selection of locations. The costumes, by Amanda Cárcamo, were based on wool garments worn at the time of the Mexican revolution in which the story takes place. 

Like Water For Chocolate will show that tradition is not always the best path. Our protagonists Tita de la Garza and Pedro Muzquiz are two souls in love who cannot be together due to deep-rooted family traditions. Tita will be forced to navigate between the destiny dictated by her family and her fight for love through magical colors and flavors, as we accompany her in the place where she finds her greatest refuge: the kitchen. 

Like Water For Chocolate is the first television series adaptation of the original novel of the same name by Esquivel. It is directed by Julián de Tavira and Ana Lorena Pérez Ríos and executive produced by Salma Hayek Pinault, José Tamez and Siobhan Flynn from Ventanarosa Productions; Sharon Levy, Lisa Fahrenholt and Flavio Morales on behalf of Endemol Shine North America; Alejandro Rincón, Jerry Rodriguez and Clara Machado, as well as Manuel Vargas, who supervises the physical production, for Endemol Shine Boomdog; and Mariano Cesar, Mônica Alburquerque and Anouk Aarón on behalf of Warner Bros. Discovery.

"Killing Faith" To Begin Production In New Mexico
New Mexico Film Office director Amber Dodson has announced that the feature film Killing Faith will begin filming in and around Santa Fe beginning in January.

Killing Faith is written and directed by Ned Crowley and features the acting talents of Guy Pierce (LA Confidential), Dewanda Wise (The Harder They Fall), and Tim Roth (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). Triple Seven Pictures, a previously New York-based production company that has relocated to New Mexico, is providing locations and production services for this project. Zori Davidkova and Wes Hager are the producers for Choice Films while on location in Santa Fe.

Killing Faith takes place in the summer of 1859. A widowed physician reluctantly agrees to take a recently freed slave and her mysterious Caucasian daughter on a five-day journey through the West to find a faith healer in a distant town. The woman believes her daughter is possessed. The doctor believes she carries The Sickness. Either way, the fact remains that every living thing the girl touches mysteriously dies.

The production will employ over 100 New Mexicans--approximately 45 as background talent, 60 resident crew members, and five principal actors.