Biographie
Tanya Saracho is a playwright and television writer best known as the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the critically acclaimed Starz series "Vida," which received a 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes across all three seasons. The show aired its third and final season in May 2020 and featured exclusively Latine directors in season one, and exclusively Latina directors in seasons two and three, including Saracho, who made her television directorial debut. The writers' room was entirely Latine for the first two seasons and exclusively Latina in the third.
Saracho has several television projects underway through her overall deal with Universal Content Productions (UCP) and is adapting her Off-Broadway play "Mala Hierba" for Anonymous Content, marking her feature film directorial debut.
She co-founded the Untitled Latinx Project (ULP) to boost Latine representation in television across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms by supporting content created by Latine writers. Additionally, she co-founded the Writers Access Support Staff Training Program to enhance representation and opportunities for underrepresented groups. In June 2021, as part of her UCP deal, Saracho launched the Ojalá Ignition Lab, a program designed to nurture and empower intersectional Latine voices. The inaugural cohort of fellows and finalists was announced in January 2022.
Saracho received the Norman Lear Writers Award at the 36th Annual Imagen Awards in October 2021. Variety named her one of the "TV Scribes to Watch" in 2018. In 2020, she was honored by the LGBTQ California Legislative Caucus during Pride Month. She also earned the Rising Star Award at the Outfest Legacy Awards and the New Voice Award from Final Draft. "Vida" won the 2019 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and received nominations for its second and third seasons. The series was recognized with the 2019 Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, won the Audience Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, and had its second season premiere as an Official Selection at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.
Her television credits include "How to Get Away with Murder," HBO's "Looking," and "Devious Maids."
Saracho was named "Best New Playwright" by Chicago Magazine and has had plays produced at venues such as New York City's Primary Stages and 2nd Stage, Victory Gardens Theatre, Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, Fountain Theater, Clubbed Thumb, NEXT Theater, and 16th Street Theater.
She was recognized as one of nine national Latino "Luminarios" by Café Magazine and received the inaugural "Revolucionario" Award in Theater from the National Museum of Mexican Art. Saracho founded Teatro Luna, the nation's first all-Latina theater company (now defunct), and ALTA (Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists). She is currently developing new work with South Coast Repertory and Two River Theatre.
Born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México, and raised near the Texas border, Saracho has spent much of her adult life in Chicago and currently lives in Los Angeles.
