Jimmy Smits’ Production Company Unveils U.S. Network Projects

BURBANK, February 13: The actor Jimmy Smits, whose credits
include NYPD Blue and The West
Wing, has announced three television projects from his outfit, El Sendero
Productions, in association with ABC Television Studio (formerly Touchstone
Television).

First on the slate is The Inside, a co-production with El Sendero Productions, ABC
Television Studio and FX. The project originated with Todd Robinson, writer and
director of the upcoming feature Lonely Hearts. Robinson is lined up to write and executive produce
the project with Smits, about a former special forces operative who agrees to
give up his identity and his family to go undercover and infiltrate a dangerous
drug cartel.

That will be followed by an untitled mini-series to be
written and directed by Gregory Nava about U.S. immigration, told through
interconnected stories. Nava first worked with Smits on My Family/Mi Familia. Nava sold the new project to ABC/ABC Television
Studio with Smits and El Sendero attached.

The third project will put Smits back in front of the
camera. The CBS Paramount/ABC Television Studio co-production for CBS is
currently known as the Untitled Cynthia Cidre Project. Written by Cynthia Cidre (Mambo Kings, A Killing In A Small Town), who will also produce the pilot along with
Jonathan Prince, this multi-generational, Latin family saga explores the
evolution of the American Dream.