Luis Santeiro

Luis Santeiro (born October 9, 1947) is a Cuban American television screenwriter and playwright.

Quotes

• I was living in Miami. Some people would say, ‘You were very young when you came from Cuba. How did you know us?’ They think I’m portraying Cuba, I said, ‘No, I’m portraying Miami. I’m portraying what I saw in Miami.’
  • On how he wrote the first bilingual sitcom ¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.? in “Meet Luis Santeiro, the Head Writer of the US’ Very First Bilingual Sitcom ‘¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?’” in Remezcla (2017)

• We would get letters from Nebraska. I’ve talked to Latin Americans, whether they’re from Colombia [or elsewhere], and they have somebody like that in their family…If you make it authentic, if it touches you, it doesn’t have to be your experience.
  • On how writing truthfully enables you to connect with different audiences in “Meet Luis Santeiro, the Head Writer of the US’ Very First Bilingual Sitcom ‘¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?’” in Remezcla (2017)

• We went to the visual and the acting. You would lose some jokes if you didn’t speak both languages, but you didn’t lose the thrust.
  • On relying on physical comedy to bridge any language gaps in “Meet Luis Santeiro, the Head Writer of the US’ Very First Bilingual Sitcom ‘¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?’” in Remezcla (2017)

• The teenagers have been sucked into American culture overnight, while their parents are concerned with preserving roots.
  • On the cultural clash dramatized in his play Our Lady of the Tortilla in “Out of the Frying Pan, Onto the Stage” in New York Magazine (1991 Oct 28)