Amazon Freevee has announced that it will stream Casa Grande, a bilingual limited series that examines the everyday realities and conflicts between California’s migrant workforce and the landowners who reap the profits.
Created by Lauren Swickard (A California Christmas) and Ali Afshar, Casa Grande follows the intertwining lives of various families in the farmlands of Northern California and is described as an “upstairs/downstairs story transposed from turn-of-the century English countryside to rural America.” It stars John Pyper-Ferguson (The 100, Suits), Christina Moore (That ‘70s Show, 90210), Madison Lawlor (Juniper), Karen Bethzabe (Babylon), Javier Bolaños (All American), Raquel Dominguez (Chicago Med), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Kate Mansi (Days of Our Lives), Daniel Edward Mora (Coco), Loren Escandon (The Baxters), and Ali Afshar (He’s Just Not That Into You).
All five one-hour episodes of the English and Spanish language limited series will premiere on Monday, May 1.
“We molded Casa Grande as a Hispanic-influenced Yellowstone and feel the story will resonate powerfully with audiences appreciating elevated western themes and cultures presented through a different prism,” said Afshar. “Amazon Freevee is the perfect service for audiences to discover and binge the world of Casa Grande where the intensity never lets up and the traditional good vs. evil trope becomes skewed and more challenging to accept.”
“I’m immensely proud of the Casa Grande team for bringing authenticity to the forefront in ESX Entertainment’s debut series,” added Swickard. “Now more than ever, it’s important to deliver powerful, genuine stories and Casa Grande does just that. By touching on real-life themes related to family, class, culture and the never-ending pursuit of the American dream, our multi-layered narrative will captivate audiences of all backgrounds.”
Casa Grande is directed by Latin filmmaker Gabriela Tagliavini (Despite Everything) and written by Alex Ranarivelo, Michael Cruz, and Lauren Swickard, who also serves as the series showrunner. Series executive producers are Ava Rettke and Daniel Aspromonte.
Casa Grande is the debut series from Ali Afshar’s ESX Entertainment, which is behind holiday movies on Netflix and HBO Max such as A California Christmas, I Believe in Santa, Holiday Harmony and A Christmas Mystery.
