Carla Estrada (born Carla Patricia Estrada Guitrón; March 11, 1956, in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, D.F.,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

) is a Mexican television producer, one of the foremost

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

producers of Latin America.

Biography

In 2005, the Mexican government decided to place a statue of the producer in one of Mexico City's most important parks and in January 2007 she appeared on ''People En Español'''s list of The 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the world. When aired in the United States, Estrada's telenovela ''

Amor Real ''Amor real'' (English: ''Real Love'') is a Mexican telenovela produced by Carla Estrada for Televisa, broadcast by Las Estrellas, Canal de las Estrellas (now known simply as Las Estrellas). It originally aired from June 9 to October 17, 2003. '' ...

'' shocked the world by having higher ratings than all of the other television shows in America; placing Univision on top of American networks such as NBC and ABC. Estrada went to the UAM in

Xochimilco Xochimilco (; ) is a borough () of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the precolonial period. Today, the borough cons ...

to study psychology. She decided not to follow that career soon after, however, and she asked to have her major changed. Given a choice of new classes she could take, she chose communications, in part because her father was a journalist and her mother an actress. Before graduating from the UAM in 1978, Estrada had already been hired by

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

. She made history at Televisa by becoming the first woman producer in Mexican television history, but her beginnings were humble: at first, no celebrity wanted to work with her. Over the years this has changed, however, and she has produced some of Mexico's (and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

's) most famous soap operas, while working with such famous actors as

Adamari López Adamari López Torres (born May 18, 1971) is a Puerto Rican actress known for participating in several Puerto Rican and Mexican soap operas. She was a host on the Telemundo morning show '' Hoy Día'' and its predecessor ''Un Nuevo Día'' for 1 ...

, Adela Noriega, Lucero,

Fernando Colunga Fernando Colunga Olivares (; born 3 March 1966) is a Mexican actor known for his work in Mexican telenovelas. Colunga gained international fame for playing Luis Fernando de la Vega in the Mexican soap opera '' Maria la del Barrio''. He is also ...

, Gabriela Roel and many more. Estrada was asked to produce soap operas for Televisa by Victor Hugo O'Farril. Her first soap opera was '' Pobre Juventud''. Before that, she had been the producer of the teen-oriented show, '' Xe-Tu'', where many superstars, such as

Gloria Trevi Gloria de los Ángeles Treviño Ruiz (born February 15, 1968), known professionally as Gloria Trevi, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her emotional lyrics, performances, and lasting influence on Latin music, being ...

, participated. Estrada has spoken about the abuse she had to go through during the production of ''Pobre Juventud'', both on the mental and physical aspect. According to her, she was subjected to mistreatment by her own employees, who went as far as hitting her on her legs with a cable once, because they were not used to having a woman boss. She has often spoken about the importance of transmitting positive messages through her shows and her fascination towards love stories. Carla Estrada is considered by many, including personal friend

Cristina Saralegui Cristina María Saralegui de Ávila (born Cristina María Saralegui Santamarina; January 29, 1948) is a Cuban-born American journalist, television personality, actress and talk show host of the Spanish-language eponymous show, '. Before her tele ...

, to be the greatest soap opera producer in Mexico, and her soap operas generally have wide international acceptance. One of her projects, ''

'', was once watched by 59 percent of the Mexican audience.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Premios TVyNovelas The Premios TVyNovelas are presented annually by Televisa and the magazine TVyNovelas to honor the best Mexican television productions, including telenovelas. Instituted in 1983, the award ceremony rotates between Mexico City and Acapulco. The c ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Estrada, Carla 1956 births Living people Mexican telenovela producers Mexican television producers Mexican women television producers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Mass media people from Mexico City Amor real