Education
Biography
Ligiah Villalobos is a Writer, Producer, Consultant, Educator and Lecturer. She is best known for writing and executive producing the indie feature film Under the Same Moon, (La Misma Luna). Acquired by Fox Searchlight and The Weinstein Company at the Sundance Film Festival, the film became the highest sale for a Spanish-language film in the history of Sundance. Made for under $2M, the film earned over $23M worldwide. Villalobos has developed projects for multiple studios and networks, including ABC, NBC, ABC/Family, Lifetime, Hallmark Hall of Fame, F/X, Showtime, BET, HBO Max and STARZ, among others. And she was a Cultural Consultant on the Academy Award winning Pixar movie, COCO and the Disney movie, Planes. Before becoming a writer/producer, Villalobos was a studio executive at The Walt Disney Company, where she oversaw television production in Latin America for five years, launching eight #1 children shows in seven countries. She then oversaw the Writing Fellowship Program and launched the Directors Training Program for the Studio. Villalobos was then hired as a Current Programming Executive at The WB, where she oversaw six prime times shows, including the four highest rated shows on the network. Recently, Villalobos was the Executive Producer of 20 Spirit & Friends animated shorts for Dreamworks TV Animation, which can be seen on PeacockTV. She is a writer on the upcoming animated series Rosie’s Rules for PBS, premiering in October, and the Creator and Executive Producer of the Sonoro/IHeart Media scripted podcast titled, Adelita: Changing the Key, premiering later this fall on all platforms. She is also developing a six-part music-driven limited series titled Q, inspired by the classic novel Don Quijote de la Mancha, and she is attached to do an American adaptation of the South African feature film Sink. The animated feature film Koati, which she co-wrote and is associate producer on, was released in theatres in 2021. Villalobos is a tenured Associate Professor at Cal State LA and has been an adjunct professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts and at LMU. She is on the Board of Immigrant Defenders Law Center and on the Honorary Board of The Point Foundation, the largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit. She is the recipient of the Humanitas Prize for the film, Firelight. She received her MFA from Antioch University in Creative Writing.
How did you discover Western?
I was recruited.
What are some of the highlights of your career?
- Head Writer – Go, Diego! Go
- Writer/Executive Producer – La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon)
- Executive Producer – Spirit & Friends Animated Shorts
- Writer – Firelight (Producer, Alicia Keys)
- Co-Writer – The Real MVP (Producer, Queen Latifah)
What most excites you about your field?
Bringing in new writers into the entertainment industry and seeing them flourish.
Courses Taught
- Spec Comedy
- Spec Drama
- Spec Pilot
- Showrunning
- The Writers’ Room/Undergrad
- The Writers’ Room/Gradudate
- TV and Film Development
- Rewriting the Pilot
Publications
Americana Magazine
External Professional Affiliations
- ATAS (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences)
- NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers)
- WGA (Writers Guild of America)
- Latina TV Writers Group
