Programming Everywhere: Content Creators Look to Make TV Leap

Laura Di Lorenzo and Mimi Davila turned their Miami Latin upbringing into a breakaway comedy hit across social media as the Chonga Girls. They’ve got TV in their sights for their next act, and they share why in this preview of TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference at the NAB Show. Register here.

By Michael Depp

Growing up in Miami, Laura Di Lorenzo and Mimi Davila had all the comedy fodder they needed to launch into writing and performing careers with overprotective, immigrant mothers and sassy, working-class Chonga girls at the top of the list.

After honing their game at essential stops like the Groundlings, the longtime best friends tapped into their roots to find an original comedic voice — The Chonga Girls — where their sketches fast found an audience across platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

“We were just taking what was in our surroundings and making content about that —  Chongalicious, the Chonga Girls, and it was such a phenomenon, because nobody was doing that,” Davila says. “Our mission has always been to take our culture, which is very based in Miami, very Caribbean, and make it something universal.”“We’re like sisters at this point, and we’ve been working together for such a long time that it kind of comes naturally,” Di Lorenzo adds. 

The pair parlayed viral social success into an ever-expanding world of comedic content, along with the growing fan base and brand partnerships that keep it viable.

“These platforms give us an advantage in connecting with our audience because they are what keep us going,” Davila says. “Just seeing the reaction that we got when we started making videos, and how much we meant to people … we have this bond.”

Di Lorenzo says social platforms gave them creative freedom that cemented the audience bond. “We don’t need any permission from anyone when we use these platforms,” she says. “We can do whatever we want, we can say whatever we want, and the audience can really relate to that. These platforms allow us to be absolutely authentic.”

But for all their love of social platforms, Davila and Di Lorenzo have their ultimate ambitions focused on TV and the weight it still carries. 

“I want to work with a writer’s room,” Davila says. “I want to work with a director. We love bringing other people into our creative dynamic because we want to be able to expand our vision.”

“The goal for us specifically has always been to be on TV,” Di Lorenzo adds. “We studied theater in middle school, high school, college. We’re thespians!”

They’re also bringing something to TV’s table that they still see lacking. “When we both moved to Los Angeles to become actresses and we went on these auditions, there were never really parts that we were able to relate to,” Di Lorenzo says. “We had to create our own content and put it online because that’s when people were going to see what we’re about.”

But there was one drawback to social media. “On social it’s fast, things are much shorter,” Davila says. “We want to have characters that people invest in even more, that are more developed than what you see online, and that’s the journey that we’ve been on.”

That journey has led to a TV development deal for The Chonga Diaries, and the duo have plenty more ideas bursting out. “As content creators, we do everything,” Di Lorenzo says. “We write it, we act in it, we direct it, we edit it, so that’s another reason to go into TV.”

“And on TV, we can get paid for all of our hard work!” Davila smiles. 

Di Lorenzo and Davila will appear on Content Creators Transcending Fragmentation, a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference. They’ll be joined by content creators Edison Lopez (Señor Edison), Brian Saviano (Bricks O’Brian) and Chuck Matto (Chucks FlavorTrain), all sharing how they built loyal, cross-platform audiences from scratch and are now looking to leverage that with television audiences. 

Set for Sunday, April 6, at the Encore Las Vegas on the opening day of NAB Show, Programming Everywhere is home to the year’s most important conversation about the new business of video content.

Speakers focus on new development; reinventing production, distribution and monetization models; programming for a multimedia audience; and the role of technology in facilitating a vibrant programming ecosystem. Programming Everywhere is the only conference to convene leaders from across the media and entertainment world to share their unique strategies to evolve and thrive amid tectonic industry changes.

Register here.