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former chief of ABC Studios, recalls that she was pitch-
ing him ideas while starring in the massively popular
dramedy, which aired for eight seasons.
“It was clear that she had ambition and she was a force of
nature,” he says. “She wanted more” than an acting career.
During that time, she also earned a graduate degree
in Chicano studies, becoming “probably the first person
to ever send her master’s thesis for us to read at CAA,”
according to Haubegger.
Desperate Housewives showrunner Marc Cherry
recalls seeing Longoria “tucked in a corner of the set
surrounded by her schoolbooks. She has this amazing
intellectual curiosity.”
Fast forward to today, with at least a dozen UnbeliEV-
Able projects in the hopper and Grand Hotel drawing
about 3 million viewers a week on ABC’s Monday-night
schedule. She populated that Miami-set show, an up-
stairs-downstairs premise where the Latinos are the af-
fluent, well-heeled characters, with a 50% female writers’
room and directing lineup. The director of photography,
two assistant directors and the stunt coordinator are
women, a rarity in Holly wood.
“I’m consciously hiring women instead of uncon-
sciously ignoring them,” she says. “Instead of the usual
suspects—Tom, Dick and Harry—I’ll ask for women and
people of color and underrepresented groups every time.
My goal is to produce with purpose.”
Alison Kelly, director of photography on Grand Hotel,
often uses the word “inspiring” to describe Longoria and
notes that it’s a more hospitable environment today for
high-ranking women on television crews.
“This was not always the case, but thanks to executives
and producers like Eva leading the way, women are given
the same consideration [as men] for these jobs,” Kelly says.
Longoria “knows the mechanics of television so well,”
Kelly says, making their collaboration “a fun adventure.
She is one of the most observant people I know and is an
astute scholar of human behavior.”
Decisive but open to suggestions, Longoria is “a won-
derful example of a woman who has power and uses
it well,” Kelly says. “She is a kind, compassionate and
graceful leader but also gets the job done the way she
wants it done. I find it a very inspiring kind of strength.”Can’t be what you can’t see
Longoria, who produced Devious Maids for Lifetime and
Telenovela for NBC, has stepped behind the camera for
shows like black-ish, The Mick and LA to Vegas. She also
directed a pivotal episode of CW’s Jane the Virgin (the
one where newly married Jane finally loses her virginity).
“She is so meticulous. And she’s calm and confident
and collaborative—it’s a magical combination,” says Jen-
nie Snyder Urman, Jane the Virgin’s executive producer.
“Spirits could not have been higher the week and a half
she was directing for us.”
Urman also noted Longoria’s enviable time-manage-
ment skills, where she used her 45-minute lunch break
to shoot public service announcements between rip-
ping through multiple Jane scenes—“All while wearing a
white outfit,” Urman says, “and she wasn’t even dirty at
the end of the day.” (That’s par for the course for the for-
mer beauty queen, who flipped burgers at Wendy’s before
she was technically old enough to work and balanced six
jobs at once to repay student loans.)
Longoria also appeared on the critically lauded (dearlyLongoria is ‘a wonderful
example of a woman
who has power and uses
it well.’ ALISON KELLY, DP, GRAND HOTEL