Fernando Gaitán

Colombian TV screenwriter (1960-2019)

Fernando Gaitán Salom
Born	(1960-11-09)9 November 1960 Bogotá, Colombia
Died	29 January 2019(2019-01-29) (aged 58)^[1] Bogotá, Colombia
Occupation	Screenwriter, television producer
Notable works	Yo soy Betty, la fea Café con aroma de mujer Hasta que la plata nos separe

Fernando Gaitán Salom (9 November 1960 – 29 January 2019) was a Colombian TV series and telenovela screenwriter as well as a producer.

Career

Fernando Gaitán was known for weaving different histories into diverse social contexts.^[2] He gained fame in Latin America after writing the telenovela Café, con aroma de mujer and world notoriety for his telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea which has been adapted in different countries. Yo soy Betty, la fea won the TP de Oro for its nominated category, Mejor Telenovela (Best Soap Opera) in 2002.^[3]

The success of Yo soy Betty, la fea led to a sequel in 2002 with Univision's release of Eco moda.^[4] Yo soy Betty, la fea also spawned a number of international remakes and adaptations, such as Verliebt in Berlin in Germany, La Fea más bella in Mexico, Lotte in The Netherlands, Ne Rodis Krasivoy in Russia, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin in India, Sensiz Olmuyor in Turkey, Maria, i Aschimi in Greece, Yo soy Bea in Spain, Ugly Betty in the United States, and Bela, a Feia in Brazil.

Gaitán received multiple awards and nominations in Colombia and internationally; India Catalina Award (1993, 1994, 2000, 2001), Simón Bolívar Award (1994), El Tiempo Award (1999, 2000), Radio Caracas Televisión Award (2000), Asociación Cronistas del Espectáculo in the United States (1995), GES Awards and INTE Awards in Miami (2002).^[5]

An article in Variety reported that the success of Yo soy Betty, la fea spin-offs has led to the search for other telenovelas being planned for the United States.^[6]

His Cafe con Aroma de Mujer (Coffee With the Scent of a Woman), a hit for Colombia's RCN TV in 1994, was remade in Mexico twice. The first version was TV Azteca's Cuando seas mia in 2001. As of 2007 Televisa was airing its own Cafe con Aroma de Mujer, with the title Destilando Amor.^[7]

TV filmography

Writer

Destilando Amor (2007) TV Series
Lotte (2006) TV Series
Yo soy Betty, la fea (1999 - 2001) (I am Betty, the ugly)
La Hija del Mariachi (2006) (The Mariachi's Daughter) TV Series
Hasta que la plata nos separe (2006) (Until Money do Us Apart) TV Series
Eco Moda (2001) TV Series
Cuando seas mía (2001) (When You are Mine) TV series
Maria, i Aschimi (2007) (Maria, the ugly one) TV series
Guajira (1996) TV Series (Guajira) Telenovela
Café, con aroma de mujer (1994) Telenovela
Azúcar - Part II (Sugar) Telenovela
Laura por favor (Laura, Please) TV Series
La quinta hoja del trébol (The Fifth Leaf of Clover)
La fuerza del poder (The Force of Power)
Hasta que el dinero nos separe (Until money do us part)
A corazón abierto (Open-Heart)

Executive producer

Ugly Betty (2006) ("The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe") TV Episode

Personal life

Besides writing, Gaitán had as a hobby being a DJ.^[8]

Death

Gaitan died of heart failure in a Bogota hospital in 2019.

References

^ "RankingCNN: tres famosas telenovelas de Fernando Gaitán". CNN (in European Spanish). 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "Autores (Authors)". Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
^ Awards for Yo soy Betty, la fea
^ "Eco Moda, La Segunda Parte de Betty la Fea, Comenzara a Filmarse en Buenos Aires". Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
^ "Ibid". Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
^ Beating the telenovela bushes for another 'Betty'.
^ (in Spanish) Dos estrellas en "Destilando amor",
^ El libretista Fernando Gaitán se convierte en DJ todos los miércoles (The Writer Fernando Gaitán becomes DJ Every Wednesday)

External links

Fernando Gaitan at IMDb

TVyNovelas Award for Best Original Story or Adaptation

1986–1999

De pura sangre (María Zarattini (1986))
Cuna de Lobos (Carlos Olmos (1987))
Quinceañera (René Muñoz (1988))
Amor en silencio (Liliana Abud and Eric Vonn (1989))
Mi segunda madre (Eric Vonn (1990))
Destino (María Zarattini (1991))
Milagro y magia (Florinda Meza (1992))
De frente al sol (René Muñoz (1993))
El vuelo del águila (Enrique Krause and Fausto Cerón-Medina (1995))
Alondra (Yolanda Vargas Dulché (1996))
Cañaveral de pasiones (Cuauhtémoc Blanco and María del Carmen Peña (1997))
Pueblo chico, infierno grande (Javier Ruán (1998))
La mentira (Nora Alemán (1999))

2000-2020

Laberintos de pasión (Cuauhtémoc Blanco and María del Carmen Peña (2000))
Abrázame muy fuerte (Liliana Abud (2001))
El manantial (María Zarattini (2004))
Destilando amor (Fernando Gaitan and Kary Fajer (2008))
Alma de Hierro (Adrián Suar, Ximena Suárez and Aida Guajardo (2009))
Mi Pecado (Cuauhtémoc Blanco, María del Carmen Peña and Víctor Manuel Medina (2010))
La fuerza del destino (María Zarattini and Claudia Velasco (2012))
Amor bravío (Martha Carrillo, Cristina García and Denisse Phiffer (2013))
Amores verdaderos (Kary Fajer, Gerardo Luna and Ximena Suárez (2014))
Lo que la vida me robó (Juan Carlos Alcalá,Rosa Salazar and Fermin Zúñiga (2015))
A que no me dejas (Martha Carrillo and Cristina García (2016))
La candidata (Leonardo Bechini (2017))
Caer en tentación (Leonardo Bechini (2018))
Amar a muerte (Leonardo Padrón (2019))
La usurpadora (Larissa Andrade, Tania Tinajero, Zaria Abreu, and Fernando Abrego (2020))