Oh you write? Write what?
I write well.
Hi. I’m Yohanna Báez—a rom-com realist, a climate punk, and a speculative storyteller. I write what I call rom-coms with teeth—love stories that flirt with politics, culture, and the impossible choices we all make in this burning world. I also love writing weird Sci-Fi stuff. We contain multitudes.
I’d say my writing journey started with a documentary. A few years back, I made an experimental short documentary about climate change and the tourism industrial complex. I remixed that doc into a fictional rom-com called Americana, set in New York and the Dominican Republic. Same environmental message, but wrapped in something warmer, funnier, more accessible. Lots of mainstream appeal. It got some attention—coverage at WME, and a well-known actor attached, even—and that was the first time I let myself believe I might actually be good at this.
LOGLINE: Belkis Castillo, a lonely exec, freaks out when her free-spirited younger sister announces she's getting married first. A string of mishaps leads her to Oscar, a quirky environmentalist who opens her eyes to more than just love.
When friends, managers, assistants, family, and agents told me my audience was most likely on the East Coast, I listened. I moved to New York. I gave myself five years to:
- Win a film festival
- Build a project from scratch
- Get into a major residency
I hit 2 out of my 3 goals in the first two years.
Won the Urbanworld Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay for Y Los Hipsters Que?.
Secured grants, residencies, and fellowships.
Traveled to France for the 1st European Performing Arts & Transmedia Lab for the theater/participatory art version of Y Los Hipsters Que?
Y Los Hipsters Que? is a transmedia, participatory art project and feature film that addresses issues most 3rd worlders face.
LOGLINE: A one-night stand turns into something more in this eccentric love story between two young ‘third-worlders’ trying to make sense of their lives in a developing country.
I kept pushing. Winning awards and getting into residencies didn’t get me signed. I got a lot of meetings. I pitched a lot. I was a ghost writer for a little bit. But the industry isn’t about merit or even ‘who you know’. You can know a lot of people, can your work make those people money? Do those people WANT to make money or maintain the status quo to keep their jobs? You can’t blame anyone, it’s a collection of so many things. I just knew I had to keep going. Keep collecting.
I pivoted from rom-coms to a wild-card idea: a sci-fi family saga. The working title was Bodegas, later renamed All Night Deli. I got fiscal sponsorship from IFP (later acquired by The Gotham), recruited a special effects crew, and secured my corner store bodega where we’d shoot, late at night, early morning. The block knew, and I even had YN ‘security’ for a few hours. I bought some green screens and green tape. I talked to a few possible actors. I raised money. Then COVID hit. Everything stopped.
Except me.
All Night Deli refused to die. It transformed into a podcast—my proof of concept. I kept writing. Kept building. Short stories. Game Demos. Got into more film festivals and residencies. A whole transmedia universe.
Some of the things I’ve written recently:
A short story about an older woman coming out for the first time.
A horror sci-fi tale set in the All Night Deli universe.
More rom-coms (because I’ll never stop believing in love... or jokes).
My niche?
Love stories with a global conscience. Sci-fi rooted in your corner store. Political satire you can cry-laugh to.
I’d like to share more of these drafts, process notes, behind-the-scenes stories, and maybe the occasional late-night rant. If you’ve ever wanted to peek inside the mind of a filmmaker who blends art, magic with the mundane, then you’re in the right place.
Hit subscribe. Let’s build something weird and beautiful together.