While on the set of In the Heights, and throughout the years-long process of developing various versions of the movie, screenwriter Quiara Alegra Hudes wanted to make sure every detail about every character was right, down to their shoes.

In an early iteration of the movie, some executives at a previous studio wanted hypersexualized salon workers for the scenes set at the salon owned by Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), asking if the production team could find a Latina bombshell perpetuating this very limited version of what Latino beauty looks like, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright recalled in an interview.

I was like, No, that is not happening. If you go down the street to get your nails done, to get your hair done, that is not what those salons look like, Hudes said. Theyre not all buxom, in skintight clothes and stiletto heels. I was like, if I see stiletto heels on one of those salon employees, Im gonna freak out because theyre working women, and theyre on their feet, and theyre on their knees for eight hours a day doing manual labor, you know? Theyre wearing comfortable shoes! If I dont see them in comfortable shoes, its bullshit.

It was the importance of these kinds of decisions that made Hudes fight to not only be the films screenwriter but one of its producers as well.

In the Heights, premiering in theaters and on HBO Max on June 11, follows bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) and his friends and neighbors in New York Citys Washington Heights during a summer heat wave. As each character tries to beat the heat, they take audiences on a musical journey through a slice of their lives: their hopes and dreams, their fears and frustrations.

Hudes knows that the highly anticipated movie adaptation of her and Lin-Manuel Mirandas Tony-winning musical represents a pivotal moment for Latinx representation in Hollywood. Over the years, the dismally low level of Latinx representation in big-budget movies and television has been especially galling given how Latinx audiences are a hugely powerful and influential force. At the box office, for several years running, theyve had the highest per capita attendance of any ethnic group , according to the Motion Picture Association. But on screen they make up only 4.5% of speaking characters in the top-grossing Hollywood movies.

So its vital that a story like In the Heights, which features a range of three-dimensional Latinx characters at the center of their own narratives, exists. And its vital that storytellers like Hudes get to hold positions of power and influence.

I was like, I need to see the pots and pans because the way pots are used in American cooking is very different than in Cuban cooking and Caribbean cooking, Hudes said. So I needed to approve the serving spoons even. Its down to this level of granular detail that makes the world feel real.