Last updated on November 14, 2018
Jamaica Plain’s Paloma Valenzuela recently received a city grant to support writing and completing the third season of “The Pineapple Diaries,” a comedic web series that tells the story of four women living Jamaica Plain.
The $1,000 grant was one of 29 granted from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Boston Cultural Council, as part of the fourth round of Opportunity Fund grants for 2018 in October.
“Artists are doing incredible work in every neighborhood of our city, and it’s important that we continue to recognize and support their efforts,” said Mayor Marty Walsh. “I look forward to seeing Boston’s artists advance their careers and improve our communities through this program.”
The colorful, comedic web series, which can be enjoyed in its entirety here, is part sitcom, part ode to JP. As WBUR explains:
“The Pineapple Diaries” presents familiar 20-something struggles: from navigating an unfulfilling job, to rediscovering oneself after a divorce, to trying to become an Internet celebrity in our social media-obsessed age.
These heartfelt, humorous stories find undeniable authenticity while portrayed through a rich cultural lens that’s often overlooked when people think of Jamaica Plain today.
The crew made it a point to film the web series entirely on location in Jamaica Plain, even down to enlisting local businesses as active, real-time sets. For the most part, this initiative was met with enthusiasm, excitement and even gratitude. Valenzuela shares stories of bodega shopkeepers who patiently allowed her crew to film with barely an hour’s notice, and of one restaurant owner who agreed to participate, but didn’t want to close down for the duration of the shoot — resulting in a scene shot in the middle of the hustle and bustle of lunch-hour rush.