'Flamin' Hot' Producer to Newsmax: Movie Embraces Faith, Family, Free Enterprise

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, told Newsmax on Friday he got involved with the movie "Flamin' Hot," a docu-drama on how Flamin' Hot Cheetos were created, because it promotes faith, family and free enterprise.

"Flamin' Hot" is a drama based on the memoir "A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive," by Richard Montañez, and on the life stories of Montañez, a former janitor at a Frito-Lay factory in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and his wife Judy. Montañez, now a Frito-Lay executive, claims to have invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

The movie, streaming on Hulu and Disney+, stars Jesse Garcia and Annie Gonzalez and features the directorial debut of actress Eva Longoria. It has received favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 69% aggregate, and has an audience score of 90%. Rodriguez was an executive producer.

"It's truly inspiring if you take the pursuit of happiness and put the Christian faith narrative, combine it, you get "Flamin' Hot,'" Rodriguez said on "American Agenda." "Powerful story. He was a janitor at a Frito-Lay plant who through innovation, ingenuity and creativity developed what is now known as the Flamin' Hot Cheeto and flamin' hot everything else.

"He became the godfather of Latino marketing, But it's truly an inspiring story from the pit to the proverbial palace."

There are disputes about whether Montañez created the popular Cheetos brand. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2021, after speaking to more than a dozen Frito-Lay employees and the company, that Montañez didn't create the brand. Rodriguez said the controversy is addressed in the movie.

"Simultaneously, there were attempts by Pepsico [Frito-Lay's parent owner] and Frito-Lay to develop a chemical formula. It didn't work out. It didn't pan out. It was the idea of [Montañez] to do it in a very more domestic organic manner.

"Subsequently, of course, through the processed food industry became a chemical formula. But it was the idea of [Montañez]."

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