'Buffalo Kids' screenwriter reveals heartbreaking event about boy it's based on

Buffalo Kids’s co-screenwriter and producer Jordi Gasull couldn’t hold back tears as he shared that Nicolás, the kid that inspired the film, passed away right after the film was greenlit and couldn't see the heartwarming movie that it became.

In Buffalo Kids, co-director Pedro Solís García’s son Nicolás inspired the character of an orphan named Nick, who was born with cerebral palsy (Nicolás also had it). He comes across two other orphans Mary and Tom, who are traveling the U.S. in search of their uncle. They quickly take in Nick as their surrogate brother. The movie highlights the sibling bond between Nick and Mary, which was also inspired by Nicolas’ bond with his sister Alejandra.

In an interview with Variety, Gasull recalled: “I told him ‘We have the green light!’ and 15 days later, Nicolás died."

“When Pedro told Nico ‘We’re going to do your movie’ he looked at him like he was delighted,” he continued. “It was very emotional and we owe [the film] to Nicolás and all the kids with cerebral palsy.”

When asked how they wrote the screenplay about Nicolas, who was non-verbal, he explained: “After a lot of work we delivered the first screenplay, which had Nick talking, and I remember Pedro telling us, ‘No, no, no, this cannot be. My kid didn’t speak. You have to write a character that speaks with his eyes.’ So I did some research and talked to Pedro and watched videos from the real Nick. Then I re-wrote the script without him talking. Then we sent it to Pedro and he said, ‘Now this is my son.’”

When asked if he encountered disability discrimination when pitching the film, he replied: “No. It was the reverse. Everybody told me that it was a very simple but very well-written story where the characters were really strong. They thought it was risky for audiences but nobody told me ‘This is not a likable character.’ It was actually the reverse. They told me the script is beautiful.”

Buffalo Kids also features an experience Jordi Gasull had when his car collided with a buffalo. The movie was released on October 11.