📌 Sherlock Hernandez – Pitch Deck for Optioning Development Rights
(For Studios, Streaming Platforms, & Production Companies)
Sherlock Hernandez
A Hard-Boiled Crime Noir for the Modern Age
Created by: Daniel Rosales
đź“Ť A gripping detective noir with a fresh, Latino antihero- exploring power, corruption, and justice in a city that plays dirty.
🎥 Optioning Rights Available for:
- Novel Ownership & Adaptation Rights
- TV Limited Series (8 Episodes)
- Franchise & Related Characters
đź”· Logline
A war-weary private investigator, Diego Hernandez, returns to the city that made him. He doesn’t carry a gun, but he knows how to play the game—until his estranged daughter is kidnapped, forcing him to confront the criminal underworld and the corruption he’s spent his career avoiding.
Part classic detective noir, part modern character-driven thriller, Sherlock Hernandez delivers a hard-hitting, atmospheric mystery with layered characters and an unpredictable edge.
đź”· What Makes Sherlock Hernandez Unique?
🔥 Latino Lead in a Hard-Boiled Noir – A fresh, authentic take on the classic detective genre.
🎠Crime with Character Depth – Each mystery is built around moral dilemmas, personal stakes, and real consequences.
🎥 Built for Prestige TV – Serialized storytelling meets procedural intrigue in an 8-episode limited series format.
🎬 A Cinematic Visual Identity – Think True Detective meets Ray Donovan with a touch of Narcos grit.
đź”· The Sherlock Hernandez IP (Intellectual Property)
Included in the option deal:
✅ Complete rights to the novel – Full ownership for film/TV adaptation.
✅ Character Rights – Full licensing for all major players (Diego, Leti, Jane, Jojo, Mace, etc.).
✅ Series Bible & Pilot Treatment – Developed outlines for a structured 8-episode TV arc.
✅ Expansion Potential – Future stories can be built around The Cortez Affair, The Cole Family, and Diego’s Past.
đź”· The Novel (Source Material)
📖 Sherlock Hernandez (Novel) – A gritty, character-driven crime thriller that serves as the foundation for the TV adaptation.
- Page Count: ~270+ Pages (Adaptable to 8 x 1-hour episodes)
- Genre: Crime Noir / Hard-Boiled Mystery / Psychological Thriller
- Comparisons: Chinatown, Bosch, True Detective, The Lincoln Lawyer
- Themes: Justice vs. Corruption, Fatherhood & Redemption, The Cost of Truth
đź”· The Limited Series (8 Episodes)
💡 The novel acts as backstory for the TV series—setting up fresh mysteries & new character conflicts.
Season 1 Overview:
- Diego takes on new cases while trying to be a father to Leti.
- Jojo steps into law enforcement, realizing corruption runs deep.
- Detective Jane battles the system, uncovering deeper conspiracies.
- Mace operates in the shadows, working angles Diego refuses to.
- Powerful enemies from the past resurface—forcing Diego to decide how far he’ll go for justice.
🎠Each episode features a compelling mystery while weaving an overarching crime saga!
đź”· Core Characters & Casting Appeal
📌 Diego Hernandez – A world-weary PI who plays by his own rules but is still bound by his moral compass.
Casting Appeal: Think Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Michael Peña, Benicio del Toro
📌 Leti Hernandez – His teenage daughter, fiercely independent yet yearning for connection.
Casting Appeal: Ariana Greenblat, Scarlett Estevez, Miya Cech
📌 Jojo Briggs – A young investigator, torn between justice and survival, desperate to prove herself.
Casting Appeal: Sophia lillis, Sadie Sink, Lili Reinhart, Mackenzie Foy
📌 Detective Jane – A hard-nosed cop, constantly at war with the system and himself.
Casting Appeal: Jon Bernthal, Joe Manganiello, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Walter Goggins
📌 Mace – A shadowy figure who lives by his own twisted code, a dangerous wildcard.
Casting Appeal: Sterling K. Brown,Tevante Rhodes, Mahersha Ali, Winston Duke
đź”· Market Potential & Comparisons
🎯 Target Audience: Fans of gritty crime dramas, psychological thrillers, and noir storytelling.
đź’° For Streamers & Networks Like: HBO, FX, Netflix, Apple TV+, Prime Video
🔍 Comparable Success Stories:
- True Detective (HBO) – Anthology crime drama with layered mysteries.
- Bosch (Amazon) – Detective-led noir with long-term fan engagement.
- The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix) – Legal/crime procedural with deep character-driven storytelling.
đź”· The Business End
Why Option This IP?
✅ Built-in Story & Character Depth – No need to build from scratch.
✅ Expansive Franchise Potential – A strong lead character with multiple directions to grow.
✅ Prestige TV Appeal – A literary adaptation that fits the market trend for grounded, high-stakes crime dramas.
✅ Latino Representation in a Major Genre – A crime drama led by a Latino antihero, appealing to a broad and underserved audience.
Blood and Family: A Sherlock Hernandez Mystery novel

Diego Hernandez, a jaded private investigator, is no stranger to the dark corners of the city. But when his past collides with his fractured family, the stakes rise higher than ever.
Haunted by guilt, Diego struggles to balance his role as a father to his young daughter Leti and a relentless detective chasing a high-stakes jewel heist. His personal demons, from his estranged ex-wife to a slew of old grudges, weigh heavily
on him as he works to crack a case that might cost him everything.
When a powerful psychic, Talmul Ali, enters the scene, manipulating grief and exploiting the wealthy, Diego must navigate a web of deceit and danger. With his family unraveling and his reputation on the line, Diego races to uncover the truth behind a deadly conspiracy—one that could tear apart everything he’s ever known. In this gritty neo-noir thriller, loyalty, betrayal, and redemption blur as Diego Hernandez confronts the ghosts of his past—and the bloody cost of his future.
HILIGHTS:
âś” Atmosphere & Crime Scene Tension:
- The opening description nails the noir aesthetic—controlled chaos, flickering lights, acrid smells, murmured conversations.
- It sets up the gravity of the moment while keeping Diego and Leti’s bond at the emotional forefront.
âś” Emotional Closure for Leti & Diego:
- Leti’s “I know” is a power move. It shifts what could have been a dramatic reveal into a moment of strength—she’s already processed this and chosen Diego as her father.
- Diego seeing his own fire in Leti is a perfect touch. He thought he might lose her, but instead, he realizes she’s more like him than he ever knew.
✔ The “Who Took the Shot?” Mystery:
- Mace’s entrance is effortlessly cool, keeping the reader guessing without forcing an answer.
- Diego’s deliberate vagueness is a masterstroke—he’s part of this world, but he won’t let Jane dictate how he plays the game.
✔ Jane’s Professional Frustration:
- His exasperation with Diego’s recklessness keeps the hardboiled detective energy intact.
- The sniper mystery, then the explosion, and then his realization he secured the wrong building? That’s classic crime drama, leading to a gut-punch final moment.
âś” Final Line is a Mic-Drop Moment:
- “Diego didn’t play the power game, but everyone around him did.”
This cements Diego as the man caught in the middle—a guy who just wants the truth but is surrounded by players who manipulate it.
Sherlock Hernandez Mysteries: An 8 part Series
Eight-Part TV Series: Season One
Premise:
Diego Hernandez is back to business after the chaotic events of the novel. He’s resolved to be a better father to Leti, but work keeps pulling him into the city’s darkest corners. Meanwhile, old enemies linger in the shadows, and the price of justice is steeper than ever.
Episode 1: House of Cards
- Case of the Week: A wealthy real estate developer vanishes after attending a gala. His wife hires Diego, believing he’s been kidnapped—but Diego soon finds evidence of an affair, off-the-books deals, and debts to the wrong people.
- Larger Arc Introduced:
- Jojo is now officially working for Diego, trying to learn the trade while struggling with what she saw in the novel’s final act.
- Detective Jane is still cleaning up the Cole family’s fallout, but something doesn’t sit right about how quickly the investigation was shut down.
- Diego has full custody of Leti, and Luisa is not taking it well.
Episode 2: No Good Deed
- Case of the Week: A good Samaritan saves a woman from being mugged, only to be arrested for the murder of a man he claims he never met. Diego has to unravel the frame-up before the cops seal the case.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- Diego realizes someone is still tracking him, but he’s not sure if it’s Luisa, her fiancé Miguel, or someone else.
- Jojo starts digging into Mace, wanting to know what role he really played in the past.
- Jane finds a dead informant—someone who was looking into the Cole family’s finances.
Episode 3: Devils in the Details
- Case of the Week: A famous tech entrepreneur hires Diego after his girlfriend disappears under mysterious circumstances. The only problem? She never existed.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- A mysterious caller taunts Diego, leaving clues that suggest he’s playing someone else’s game.
- Jojo finds a hidden file in Diego’s office, suggesting that he looked into the Cortez affair long before she did.
- Jane is approached by Internal Affairs, hinting that there’s a rat in the department.
Episode 4: Blood and Ink
- Case of the Week: A tabloid journalist offers Diego a deal—help him disappear before a powerful politician silences him for good. But when Diego arrives, the journalist is already dead.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- Mace warns Diego that he’s asking the wrong questions.
- Jojo finds a connection between the journalist and an old case from Diego’s military days.
- Detective Jane realizes his phone is tapped, and someone wants him out of the picture.
Episode 5: Hard Bargains
- Case of the Week: A former client is arrested for a crime he swears he didn’t commit. Diego knows the guy is a scumbag—but not a killer.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- Diego finds a financial link between the Cole family and a powerful figure in city hall.
- Leti is caught in the middle as Luisa lawyers up, pushing for visitation rights.
- Jane gets suspended for interfering with an ongoing corruption probe.
Episode 6: Dead Man’s Hand
- Case of the Week: A high-stakes poker game leads to one player missing, another dead, and a bag of stolen cash that no one can trace.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- Mace and Diego are forced to work together, but Diego doesn’t trust him after what happened in the novel.
- Jojo gets an anonymous tip: “Look into the sniper.”
- Jane gets a call from his ex-partner—who was supposed to be dead.
Episode 7: Loose Ends
- Case of the Week: A retired hitman wants to confess, but someone gets to him first. Diego races against time to find out what he was going to say.
- Larger Arc Progression:
- Diego finally uncovers proof of an assassin-for-hire operation.
- Jojo finds out who took the sniper shot.
- Jane realizes that his suspension was just the beginning—someone wants him gone.
Episode 8: The Reckoning
- Final Case: Diego, Jojo, and Jane go after the real power players behind the corruption, but the closer they get, the more the city fights back.
- Larger Arc Resolution:
- Diego is forced to choose: take down the man responsible, or keep Leti safe.
- Jojo gets her badge—but at a cost.
- Jane makes a final stand, but it might be his last.
- Mace walks free, smiling.
- The final shot? A mysterious figure watches Diego from a car across the street.
Mood Board
