Our Gang

Jimmy Santiago Baca, who taught himself to read and write while in prison and went on to have six books of poetry published, is making his debut as a screenwriter. The project is “Blood In . . . Blood Out,” in development at New Visions Pictures under producer Taylor Hackford, who co-produced the Ritchie Valens bio, “La Bamba” (1987). Baca is co-writing with Jeremy Iacone.

Set in the barrio of East L.A., “Blood In . . .” traces the lives of three boyhood friends, one of whom becomes a cop, the second a promising artist and the third a convict who becomes a powerful member of a notorious prison gang.

Hackford, who will produce and direct, declined to discuss the project. But a source tells us that “Blood In” could be the first of back-to-back films--with a “Blood In . . . Part II” continuing the characters’ saga.

Hackford and some of the crew members have been scouting locations in San Antonio, which could “double” for East L.A. (as it did in the film “Lost Angels”).