[1] Hortua has written such plays as Other Parents, Making It, and Between Us which have been performed at the Manhattan Theatre Club and South Coast Repertory Theater.
Born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Morton Grove, Hortua attended Niles West High School and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1993.
He was born to a Colombian father and a Spanish mother and was the first member of his extended family to earn a college degree.
The play was inspired by his years working at Lumi, an Italian eatery on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
The screen adaptation of Between Us premiered in 2012 with stars Julia Stiles, Taye Diggs, David Harbour and Melissa George in the leading roles.