Deadline broke the news that Ortega was in talks with Lionsgate, and the studio subsequently issued a press release confirming that the director will helm the lamentably Swayze-less remake.  In the early 1990's, Ortega directed Newsies and Hocus Pocus.  More recently, in 2008, he made High School Musical 3: Senior Year after directing the first two installments for the Disney Channel.  He subsequently directed the posthumous Michael Jackson concert documentary This Is It. 

As a choreographer, he has worked on a whole mess of films including Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, and St. Elmo's Fire.

The original Dirty Dancing, directed by Emile Ardolino, is set in the 1960's and follows a teenage girl visiting a Catskills resort with her family.  Once there, she becomes infatuated with the charismatic thrusting of dance instructor Johnny Castle.  In the official press release, Ortega seemed to tacitly confirm that the new version will again be set in that decade of social change, saying, "The opportunity to direct DIRTY DANCING is like returning home for me. Growing up in the 60’s on the dance floor helped define me as a person and as an artist. I am looking forward to assembling a great creative team and an exciting cast to bring DIRTY DANCING to the screen for a new generation. Patrick Swayze set the bar for men dancing in the movies as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire did before him. I believe everywhere you look there is evidence that the talent is out there and I can’t wait to begin the process of discovering the next breakout triple-threats.”

In 2004, Lionsgate released Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, an unconnected sequel starring Diego Luna and Romola Garai, along with future Mad Men actors January Jones and John Slattery.  That attempt to franchise the original, however, did not generate a Swayze-style heat.