Joshua Mintz de Dori Media
“We are going to produce TV in Latin America for all the world. That is our mission, and we will execute it with the knowledge and contacts we have, using the content of which we are part-owners, that we are looking for, and that we are going to acquire. We will use our own capital because the plan also involves always being partners in production,” said Joshua Mintz in #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra from Jerusalem, Israel, where he lives and works as Chief Content Officer of Dori Media Group.
PRIVILEGE
“I am very happy to be in Israel, and with Dori Media, and very happy to work with Nadav Palti (president and CEO), and Givon Snir (head of Content), and to be part of the team now. It is really a privilege to work with people with whom I share not only the vision of TV but also important and fundamental life principles as human beings, they are one-piece people,” said Joshua, whom Ríchard introduced as follows: “Today I have the pleasure to be with an executive and a great producer, who the most important TV networks in Mexico and the US are fighting to recruit. He has been responsible for many of PRODU’s big headlines, due to the success of the contents he has conducted during his more than 30 years of trade. Today he has taken another step in his ever-ascending career by agreeing to be the Chief Content Officer of Dori Media.”
NO RUSH BUT SOON
To the question of how fast do his new bosses expect results in carrying out his projects? he said: “We presented our plan to Nadav Palti. He saw it and said, ‘If you manage to accomplish half of this, you are going to be very lucky.’ And it wasn’t a high-volume plan, but a high-quality plan. There is a rush because we do not know how long the moment that TV is living now will last; we don’t know how long this incredible demand for the product will continue. Will it last two years? Will it last three years? Will it be forever? We do not know! But there is a great demand, and we have to hurry to be able to comply at this time when the market is mature. However, we do not have a gun held to our heads and we are living those times when: ‘Oops, Monday’s episode is not ready and today is Thursday and we have to cover 650 hours a year.’ This moment is about which product fits within the quality we are looking for, who are we going to work with, where is the business model, where Dori Media is going to shine and flourish both in content creation and financially because that is very important. That is the mission! No rush, but we have to seize the opportunity and find the stories, find the markets, and find the producers to be able to execute it.”
BREAKING NEWS
Ríchard asked him if he could give any breaking news to PRODU. He replied that he could not say anything yet, but he dropped: “I can tell you that we are working clearly focused on Argentina; we are clearly focused on Turkey, eager to find things for Mexico and Colombia, and with important developments for the US and Canada.”
When Ríchard commented on the quality of Losing Alice, Dori Media’s series for Apple TV, Joshua pointed out: “Dori Media is making very high-quality content. Losing Alice is a perfect example. We, Givon and I, have the mission to make the market grow in two specific areas: In Spanish-speaking and projects for Turkey. So we are doing that mix right now, looking for new content in these two areas, bringing them to the level that the public is demanding.”
SERVING THE AUDIENCES
Ríchard stressed that there were companies that produced for broadcast TV and others for platforms and that Dori “played in both fields”. Where is Joshua aiming to?
He replied saying: “What you say is indeed correct. There are several clients and each client has his budget and his needs. At this point in my career I contribute by knowing what people want to see on linear TV; on platforms; on open TV; which should be of the highest quality.” He added: “If my career is considered successful it is for two reasons, one, because I have always worked with people more capable than me; all my friends [as he calls his collaborators] know more than I do, and they are all in high positions today and all deserve to be in those positions. And why was this? Because we are people who do understand what the public wants, on which platform, and we do not do TV for ourselves. If I wanted to do TV for myself, then I would do my series and watch it on my channel. But we are content providers for certain audiences that are on certain platforms, on certain distribution channels, and that is the right thing to do, and they are the ones that have to be served. We have to work for the audience, and I think a lot of friends and colleagues are doing this brilliantly, understanding what audience they are targeting and complying with it.”
LIVING IN ISRAEL
On how he felt living in Israel, he expressed: “For me, it is a dream come true, it is a goal that I set for myself many years ago and that I was able to achieve at this stage of my life. I was driving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem a couple of days ago, and the ascent of the road is through a path of pine trees and very beautiful mountains. As you drive down the road you can see the city from the top of the mountain, and I really had to pinch myself. What a blessing! Living in Jerusalem, a city with a history of thousands of years and where you walk on the street and feel that you are in an important place. I am very happy to live here. My children and my wife are also very happy; it is a country with many opportunities, everyone is very competitive, very qualified, the bar is very high, I cannot compare it to anything else.”
KEEN DESIRE
He continued: “I can tell you that I feel like when I went to the United States in 2000, the same desire, the same eagerness to succeed. I am entering another stage of my life and I tell you: it is just another challenge, regarding both country and executive culture, corporate culture. But I have gotten used to Televisa, Univision, Telemundo, and I say that in Telemundo I had 5 bosses in 4 years; if I managed to work with Benjamín Salinas, which was really a great experience, here this will turn out very well too. Regarding my family, we all feel very happy and very fulfilled.”
TRIPS?
When asked if he would travel to Argentina or Turkey, he replied: “Personally, it is imperative for me to get on a plane and travel, and visit the locations. I remember when I lived in Miami, I was always on a plane between Colombia, Mexico, New York, Los Angeles. This feeling of not traveling is very strange. I do not necessarily share the view that we will never be with a team and work in offices again. I do not believe that the creative exchange at Zoom is as enriching as the person-in-person contact in a meeting room. I think there are many things that are lost in this type of communication, which in any case has saved us, and of course, in many places, it is the future. But we are constantly expressing emotions and nothing can compare with this while talking in a reading room with the actors and the writers. This is the way it should be and I hope that very soon we will return to certain global normality: that everyone is vaccinated and that airlines and countries open their borders to be able to work.”
