Roberto Stopello de Netflix
Roberto Stopello, VP of Series, Netflix LatAm, said that they prefer not to use labels when referring to telenovelas or melodramas. For this reason, they call them novels with N from Netflix, of which they have the best of two worlds: classic telenovelas and series.
Total creative freedom for the writers, who even decide the number of chapters, is part of the formula to achieve stories with high production levels, excellent casts and production levels; the result is deep, dramatic, innovative and impressive stories.
Carolina Leconte, director of LatAm Original Series, works with the series that are made with production companies and partners, while Stopello is responsible for all the original series developed internally, which means that together with his team they work directly with the authors. “It is an extraordinary team in which I work with Martha Godoy and Luis Morales,” he commented.
“Latin America loves novels. From Mexico to Argentina we have been sentimentally nourished with novels in the last 40 or 50 years. And our members consume novels, they like melodrama. What we did was take out the best of the telenovelas with the best of the series, and that’s how we make telenovelas with N of Netflix,” he said.
He explained that they are paying homage to the golden age novels by giving the creator the same relevance that he had in those times. That is why they are inviting great creators such as Chascas Valenzuela, Leonardo Padrón, Leticia López, Carolina Leconte, Pablo Illanes, Marcela Citterio. “We have an open invitation to new writers and established writers.”
Madre Solo Hay Dos, Oscuro Deseo, Who killed Sara?, are some examples of the results achieved. Soon it will be the premiere of the third (and last) season of Who Killed Sara?, Oscuro Deseo, and Dónde Hubo Fuego, the latest work by Chascas Valenzuela, recorded in Mexico. The third season of Madre Solo Hay Dos, the next season of Rebelde, has already been announced. Pálpito, which deals with organ trafficking, is the one developed by Padrón, which was produced in Colombia.
Stopello explained that they also have licenses in the catalog such as Ugly Betty, Pasión de Gavilanes, which have been or are in the top ten. “These are stories that marked an era, a style, they are wonderful and people like to relive them. There are other licenses on the way,” he announced.
For Stopello the novel is more alive than ever. “Do formats evolve? Yes, of course. Waves of period novels or drug stories come along, the way they are told changes, the number of scenes per chapter, the rhythm. But melodrama is in the DNA of our people.”
In Madre Solo Hay Dos more than 13 million hours were seen only in the first week and was in the top ten of non-English speaking shows, and also in that same top ten was Who killed Sara?, which ranked seventh in its first 28 days. “It’s amazing when you produce content for a market and a phenomenon like this takes place, which also happened with Oscuro Deseo, making an impact in the world,” Stopello said.
He explained that the intention is to offer entertainment to the platform’s subscribers, who are of various origins, social strata and ages.
