Pablo Barrera de Secuoya Studios
“We still live in the ‘cloud’ of the success of Montecristo, which both in ViX and in Movistar has been a real success,” said Pablo Barrera, Executive Producer in charge of Original Fiction at Secuoya Studios for the local market and the agreements with Latin America.
He considers it a successful model. “For both ViX and Movistar it has not meant the disbursement of an original but betting to a license. We both did a good business and we have been able to produce a premium series at all levels and with freedom, in addition to being the ones who lead the content. So, undoubtedly, that’s the model we’re going to be talking about in the next few years in the fiction industry.”
However, he added, platforms are resistant because they lose control, but in return, they have the possibility of being able to have much more catalog because they will have to invest less and they give producers the leadership capacity, and ‘there is where they want to be.’ He considers that Secuoya is one of the first companies to advance in this model. “With the success of Montecristo, we demonstrate that it is also a profitable model for everyone. On the other hand, to have on board a figure like (William) Levy, I think it’s also very interesting for these types of stars to be an important cog in the business. It opens up opportunities for all of us.”
He mentioned that for a year they have had an agreement with Caracol Television to develop content jointly. “We are working with them on several very interesting projects. We already have one very advanced and I wish we could talk about it soon because we are going to enter the sale process. It perfectly meets the kind of objectives we were looking for when closing the deal: projects that could be perfectly understood on both sides of the Atlantic.” He hopes that by autumn in Iberseries they can give more details. “It’s a very ambitious project.”
