Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is working on the line of making remakes of successful titles in its catalog, in addition to the title Casado con Hijos, Ana Bond, SVP and director of International Productions at Sony Pictures Entertainment for Latin America and US Hispanic, announced on EN VIVO with Ríchard Izarra during Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid that they are now developing Mad About You.
“We are happy to start the development of Mad About You, which was at the time a very successful and fantastic title,” she said, referring to the program that features the relationships of a young professional couple with family, neighbors, and friends, along with the challenges of being newly married. Bond stressed that shows like this address universal, everyday problems that have drama but also heart.
She explained that although there are other adaptations of this program, all of them successful, none had been made in Mexico. Mad About You will begin production this week in that country with Gustavo Loza as director and showrunner.
“We have Adrián Uribe, one of the best comedians in Mexico with a special spark, Sandra Echeverría as his wife, playing Angie Lo,” she said. In the roles of the neighbors are Tamara Niño de Rivera and Luis Arrieta as Esteban, and playing the children, Val Dorantes in the role of Alexa Olivares and Maximiliano Najar as Jonathan “Piquilín” Olivares. The writers leading the adaptation are Artús Chávez, Magalli Urquieta, Jacobo Vázquez and Daniel Jiménez.
Bond explained that they did an exhaustive search for large Sony formats that have worked well and have elements that make them relevant and current for the Latin American audience. She stressed they are also working with originals and already have several developments. “We are working on a more dramatic line, where there is a mix of Sony content and original content,” she said, adding that they identify all of these projects by their quality and a differentiating seal. Their focus is on comedy and drama.
In addition, they work with films for the Sony channel. “We are taking the risk in certain projects, such as the comedies I mentioned, which are from Sony for Sony. The idea is that these have an entertainment vocation allowing them to go to our channels, but with the flexibility that, in the future, the distribution team can work on a sales strategy with clients who want to join this product,” she said.
They are working on their first horror series in Mexico, such as the recently announced production of Rosario Tijeras 4. “And other series are coming, action series, with a mix of various genres,” she said, adding that they are filming two scripted projects and an entertainment project in Mexico.
About Iberseries, she highlighted the relevance of the market, in particular with the convenience of locating content in Spanish and contacting talent, producers, and partners.
Watch EN VIVO with Ana Bond of Sony Pictures Entertainment