Rosy Ocampo de Televisa
The Vencer franchise, already with three seasons, and all with great success in Mexico on Las Estrellas channel and in the US on Univision, will continue with a fourth and even fifth seasons which are already developing, and all available for the international market. The announcement was made by its own creator, Rosy Ocampo of Televisa, during an interview on #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra.
ALWAYS WOMEN
Vencer always includes four women of different ages as leading characters. It addresses different issues inherent to them, such as gender violence, teenage pregnancy, and even digital lynching or cyberbullying. It blends entertainment with social engagement. Likewise, it mixes the telenovela and series formats. “I think now all the focus is on women, strong protagonists, and emerging issues,” said Rosy, underlining that these were original stories, created by her own team after being researched thoroughly, and that are being seen by millions of people in Mexico and the US.
LEADER IN INNOVATION
“Today I have the honor of being with a Mexican leader with more than 30 years of experience as an executive producer and showrunner. She is one of the most prominent in Mexico and her name transcends borders due to her creativity and innovation. She is a pioneer in children’s programming, with many hits such as El Diario de Daniela; also a pioneer in transmedia content. She has renewed the telenovela genre and has broken all-time audience records. She has been one of the Top executives of Televisa, and today she is in the headlines again for creating a franchise with world value. And in short, she is the great Rosy Ocampo, from Mexico City,” said Ríchard to introduce her.
MILLIONS OF VIEWERS
“Vencer el Miedo (Overcoming fear) was ranked as the most-watched broadcast in its schedule, registering 3.1 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen IBOPE Mexico.” “Vencer el Desamor has remained at the top of primetime since its premiere on Las Estrellas. In the week of December 7 to 11, it consolidated its position in the three main segments by averaging 3.54 million among Total Viewers (P4+), 1.37 million Housewives … ”. “During the 2020-2021 season, Univision offered the # 1 drama, Vencer el Desamor.” “The first broadcast of Vencer el Pasado, third installment of the Vencer franchise, broadcast Monday through Friday at 8:30 pm on Las Estrellas, registered more than 3.3 million total viewers in its debut, according to data from Nielsen IBOPE Mexico.” These have been some of the headlines published by PRODU since the beginning of 2020 about the performance of this franchise.
MORE VALID THAN EVER
With this success, Rosy makes history again, which has accompanied her throughout her career. “If something has marked my career, it is precisely the part of innovation. Always going forward, always changing. Once it was thought that the telenovela genre died, that it was outdated, but today it is more valid than ever. The genre has been transforming, it has been recreating itself, it even attracts new audiences, not only through open TV but also through streaming platforms. We know that in these streaming platforms the most important numbers have to do with formats similar to the telenovela, or that actually are telenovelas.”
RESEARCH
She continued: “Thinking about what else could be done, and seeing what is happening with the series, how they have been innovated, the sequels, I thought that one way to innovate was by making an anthology of telenovelas where we had the same universe, although each one had four protagonists. I think I am one of the most structured production companies; I work hand in hand with researchers all the time. For me, it is essential to see what the audience is doing, what they like and what they don’t, in order to create, first, an entertainment product, but also one with a social profile.”
NOVEL STRUCTURE
Rosy explained the narrative structure that she uses: “Each of the Vencer telenovelas is a story of 80 to 85 chapters; there are four female protagonists who have to overcome an obstacle in their life, and each episode, although it progresses in a chronological manner, is thematic, it talks about a particular issue. We start with a flashback that tells us something we do not know, and each chapter begins and ends with a reflection on what happened in that installment. Everything is entertainment, it is important to comment on it. However, in the end, there is a capsule that we call the epilogue, where the actor, no longer as a character but as an actor, speaks to the camera reflecting on the issue that was covered that day. In addition, he provides a series of telephone numbers that offer free attention, or a website on that particular topic.”
FAST PACE
Regarding the similarity to the series, she expressed: “We go much faster than any novel, it is a series rhythm, it is a fast rhythm where things happen. There are characters from the previous installments (Vencer el Miedo, Vencer el Desamor) that are incorporated into the third, Vencer el Pasado, and have interaction with the characters that are on the air. They are original telenovelas, telenovelas that are being created today, at a very fast pace. In addition, our writers, day by day, are very updated with what the audience is listening to, reading; what they like and based on that, this is incorporated as part of the theme of the novel. We do a preliminary investigation to study the subject, and later, once broadcast, we do another that we call ‘impact research’ to see if it had any kind of social effect.”
2022
RI: And will there be more Vencer, fifth, sixth, seventh seasons?
RO: “Yes, the fourth is in the process because it is a TV product that has a huge previous work that has to be done. However, the results will tell us if the audience wants to continue seeing more stories of Vencer. In Hollywood itself, what is the one who rules and opens paths for us, we see that strong female protagonists are now what our audience wants to see; that is why Vencer is not an exception. We are in this first stage of research where we discover what are the issues that will be strong during this post-pandemic time to be able to work on delivery 2022.”
TROPICALIZATION
“The same stories can be tropicalized in a very simple way. We are dealing with global problems, problems that, unfortunately, afflict a large part of the Latin American countries and the Hispanic population that lives in the United States,” so she referred to their worldwide distribution.
View interview here
Televisa: Papá a Toda Madre gathers everything I have learned with Rosy Ocampo
Rosy Ocampo de Televisa: Con Vencer el miedo buscamos crear conciencia
