Mediapro Studio presented today in Cannes an assessment of the growth and expansion in recent years, as well as the major investments made by the company to ensure its international consolidation.
In the presentation made by Laura Fernandez Espeso, CEO of the company, the name of Medyapım from Turkey was also mentioned when talking about strategic partnerships.
English-language production with global distribution, new talent, cinema, literary IP, non-fiction productions and content around the world of sports, among the priorities of the studio presented during the Executive’s Media Mastermind Keynote in Cannes.
Fernandez Espeso also revealed details of the third season of The Head, with filming set to get underway in November.
Priority Objectives, Strategic Alliances
“We want to maintain and grow our positioning to continue being a relevant player in the international market,” said Laura Fernandez Espeso. “One of our objectives is to expand in the Anglo market for which we have very specific plans to increase our speed of implementation in the US. We are not going to reduce our production in Spanish, which will continue as strong as it has been until now,” said Fernandez. “Another of our most outstanding assets is neutrality: not having a window is a strength because it makes us the ideal ally for our clients in any possible business model, whether they are co-productions, acquisitions, licenses, alliances with third parties, etc.”
Fernandez Espeso highlighted the incorporation of new direct creative talent, through exclusive and non-exclusive agreements, and also indirect talent through the acquisition of companies such as the most recent Cimarrón: a Latin American production company as the most relevant priorities.
In terms of strategic alliances, Fernandez highlighted the joint venture between The Mediapro Studio and Turkish giant Medyapim, which is developing the adaptation of The Girl Named Feriha; the content distribution agreement with the Belgian label Be-Entertainment, from which the studio has already adapted the formats El Musical de tu vida and Finder$ Keeper$ (Esta casa es una mina) for the Spanish market, and the launch of Moonlyon, Penélope Cruz’s production company.
In production, Laura Fernandez Espeso confirmed the studio’s commitment to non-fiction content, with the production of 75 shows each year, including documentaries, gameshows, news reports and live comedy programs, with a presence both on free-to-air television and for streaming platforms, with great international projection. In Fiction, the studio boasts a highly consolidated trajectory with the annual production of twenty series, both originals and co-productions, and this year’s highlights include Mano de hierro for Netflix; Romancero, premiering November 3 on Prime Video; and comedy with overtones of horror El otro lado, premiering on November 23 on Movistar Plus+. Other novelties from the slate include new comedy proposals from Diego San José and Borja Cobeaga, as well as productions in Latin America such as Primate and Las Bravas, both in their second seasons, and Consuelo, a new series co-produced with VIX.
Third Season of ‘The Head‘
Laura Fernandez Espeso also referred to the STUDIO’s main international franchise, the action thriller The Head, confirming that filming on the third installment of the series is set to get underway in late November. Ran Tellem, Director of International Content Development at The Mediapro Studio, returns as showrunner, with Jorge Dorado back in the director’s chair and John Lynch will leading the cast as biologist Arthur Wilde, alongside Katharine O’Donnelly and Olivia Morris. The series will bring together international actors from different nationalities, a hallmark of both previous seasons.
As a novelty, the third season of The Head will feature a team of international writers, led by Ran Tellem, with names including director screenwriter tandem of Teresa de Pelegrí and Dominic Harari (Only Human, The Food Guide to Love), British writer Rachel Kilfeather (Vikings S3: Valhalla, Red Rock), American screenwriter and actress Martine Moore (Bwitches) and British writer Pearse Lehane (Doctor Who Confidential).
Another novelty is the filming location as one of the principal trademarks of this now successful and ambitious franchise has been to confine the protagonists in a series of hostile, isolated and remote environments, from where escape is impossible. In the first season, an international station in Antarctica; in the second, a ship at Point Nemo, the furthest place from the mainland in the middle of the Pacific, and in the third, the Sahara Desert, an area known as Bir Tawil, located on the border between Egypt and Sudan, which remains the only territory on the planet considered ‘no man’s land’. A place without government or law, the perfect place to carry out an investigation for which there are no rules and where the plot of the new episodes will begin. The series will be filmed in Tenerife and Almeria, as well as in Madrid.
