Ron Leshem, creator of the original Israeli “Euphoria” and an exec producer on its U.S. version, has been added to Iberseries & Platino Industria’s conference strand – signalling a larger paradigm pivot at one of the biggest film-TV events in the Spanish-speaking world as it expands to encompass an ever more globalized international TV scene.
Fresh off a huge hit on Israel’s Reshet 13 for Series Mania buzz title “Red Skies,” at Iberseries, Leshem, who co-created “Valley of Tears” and “No Man’s Land,” joins some of the most influential voices on the Spanish-speaking film-TV and beyond such as former Netflix exec Erik Barmack at Wild Sheep Content, Ran Tellem at The Mediapro Studio and Axel Kuschevatzky at Infinity Hill. Wild Sheep has a production alliance with TMS.
At Netflix, Barmack oversaw Netflix’s first-ever push into fully foreign-language content beginning with Mexico’s “Club of Crows” and Brazil’s “3%.” He has now created Wild Sheep Latin America with a dedicated film fund for the region.
A Primetime Emmy Award-winning producer on “Homeland,” Tellem, a former exec at Israel’s Keshet, is now spearheading The Mediapro Studio’s drive into English-language series first with “The Head” and “The Head” Season 2, top rating on Hulu Japan, and now “The Young Poe.”
A producer on “Argentina, 1985” and many of Argentina’s biggest hits of the last 15 years – “The Secret of Their Eyes,” “Wild Tales,” “The Clan” – working at Telefe or Telefónica Studios, Kuschevatzky is based out of L.A.
All will talk at the third edition of the ever-expanding Iberseries & Platino Industria, which once more takes place in Madrid’s Matadero, over Oct. 3-6.
Iberseries & Platino Industria: Globalization
“There’s a change of paradigm this year atIberseries & Platino Industria,” Samuel Castro, Iberseries director, told Variety. “We’re beginning to globalize as an audiovisual event, [with the attendance of] creators from the U.S., U.K. and Israel who use English to develop and tell stories and are beginning to understand the value and strength of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets which presents a new opportunity from an anthropological point of view to tell and discover new formats,” he added.
That take gells with the latest market analysis. According to an Ampere Analysis study, only 32% of the Top 100 most popular new scripted TV shows released in 2022 came from the U.S.
Juan Alía, Platino Industria director, said that execs at Amazon Studios, Prime Video, BBC Studios, Gato Grande, Gaumont TV, The Gersh Agency, Paramount, Sony Pictures International and The Walt Disney Company have confirmed attendance at this year’s event.
I&PI will also welcome a delegation from Japan, led by Hulu Japan, a partner on “The Head,” and Nippon TV, originator of the original “Mother,” a smash hit format, remade in Spain as Atresmedia’s “Heridas.”
Expanding from a Scripted TV Base
Iberseries & Platino Industria is also expanding beyond its scripted series base, Alía noted. Screenings, to be announced shortly, will take in 10 movies. I&PI’s Co-Production & Financing Forum features 10 feature pitches from companies such as Mexico’s Pimienta Films, which co-produced Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar winner “Roma.”
Kuschevatzky’s keynote will turn principally on his work as a film producer and scriptwriter, Alía added.
Lucia Puenzo, creator of the Tabula-Fremantle produced success “La Jauría” and Gaumont TV’s “Future Desert,” Borja Soler, creator of Atresplayer hit “La Ruta,” figure among newly signed-up panelists. Also set to speak is Oscar Mayo, CEO of Spain’s soccer league assn. LaLiga, which is fast expanding its content production with Banijay. Its plans will be the subject of an Iberseries presentation.
Another panelist is Jorge Balleste, at ViX, TelevisaUnivision’s fremium VOD service and a go-to co-production partner for higher-end Spanish language TV series.
Total attendance is running at 800 delegates and counting, said Alía. That’s currently tracking 73% up on July 30 last year, though I&PI has launched a call for accreditation earlier this year, he noted. It’s “very probable” that final attendance will be over the 2,000 delegates last year, Alía said.
The Need for Festivals and Markets
Little wonder. Rarely has the international TV faced larger challenges and questions in the last few decades.
After a high-end series feeding fever, the business has slowed, hit by the double whammy of a streamer pull-back on commissioning.
Original and acquired content spend has plateaued in Western Europe, dipping from $26.6 billion in 2022 to an estimated $26.2 billion this year, according to Ampere Analysis. That’s still one of the highest levels on record, so costs have spiralled. Windowing has opened up new opportunities but makes rights sales more complicated.
In such a context, the industry needs to meet and seek guidance for future best-practice from execs still experiencing success.
As pre-sales and sales of even top TV shows proves much tougher, sellers have to take every major chance to platform their series.
Market Resilience
Spain, at least through the second half of last year, had yet to see a pull-back in streaming commissions, up over 30% 2H 2022 compared to 2H 2019, according to Ampere Analysis.
In Latin America, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have checked their huge wave of investment in original series for and from the launch of Disney+ and Star+ in the region in 2020 and HBO Max in 2021.
Netflix is set to release series and features based on some of its biggest and most revered IPs, from Colombia’s “100 Years of Solitude” to Brazil’s “Senna.”
Galvanized by nearly $1 billion of central government funding in 2023 alone, Brazil looks set to become the production powerhouse of Latin America. Even as things stand, five of the 10 most-viewed non-English language series and films on Prime Video in the last 12 months ending June 2023 were from Spain or Latin America.
Top Panel Details
Now producing “Kill the Jockey”, with Úrsula Corberó, “Money Heist’s” Tokyo, and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (“120 BPM”), Kuschevatzky will deliver a keynote on business and innovation. One key panel looks to turn on Leshem and Carlos Montero, co-creator of “Elite,” refortified for Season 7, launched Oct. 20, with the return of Omar Ayuso and Mina El Hammani for Season 8.
Leshem and Montero will talk, without specific reference to “Euphoria,” I&PI said, about reaching YA demographies, “an audience that doesn’t demand purely English-language content, it can be in Spanish or Korean,” said Castro.
Barmack and Tellem will join forces to ring options for creative strategies for the future.
Execs from Mumbai-based Bold Finance, Mexico’s Exitus Capital and Spain’s La Charito Films will discuss how and where major financial institutions invest capital in film and TV.
I&PI’s conference strand will also address the thorny issue if AI.
Backed by ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, the country’s export and inward investment board, Iberseries & Platino Industria’s Screenings are set to be announced shortly.
Further panelists will be unveiled as Iberseries & Platino Industria seeks to establish ways ahead to navigate new and complex times.
