In the biggest news to come out of Iberseries Platino Industria, L.A., Miami and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios and Telemundo Streaming Studios are joining forces to co-develop, co-produce and co-finance multiple fiction projects through to 2023.
Sequoya Group’s content production arm, Sequoya Studios, leapt to prominence in April 2020 when appointing James Costos, a former HBO executive and U.S. ambassador to Spain, to oversee the company, based out of Los Angeles.
Telemundo Streaming Studios, the first Hispanic media station dedicated to Latino streaming audiences, was launched by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises in May 2021.
Juan Ponce (senior vice president and general manger of Telemundo Streaming Studios) and Costos announced Wednesday the two-year, renewable partnership at the first Iberseries Platino Industria.
The alliance’s core goal is to lend visibility to original Spanish and Latin American stories, the partners said. They said that the alliance will allow creatives from both companies to work together to create original audiovisual content in Spanish.
A global assessment committee consisting of U.S. creative executives and Spanish creative executives will evaluate candidate projects. The selected titles will then be subject to concept development and production of pilots.
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises is responsible for international distribution. It will also be in talks with the industry to license the series in Spain and the U.S. on streaming platforms, networks, and other content outlets.
“We are delighted with this unprecedented alliance in the Spanish-speaking audiovisual world. This deal is another step forward in creating stories alongside strong partners with a big presence in the Latin American and U.S. markets, such as Telemundo Streaming Universal,” said Costos.
In Spain, Secuoya has launched Madrid Content City, the region’s biggest business park which houses Netflix’s first European Production City.
“We hope this will be the first of many future joint efforts in terms of content creation and production and in other areas, such as structuring financial agreements, services, back office, the rental of stages that comply with the highest standards of the international markets, where Secuoya Studios has a proven track record of professional expertise,” Costos added.
“We are proud to be able to work with Secuoya Studios to develop top-level content for our Streaming clients. We found in Secuoya the same mission and commitment to develop and produce stories that are able to connect deeply and in a novel way with a global audience,” Ponce stated.
One of Sequoya Studios’ main long-term goals has been to establish strategic relationships with leading international industry partners, it said Tuesday. The venture is expected to attract more partners in the future.
Jamie Lang contributed to the story.