Telemundo: We will produce 300 hours a year in and for Mexico and other territories

The expansion of Telemundo Global Studios (TGS) in Mexico encompassed an additional 300 hours of production to its annual capacity.

“We are over thrilled to have an extension of Telemundo Global Studios in Mexico. For us, Mexico is Latin America’s ‘Mexiwood’”, said Karen Barroeta, Executive VP of Production and Development of Telemundo Global Studios, who will be responsible and supporting Ximena Cantuarias, SVP of Production (based in Mexico) in Production, and Licett Benítez, director of Production and Operations Management (in Miami) in Operations.

Barroeta recalls that Telemundo has had a production presence in Mexico through third parties since 2002. “We are very excited to be the ‘chefs of our restaurant’. We are able to produce for both Telemundo and third parties,” she pointed out and added that they do not rule out producing from Mexico for other territories.

“From Mexico, we have the capacity to produce for any country and region. In fact, I am currently in Turkey looking at projects, and we do not rule out that at some point we will produce a Turkish story in Mexico. We are working hard on it because we know the great responsibility that is reaching the market,” she said.

Barroeta highlighted that although it is key to have a local presence and being able to lead their projects, they do not rule out working with third parties or alliances. It all depends on the volume. “Alliances are super important and we do not rule out working with allies in the market, it all depends on how the production pipeline is.”

For her, the big difference in reaching the market now with their current production unit is that it goes hand in hand with NBCUniversal, which is a content company. “The difference is gigantic because ten years ago we came from the hand of General Electric and there were also other plans at the time, which were not only TV content. This time we are focusing on the production of content in Spanish.”

Barroeta announced that, if any of the NBCUniversal business units require it, they will also be able to provide production in English or support services. “We are a company that has TV, content, and film units. We have a very solid production infrastructure that includes human resources, business affairs, the talent area, and production logistics”. She said that Jessica Romero was added as Talent Manager in Mexico.

“For me to be able to lead this business unit, after growing up watching Mexican telenovelas, it’s wonderful,” she said.

Barroeta was not authorized yet to announce what other titles they will produce in Mexico beyond the eighth season of El Señor de los Cielos. She said that they are working internally to define what are the projects for next year. “I can’t share titles yet, but possibly between Q1 or Q2 we will be producing another title in Mexico.”

She highlighted that El Señor de Los Cielos 8 is a gigantic production that is taking place in different locations in Mexico. “We are going to be starting with a project that is very ambitious, in addition to the return of Rafael Amaya and our character Aurelio Casillas, who is so loved. We are very happy to be able, to begin with, this project that is so important for the company,” she concluded.