Mediapro: North America is one of the axes of our growth

The new 20 thousand square meters production campus being built for Mediapro in Yonkers, with an investment of US$100 million demonstrates that the company “has a strong commitment to North American market, and we want to make available these production facilities and the knowledge that we are acquiring to our clients from all over the world” said Irantzu Diez-Gamboa, CEO of Mediapro North America. The facilities include three studios within Gracepoint Studios, where one already exists for Lionsgate, the second for Mediapro, and a third for another client.

She highlighted “the great relationship” they have with Gracepoint Studios, “where we have not only relied on them to have our campus in Yonkers, but we created a joint venture to offer lighting services. We have found a partner with whom we understand each other very well.”

Mediapro’s Yonkers campus will open in the third quarter of 2024. Diez-Gamboa recalled that the lease with Gracepoint Studios is for ten years.

“As for today, we already have interest from third parties, and we are also evaluating some of the content productions of Mediapro Studios because these could be intended for the new facilities,” she commented.

NORTH AMERICA IS ONE OF THE AXES OF GROWTH
Diez-Gamboa highlighted that one of the growth axes of Grup Mediapro is the US and North American markets. “In general, we find it to be a very attractive market in which competition is fierce. Our competitors or companies in this sector are the best on the market, but that does not make us fear it; on the contrary, it encourages us to work with greater enthusiasm, greater effort, and professionalism. The level of production services in the US market is the best in the world and we know that we have a place here because we have the best professionals, the knowledge, and experience of having worked all over the world, having worked successfully in South Florida. We can extend this to the rest of the country. And not only with facility production centers but with mobile units that in just a few weeks we will have them here in Miami, ready to roll,” she mentioned.

She said that since Mediapro was installed more than 25 years ago in Miami, it has been very focused on this market where it started with a small office in some studios in Hialeah, doing sports rights management issues, and, in 2008, they built the first building in Medley and then in 2015, they opened the second building.

“In Miami, we have more than 11 studios, one dedicated to virtual production, and since 2021, we have rented the Cisneros studios,” she pointed out.

She mentioned that seven years ago, they decided that growth in North America had to start in New York. “We began to evaluate our possibilities. The first thing was to close an agreement with HITN, a wonderful facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We have an agreement with them where, with our commercial ability, we offer that excess capacity that HITN has to the market. It is an alliance that, in addition to the commercialization of studies, extends to other topics,” she said.

They continued to advance in New York, where since 2021, they have rented a studio in Hudson Yards in Manhattan, on 37th Street. “It is a great location in the heart of Manhattan and from where we have been providing services for two years. We have had an incredible variety of clients, from artists rehearsing to relevant productions like the next meeting of Real Housewives of New York. For three or four months, we hosted an immersive experience with the theme of Bridgerton on Netflix, but we still were unsatisfied with having a small studio in Manhattan. So in this search for what options the New York area gave us, including New Jersey and Connecticut, we contacted Robert Halmi, CEO and founder of Gracepoint Studios,” she indicated.

US HISPANIC MARKET
She highlighted that they have always focused on the US Hispanic market. “It is a market in which we are comfortable, in which clients know us. We are a relevant part of it and we have always looked at Latin America from here.”

She recalled that a few months ago, they carried out an internal reorganization. When they talk about Mediapro North America, it is not only Canada, and the United States but Mexico and countries in Central America and the Caribbean. “We believe that there are synergies and we have to approach this market almost in a unique way. The needs of clients in Canada have nothing to do with those of Mexico, but we have a very diverse and multidisciplinary team and professionals based in the three countries who know how to give the local touch that each project needs,” Diez-Gamboa added.

She added that internally, they look at leadership in this region uniquely. The operations regarding technical services between the US, Mexico, and the Latin American market are always very relevant and close. “Being able to offer US clients the possibility of producing in Mexico or Mexican clients occasionally or permanently, depending on their needs, providing those production services from the US, is wonderful for them. We give the possibility of providing services where needed, efficiently offering all the talent potential in the region and taking advantage of all the synergies. It is wonderful to learn from the ways of working in one country and another and to apply them throughout the region,” she concluded.