U.S. HISPANIC
LatinWE: It took us 11 years to prepare Griselda and Sofía Vergará will surprise with her performance
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 16 de junio de 2023
Luis Balaguer de LatinWE
It took approximately 11 years for Latin World Entertainment (LatinWE) to prepare the role and develop the series Griselda, seven of which were done with Netflix. Griselda, which stars Sofía Vergara and debuts globally on October 12, is co-produced by Grand Electric, and in the opinion of Luis Balaguer, founder and CEO of LatinWE, and Vergara’s partner, it represents a very big challenge in their careers.
In a new edition of #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra from Hollywood, Balaguer also announced that LatinWE is working on two films and a television show, no details were given about the screens.
SOFÍA VERGARA WILL SURPRISE IN HER ROLE AS GRISELDA
“No one expects what they are going to see of Sofia’s performance as Griselda. Those who have seen her grow during these last 30 years, first as a model, as a TV presenter, then as a comedian, and now, once again we entered unknown waters where she dares to take a drama role. We thought Netflix could be our best partner to bring it to the audience and we’ve literally been developing it with them for seven years, and finally, we filmed it this year. It’s six hours and we kick off on October 12. We are very excited for the world to see the trailer this summer. Hopefully, it will be the success that we anticipate,” said Balaguer.
Balaguer highlighted that it is a very strong role and Sofia “will sweep away all the awards this upcoming year. It was the hardest job in her career. Literally, all of the filmings was at night, very cold, during covid. We constantly had to cancel days of work or learn lines at the last minute because an actor or someone in the wardrobe or one of the producers got sick, so we really don’t even know how we completed it. It was a very important experience in her career and it fills me with pride to see today what we have already been editing. I think the world is not ready to see Sofía in a role like this.”
He said that during Griselda’s shooting, they had to take a break from other projects that Sofia is working on because they needed her to focus on her performance. “A character who wore prosthetics, something new to her, sitting in a chair for almost five hours every day to prepare. But thanks to Netflix, we were able to pause the filming for a month and go do America’s Got Talent with Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, and Howie Mandel. After those 30 days, we returned and finished Griselda. It was a very hard experience, having to handle such a strong role, it was a great challenge that now we see the results and we feel very proud and satisfied for what we accomplished.”
NETFLIX SUPPORT
Balaguer expressed that Netflix supported them throughout the process, “not only from the beginning with the development, but later giving us the budget freedom to stage what we had envisioned, and also now in programming the launch, the promotion, and the global marketing.”
TWO FILMS AND A TV SHOW ARE IN DEVELOPMENT
He announced that they are working on two movies and a television show. “As with everything that we usually do, we start preparing and developing it at home and then we choose the best platform to reach the audience we are aiming to with that type of content,” he said.
11 YEARS OF PREPARATION
Balaguer explained that it took them 11 years to prepare for Griselda’s role and development. Initially, it was thought to be a movie, but then they realized that it was impossible to tell the story in an hour and a half or two hours. So the format became a six-hour movie divided into six one-hour episodes. “In the end, much of what we wanted to do internationally we couldn’t do due to covid, so we had to recreate all the locations in California, which skyrocketed the budget. But when you see the series, you can’t tell that we are not Colombia, or Miami, or many other places.”
PRODUCTION PARTNER: GRAND ELECTRIC
Balaguer indicated that Griselda was made a co-production with his partner and friend Eric Newman from Grand Electric from Narcos. “He is probably the most prolific producer within Netflix in recent years”, he said. They also worked with Andi Baiz, a famous and acclaimed Colombian director who was also in the Narcos franchise and who knew Griselda’s character perfectly. “So that gave us peace of mind, that Sofía, Andi and Eric were going to be able to not only stage something very real but also write it. Today we are totally proud of our partnership, and I think many more things will come from this group working together.”
30 YEARS OF LATINWE
In 2024 LatinWE reaches its 30th anniversary. “We are living moments that we never dreamed of at the beginning of our career. We swore we were going to be successful in the Hispanic market, but due to Modern Family, which boosted Sofía’s career and mine, we have this global fame. The show is seen in more than 100 countries. And now with America’s Got Talent and the partnership we have with Simon Cowell, it has opened up a lot of markets for us like India and places in Africa where we didn’t even think we could have a business there. It is very nice to see how dreams sometimes really come true,” said Balaguer.
View Luis Balaguer of LatinWE on #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra
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