Jim McNamara Hemisphere Media Group
Among the new projects to be launched by Pantaya, Hemisphere Media Group´s OTT in the Hispanic market, there is a series with Eugenio Derbez, produced from his home. The comment was made by Jim McNamara, VP of the Board of Directors and consultant of Hemisphere Media Group in a Special Edition of #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra, adding that they are “very confident and hopeful because it is a reflection of their creativity”. McNamara recalled that they have a relation of several years with Derbez since the time when Pantelion distributed the US Hispanic blockbuster Instructions Not Included (No Se Aceptan Devoluciones).
“No Se Aceptan Devoluciones was a huge success for Pantelion. It is a before and an after, a great example of Eugenio Derbez´ willpower, who worked for over 10 years on the script and gathering the money. It was a film that a Hollywood studio would have never produced because it would have another ending. It came to us for distribution and was the beginning of the great relationship we have with Eugenio,” he said.
He added that today the great approach is “not only us but the entire world”, on streaming. Pantelion has merged with what Pantaya is and today almost the entire Pantelion team is working on Pantaya, because there is synergy, it didn´t use to make sense for the two companies to be separated and finally, they merged, it is now one company,” he explains.
McNamara reflected that after the pandemic there will be plenty of industries that will have to reinvent themselves. “I do think TV will have to go back to how it used to be. Advertising has decreased, but we are managing well,” he comments and he mentions the cases of Hemisphere’s pay-TV, whose rating has grown. Their open TV channels -WAPA TV in Puerto Rico and Canal 1 in Colombia- still remain, mainly WAPA that has a great deal of audience support. “On Pantaya visualization and subscribers have increased,” he added.
Watch interview with Jim McNamara from Hemisphere Media Group on #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra
Jim McNamara from Hemisphere: We start to operate Canal Uno from Colombia on May 1st
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