Wild Sheep: Streamers are more willing to partner to share financing and territories

The Mexican Jimena Rodríguez is head of Latin America al Wild Sheep Content, founded by Erik Barmack, the promoter of the global production strategy at Netflix -. She brings to the company 20 years of experience in production, marketing, distribution, and, above all,  detecting relevant projects.

Rodríguez, who joined the company this year, bears the mission to connect Latin America with the world by promoting the productions of the region that, according to her, has creators, writers, directors, and filmmakers with great potential. To this end, the production house seeks to partner with independent producers or established companies, she said on #PRODUprimetime with Ríchard Izarra.

Seeking for projects takes up much of Rodríguez’s time. 40% of her weekly work is devoted to reading. “I would never delegate reading; it is where great opportunities are lost. You must be serious enough to read and evaluate all the projects.”

The projects come from all over the region. Most are from Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil, but some come from the Mexican-American border. And although the most demanded are series and movies, there is an opportunity for documentaries. “People now are interested in watching documentaries; they are getting used to it, and we have to take advantage of it,” she said.

INVITACIÓN A UN ASESINATO
The film Invitación a un Asesinato, which will soon premiere on Netflix, is the first project of Wild Sheep Latin America.

They are developing a film with Videocine based on a German novel but made in Spanish. “I am very excited about the possibility of adapting properties from all over the world in Latin America. It is a German romantic comedy, made in Mexico, with actors from the region for Videocinema and streaming, that is truly international.”

In both Invitación a un Asesinato and the new project, Wild Sheep is creatively involved and participates daily in the production.

Another project is the series Diamante Rojo in partnership with Perro Azul. “You can’t do everything; you must find the right partner for the right project and focus resources. This is the plan”.

IP PURCHASE AND PROJECT FINANCING
Wild Sheep Content, with 16 projects underway in 14 territories worldwide, aims to grow by purchasing IP and financing projects. “The idea is to acquire between ten or 15 properties a year and, on the other hand, participate with equity financing, which can be either financing the entire project or gap financing, to cover what is needed to finish it,” Rodríguez explained.

Now is a great time to delve into this strategy because streamers are partnering with producers to share the financing risk. “In Latin America, the focus of the streamers was much more focused on originals, they financed everything and kept all the rights, but now they are more open to looking for partners to share financing and territories. That excites us a lot because it allows you to be a partner at all levels, from the creative to the studios,” she said.

Wild Sheep Content has the support of Mediapro, which provides an annual fund to invest and is a sales force in the European market. “So if you find a small project, you can potentiate it and make it a huge, global project.”

Rodríguez listed some of Wild Sheep Content’s distinctive features, such as solid and proven experience in the different branches of the industry, agility to see, review, and offer feedback to all types of creators (large or small) and their projects; and being international. “There are some who call themselves ‘international’ but produce only in the US and Mexico or the US and Argentina. Wild Sheep is real international: Scotland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, and we are trying to move things from the Middle East,” she assured.

Go to #PRODUprimetime with Jimena Rodríguez of Wild Sheep