U.S. HISPANIC
ViX: El Gallo de Oro is a contemporary classic that rescues an emblematic novel of Mexican culture
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 1 de noviembre de 2023
Chava Cartas Carlos Bardasano Vincenzo Gratteri Patricio Wills Jorge Sastoque
El Gallo de Oro, an adaptation of the short novel by Juan Rulfo, is now available on ViX. Its creators, Vicenzo Gratteri, Senior VP Development at ViX, Patricio Wills, executive producer and president of W Studios, and director Chava Cartas, talked about the production process, casting selection, and the 30 years it took them to bring this story to a series format.
“A few years ago, W Studios did a local version in Colombia of El Gallo de Oro, but from then on, I had the idea of doing it with greater resources. It took several years to get the rights and to realize that it is not a product to be treated as a traditional telenovela; we needed a different audience and budget. Years passed, we got the rights, and with ViX, we supported the project with a budget never seen on TV. ViX gave us the financial and conceptual support to achieve what we have today,” commented Wills.
He added that a new star alignment occurred with the arrival of the singer and actress Lucero to the project. “We presented her with the project as something Mexican, dramatic, based on a novel by Rulfo, and a musical; she immediately accepted. Another important element was Chava Cartas, who did an impeccable job in the direction, thanks to his involvement with the content and understanding of Rulfo as a Mexican. We are happy with the result and the work of the crew.”
A CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
Gratteri assured that when this idea came to ViX they had mixed feelings of enthusiasm and vertigo for touching a Mexican literary work like this one. “We perfectly combine the vision of being faithful to the essence and soul of Rulfo’s text, and at the same time, to have that indispensable daring and irreverence for a story suitable for a streaming platform. We wanted to make a truly premium series and that has to do with the investment, and above all, with the glance.”
He agreed with Wills about the work of Chava Cartas. “He managed to translate spectacular scripts into a powerful staging without betraying the spirit of the time. Due to the story’s universality and emotions, we were reaching a 2023 audience, which is a great challenge because it must feel coherent with that time but without false language, achieving a great job with the dialogue. We have a contemporary classic; we rescued one of the most emblematic works of Mexican culture and managed to tell a story that will undoubtedly conquer the current audience. I imagine the ViX audience of the next 20 years watching El Gallo de Oro and enjoying it like the great classics.”
A TRIBUTE TO THE MEXICAN GOLDEN CINEMA AND DIRECTOR ISMAEL RODRÍGUEZ
Director Chava Cartas spoke about the directing process, including the technology, photography, and working with the actors to achieve this contemporary classic: “It was a great responsibility to put Rulfo on the screen, to do it in a contemporary way but respecting that period and what was happening in Mexico. There was a double responsibility: one, to make a new series to present it to the public and two, to rescue the magic that the author gives us about the past and the moment that he is experiencing in the country.”
He explained that they had two ways to do it on the table. “The first was to go to the golden cinema showing impeccable characters or the real Mexico without the glamor or the show business, and we decided to go there, achieving an organic story, almost a documentary, because it was a strong investigation to recreate those towns, design the costumes, their textures, the makeup, and those details that build a plot that connects with the public.”
He added that when they went deep into the story, “and we focused the camera, the magic began with all these actors, with the same climate of the locations like San Luis Potosí and a great production design. Technically, we respected the golden cinema and paid tribute to director Ismael Rodríguez. It is a privilege and a great emotion to bring our culture, cinema, and Rulfo to the world through platforms like ViX .”
Gratteri assured that part of the challenge and the possible success of this project is having actors like Lucero and José Ron on the screen playing characters they have never impersonated. It is something that will surprise the audience.
The series is executive produced by Patricio Wills and Carlos Bardasano, and Lina Uribe, Darío Vanegas, and Daniela Richer are responsible for writing the adaptation. The director is Chava Cartas, and Beto Casillas, is the Photography director.
