Argentina and Mexico-based Jaque Content, originator of suspense drama series “The Cleaning Lady,” now set to become a Warner Bros.-produced U.S. drama pilot, has clinched a strategic alliance with Spain’s Grupo Black Panther.
Marking Jaque’s first European beachhead, the partnership will see the two companies targeting fiction production, playing off an emerging co-production triangle linking Spain, Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.
Once on the periphery of global production, the larger acceptance of Spanish from Spain, ever greater creative freedom of key Spanish writers and emergence of powerful content powerhouses such as Movistar Plus, Mediapro and Atresmedia have revolutionized Spain’s production scene. Select series – “La Casa de Papel,” “Elite” – rate among the most-watched non-English-language series ever on Netflix.
The explosion of U.S. studio and streaming production in Latin America has equally sparked a feeding-frenzy for high-end regional originals. Last year, Netflix produced more hours of original productions in Spain (163), Colombia (114) and Mexico (108) than France (86), Germany (50) and Italy (19), according to an analysis by research company Omdia.
Representing a larger Spanish-speaking population than in Spain, U.S. Latinos have a median age of just 29, and represent the largest growth segment in the U.S., according to a Nielsen presentation at September’s Conecta Fiction forum in Spain.
Jaque Content and the Grupo Black Panther are co-developing their early fiction content, targeting international markets. They aim to announce first projects in the next few months, the companies said in a joint statement on Sunday.
“Working with a company like Black Panther fulfils one of our principal objectives: Forging a strong alliance in Spain so that together we can position forcefully in the international Hispanic contents market,” said Paola Suárez, Jaque Content partner and VP, development and production.
For Ignacio de Medina, VP of the Grupo Black Panther and an executive producer at Black Panther Films, “this expansion and alliance underscores our clear international vocation to produce quality content with an international focus, emphasizing strategic markets: Spain, Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic.”
Fiction production at Black Panther will be put through Black Panther Films, De Medina added.
Based out of Argentine second city Córdoba as well as Mexico City, Jaque Content has seen the Mexican remake of “The Cleaning Lady,” produced with BTF Media, become a banner Spanish-language title on Turner Latin America’s 2020 original series slate. Barcelona-based Fasten Films has also optioned Spanish and Portuguese adaptation rights to “The Cleaning Lady,” whose original also won a Martín Fierro Federal Award for best series in Argentina. It was pre-selected for the International Emmy Awards in 2018.