MIAMI — Turner Latin America and Mexico’s Dopamine, a Salinas Group company, have struck a production alliance to develop and produce three original series: “Tu parte del trato,” “Amarres” and “Coyatl.”
The pact adds to the NATPE announcement on Monday of “Las Bravas F.C,” the first series in Turner Latin America’s five-year strategic production partnership with Mediapro.
In another deal, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Turner Latin America announced Tuesday an exclusive non-scripted representation and formats production deal for TLA on ITV formats for Latin America.
The Dopamine, Mediapro and ITV partnerships give further force to the muscular build in original production volume by the Warner Media-owned Turner Latin America, as it seeks to expand even more its leading pay TV market share of 26%, and prepare for an OTT and skinny bundle age.
Three highly contrasting series, all to be produced out of Mexico, the Dopamine trio also flag early results of the appointment one year ago of Marcelo Tamburri as VP of development at Turner Latin America.
A supernatural hero drama with a social issue edge, set on the Mexico-U.S. border, “Coyitl” is suited for Turner channel Space, Tomás Yankelevich, EVP & chief content pfficer, general entertainment, Turner Latin America, said at NATPE.
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In it, a U.S.-born teen of Mexican descent bitten by a coyote –a symbol of Mexico- transforming into mystical werewolf Coyotl who will protect the lives of people crossing the border.
In “Amarres,” Ana, the grand-daughter of a market amarradora, at Sonora Market takes up the family profession again and becomes entangled in a world of magic, as she battles to retain custody of her children. The aim is to make a highly emotional show, Yankelevich commented at NATPE.
An exciting, risqué new thriller with echoes of 1980s/‘90s divas thrillers, such as “Fatal Attraction,” Yankelevich said, “Tu parte del trato” “is all about strong female role,” women empowered to the point of murder,” Turner Latin America and Dopamine said in a statement.
Presented to Turner Latin America by Dopamine, all three projects are now in development, said Tamburri. They are “certain to strike a cord with our brands’ audiences, and whose scope and interest can be extended to other platforms,” he added.
“We value [Turner’s] trust and their decision to tell different stories, from Mexico for the world”, pointed out Fidela Navarro, CEO at Dopamine, about the new alliance.
Cartoon Network, TNT and Space, currently rate in the Top 5 most-watched pay TV channels in Latin America.
“In terms of ratings, we are doing really well. But we have to keep on fighting and transitioning from an acquisition business to an original production business,” Yankelevich said.
One large consideration is to achieve a balance between pay TV and OTT, when the later, WarnerMedia, launches later this year. OTT release can, however, prove a powerful boost to series, Yanklevich argued, citing the case of Argentina’s “El Marginal” Season 2.
“If we are smart enough, the combination between windows with an OTT platform is useful for a free to air, is useful for Pay TV,” Yankelevich said.
The deal with ITV ITV Studios Global Entertainment rolls off the excellent performance of ITV’s “Alphabet Game” (“Pasapalabra”) on El Trece in Argentina. Turner Latin America is now going to produce “Come Dine With Me” for Telefé.
Movies remain TLA’s bread and butter on its cable channels, Yankelevich argued. Sourcing Hollywood movies, Turner Latin America has begun to produce its own exclusive English-language movies.
“We want to have a combination of genres, sports, original movies, mainstream movies, events, and entertainment,” Yankelevich reflected, adding that “Pay TV segmentation, a movie channel, a food channel, doesn’t really work so well.”