Mediapro's Five Studios Bet on Local Voices Over Scale

At the 6th Iberseries & Platino Industria conference in Madrid, five Mediapro Studio companies presented slates that share one rule: don't chase scale for its own sake.

The producers — Globomedia, 100 Balas, Big Bang Media, Cimarrón Cine and El Terrat — laid out strategies that, despite different slates, repeat the same thesis. Build projects around talent. Stay nimble. Match the production model to the story.

What does comedy still deliver at Globomedia?

Globomedia director general Maria Jose Rodríguez tied her entertainment slate to comedy, a genre she called "embedded in the company's DNA." The company built Spanish TV landmarks including "Sé lo que hicisteis" and "Caiga quien caiga" — shows she credits with reshaping the country's television landscape.

"Comedy is the best tool we have to entertain, generate critical thinking and connect with one another," Rodríguez said.

How is 100 Balas pairing real cases with authors?

100 Balas director general Alejandro Flórez described his company as "a production company with stories, with origins and with authors." The slate includes scripted thriller "Death in Llanes," based on the murder of Spanish politician Javier Ardines, and documentary series "Expediente Linares" about alleged paranormal phenomena surrounding Madrid's Palacio de Linares.

Fiction titles include "Celeste," "Su Majestad" and "Yakarta." A second season of "Celeste," created by Diego San José, will return with Carmen Machi — recently honored with the National Film Prize at San Sebastian Festival — as a tax inspector probing evasion, money and powerful interests.

"At a time when the audiovisual offering is broader than ever, the real differentiator continues to be the stories and those capable of telling them in a unique way," Flórez said. "It's not about producing more content. It's about producing content that leaves a mark."

"We don't make series thinking about traveling," he added. "You shouldn't be afraid of being local." A distinctly Spanish voice, he argued, gives a series international legs.

Can Big Bang Media make live TV move between channels?

Big Bang general manager Carmen González pointed to "Malas Lenguas," which evolved across RTVE's La 2 and La 1, swapping time slots and presenting teams while keeping its identity.

"It's a typical example in television," González said. The producer is pushing deeper into fiction. "Ser o no ser," made for RTVE Play, ran for two seasons and targeted younger audiences. "Pérdida" has expanded internationally via Atresplayer. Big Bang is developing projects with bestselling author María Dueñas and period drama "La Dama de la Cartuja," based on Inma Aguilera's novel.

"We're looking for creators who have a lot to say, as well as literary titles that we believe can make an important leap to the screen," González said.

Why does Cimarrón call itself a "pack"?

CEO-co-founder Santiago López named the company after Uruguay's cimarrón dogs, a breed shaped by generations of mixing and adaptation.

"Cimarrón is also a mixture," López said. "We started as a mix of two countries and are now a mix of five countries, of very different formats and projects, but above all of very different people."

That mixture is feeding original development. Five years ago, about one in five projects originated in-house; today it is one in three, with a target of one in two. Cimarrón adapted Spanish format "El Conquistador del Fin del Mundo" for Mexico and the U.S., shot it in the Dominican Republic and finished post-production in the Southern Cone. The company has also adapted Argentine novel "Cometierra" across Mexico and Uruguay.

"There is no territory that thinks while the others simply execute," López said. "We try not to make the stories smaller. We make the project possible so that the story can be possible."

Creative director Andrés Gelós captured the shift more colorfully: after decades as a "lone wolf," he now describes Cimarrón as a creative "pack."

Where does El Terrat go after nearly four decades of comedy?

General manager Agustín Esteve acknowledged the company remains best known for entertainment. His next target: fiction.

"Our goal for some time now has been to also be recognized for fiction," Esteve said.

The company's latest feature, "5 minutos más," co-produced with Ikiru for Movistar Plus+, premiered at San Sebastián, where Javier Cámara won the Silver Shell for supporting actor. The Berto Romero-scripted film, directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera, mixes comedy, thriller and apocalyptic elements.

"We struggled for a long time to define what genre this film belongs to," Esteve said. "But however you define it, it's a film with a broad audience."

El Terrat is developing Season 2 of "Otro Mundo" for Movistar Plus+ and "Amadas" for 3Cat, and expanding its documentary work with "SerYo," centered on actor Sergio Peris-Mencheta's cancer treatment and directed by Marta Solaz, Verónica Díaz Pérez and Peris-Mencheta — alongside the Emmy International-nominated "Temps Mort," co-produced with 3Cat.

What unifies five distinct producers?

For Esteve, the formula rests on "talent, irreverence, risk, passion, honesty and play" — plus one unglamorous ingredient: "the desire to work, because without work none of this is possible."

If comedy specialists, true-crime outfit, live-TV stalwarts, cross-border adapters and prestige-fiction newcomer all arrive at the same verdict, Madrid's independent production sector has now stated what it intends to compete on. Author-driven projects and adaptable production models, not headline volume, will set the pace for the next slate cycle.