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Channel21 International | Fall 2026 | Mexico Special Edition

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CONTENTS

Viva Mexico, take two

exico always made sense. O ddly enoug h, for a while, the numbers seemed to tell a different story. Call it foresig ht or call it luck , but when we decided Mexico would be our country in focus this year, we had no idea reality would end up playing so neatly into our hands. B ecause in many ways, 2 0 2 6 will g o down as a turning point for Mexico’ s audiovisual industry. A fter years of calls for action as the country slipped down the international competitiveness rank ing s, F ebruary brought EFICA, its first federal tax credit aimed at production spending ( see pag e M9 ) . A nd, coincidentally or not, it arrived j ust as the maj or streamers were stepping on the g as ag ain. Netflix, having already announced US$1bn for local content, doubled down on its long -term ambitions. Prime Video earmarked a significant share of its US$2bn Latin American investment for Mexican content. D isney+ put a local team in place to increase its bet on the country. A nd P aramount, while it waits to tak e over W arner B ros D iscovery, is preparing a new streaming and content strateg y, with Mexico among its priorities. These moves made the headlines. B ut perhaps the more interesting story lies beneath them. Local incentives continue to grow, infrastructure and crews are becoming more sophisticated, new sources of financing are emerging and producers are increasing ly learning to speak the lang uag e of capital. All while TelevisaUnivision and TV Azteca continue feeding a production machine at a scale most mark ets would envy.

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And yes, a population of 130 million, competitive costs and being able to call the US a neighbour are attractive to anyone. B ut none of this happens without an industry capable of supporting it. Much of the explanation lies in Mexico’ s ability to k eep adding layers. In many mark ets, streaming eroded what came before. Here, the new arrivals seem to be building on a business that never stopped running . The roots are still there: decades of popular TV , a strong ﬁlm tradition and, above all, a culture of telling stories for mass audiences. That is precisely where one of the big g est opportunities for Mexico’ s creative community now lies. A s several voices in these pag es point out, quality and popularity do not have to be at odds. There is still plenty of unexplored territory, a “ Mexican K ar ate K i d” waiting to be found and a “ hug e mosaic of diversity” ready to be tapped. This new wave of investment, tools and ambition is pushing Mexico into a new phase. A nd it enters it with one considerable advantag e: it is already an audiovisual powerhouse. It would be naive to think there are no challeng es left. E F ICA still has to prove its impact in practice, while training , professionalisation, decentralisation and access to ﬁnancing remain areas where the industry can improve. B ut the fuel is there. Mexico has scale, talent, audiences, infrastructure, stories and, increasing ly, the tools to ig nite all that potential. The moment is now. O r, as they say in Mexico, ahorita. P ina M ezzera, c o- ed itor of Cv eintiuno

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FUNDAMENTALS: Mexican tax credit A new federal incentive could give the country valuable extra help in attracting big-budget projects.

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Mexican production The pros and cons of growth as Lat Am producers set up shop in the country.

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Melodrama How Mexican producers are using the pace and structure of streaming series to reinvent melodrama.

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: 24/7 formats A boom in 24/7 reality shows is turning Mexico into a testing ground for innovation, driven by Big Brother.

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ANALYTICS: Mexico in numbers Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Paramount are offering new signs of recovery in Mexico’s streaming market.

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: TelevisaUnivision How the Mexican entertainment giant aims to give every one of its stories as many lives as possible.

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: TV Azteca Partnerships are key to Azteca’s effort to extend its relationship with viewers.

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: Prime Video How the streamer aims to spend Amazon’s huge Lat Am investment.

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: Netflix The streamer’s US$1bn investment aims to leave a lasting mark on Mexico.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: TIS Studios The country’s streaming resurgence offers opportunities for TIS.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Máquina Vega The prodco looks beyond the genres that have dominated Lat Am TV.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: THR3 Media A strategy to expand the popular Chespirito franchise.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Punta Fina Studios Punta Fina is betting on financing, development and production muscle.

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NEXT BIG THINGS: Mexico Twelve standout titles that look set to attract interest in the global market.

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PERSPECTIVE: Fernando Rovzar How local content rediscovered quality.

Define your future in The New Content Economy

FUNDAMENTALS: Mexican tax credit

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Mexico has spent decades building the crews, infrastructure and production base needed to service international shoots. Now a new federal incentive could give the country extra firepower in the battle for bigbudget projects. By Andrés Suárez

e i o h ho ed n hi h hoo in l din e e in

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Another string to Mexico’s bow

or an international producer comparing territories, experienced in the world, and that experience makes a the percentage offered by an incentive can be huge difference when it comes to executing a complex production,” he says. That know-how has been tested decisive. But it is rarely the first question they ask. First comes everything else. Are the locations right? Is on high-profile shoots such as James Bond film Spectre, the infrastructure there? And, above all, does the territory Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Blink Twice. It is on top of that existing industry – rather than have the talent, crews and professionals capable of starting from scratch – that Mexico this year launched the delivering the project? Estímulo Fiscal a la Producción Cinematográfica Mexico has been answering yes to many of y Audiovisual (EFICA), its new federal incentive those questions for decades. Now it has added to attract and strengthen production. another argument in its favour. The scheme offers a tax credit of up to 30% “Mexico already has an established of eligible spend in Mexico, capped at MX$40m production industry and a major competitive (US$2.2m) per project or process, with an advantage: first-class crews, extraordinary annual pool of MX$400m. locations and, importantly, it’s a place where Its first phase is open to domestic and people genuinely want to be,” says Avelino international feature films and series, including Rodríguez, CEO of Mexican production and elino od e documentaries, as well as animation, visual production-services company The Lift. effects and post-production processes. Rodríguez has spent 35 years working in EFICA is Mexico’s first federal incentive aimed directly Mexico’s audiovisual industry and has seen its evolution first-hand. Today, the country has crews used to working at production spend. But in recent years the country had with directors, producers and brands from around the already begun moving down the incentive route at state level. world. One of the pioneers was the state of Jalisco, which has a “Mexican crews have become some of the most scheme that reimburses up to 40% of audiovisual services spend and 20% of general services spend with suppliers based in the state. Morelos, meanwhile, launched an initial MX$80m fund in September that reimburses 30% of verified local spend on specialised production services and 20% on logistics, and is open to both domestic and international projects. Unlike EFICA, both operate as reimbursements on verified local spend, making them closer to the traditional cash-rebate model familiar to many international producers. The arrival of the federal incentive broadens that range of options and allows Mexico to compete in the tax credit arena too, alongside countries such as Spain and Colombia that have been using the tool for years to attract international shoots. And in a country as vast as Mexico, that new financial tool can be combined with advantages that are harder to capture on a spreadsheet. Rodríguez recalls walking through Mexico City’s historic centre years ago with an Australian director who had grown up picturing the capital through little more than a single image: the Zócalo and its enormous Mexican flag. What he found was a city far greener, 

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

more diverse and more complex than he had expected. The anecdote neatly sums up one of the country’s strengths: major urban centres, colonial and contemporary architecture, deserts, jungles, coastlines and mountains, all backed by a broad and professional production industry. Mexico City alone recorded around 110,000 audiovisual-related jobs and US$533m in investment in 2025, according to the capital’s film commission. “We have a huge amount of talent in the city; more than enough,” says Guillermo Saldaña, director-general of the commission. “We have major rental companies and the 16 boroughs are full of locations. We’re more than ready and waiting to welcome the projects that are coming.” The scheme also raises questions, however. One is scale, with some producers arguing that the cap is too low to attract major Hollywood productions but too high for many Latin American projects. Another – perhaps more important for anyone trying to close a budget – is how reliably the incentive can be built into a production’s financing structure. Unlike a traditional cash rebate, EFICA operates as a credit against income tax, and that can still cause some confusion. “What we’ve been able to confirm is that the incentive already has a defined documentation and tax route,” says Abraham Ramírez of Summit Finance, a Mexican firm specialising in financial services for audiovisual productions. “The guidelines establish the minimum investment thresholds, the catalogue of eligible expenses, the transfer limits and the two certificates that structure the process. That makes it possible to budget A braham Ramírez against clearly identifiable conditions.” When the incentive forms part of the financing structure, it is also important to distinguish between expecting to receive it and the point at which it actually becomes an available credit. “The document that really makes the difference is the compliance certificate,” Ramírez adds. “Before the final certificate is issued, the incentive can be presented as a conditional source of financing, and a lender may decide to advance funds while assuming that risk, but at that stage it is still not an available credit.” That distinction matters for producers used to other incentive models. EFICA can become part of the financing package, but it needs to be built into the project from the planning stage and understood in light of each production’s specific conditions. Javier Williams, CEO of Visceral, a production-services company owned by 3Pas Studios, puts it in practical terms, drawing on his experience of third-party projects. “What we’re looking for is a way to give a producer or production company certainty that they will actually have that money

FUNDAMENTALS: Mexican tax credit

available to make the project,” he says. “That’s something we’ve been pushing very hard for.” “As neighbours of the US, there’s a huge opportunity to offer more certainty and make productions think twice before even considering locations that are much further away.” EFICA’s design also seeks to ensure that investment is spread through the Mexican industry itself. One of its conditions is that at least 70% of suppliers on a production must be Mexican residents, giving studios and technical service providers a direct stake in the scheme. José Antonio Suárez, general director of IP9 Studios, a Mexico City complex offering stages and production services, believes the infrastructure needed to absorb any increase in volume is already in place. “The services infrastructure is already operating at international standards,” he says. “Studios, lighting, equipment rental, construction Guillermo S ald aña and technical crews have been servicing large-scale projects for years. The incentive may increase volume, but we’re not starting from zero.” What remains to be seen is how this new tool becomes part of the real-world decisions made by producers, financiers and foreign investors – a learning process that is only just beginning. As Saldaña explains, the MX$400m allocated to the programme is a starting point from which to assess how the market responds and how much room there may be to expand it. “I see it as the kick-off,” he says. “We shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the MX$400m pool could grow as we start landing and executing larger-scale projects.” “We need to start using it, learn from it and understand how to operate it. There will always be things that can be refined and improved, no doubt, but this is a great start.” After all, Mexico is not relying on the incentive to turn it into an international production hub – it has already been one for years. What it is trying to do now is make itself harder to rule out when a project starts comparing territories.

J osé A ntonio S uá rez head s M ex ic o City c omplex I P 9 S tud ios (abov e)

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As neighbours of the US, there’s a huge opportunity to offer more certainty and make productions think twice before even considering locations that are much further away. Javier Williams Visceral

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Mexican production

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Growing pains A

rg entinian, B raz ilian, Chilean, Colombian, S panish. In recent years, production companies from across the world have chosen Mexico as a base for offices, teams or permanent operations from which to g row their business in the reg ion. A nd that choice is driven not only by the long -standing appeal of the world’ s larg est S panish-speak ing mark et but also by the transformation of the local industry itself, fuelled by a new g eneration of talent and increasing ly sophisticated technical capabilities. “ Mexico has moved out of adolescence and is g etting closer to adulthood,” says Italian executive Vincenzo ratteri, chief content officer of S panish prodco O nz a’ s O nz a A mericas division El c onq uistad or w as the and a former V iX content executive. fi d ion o “ There isn’ t a sing le player in the g lobal industry that he ni h o can question the streng th of what’ s happening in Mexico,” adds G ratteri, who has produced around 4 0 series for the Mexican mark et. “ A nd I don’ t j ust mean in terms of volume, but in terms of production quality across absolutely every As Mexico’s audiovisual industry continues to mature, a new area. There are outstanding writers, directors, D P s and generation of talent and increasingly sophisticated production production desig ners.” O nz a, whose titles for V iX include H ote l todo i nc l u i do, capabilities are drawing producers from across the region to set P ap á sol te r o and I sl a br av a, is itself one of the international up shop. But growth comes at a cost. By Sebastián Torterola companies to have sharpened its focus on Mexico recently, throug h its O nz a A mericas division. It is far from alone. Chile’ s F abula, Colombia’ s J ag uar B ite, B raz il’ s Conspiraç ã o F ilmes and A F á brica, and our k now-how to what already work s, learn from the local mark et and try not to reinvent the wheel.” S pain’ s Z eta S tudios have all opened local operations too. O ther international companies have been putting down A mong the latest arrivals is A rg entina’ s P ampa F ilms, roots in the country for much long er. O ne is Colombia’ s TIS which entered Mexico last year with feature film Me sa de r e g al os, a romantic comedy about a couple in crisis who S tudios ( see pag e M4 4 ) , which has operated in Mexico for 1 3 years and, according to president S amuel D uque, now decide to g et married purely for the g ifts. S tarring Cassandra S á nchez N avarro and J osé E duardo sees it as its most active mark et. “ The stories, the literature Derbez, the film was coproduced with Spain’s The Mediapro and the writers in Mexico are fantastic, and so are the crews,” he says. “ A long with B raz il, it’ s S tudio and also streamed on D isney+ . where more series are produced than W ith almost two million theatrical n o i We’re fascinated by anywhere else in the reg ion.” admissions, it became Mexico’ s The momentum is strong enoug h highest-grossing local film of 2025 and the Mexican industry for G ratteri to draw a historical one of the 20 most-watched Mexican because there are some comparison: “ The country is starting films in the country’s history. really strong writers and to experience another extraordinary “ W e’ re fascinated by the Mexican era, lik e the g olden ag e of Mexican industry because there are some really directors. cinema.” strong writers and directors,” says Agustín Bossi Mexico’ s importance to international A g ustí n B ossi, partner and producer at Pampa Films players is also reflected in recent P ampa F ilms. moves by the maj or streamers. S o much so that this year the Netflix opened new offices at the start of the year and company decided to double down on its presence in the country with three projects – one series and two films – and increased its local headcount by 15 . Prime Video, a first-look deal with Mexican director No Santill n-L pez D isney+ and P aramount, meanwhile, have all announced V inc enzo Gratteri following their collaboration on Me sa de r e g al os. The new senior appointments, bolstering their local teams. Mexico’s ecosystem also benefits from its proximity to proj ects will j oin local comedies F am i l i a a l a de r i v a and U n the U S . The development of Mexico’ s technical capabilities m al p ar ti do, which have already been released. “ W e’ re work ing as much in Mexico as we are in A rg entina, has helped the country attract an increasing number if not more,” says Maxi Lasansky, also a partner at Pampa of international proj ects and, according to producers, F ilms. “ A nd every proj ect we’ re doing uses local talent, both those shoots are, in turn, helping to raise the standard of local crews. “ B eing close to the U S opens up the in front of and behind the camera. That’ s our premise: bring 

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@endemolshinebd

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Mexican production

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

opportunity to produce for the E ng lish-lang uag e mark et,” says D uque. TIS Studios has seized that opportunity with films such as D or a & th e S e ar c h f or S ol D or ado, for N ick elodeon U S / P aramount+ , and 2 0 2 3 feature-leng th drama S ou nd of F r e e dom . “ W ith every U S production we’ ve had in recent years, a lot of k now-how stays in the country,” D uque says. “ It’ s incredibly valuable to produce a series costing U S $ 1 0 m1 5 m an episode and have our crews work ing along side a Hollywood production desig ner, building k nowledg e as they g o. O nce the j ob is done, we start applying those lessons to our own productions.” The connection with the U S also has a second dimension: its Hispanic mark et. TelevisaU nivision’ s binational operation is the clearest example of the ties between the two territories, althoug h G ratteri cautions that Mexico and the U S Hispanic mark et are not interchang eable. “ E ven thoug h a hug e percentag e of Hispanics in the U S are Mexican, the two circles don’ t overlap exactly,” he says. “ W e need a better understanding of the specificities of the U S Hispanic audience, particularly second- and thirdg eneration viewers: people born in the US whose first language is E ng lish but who have a L atin culture throug h their parents or g randparents.” However, the same process that has made Mexico more W hile the U S expands opportunities to the north, Mexico’ s scale and location also allow the country to serve attractive to international companies and productions is as a base from which to coordinate proj ects across the rest also creating a new challeng e: producing there is becoming increasing ly expensive. of L atin A merica. Industry g rowth, combined with a strong er peso, has The Mediapro S tudio is pushing further in precisely that direction. Its production arm Cimarró n Mexico, led by eroded the cost advantag e Mexico once held over other L at partner and executive producer S andino S aravia, this year A m production hubs. That is why the industry spent years calling for a national took charg e of the g roup’ s content strateg y across L at A m. “ Mexico is a very g ood place to centralise efforts because production incentive that could help level the playing field it allows us to attract the attention of international clients, both from Mexico is a very good place to the reg ion and beyond,” S aravia says. “ It also work s as a g ateway centralise efforts because it allows into L atin A merica.” us to attract the attention of international A ccording to S aravia, many clients, both from the region and beyond. U S and E uropean clients initially arrive look ing for solutions in Sandino Saravia Mexico, but from there can also Cimarrón Mexico access the g roup’ s capabilities in other territories. “ W e can offer them alternatives they may not have with other territories. The incentive finally arrived in 2026 considered, such as moving part of the production to and is now in its first months of implementation. E xpectations are hig h, althoug h the incentive’ s impact on Colombia, U rug uay, A rg entina or B raz il,” he adds. O ne example is E l c onq u i stador , the first Lat Am attracting new investment remains to be seen ( see pag e adaptation of the S panish survival reality format, produced M9 ) . If Mexico’ s sheer siz e was once enoug h to g uarantee by The Mediapro S tudio for TelevisaU nivision. It was preproduced in Mexico, shot entirely in the D ominican Republic it a central place on L atin A merica’ s audiovisual map, the and post-produced in U rug uay, with talent also coming from industry foreign companies find today is a different one: more mature, more connected and more competitive. Colombia and S pain.

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M ex ic an d irec tor N oé S antillá n- L ópez w ork ing behind the sc enes on romc om M esa d e regalos. L ef t: O nza A meric as’ I sla brav a f or V iX

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Melodrama

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Could there be anything more Mexican than melodrama? Once the world’s leading exporter of telenovelas, the country is incorporating the pace and structure of streaming series to reinvent a genre that, in truth, never really went away. By Pina Mezzera

beautiful young woman from a humble background sets out to take revenge on the wealthy family that destroyed her own, only to fall in love with the heir she was supposed to hate, who in turn is engaged to a cold-hearted woman who announces that she is pregnant, while an old family secret threatens to reveal that nothing is quite what it seems. It could be the plot of a Mexican telenovela from the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s. Or, reductive comparisons aside, a local series commissioned by a major streamer in 2026. “Melodrama has been in our blood since childhood. It’s embedded in the legacy carried through our veins and our emotions,” says screenwriter and master of the genre Roberto Stopello, a Venezuelan who has spent more than three decades working for Mexican audiences, including 17 years at Telemundo and seven as Netflix’s VP of series for Latin America. “Go to an airport in Argentina, Colombia or Mexico and watch people saying goodbye – that is pure drama. And in arrivals, you hear people shouting. That doesn’t happen at a Swedish, Russian or US airport. If you hear someone shouting there, you think, ‘Look, a Latin American!’” The image alone helps explain why melodrama became the defining genre of Lat Am television — and, in Mexico, part of the country’s identity. For decades, Mexico transformed those impossible love stories, class divides, villains and life-changing decisions into a television machine with its

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Melodrama elodrama has been in our blood since childhood. It’s embedded in the legacy carried through our veins and our emotions. Roberto Stopello

Shouting at the TV own star system and enormous export power. Between the 1980s and the 2000s, Televisa produced around 20 titles a year, while TV Azteca entered the competition in the mid1990s with as many as six. Los ricos también lloran, La usurpadora and Mirada de mujer defined an era and took Mexican fiction to screens around the world. But every golden age eventually

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ends. An industry-wide decline in production volumes across Latin America coincided with the international rise of Turkish dramas in the 2010s, then Korean series and, more recently, the microdrama boom in China and beyond. But Mexico is now determined to regain some of that ground by reinventing a genre it masters like few others. Guillermo Borensztein, senior VP of international content licensing and coproduction at TelevisaUnivision, describes melodrama as “the backbone and main export engine” of the company. But he also credits the Turkish and South Korean industries with maintaining both volume and quality, building distinctive brands and, above all, “incorporating the international dimension from the outset of their projects.” That is where he sees room for contemporary Mexican melodrama to

evolve. “The essence doesn’t need to change; we have to find more and better ways of reaching global audiences,” he adds. TelevisaUnivision is, in fact, already moving in that direction. Its in-house production operation continues to make around 10 telenovelas a year, while ViX, its streaming platform launched in 2022 with a focus on Mexico and US Hispanic audiences, has opened up new opportunities for experimentation. In addition to successfully testing series formats with titles such as Con esa misma mirada and El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar, the company this year began exploring another route with its so-called M-Dramas, in a clear bid to challenge K-dramas for younger audiences. 

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Palais des Festivals, Cannes

12-15 October 2026 Palais des Festivals, Cannes

Booth R8-B8

AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Melodrama

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

l o o d e e ined in e i o o e e l ee elo he e e l o i ed o no o endo

With seasons of around 20 episodes, M-Dramas are conceived as “a blend of Mexican emotional storytelling and the pace, aesthetics and structure of K-dramas.” Series such as Un paso hacia ti, La pícara soñadora and Contrato de corazones seek to combine binge viewing and fandom with the ability to bring the whole family together, according to Borensztein. From a business perspective, they also seek to fill “an area of demand that is not currently being fully met internationally,” build multiplatform IP, develop young talent and bring in partners to “think about production at scale.” But the reinvention of melodrama has been under way for some time. In 2022, after seven years producing premium series in Mexico and Lat Am, Netflix surprised many with a campaign that captured another dimension of the shift: ‘Novelas con N de Netflix.’ Behind the strategy were Stopello and Netflix Lat Am VP Francisco ‘Paco’ Ramos. “Paco and I said, ‘Let’s take this head-on,’” Stopello recalls. His proposal was to develop a line of telenovelas around three pillars: harnessing Netflix’s international reach and resources to raise production standards; tapping into nostalgia by bringing together stars from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s with new talent; and adopting a more contemporary rhythm while tackling subjects that are difficult to bring to broadcast television. In a sense, Stopello had already anticipated that evolution with what he considers a turning point in his career. At a time when telenovelas could run for more than 120 episodes, in 2010 he convinced his bosses at Telemundo to aim for around 60 and combine “the best of both worlds.” The result was La reina del sur. “I had just watched Breaking Bad. The difference between them is enormous, but its pace, lack of repetition and the way the story kept moving forward inspired me,” he says of the adaptation of Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel, which pioneered what the industry came to call ‘superseries.’ At Netflix Mexico, the formula took shape in titles such as Donde hubo fuego, which mixed established stars with new talent; Oscuro deseo and ¿Quién mató a Sara?, which took melodrama into the realms of erotic thriller and murder mystery; and more recent series such as El otro padre, created by Stopello, which entered the top 10 in almost 50 countries in July.

The other platforms took note. And some took action. HBO Max is following a similar path and in September premiered Colisión, its first original Mexican telenovela, following Brazilian productions Beleza fatal and Dona Beja. “Streaming has transformed the way we consume television, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the stories we want to ne o watch have changed,” Mariano Cesar, e senior VP of original content at HBO o e Max Latin America, tells C21. Produced by Telemundo Studios, Colisión has a “deeply melodramatic heart,” while introducing a contemporary protagonist and themes including the environment, corruption and mental health. Its 39-episode run also marks a shift that, according to Cesar, reflects the freedom streaming offers to break away from linear schedules and the

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Streaming has transformed the way we consume television, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the stories we want to watch have changed. Mariano Cesar HBO Max

repetition once needed when viewers could miss individual episodes. Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has reached a similar conclusion with dramas such as Yo no soy Mendoza, Doc México and S4 of Rosario Tijeras, all acquired by Netflix. “At first, 40 episodes seemed like it could be too many for streaming and too few for traditional linear television. We have proven that it works for our melodramas,” says Carlos Quintanilla, VP and head of content and production for Lat Am and US Hispanic at SPT. But perhaps paradoxically, while some are accelerating, hybridising and shortening melodrama, others are also seeing a return to its roots. At Comarex, a distributor with decades of experience selling telenovelas, execs are observing greater international demand for clear stories and well-defined characters. “The Mexican telenovela is evolving and returning to the style it perhaps had 10 or 15 years ago, moving away from the series style that requires your full attention. As the experts put it, a telenovela should be something you can watch with your ears,” says Ernesto Ramírez Bourget, deputy director of Comarex. “What’s more, if you look at successful Turkish content, it seems like a Mexican telenovela from the 1980s.” The strong international performance of more traditional recent productions such as TelevisaUnivision’s Doménica Montero, which premiered in December 2025 and has already been sold into more than 80 countries, appears to support that view. Borensztein does, however, see the market becoming far more selective. “Buyers want data, flexibility around windows and exclusivity, as well as fast-moving stories and contemporary characters.” All without losing what they continue to seek from a Mexican melodrama: “An emotional connection and, above all, the ability to build the habit of coming back every day.” That is where traditional telenovelas and this new generation of globally minded melodramas converge. “What really matters is that the audience cares emotionally about what happens to the characters,” Quintanilla sums up. Stopello takes it one step further: “I don’t give a story the green light in my head unless it contains moral dilemmas. Combined with family themes, that is as universal as it gets, because we all belong to a family. It allows people to put themselves in the characters’ shoes. And then we go on the journey together.” For him, the essence remains the same: making viewers feel moved, angry, invested and even convinced that they saw the next twist coming. “My grandmother used to shout at the television, ‘I told you! I knew it!’ That is our job: to make the audience talk to the TV.”

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: 24/7 formats

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

L a c asa d e los f amosos

The neverending story Mexico is experiencing a boom in 24/7 reality that’s turning the country into a testing ground for innovation in the genre, driven by the local success of Big Brother. By Andrés Suárez

rench production g iant B anij ay’ s format Maste r Ch e f , launched in 1 9 9 0 , has tak en many forms over the years, with contestants rang ing from amateur cook s to children, seniors and celebrities. B ut arg uably its big g est innovation since launch came this year with its first-ever 2 7 version. And it is no coincidence that it happened in Mexico. F uelled by the success of L a c asa de l os f am osos ( B i g B r oth e r ) , the country is in the grip of a boom in house-based reality. F ormats orig inally desig ned around very different mechanics are now being reworked into round-theclock shows to fit the demands of the mark et. “ If I have L a c asa de l os f am osos at the start of the year, it mak es sense to want another format that can deliver similar results in the second half,” says F rank S cheuermann, chief content officer at Banijay’s Endemol S hine B oomdog and producer of the show. “ W hen something work s, it becomes a model you want to replicate, with a few twists.” S cheuermann was the driving force behind

Maste r Ch e f 2 4 / 7 , which launched in May this year on Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca and Disney . The idea came during an international summit of Maste r Ch e f producers convened by Banijay Entertainment to tackle one central question: how do you g ive the format another 20 years of life? S cheuermann, a Colombian producer based in Mexico City who had not orig inally planned to attend, arrived with a proposal to switch the show to a 2 7 format. “People told us we were crazy, that it couldn’ t be done, that it would cost too much,” he recalls. “ O thers said that without editing , the beauty shots wouldn’ t work and you’ d lose everything that mak es Maste r Ch e f what it is. It was hug ely controversial.” A planned 15-minute presentation turned into an almost hour-long discussion. B ut it ended well, with format creator F ranc Roddam g iving the idea his blessing , allowing Endemol Shine Boomdog to pitch it across the territories where it operates. F or S cheuermann, part of the reason this k ind of innovation has emerged in Latin America lies in the reg ion’ s own television habits.

“

People told us we were crazy, that it couldn’t be done, that it would cost too much. Others said that without editing, the beauty shots wouldn’t work and you’d lose everything that makes MasterChef what it is. It was hugely controversial. Frank Scheuermann Endemol Shine Boomdog

B ecause reality shows have traditionally been stripped daily, local teams already had plenty of experience g iving viewers a reason to come back every day. The 2 7 model simply tak es that log ic one step further. And while Maste r Ch e f is the clearest example, it is far from the only one in Mexico. The same think ing was behind the transformation of P ow e r Cou p l e for Spanish-language media giant TelevisaU nivision and its streamer Vi . Created by Israeli producer Abot Hameiri and developed in partnership with its distributor, Dori Media, P ow e r Cou p l e follows couples whose trust in their relationships is tested throug h a series of challeng es. The format has been adapted in 25 territories, including Brazil, G ermany, India and F inland, but its latest version, for Mexico and the U S Hispanic mark et, turned the traditional couples competition into a large-scale cohabitation format. Titled ¿ A p ostar í as p or m í ? and produced by F remantle Mexico, the adaptation aired this year on U niMá s and Univision in the US, Las Estrellas in Mexico and Vi across Lat Am. Dori Media is now tak ing this new version to international buyers. S omething similar has happened with F remantle format T h e F ar m . W hile the orig inal already involved contestants living tog ether on a farm, its return to Mexico as L a g r anj a V I P on TV Azteca has placed the 2 7 element at the heart of the proposition. “ It’ s not j ust about watching people live together and seeing the conﬂicts that come with that, but seeing the conﬂicts that arise from the day-today work ,” says J ohanna Helman, 

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AHEAD OF THE CURVE: 24/7 formats

MD of F remantle Mexico and head of production for L at A m. “ It’ s lik e any work place, where people start saying , ‘ I did more, you did less, you didn’ t do that.’ You tak e all of that and put it on a farm.” A nd the appetite continues to g row. P rime V ideo is also exploring a move into 2 4 / 7 reality in Mexico ( see pag e M37 , while Netflix sees that appetite as part of a broader transformation of the g enre. “ U nscripted in Mexico is at a turning point; it has stopped being j ust entertainment and become a cultural moment,” J osé L ascurain, director of live and unscripted content for Mexico at Netflix, tells C21. “ S uccess is no long er measured only by how many people watch a format, but also by the conversation it g enerates off-screen, where fans don’ t j ust consume the stories but amplify them, debate them and rewrite them in real time across different channels.” That is because 2 4 / 7 does not happen only on-screen. A ccording to Helman, one of the main forces behind this evolution is the need to connect with g enerations that consume much of their entertainment on their phones. “ It’ s no long er enoug h to simply recap what happened during the previous 2 4 hours before each show,” she says. “ A udiences are hung ry for thing s to happen live because the 2 4 / 7 feed is g enuinely consumed at scale and there’ s very active clipping on social media. W e have to be much more creative with what happens on the studio floor.” The model also chang es the role of the traditional week ly live show. It is no long er necessarily where the story happens, but where a narrative that has already been unfolding for hours on the 2 4 / 7 feed – and multiplying throug h clips and social conversations – is shaped and org anised. B ut g etting viewers throug h the door is not enoug h. K eeping them there requires characters and situations capable of g enerating story even when no challeng e or eviction is underway. A s TV A z teca executives put it, this is also a new way of mak ing telenovelas ( see pag e M3 3 ) . F or L ascurain, that ability also depends on cultural proximity to the audience. “ In Mexico and beyond, unscripted formats need to feel hyperlocal,” he

J ohanna H elman

says. “ E ven when they are based on g lobal formats, their success comes from feeling g enuinely local. A nd it is precisely that hyperlocality that ultimately wins over international audiences.” S tretching the story across more hours also opens up new commercial possibilities. O n L a c asa de l os f am osos, the shared living environment creates room for everyday product integ ration, while interest in the contestants can drive consumption across other platforms. “Content creates fandoms and fandoms want access,” S cheuermann says. “ S ometimes they’ re willing to pay for more content, for more thing s that mak e them feel something .”

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

B ut sustaining a production for virtually the entire day also chang es the economics. S cheuermann notes that increasing volume bring s down the cost per episode, but inevitably pushes the total budg et hig her. F or Helman, that is why partnerships between different outlets have become essential to mak ing productions of this scale possible. “ P roj ects are g etting big g er and more ambitious, but budg ets are g etting smaller,” she says. “ W ithout coproductions between free-to-air television, platforms and pay TV , it’ s difﬁcult to achieve projects of this siz e.” That combination helps explain why the same reality format can now play out simultaneously across free-to-air TV , streaming and social media, with each window serving a different purpose within an experience desig ned to k eep viewers eng ag ed at all times. Reinventing established franchises is one response to that challeng e. L ascurain arg ues that Mexico should also use its production capabilities to create new IP . “ The future of unscripted lies in narrative ambition,” he says. “ Mexico has already proven its technical capabilities; the innovation now is in creating formats that haven’ t existed before.”

T op: M asterChef 2 4 / 7 launc hed in M ay on T V A ztec a and D isney + . P ow er Couple (abov e lef t) has been ad apted as ¿ A postarías por mí? (abov e) by F remantle M ex ic o

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ANALYTICS: Mexico in numbers

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Mexico’s biggest international streaming spenders Projected international investment in Mexican original content, 2026 (US$m)

7 8 .5 6 6 .1 e i e

n e i e ie he e d i l

4 2 .2 2 8 .7

ug ust 2 0 broug ht two maj or streaming announcements in Mexico. In the morning , P rime V ideo used an event to pledg e it would double its local orig inals and mak e an “ unprecedented” investment in the country throug h 2 0 3 0 . That evening, Netflix revealed at a separate presentation that it was work ing on its “ most ambitious slate yet” in Mexico, after previously committing U S $ 1 bn to production in the country throug h 2 0 2 9 . Tog ether, the announcements neatly captured the sense of optimism starting to return to Mexico after a couple of years of stag nation. The data points in the same direction. A ccording to U K consultancy A mpere A nalysis, streaming platforms cut their number of commissions in Mexico by 4 7 % between 2 0 2 2 and 2 0 2 5 , from 1 1 6 announced titles to 6 1 . But the announcements from Netflix and Amazon, combined with recent moves at D isney and P aramount, sug g est the mood is starting to shift. J ust a month earlier, D isney+ had appointed former Telemundo S tudios executive J uan P once as its new V P of orig inal content for Mexico. His arrival mark ed a fresh start for the platform in the country and formed part of D isney’ s broader international and reg ional strateg y shift, which includes plans to up to triple its investment in international local orig inals. A t P aramount S k ydance, meanwhile, the newly reconfigured company led by David Ellison appointed former Netflix and Vi executive odrigo Maz n as its new direct-to-consumer chief for Latin America. While its new strategy remains in flux amid the ong oing sag a around its acquisition of W arner B ros D iscovery, HB O Max continues to operate 

1 2 .7 1 0 .5 2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

1 0 0

S ource: A mpere A nalysis | N ote: F orecast. P aramount+ and Tubi not included due to no/ minimal investment

Breaking out of a slump After three years of declining commissions, Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Paramount are offering fresh signs of recovery for Mexico’s streaming market. By Gonzalo Larrea

MANY MORE STORIES AHEAD.

MEXICO pampafilms.com @pampafilms

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ANALYTICS: Mexico in numbers

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

2026 market share of streamers in Mexico by subscribers

Paramount+ 2.0m

“ business as usual” in the mark et. W hatever form the deal ultimately tak es g lobally, Mexico is still expected to play a maj or role in it. The siz e of the opportunity explains why. A ccording to A mpere, Mexico has more than 4 0 million streaming subscriptions, mak ing it a k ey mark et for g lobal platforms. A s the mark et approaches saturation, local orig inals will become an increasing ly important part of how platforms compete for audiences. “ W e’ re still seeing streaming audiences g row in Mexico, but not at the pace we saw a few years ag o,” says D eborah P olanco, analyst at A mpere, pointing to an increase of j ust one million subscribers between 2 0 2 5 and 2 0 2 6 , compared with almost six million between 2 0 2 3 and 2 0 2 5 . “ A s the mark et matures, platforms are shifting their focus away from rapid subscriber acquisition and towards reducing churn and offering enoug h value to existing users to k eep them coming back month after month.” A ccording to A mpere, 2 0 % of Mexicans say having access to new local ﬁlms and series is important, while 3 0 % say they would cancel a streaming service if it did not offer enoug h local orig inals. “ L ocal content will be essential to that retention strateg y. That mak es Mexican prog ramming more than j ust a tool for attracting viewers: it will also be critical to k eeping them,” P olanco says. The fall in commissions contrasts with the level of investment in local production, which has continued to rise over the same period. A ccording to A mpere, streamer investment increased from U S $ 1 4 8 .3 m in 2 0 2 3 to U S $ 2 3 5 .3 m in 2 0 2 5 , a j ump of almost 5 9 % in j ust two years. W hile A mpere expects that pace of g rowth to moderate after 2 0 2 5 , its proj ections show spending continuing to rise g radually to almost U S $ 2 6 0 m by 2 0 3 1 . “ Content investment by streamers in Mexico g rew by 2 4 % between 2 0 2 3 and 2 0 2 4 and another 29 in 2025, so there has clearly been signiﬁcant momentum behind the Mexican mark et,” P olanco says. “ W e expect investment to stabilise after 2 0 2 5 , but at a much hig her level than before, which shows Mexico has become an important mark et for g lobal streaming platforms.” A t the same time, Mexican broadcasters, led by Televisa, TV A z teca and Imag en TV , spent j ust over U S $ 1 bn on local orig inals in 2 0 2 5 , broadly stable compared with U S $ 9 8 5 .8 m in 2 0 2 3 . However, rising investment does not mean Mexico has reached its full potential as a production hub. A ccording to P arrot A nalytics, the supply of new series produced in Mexico has increased by around 5 0 % over the past decade. B y comparison, mark ets such as S pain and B raz il more than doubled their volume of new series over the same period. “ The supply of new Mexican series has lag g ed behind other hig h-output mark ets over the past decade,” says Christofer Hamilton of P arrot. Mexico’ s other maj or g rowth opportunity lies beyond its borders. A ccording to P arrot, Mexican content remains heavily dependent on

Apple TV 2.0m

Prime Video 3.7m

Netflix 11.7m

ViX 4.0m

43 million total subscribers

Other 4.4m

HBO Max 8.1m

Disney+ 5.1m

Crunchyroll Other subscription OTT Claro Video

2.1m 1.7m 0.6m

S ource: A mpere A nalysis

“

As the market matures, platforms are shifting their focus away from rapid subscriber acquisition and towards reducing churn and offering enough value to existing users to keep them coming back month after month. Deborah Polanco Ampere Analysis

domestic demand. S pain and the U S are currently the international mark ets where it g enerates the most demand, but even in those countries, demand reaches only around 1 7 % of the level seen within Mexico. That doesn’ t mean Mexican productions cannot travel. O f the new series released over the past year, Netflix’s L as m u e r tas ( T h e D e ad G i r l s) made the strong est international break throug h, reaching peak g lobal demand 1 8 .5 times hig her than the averag e series, according to P arrot. Mexico’ s content mix is also shifting , with unscripted g rowing to the point where it is now almost level with scripted. “ A s TV commissioning volumes declined in Mexico between 2 0 2 1 and 2 0 2 5 , the g ap between scripted and unscripted commissions narrowed towards an almost 5 0 / 5 0 split,” says A mpere A nalysis analyst N atalie Cruz . A cross all TV commissions announced in 2 0 2 5 by broadcasters and streamers, reality was the most commissioned g enre, accounting for 2 1 % of the total, followed by entertainment at 1 5 % and scripted comedy at 1 3 % . A mong producers, the mood appears to match the data. “ I don’ t think we’ re back to the days when there was much more appetite – and much more money – to invest across a huge volume of series and films,” says Vincenzo ratteri, chief content officer at O nz a A mericas and a former V iX executive. “ B ut I do think the mark et is g rowing ag ain.” This time around, he arg ues, producers will need to be “ more strateg ic about what they choose to develop” and “ much smarter about what they tak e to the platforms.” “ S everal players in the industry are already sending positive sig nals. The next few years are look ing very promising .”

TV orders originating in Mexico Unscripted 1 2 0 1 0 0

1 0 6 8 7

1 0 2

7 8

8 0 6 0

7 8

Scripted

7 5

6 9

4 0

6 0 5 9

2 0 2 0 2 1 S ource: A mpere A nalysis

2 0 2 2

2 0 2 3

2 0 2 4

2 0 2 5

CONTENT STRATEGIES: TelevisaUnivision

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Making every story count Across an ecosystem spanning free-to-air TV, pay TV and streaming, TelevisaUnivision’s strategy is now to give every story as many lives as possible. By Pina Mezzera

nyone attempting to bing e all of the 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 -plus hours of content TelevisaU nivision distributes each year would need more than 1 1 years without turning off the screen. The figure offers some sense of the scale of a company that defies easy definition. It is impossible to understand the history of Mexican television without Televisa. F or decades, the company helped define many of its genres, stars and viewing habits, turned the telenovela into one of Mexico’ s big g est cultural exports and set the pace in entertainment, news and sport. A fter completing the merg er of its content and media assets with U S -based U nivision in 2 0 2 2 , TelevisaU nivision consolidated its position as the world’ s larg est S panish-lang uag e media company. Today, the g roup combines some of the leading S panish-lang uag e freeto-air network s in Mexico and the U S , streaming platform V iX , a portfolio of 38 pay TV channels, film studio V ideocine and a library of more than 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 hours. B ehind it all is a vast production operation still driven primarily from Mexico. In 2026 alone, flagship network L as E strellas produced 1 0 telenovelas, antholog y series L a r osa de G u adal u p e and nine sitcoms, while Canal 5 added four youth series. B ut volume tells only part of the story. In an industry fighting for the attention of increasing ly frag mented audiences, the challeng e is no long er simply to produce more, but to mak e sure every piece of content reaches as many windows as possible without weak ening the rest of the ecosystem. That think ing underpinned the

reorg anisation launched after D aniel A leg re arrived as CE O in S eptember 202 . Among his first moves was the creation of a g lobal content org anisation led by J osé L uis F abila, with a mandate to alig n investment with reach, eng ag ement and monetisation g oals while developing a coordinated windowing strateg y. The shift has also prompted TelevisaU nivision to rethink its international business. “ The big g est recent milestone was chang ing the way we manag e distribution without losing the streng th and essence of the traditional business,” says G uillermo B orensz tein, senior V P of international content licensing and coproduction at the company. “ W e moved from a model centred on the first sale to a much broader view of monetisation, adding buyers, platforms and new windows.” It is a natural evolution for a g roup that spent decades building its international presence around telenovela sales, a business that remains a priority today, with around 1 ,0 0 0 hours produced each year. B ut the mark et now demands much tig hter coordination between windows to ensure one commercial opportunity does not cannibalise another. “ It’ s no long er enoug h to have g reat content and wait for the business to come,” B orensz tein says. “ That’ s why we stopped think ing about distribution as a first sale and started managing every title across its full exploitation cycle.” The approach also requires far more precise seg mentation, back ed by data, across a vast catalog ue that is constantly being refreshed with new titles. A mong the latest is D om é ni c a Monte r o, which launched in late 2 0 2 5 and has already been sold into 

D omé nic a M ontero

L os enc antos d el sinv ergü enza

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It’s t’s no longer enough to have great content and wait for the business to come. That’s why we stopped thinking about distribution as a first sale and started managing every title across its full exploitation cycle. Guillermo Borensztein

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: TelevisaUnivision

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

more than 8 0 countries. F or Mipcom, the company will bring new scripted titles including T i e r r a de am or y c or aj e , G u ar di á n de m i v i da and L os e nc antos de l si nv e r g ü e nz a. A nd while TelevisaU nivision content is watched in more than 1 3 5 countries, the international business look s very different from a decade ag o. “ There are more windows today, but selling is more complex than it was 1 0 years ag o. G ood content is no long er enough. Buyers want flexibility, limited exclusivity and prog ramming solutions back ed by data,” B orensz tein says. W ithin this new model, V iX plays a central role. A vailable in Mexico, the U S and most S panish-speak ing mark ets across L atin A merica, the platform launched in 2 0 2 2 , expanding TelevisaU nivision’ s ability to premiere its own content, test formats and build a direct relationship with audiences that no long er org anise their viewing around a linear schedule. Today, V iX is the world’ s larg est S panish-lang uag e streamer, offering more than 8 0 ,0 0 0 hours of on-demand content and over 8 0 S panish-lang uag e streaming channels, along side 7 ,0 0 0 hours of live sports and more than 8 0 original series and films. More significantly, Vi has become a testing g round for formats that can harness the g roup’ s production scale in a dig ital environment. In entertainment, L a c asa de l os f am osos Mé x i c o offers the clearest example. The Mexican version of B i g B r oth e r splits its live shows between L as E strellas and Canal 5 , while V iX adds 2 4 /7 live feeds, preshows, post-shows and exclusive content. The platform effectively turns a television prog ramme into a continuous experience, k eeping the conversation g oing far beyond each live show. A nd for a company rooted in the country that made melodrama k ing ( pag e M1 7 ) , it is perhaps no surprise another fertile area is microdrama. TelevisaU nivision was one of the first traditional players to move into vertical content. The bet materialised in V iX MicrO , a dedicated mobilefirst microcontent hub within Vi that beg an operating in J uly 2 0 2 5 and officially launched in February 2026. In its first year, it produced 1 5 titles and premiered 8 4 , g enerating more than 326 million views. A similar approach underpins what the company calls M-D ramas: youthfocused series of around 2 0 episodes per season that combine elements of

melodrama with the pace, aesthetic and structure of popular K orean dramas. Canal 5 has already launched titles including L a p í c ar a soñ ador a and Cu ando f u i boni ta, an adaptation of MB C’ s K -drama S h e W as P r e tty . This strand, “ desig ned for bing e viewing and fandom building ,” is also one of the areas TelevisaU nivision believes offers the g reatest potential for international collaboration. The company already has experience on that front. D uring V iX ’ s early years, it pursued an active coproduction strateg y and tested different models, particularly with S panish partners. That period yielded titles including E l de nti sta, coproduced with Movistar P lus+ and produced by F abula; L as p e l otar i s 1 9 2 6 , with The Mediapro S tudio; and Monte c r i sto, with S ecuoya S tudios and W illiam L evy E ntertainment.

T rav el series D e v iaj e c on los D erbez

“ That experience helped us understand the challeng e of alig ning everyone’ s obj ectives. A partnership has to work for all sides, and doing that properly is complex,” B orensz tein says. “ Today we’ re more selective.” The focus now, he explains, is on identifying collaborations that allow TelevisaU nivision to increase production and streng then its offering across the g roup’ s platforms. A g ood example is travel docureality show D e v i aj e c on l os D e r be z , whose latest seasons launched throug h a territorial split: V iX retained exclusivity in the U S

and P uerto Rico, while P rime V ideo premiered them simultaneously in Mexico and more than 2 4 0 countries and territories. “ W e’ re not trying to force everything into one model. It could be a coproduction, a presale or a partner for a ﬁrst window,” Borensztein says. That selective approach also extends to international distribution, where the aim is to build partnerships that broaden the reach of V iX orig inals. Rather than selecting individual countries, B orensz tein says, the company is increasing ly “ think ing in terms of lang uag es and audience communities.” O ver the past few years, TelevisaU nivision has invested in localising more than 3 0 ,0 0 0 hours of content into P ortug uese, F rench and E ng lish. That volume allows it to approach E urope, A frica and parts of A sia with broad catalog ues rather than relying on one-off title sales. “ The opportunity lies in monetising catalog ues in a coordinated way across television, streaming , A V oD , F A S T and YouTube, avoiding frag mented deals and building strateg ies we can replicate from one mark et to another. W e want to work with strong , leading local partners,” he says. L atin A merica, meanwhile, will remain a priority for TelevisaU nivision, which estimates its content accounts for more than 4 5 % of all foreig n prog ramming hours broadcast on freeto-air television in the reg ion, excluding the U S maj ors. The S panish-lang uag e entertainment g iant is therefore not look ing to move away from the business that made it L atin A merica’ s big g est content exporter, but to extend it. Its big g est asset may still be producing the best possible story, but increasing ly j ust as important is its ability to g ive that story many lives.

Cuand o f ui bonita, ad apted f rom K - d rama S he W as P retty

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Channel21 International | Fall 2026

CONTENT STRATEGIES: TV Azteca

Azteca’s next chapter F

or years, competition between Mexico’ s big g est broadcasters revolved around a daily appointment with the television set. Telenovelas broug ht audiences tog ether at the same time every day, while their characters became part of the lives of millions of viewers. Mexican broadcaster TV A z teca, part of G rupo S alinas, the g roup led by businessman Ricardo S alinas P lieg o, built much of its identity in that battle. Today, however, the broadcaster is look ing to extend its relationship with audiences beyond its own screens. P artnerships have become a central part of that effort. A z teca made headlines this year with a pioneering L atin A merican deal with D isney+ . The streamer has since been integ rating a selection of content and channels from A z teca, whose footprint extends across four free-to-air ( F TA ) and four pay TV network s, as well as streaming , production and distribution. The ag reement follows the model D isney+ beg an rolling out in E urope last year, where it has struck similar partnerships with A tresmedia and RTV E in S pain, ITV X in the U K , A RD and Z D F in G ermany and S IC in P ortug al. The streamer’ s alliance with TV A z teca now bring s that model to L atin A merica. “ W e’ ve had a long -standing ag reement and an excellent relationship with D isney,” says A driá n O rteg a, g eneral director of content at TV A z teca. “ B ut now we’ ve entered into a much deeper partnership.” S everal A z teca titles have already arrived on D isney+ , but the relationship beg an earlier with extensions of the broadcaster’ s shows on the platform, including L a g r anj a V I P . B ased on F remantle’ s international format T h e F ar m , L a g r anj a V I P

T V A ztec a link ed up w ith D isney + on its f ormat ad aptation L a granj a V I P

Thirty-three years after bursting on to the scene, TV Azteca is looking to carry the strengths that helped it carve out a place in Mexican television into an increasingly fragmented media ecosystem. By Andrés Suárez bring s tog ether celebrities who spend several week s living in a rural setting . A udiences were able to follow the action 2 4 / 7 on D isney+ . “ D isney was k ey to the strateg y behind the success of L a g r anj a V I P , and it was also instrumental in mak ing the 2 4 / 7 feed possible,” O rteg a says, pointing to other formats in the partnership, including S u r v i v or and the 2 4 / 7 version of Maste r Ch e f . “ That streng thens the alliance because audiences today live across multiple platforms,” he says. “ In this environment, having powerful partners helps us achieve the reach we’ re look ing for: a true 3 6 0 -deg ree multiplatform strateg y.” F or O rteg a, the combination of F TA TV , streaming platforms and dig ital media also extends something that has always been at the heart of television entertainment: the ability to involve the audience. “ Television has become multiplatform. A udiences can vote, inﬂuence and change decisions,” he says. “That’s what I mean when I talk about audience involvement – they’ re part of it, and that’ s what we’ ve learned. The viewer becomes an accomplice.” In many ways, that attempt to adapt without losing its identity has been part of TV A z teca’ s story from the beg inning . B orn out of the privatisation of state-owned channels in 1 9 9 3 , TV A z teca has since been Mexico’ s main national alternative to Televisa, the g roup that historically dominated the country’ s television mark et. F inding its own voice was crucial to standing out. In scripted prog ramming , titles such as N ada 

“

Television has become multiplatform. Audiences can vote, influence and change decisions. That’s what I mean when I talk about audience involvement – they’re part of it. Adrián Ortega TV Azteca

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Channel21 International | Fall 2026

p e r sonal ( N oth i ng P e r sonal ) introduced political intrig ue into melodrama, while Mi r ada de m u j e r , produced by prodco A rg os for TV A z teca, was an early showcase for coproduction. In entertainment, the broadcaster reached a milestone in 2 0 0 2 with L a ac ade m i a ( T h e A c ade m y ) , which became one of the defining titles in its push into live prog ramming and audience participation. Today, scripted and entertainment prog ramming play clearly distinct roles in its portfolio. eality has moved centre stage on Azteca Uno, the company’s flagship FTA channel, and Ortega even sees entertainment formats as vehicles for storytelling. “We’ve been telling human stories since E x atl ó n, and now Maste r Ch e f , with its 2 4 -hour format, is almost lik e a novela,” he says. “These are real people living through a story. They cook , they wak e up, they cry, there are romances, love, fallouts, judges, punishments and rules. Of course it’s a novela.” The g rowing prominence of these formats has meant less scripted production. But fiction retains a place on the company’ s second channel, A z teca 7 , which combines original drama with Hollywood movies and sports broadcasts. Ortega knows the channel well: he joined the broadcaster in 2 0 1 7 as V P of prog ramming for A z teca 7 and Cable, before becoming g eneral director of content in 2 0 2 2 . His strategy is based on giving each channel a clearly recog nisable identity. “Azteca Uno is built around live programming. That’s what we’ve committed to and where we have that connection with the audience,” he says. “On Azteca 7, we’re continuing to produce scripted content. U n dí a p ar a v i v i r is already a flagship brand for the channel, and we have all the seasons running as a programming strand.” That output will continue to grow. Ortega reveals that TV Azteca has five new series in preproduction for 2027. They will follow a 2 0 2 6 slate that included new seasons of U n dí a p ar a v i v i r , crime series L ote r í a de l c r i m e n and medical drama D r a. L u c í a. The orig inal ideas for the latter two came from Ortega himself. “We’re continuing with this strategy: more realism, production that feels more like series, more human stories,” he says. “I don’t want to stop making fiction; the tone is simply chang ing . W e’ re still committed to it and there’ s a hug e team behind it. The machine is running and it’ s g oing to stay running.”

CONTENT STRATEGIES: TV Azteca

Sport, meanwhile, is another key differentiator. Ortega points to the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2026 Fifa World Cup as an example of how Azteca brought FTA television and its digital platforms together around the same event. The aim is to push it further in the coming years. “ The strateg y for 2 0 2 7 , 2 0 2 8 and 2 0 2 9 is more sport, more football and more boxing,” he says. This content and partnership strateg y is also unfolding ag ainst the back drop of a ﬁnancial restructuring at the company. In July, a federal judge placed TV Azteca into a court-supervised insolvency process, which the broadcaster requested in order to reorg anise its liabilities. The company has said its operations will continue as normal. From a content perspective, the plan is to maintain local production while partnerships and new windows extend its reach. The company that g rew by competing for the attention of a mass audience gathered around the television set is now trying to follow that audience across a much broader ecosystem of screens. For Ortega, however, the starting point remains the same. “ Mexico is a country that loves locally produced content, and it’s a highly loyal audience,” he says. “We’re adapting and preparing for the dig ital landscape. In fact, everything we’re doing has a digital extension. But the most important thing is that we’re going to keep investing in creating our own content.”

F rom top: Crime d rama series L otería d el c rimen, M asterChef 2 4 / 7 and med ic al d rama D ra. L uc ía

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: Prime Video

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Prime Video’s Camila Misas explains what kind of content the streamer is looking for in Mexico after Amazon unveiled a multibillion-dollar investment plan to more than double its local originals. By Andrés Suárez

D e v iaj e c on los D erbez f ollow s Eugenio D erbez’ s f amily trips

M ex ic an music al series M entiras launc hed on P rime V id eo in 2 0 2 5 . Right: Comed y El j uego d e las llav es is set to return

idway through last year, Amazon-owned Prime Video launched Mexican original Mentiras, a musical series that was as eye-catching as it was risky, based on the stage phenomenon that has become a true Mexican pop-culture classic since debuting in 2009. And for Camila Misas, head of originals for Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in Mexico, Mentiras represents exactly the kind of bet the company wants to keep making in the country. “I had the privilege of being the first person to receive the pitch for Mentiras. I had only recently joined Amazon at the time and it felt exciting because it was something very fresh,” recalls Misas, who first joined the streamer’s Mexican development team in 2020. “It spoke to a particular era, to a country and to the music of that generation. That’s why it worked: it tapped into nostalgia, but it was also a story with a lot of heart that connected with younger generations too.” Misas’ comments come at a significant moment for Prime Video, which announced in August it planned to invest over US$2bn in Latin America between 2027 and 2030. The figure covers originals, acquisitions and sports rights, and comes alongside plans to more than double its local original output across five markets, including Mexico. “There’s a real ambition to grow, and to grow in a big way,” Misas tells C21. “We were already on a path of building up the business, but perhaps more gradually. Now there’s a clear desire to grow and invest in the region, and in Mexico we’re going to be making many more shows than we were before.” Originally from Colombia, Misas knows Prime Video’s recent history in the region well. She returned to Amazon in June after a short spell at Mexican production company Woo

Lat Am’s Prime mover

“

There’s a clear desire to grow and invest in the region, and in Mexico we’re going to be making many more shows than we were before. Camila Misas Prime Video

Films. Before that, she had spent five years at the platform with responsibilities spanning Mexico, Brazil and what Amazon describes as “emerging Latin America,” including Argentina, Chile and Colombia. And the slate already announced for 2027 is beginning to give a shape to that ambition. In Mexico, comedy La oficina and erotic comedy El juego de las llaves will return with new seasons, while new scripted titles include Los culpables, culpables a legal drama starring and produced by Gael García Bernal; Florence Cassez, starring local star Belinda and based on the high-profile case of the French citizen detained in Mexico in 2005; adventurecomedy La venta; venta and crime drama Por catálogo. “Comedy and drama work very well for us. And I think you 

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: Prime Video

L ef t: A d v enture- c omed y L a v enta. Right: Eugenio D erbez hosts the loc al v ersion of L O L : L ast O ne L aughing

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

can say Amazon has planted a flag in different subgenres: We’re changing it a lot, bringing in new comedians and crime with ¿Quién lo mató?, musical with Mentiras and the set is completely different,” she says of the Mexican unscripted with LOL: Last One Laughing and De viaje con version of Japanese format Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents los Derbez,” she says. “But with La oficina, we definitely Documental. Launched in 2018 and hosted by Eugenio Derbez, went for straight-up comedy that taps directly into Mexico’s LOL was the first adaptation of the format Mexican DNA and identity.” La oficina has, in fact, been one of Prime Video’s produced by the streamer and paved the way for standout Mexican projects this year. An adaptation of UK what would become one of its most widely travelled comedy The Office directed by filmmaker Gaz Alazraki, international franchises. Since then, Amazon has launched local versions of LOL the series leaned into the strengths of the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant format while introducing and in more than 25 territories, including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands and amplifying distinctly Mexican cultural elements. For Misas, the series starts from a premise that Argentina. “We’re also exploring other celebrity docufollows and audiences around the world already recognise, but its real strength lies in the Mexican character of its humour. Its we want to move into bigger formats,” Misas says. Among those larger-scale formats, she says audience success led Prime Video to Prime Video is also looking at 24/7 renew it for a second season. house-based reality shows, following “We’re going to keep taking those a trend that is currently booming in kinds of bets. We want to try new and Mexico (see page M21). different musicals, and plenty of other Amazon has not yet identified shows too,” she adds. the specific format it would use to But producing more also requires make that move, but Misas says the an industry capable of supporting company is “not ruling it out at all” that growth. And for Amazon, Mexico and already has experience with the has that foundation thanks to the 24/7 model through Spanish music evolution and adaptability of its talent show Operación Triunfo. “We creative and production talent. have the capability to do it and we’re “We come from a very strong figuring out what the right format is,” telenovela tradition in Latin America, she says. and Mexico is obviously a huge part In a landscape where live sport has of that, with such a large industry and become one of streaming’s newest Televisa behind it,” she says. “But I battlegrounds, Prime Video Mexico think the talent – the writers, directors M ex ic an star Belind a is also looking to gain ground there, and producers – has already adapted in F lorenc e Cassez having already found a new way to to new ways of telling stories for bring local audiences into the service television. There’s an extraordinary through sports. amount of talent and it’s incredibly varied.” In August, the platform announced it would stream 38 Her own experience across different markets in the region has reinforced that view. It also gives her the home matches played by Mexico’s national football team over four years, creating a recurring appointment with opportunity to build bridges between those industries. “It’s important to mix Mexican talent with lessons and viewers who may come to the service for reasons beyond a experience from other regions. Having spent so much series or entertainment show. Prime Video’s expansion in Mexico is therefore playing time in South America gives me the privilege of being able to connect people from the Southern Cone with Mexico to out across several parts of the platform. While sports adds a new live layer, the originals team now faces the challenge tell better stories,” she says. The expansion will not be limited to scripted content. of turning higher production volume into an offering that Entertainment will continue to play an important role, can genuinely connect with local audiences. For Misas, the principle guiding those decisions starts starting with one of the franchises that best illustrates there. “What matters is telling stories that connect with Prime Video’s track record in Mexico. “We’re absolutely continuing to bet on unscripted. We’re Mexican identity and make Mexicans feel proud to see coming back with season nine of LOL: Last One Laughing. themselves reflected on screen.”

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CONTENT STRATEGIES: Netflix Mexico

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

S upernov a: Genesis

Fifteen years after Netflix first set foot in Mexico, the country has become one of the key testing grounds for its global strategy. And with US$1bn committed to local production, the streamer wants its next chapter to leave a lasting mark. By Pina Mezzera

Netflix gets physical B

P eriod d rama L ov esic k (M al d e amores)

ack in 2015, when Chava Iglesias stood in front of a packed stadium trying to convince the Cuervos de Nuevo Toledo faithful he was ready to inherit his father’s football club, he could hardly have imagined everything that would follow. Netflix was in much the same position. Mexican comedy Club de Cuervos launched that year as Netflix’s first wholly owned original series produced outside the US. A decade later, the streamer announced plans to invest US$1bn in production in Mexico over the following four years. Much changed in the decade between those two milestones. Netflix produced more than 200 Mexican titles with over 50 local production companies, filmed in more than 25 states and worked with figures including Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro G Iñárritu and Rodrigo Prieto. The company says its productions contributed more than MX$50bn (US$2.7bn) to the country’s GDP, while its output expanded across melodrama, film, documentaries and unscripted, and more recently into live events and sports. Whatever lens you apply to Netflix’s strategy in Mexico today, two things are clear: the expansion is far from over and the company wants its next phase to leave a mark. “US$1bn represents a long-term commitment to making a positive impact

on what gets produced in Mexico,” says Carolina Leconte, VP of content for Mexico and licensing for Latin America at Netflix. “We want that investment to show, above all, in the ambition of our stories and in the way we portray a real, multifaceted and complex Mexico. “Real success isn’t measured by how many titles we release, but by how much we strengthen our creative ecosystem and take our culture to the world.” The plan is already under way. In August, as Netflix celebrated 15 years in Mexico at an event in Mexico City, Leconte described its current Mexican slate as its “most ambitious yet.” “It’s our most ambitious slate because it isn’t confined to a single genre,” she tells C21. “We’re not trying to homogenise stories or stick to one formula. We want to celebrate the fact Mexico is this huge mosaic of diversity.” The line-up bears that out. On the scripted side, Netflix is preparing titles including Dogman, set in the world of Mexican wrestling; thriller La madre perfecta; and the return of action melodrama Rosario Tijeras. Its film slate includes Luis Estrada’s El enemigo del pueblo, Diego Luna’s Ashes (Ceniza en la boca) and Kyzza Terrazas’ 35 días. There are also documentaries on subjects as varied as boxer Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez and Keiko the orca, as well as the 1990 femicide of Liliana Rivera Garza, alongside reality titles such as Secreto millonario and Habilidad física 100: México. For all its variety, the slate has one common thread: stories that are “authentic, deeply local and connected to mexicanidad,” as Leconte puts it. “The worst mistake would be to fall back on generic formulas designed to please audiences abroad,” she warns. “Mexicanidad 

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Channel21 International | Fall 2026

“

Real success isn’t measured by how many titles we release, but by how much we strengthen our creative ecosystem and take our culture to the world. Carolina Leconte

on screen isn’t a cliché or something decorative. It’s about the essence and soul of our people. It’s the ability to tell stories with grit, warmth and a human force that can move anyone, anywhere in the world.” Fifteen years in, Netflix has evolved alongside its audience. Even without overall audience figures, there are clues to the platform’s reach. Its ad-supported plan hit 28 million monthly active viewers in Mexico in May and, according to Ampere Analysis estimates (page M24), Netflix leads the market with 11.7 million subscribers. The streamer’s Engagement Report also showed viewing of Mexican series rising 8% in 2025. “Local productions have gone from being one option among many to becoming a first choice for entertainment and a real source of pride,” Leconte says. Mexican audiences today, she adds, are “passionate, demanding and informed” and expect the same storytelling quality, technical scale and visual care they would from any major international production. Scripted has provided some obvious examples this year. The adaptation of Ángeles Mastretta’s novel Lovesick (Mal de amores) was mounted on a major scale and entered Netflix’s global top 10 for non-English-language series. But perhaps the clearest sign of the scale of Netflix’s ambitions lies outside fiction. And audiences appear to be responding. Netflix began exploring entertainment in Mexico in 2018 with reality show Made in Mexico and has steadily increased its ambitions since then. Mexico also became the first market to produce a local adaptation of a Netflix reality format with Nailed It!, followed by franchises including Iron Chef and Love is Blind. The September launch of Habilidad física 100: México, the local version of Korean format Physical: 100 produced by Endemol Shine Boomdog, raised the bar again. “It’s our biggest unscripted production not just in Mexico but across Latin America, and it marked a historic milestone as the most complex production Netflix has ever mounted in the region,” says José Lascurain, director of live and unscripted content for Netflix Mexico. The scale forced the Mexican team to build part of the format’s technical infrastructure from scratch, with more than 120 cameras operating simultaneously, including 40 robotic units and 60 action cameras. In its launch week, the series clocked 2.5 million views, reaching number one in Mexico and number four in Netflix’s global non-English TV top 10. The technical model developed locally proved “so efficient and groundbreaking” that it was later adopted as a blueprint for versions in Italy, Sweden, India, France, Spain and the US. The experience also pointed to the next step for local entertainment. “The future of unscripted lies in narrative ambition,” Lascurain says. “Mexico has already proved its technical capabilities; the innovation now is in creating formats that have never existed before.”

CONTENT STRATEGIES: Netflix Mexico

Having increased the scale of unscripted, Netflix’s next move was beyond on-demand altogether. In April, the streamer made its first major foray into live programming in Latin America with Supernova: Genesis, Genesis which brought celebrities and YouTube stars together for boxing matches at Arena Ciudad de México. “We currently stream NFL games, MLB games and professional boxing globally, and even against all of that, Supernova outperformed almost all of those titles in Mexico,” Lascurain says of the event, which also ranked number one in 12 countries and reached the top 10 in 18. Leconte says the main lesson for live programming in the region is “it isn’t about replicating traditional television, but about expanding the range of programming and evolving the format.” But every period of expansion comes with growing pains. Looking at the local industry, Leconte identifies three major challenges. First comes genuine decentralisation. “We’ve already shown we can shoot in more than 25 states, but the challenge is not simply to pass through. We need to leave a positive impact behind, reflected in infrastructure and properly trained suppliers.” Technical training is another priority. “We need to accelerate the specialisation of the next generation so we can sustain the high standards demanded by the global market.”

J osé L asc urain

F ootball- f oc used c omed y Club d e Cuerv os

Finally, there is the challenge of growing without diluting the local identity underpinning that expansion. “The real challenge for creators is to trust the strength of our culture and tell hyperlocal, deeply honest stories with universal emotions that can connect with anyone, anywhere in the world.” That search for connection is now taking Netflix into territory far removed from its original streaming remit. From 2027, the streamer will move into live men’s football for the first time under a four-year deal giving it exclusive rights in Mexico to the 2027 and 2029 editions of the Concacaf Nations League Finals and Gold Cup. As streaming matures, competition is increasingly shifting towards programming capable of generating passion, conversation and mass audiences. “Our current strategy is expanding strongly into live broadcasts, with the aim of creating mass events that generate conversation on a global scale,” Lascurain confirms. The journey from a comedy about a football club to broadcasting the real thing may be the clearest illustration yet of how far Netflix’s ambitions in Mexico have expanded.

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: TIS Studios

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Going with the stream

hirteen years after arriving in Mexico, Colombian prodco TIS Studios sees the market entering a new phase of opportunity. Backed by its production infrastructure in Mexico and its Bogotá hub, where it has just opened Stage 7, one of the largest soundstages in the region, the company is looking to increase its project volume as the major streamers regain momentum in the country. As TIS Studios marks 13 years in Mexico, the “Mexico offers a huge number of opportunities,” says Samuel Duque, company is looking to ride the country’s president of TIS Studios. “Other renewed streaming boom into its next phase of countries, such as Colombia and growth. By Sebastián Torterola Uruguay, have attractive incentives and are very competitive on cost, but a lot of what gets produced there is made for other markets. Mexico produces for its own market because of its scale, and that creates a lot more business around it.” Majority-owned by Paramount since 2021, TIS Studios is one of Latin America’s largest production companies, with bases in Bogotá and Mexico City and production operations across the region. Its Mexican operation has delivered titles including the liveaction adaptations of Jules Verne’s e i i ﬁ e ie o de ie o 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth for Disney+, Netflix-acquired sciwith Chinese-backed platform fi series Futuro desierto and ReelShort. “With verticals, like reality shows such as Drag everyone else, we’re still exploring, Race México. investing and figuring out the More recently, the company business model,” Duque says. “From has been strengthening its a services perspective, it’s a different relationship with Netflix in kind of product, but we’re playing the country, where it is set to with it and testing it. launch La ley de Alicia, the “It has also been a creative Mexican adaptation of US challenge because these projects series The Good Wife. ho o h ille came with very structured models Announced at Content o e o ﬁn l and we had to adapt them to a more Americas in early 2026, the Latin sensibility.” series stars Fernanda Castillo, The opportunities TIS sees in Juan Manuel Bernal and Michel the vertical model popularised Brown and was produced by TIS by specialist platforms, these are Mexico, however, go far beyond under a coproduction model with shortform productions designed for shortform. Prime Video recently announced horizontal viewing. CBS Studios and Netflix. TIS already knows the model well. that it would invest US$2bn in Latin “In Mexico, Netflix is a mature player that has a very strong The producer has made two such America between 2027 and 2030, understanding of local tastes, titles: melodrama Entre padre e hijo, with a significant portion of that going particularly when it comes to created by Pablo Illanes, and youth to Mexico, according to Duque. “It’s melodrama, but that doesn’t stop thriller Proyecto final, created by great to know that Amazon is getting some of that production momentum it from continuing to back more Bernardo Izaza. Both comprise 20 episodes running back, especially given the very strong provocative or controversial ideas,” Duque says. “It’s a platform that for between seven and 10 minutes transition it has been making with is willing to try a bit of everything, each and were launched in 2026 as comedy, although that’s far from the including different models such as part of Netflix’s emerging shortform only thing they’re looking for,” he says. push in the region. microseries.” Duque is also seeing movement At the same time, TIS is also Duque is referring to the shortseries strategy Netflix is beginning exploring vertical storytelling, with among the other major platforms. to explore in Latin America. Unlike at least one project already underway “HBO Max and Paramount are

S amuel D uq ue

diversifying their production models, while ViX came in with a huge initial push and is now reorganising. Personally, that creates a really exciting challenge for me in terms of finding the right content to bring to them.” Against that backdrop, TIS expects to keep increasing its own volume. The company currently handles between 13 and 18 projects a year across Mexico and Colombia, a figure that could also grow through its sports division as different clients go through transitions in sports rights. The strategy also involves making greater use of its services capabilities and opening up all of its resources to projects from across the region. “We have funds to invest and infrastructure that is already being used by players across Latin America,” Duque says. “Today’s industry is all about partnerships, and we’re here to find the best creative, financial and production partners to keep the market moving.”

C21press2026.pdf

23/09/2026

15:20

Bringing stories to life in any language with perfect resonance.

CMY

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Máquina Vega

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

M á q uina V ega prod uc ed the M ex ic an d ion o he ﬁ e

Hollywood in Spanish After scoring a hit with the Mexican adaptation of The Office, Máquina Vega is looking beyond the genres that have traditionally dominated film and TV in the region, with the ambition of finding Mexico’s first Karate Kid, Harold & Kumar or Jaws. By Gonzalo Larrea

or decades, much of Mexico’ s scripted output has stayed within a familiar set of g enres: melodrama, comedy and narco crime stories, along side an independent ﬁlm tradition often rooted in social commentary. B ut between those well-established lanes lies a hug e rang e of tones and subg enres that remain larg ely unexplored. A nd that is exactly where Mexican prodco Má quina V eg a wants to g o. “ There’ s still so much territory that hasn’ t been explored,” says its cofounder, Moisé s Chiver. “ There are all these subg enres that nobody has really tapped into in Mexico or L atin A merica, and for us that’ s a hug e opportunity.” Chiver is talk ing about premium entertainment with mass appeal – ﬁlms and series that aim to become part of popular culture throug h action, adventure, irreverent comedy and

M oisé s Chiv er

other g enres that have rarely been tack led at scale in the reg ion. “ W e don’ t think quality and popularity have to be at odds. W e’ re making the kind of films we’d want to watch ourselves, while trying to fill some of the gaps in the Mexican cinema we g rew up with,” he explains. “ That’ s why we k eep ask ing ourselves, ‘ W hy don’ t we have our own K ar ate K i d in Mexico? W hy don’ t we have our own J aw s? ’ ” Má quina V eg a was launched in 2 0 2 4 by Chiver and brothers Mark and G az A laz rak i as an evolution of A laz rak i E ntertainment. The rebrand came with the opening of a Los Angeles office and a partnership with U S producer A lisa Tag er, former president of A nonymous Content S tudios. The idea was to move closer to Hollywood and develop hybrid proj ects that did not have to fit neatly into either an American or Mexican box. Its slogan is, fittingly: “Hollywood in S panish.” A nd for Chiver, that philosophy applies not only to the company’ s editorial ambitions but also to the way it work s behind the camera, incorporating U S production models and best practices “ that are already tried and tested.” That idea of mak ing content that is “ premium but popular” runs throug h the team’ s previous work , from N osotr os l os nobl e s ( 2 0 1 3 ) , the second-highest-grossing Mexican film of all time, to Cl u b de Cu e r v os ( 2 0 1 5 ) , Netflix’s first wholly owned original production outside the U S . B ut its clearest statement of intent so far is also its big g est current proj ect: the Mexican adaptation of U K sitcom The Office. Released in March this year, La oficina quick ly became a hit for P rime V ideo, rank ing as the platform’ s most-watched title in Mexico and earning a secondseason renewal less than a month later. It mig ht be tempting to think that with source material lik e The Office, success is almost g uaranteed. B ut poorly received adaptations in F rance, Canada and, more recently, A ustralia sug g est otherwise. F or Chiver, however, the real 

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Máquina Vega

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

M á q uina V ega partner Gaz A lazrak i di e ed l de e o e i ﬁ ni h l n e o i in l

measure of success g oes beyond viewing figures. What matters is whether a title manages to enter popular culture. “When you make a show or a movie and people start quoting it with their friends, or you go to a Halloween party and someone shows up dressed as one of your characters, that’s when you know you’ve made it into popular culture,” he says. “That’s always the goal for us: to get into people’s heads.” With that ambition in mind, M quina Vega is currently developing more than 0 projects. They include comedies such as S e c ay ó e l si ste m a, a film about the alleged electoral fraud surrounding Mexico’s 1988 presidential election, produced with Mexican cinema chain Cin polis. “We love comedy,” Chiver says of the genre most closely associated with the Alazraki brothers, who are not only partners in the company but two of Mexico’s best-known directors, adding: “But we’re developing projects across every genre.” Among these is I W ant to B i l l y e v e , a documentary now in post-production, written and presented by Chilean writer Julio ojas, creator of audio drama Caso 6 3 . The film explores the story behind the famous UFO photograph taken by Swiss contactee Billy Meier, an image that became globally recognisable thanks to the iconic poster featured in T h e X - F i l e s. Then there is a Mexican western, a scripted project based on the story of the children who survived a plane crash in the Amazon, a series about particularly extreme divorces and three still-confidential projects that have already been greenlit by three different platforms. M quina Vega’s international ambitions are also visible in T h e E ng l i sh T u tor , its coproduction with eta Studios and Pacific Electric, an espionage thriller starring Ed Helms and directed by az Alazraki. Set in Mexico City and featuring dialogue in both English and Spanish, the film follows a CIA agent operating undercover as an English teacher. For Chiver, it is exactly the kind of “two-way” project the company wants to develop between its offices in Mexico City and Los Angeles. “We want our entertainment to travel as far as it possibly can, and that includes Hollywood,” he says. “And if getting there means making something a little

more hybrid, we’re absolutely open to that.” But one project in particular perhaps best captures the kind of creative risk M quina Vega is willing to take. D r á c u l o is a comedy about a vampire turned influencer who discovers that part of the soul of the woman he loved 700 years ago has been reincarnated in a young woman from Cholula, Puebla. Convinced he has found her again, he heads to Mexico to try to win her back. “ ou either love it or you hate it,” Chiver says about the idea. But then he asks a simple question: what would the pitches for T e e n W ol f or T e e nag e Mu tant N i nj a T u r tl e s sound like on paper today? “I honestly don’t know if I would have had the instinct to say yes to those movies,” he says. “And if I hadn’t, I would have missed the chance to make a great film.” And in Mexico, he adds, there is an extra incentive: the chance to get there first. Chiver points to Me ntada de p adr e , a film directed by Mark Alazraki and Fernando ovzar and coproduced with Lemon Studios, whose style of comedy drew on references such as Monty P y th on.

After the film passed one million admissions in Mexico, distributor Videocine made an observation: beyond its commercial performance, the film’s real achievement was that it had explored a comedy subgenre that had barely existed in the country before. And that idea has stayed with them. M quina Vega now sees plenty of other unexplored spaces where the same could be true. “We still have not made that great movie about two stoners who just want to go get some burgers and make you laugh your ass off, like H ar ol d & K u m ar ,” Chiver says. “And it’s not just comedy. There are lots of opportunities in other genres and subgenres too. If we get there first, we can carve out a space and build a really loyal audience.” Chiver and his partners grew up wishing Mexican cinema would take more chances on some of those ideas. Now, that same historical scarcity is what they see as one of the biggest opportunities ahead. “That’s what’s so exciting about making films and content in Spanish right now,” he says. “There’s still so much left to explore.” he i oni

od o i in do o he ho o e ed in he ile

“

There are all these subgenres that nobody has really tapped into in Mexico or Latin America, and for us that’s a huge opportunity.

Moisés Chiver Máquina Vega

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: THR3 Media Group

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Chespirito: S in q uerer e iendo he ﬁ proj ec t in the Chespirito univ erse f rom T H R3

Reviving a Lat Am icon THR3 Media Group controls the rights to the Chespirito universe, one of the most iconic franchises in Mexico and Latin America. And after the success of its first major venture, the company is now looking to expand it across new series, animation and film. By Gonzalo Larrea

f you grew up in Latin America, anywhere between Tijuana and Patagonia, including Brazil, there is a good chance your childhood was shaped in some way by the creations of Roberto Gómez Bolaños, better known as Chespirito. And in a region that, despite largely sharing a language, often has more cultural differences than similarities, his catchphrases, jokes and characters are perhaps among the strongest common references shared by Latin Americans. “As far as I know, it’s the only property in Latin America that transcends cultures, borders and generations,” says Bruce Boren, CEO of THR3 Media Group, of Chespirito, whose nickname roughly translates as ‘Little Shakespeare’ – a nod to both his writing talent and short stature. “If you’re from Latin America, he was part of your life, directly or indirectly. There’s simply no one who doesn’t know Chespirito and his characters,” he adds. Founded in 2018 by Boren and Grupo Telefilms partners Tomás Darcyl and Ricardo Costianovsky, THR3 Media is now reimagining Chespirito’s creations for a new generation after reaching an

agreement with his son, Roberto Gómez Fernández, to exploit the rights to the IP. The first step was Chespirito: Sin querer queriendo, the biographical series about Gómez Bolaños that launched globally on HBO Max in 2025 after more than five years in development. As Boren readily admits, the ambitious plan to revive the wider franchise could have fallen apart very quickly had they got that first move wrong. “If we had messed up Sin querer queriendo, it would have made everything that came after

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If you’re from Latin America, he was part of your life, directly or indirectly. There’s simply no one who doesn’t know Chespirito and his characters. Bruce Boren

THR3 Media Group

it – new shows, spin-offs, all of it – much more difficult,” he recalls. “I spent three years sweating over that. Imagine getting the first Avengers completely wrong. There probably wouldn’t have been another one.” The result, however, was overwhelmingly positive. The series became the most successful Latin American original in HBO Max’s history, giving THR3 the confidence to push ahead with the next projects in the Chespirito universe. The first was an animated series based on the iconic El Chapulín Colorado, a sort of Mexican superhero who can travel through space and time and was originally conceived as a parody of more conventional superheroes: clumsy, fearful and vulnerable, but always ready to help whenever he is needed. The series, already in development for a second season, was also acquired by HBO Max for Latin America. In other territories, it is distributed by THR3 and Grupo Telefilms. The second is a live-action series currently in development centred on Don Ramón, one of the bestknown residents of El Chavo’s neighbourhood, arguably Bolaños’ most popular creation. Also acquired by HBO Max and unveiled at the platform’s latest Latin American upfront, the series will explore the character’s life before he arrived at the famous 

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‘vecindad’ (neighborhood) and will draw on previously unseen stories and material kept by Chespirito’s family. “Don Ramón has a past. He was a boxer, and Roberto Gómez Bolaños had certain stories about him that he kept and never published,” Boren explains. “We’re using that material to fill in the gaps and build a story around his life, based on the original idea of where he came from.” The series will be a comedy and will aim to preserve the character’s most recognisable traits, including ambitious project is the previously live-action feature his physical humour and the announced combination of apparent toughness exploring the origins of El Chapulín and warmth that Boren believes was Colorado. “Think of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, where you see central to his appeal. At the same time, THR3 is where the character comes from and producing two pilots in São Paulo how he is born,” Boren says. The story is based on an original with Brazilian studio Split for a new animated series based on El Chavo idea by Gómez Bolaños that never del 8. Centred on an orphaned boy became a finished audiovisual project living in a typical Mexican vecindad and one that THR3 is now developing of the era, the sketch gave rise to some of the funniest and most memorable situations in Chespirito’s work. The new animated version will feature short episodes of around eight minutes and will primarily target children, while also being Roberto Gómez designed for co-viewing with Bolaños (Chespirito) as El parents. Chapulín in the “We’re experimenting original series with new situations and new designs, but these are still the original characters, with their personalities and their roles in the neighbourhood very clearly defined,” says Boren. He also points to one important difference from the animated version launched by Televisa around 20 years ago: this time, much-loved character La Chilindrina will be included after rights issues kept her out of with his son and several different the earlier series. Although HBO Max has not writing teams. For Boren, the film could ultimately yet acquired the project, Boren describes Warner Bros Discovery become the biggest piece of the entire as an important part of the wider strategy. “El Chapulín transcends time and space. Depending on where Chespirito strategy. “Warner is a great partner. They he’s needed, he can go to the Old West, love the Chespirito IP and they’re he can go to the pirates or he can go very close to us, looking at these into the future,” he says. “I always say projects and helping us understand he was one of the original multiverse what kind of things we should be travellers. Multiverse stories are focusing on,” he explains. “We work everywhere now, but he was doing it very closely with them to understand before the term even existed.” In the original TV series, which what kinds of projects might work. Then it’s up to us to develop those aired between 1970 and 1992, that concept was achieved with very ideas and produce them.” But perhaps THR3’s most limited resources and plenty of

DEVELOPMENT SLATE: THR3 Media Group

imagination. In the 21st century, however, the same premise inevitably turns the project into a much bigger undertaking. Boren, though, prefers not to focus on the budget. “The most important thing is the product and the script. We need to have something really strong first, and then we’ll figure out how to make it,” he says. To get there, THR3 has dedicated teams working on a story that has already been in development for several years. “We currently have two groups actively working on that particular project, as well as conversations with top-level directors and writers,” Boren says. “There’s a huge amount of interest in something like this.” And just as with Sin querer queriendo, he knows that if they get it right, the project could become the starting point for a much larger film franchise. “That would be the dream, and from there you could do spin-offs, a series and many other things,” he says. “But the foundation is the most important part. That first project has to be spectacular.” All of these projects come with one advantage that is difficult to replicate: immediate potential access to the more than 500 million people living across Latin America and the Hispanic markets of the US and Canada. But for Boren, the ceiling is considerably higher. Chespirito: Sin querer queriendo already offered proof of that, ranking among HBO Max’s most-watched titles in markets as diverse as France, the Philippines, Singapore and Australia. “Series based on these characters can travel all over the world. We’re not limited to Latin America,” he says. “Animation in particular can work anywhere. The humour is very universal.”

THR3 coproduced El Chapulín y los Colorado with Huevocartoon, Grupo Chespirito and Grupo Telefilms

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DEVELOPMENT SLATE: Punta Fina Studios

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Back to basics In an industry obsessed with finding new models, Punta Fina is betting on a mix of development, financing and production muscle to protect ideas and carry them all the way to the screen. By Pina Mezzera

hen the world becomes uncertain, the answers are often found at the source. In many ways, that idea sums up P unta F ina S tudios’ plan for the future. F ounded in Mexico in 2 0 1 1 by Raú l P rieto and Rosa Clemente as a company specialising in development and writing , P unta F ina traditionally focused on creating and developing proj ects for third-party producers and platforms, work ing with partners including 1 1 :1 1 F ilms & TV , S ony P ictures Television and Telemundo G lobal S tudios to bring its stories to V iX , P rime V ideo and Claro V ideo. This year, the company has embark ed on a strateg ic shift that tak es it back to where it started: the stories. A nd, contradictory as it may sound, doing that also means g rowing as a studio, g aining more control over intellectual property ( IP ) and playing a more active role in executive production. “We need to understand financial models, windows, territories, alg orithms and new platforms. A ll of that is part of our j ob,” P rieto says. “ B ut someone still has to sit in front of a blank pag e and come up with a story that somebody else wants to watch. If we don’ t have that, then we really don’ t have anything .” P unta F ina is therefore putting more resources into development and deepening its relationships with writers and showrunners across Mexico, S pain, the U S and different parts of L atin A merica. The aim is to stay with proj ects from the orig inal idea throug h to production. That model has already tak en shape in series such as P ol e n, developed for V iX and produced with 1 1 :1 1 , on which P rieto work ed as both writer and executive producer. A long side its renewed creative focus, P unta Fina has also strengthened the financial and business dimension of its strateg y, which includes partnerships designed to “find the right financial structure and production partners for each story.” O ne of those is the alliance announced in J anuary with S pain’ s W omack S tudios to create a U S $ 4 7 m fund to co-invest, co-develop and produce series, telenovelas and films for Latin America and the US Hispanic mark et. The vehicle will allow the writers to take projects to market with financing already in

P unta F ina f ound ers Raú l P rieto and Rosa Clemente

place from an early stag e, a k ey advantag e when neg otiating with platforms and broadcasters today. B ut P rieto is k een to stress that expanding P unta Fina’s ﬁnancial and production capabilities does not mean turning the company into “ a title factory.”

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Someone still has to sit in front of a blank page and come up with a story that somebody else wants to watch. If we don’t have that, then we really don’t have anything. Raúl Prieto

Punta Fina Studios

“A studio isn’t deﬁned by how many productions it makes. It’s deﬁned by the quality of the decisions it mak es before a sing le camera starts rolling ,” he says. “ W hen you’ ve spent a big part of your life in a writers’ room, you understand j ust how frag ile an idea can be,” P rieto adds. “ W ork ing with other people can mak e it much better, but you can also end up k illing it with notes, process and fear. W e want to build a company that can produce big proj ects without ever losing the sensitivity to recog nise and protect a g ood story.” A nd a g ood story does not belong to any one g enre. The company is work ing across thrillers, crime, mystery, family dramas and telenovelas, as well as newer viewing formats such as microdramas and vertical content. A s part of that push, P unta F ina struck a development alliance in J une with L atin A merican vertical platform S horta. The plan is to use the format to discover talent, test concepts and characters, and accelerate IP development. P rieto is clear that the studio sees vertical as a lang uag e in its own rig ht, and that the traditional industry will need to approach it with some humility. “ W e can’ t ask audiences to come back to the place where we feel comfortable,” he says. “ W e’ re the ones who have to learn how to tell stories there too. W e’ re learning that g rammar with the same seriousness we broug ht to learning how to mak e television.” B ut in P unta F ina’ s playbook , innovation P olen w as prod uc ed does not mean w ith 1 1 : 1 1 f or V iX abandoning traditional g enres. “ There’ s enormous pressure to constantly come up with something nobody has seen before,” P rieto says. That is why hig h concept has become a k ey focus for P unta F ina: ideas that are “ easy to understand and have a clear narrative promise, but are built around characters that allow you to g o much further than the initial premise.” B eyond episode counts, running times and screens, however, it all comes back to something much simpler: “ G etting someone to want to k now what happens next is still where everything beg ins,” says P rieto.

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Channel21 International | Fall 2026

NEXT BIG THINGS: Mexico

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Mex and match Mexico’s creativity is flowing across genres and formats. C21 selects 12 standout titles for the international market that are set to attract interest.

The Top of the Pyramid (Format) D istributor and producer: F remantle G enre: Competition reality They say: Twelve contestants divided into two teams are tak en into the j ung le to build a 1 0 -level Mayan pyramid while facing toug h physical and strateg ic challeng es. B ut j ust lik e a pyramid itself, there is room for everyone at the wide base. A s they build their way up, however, each level g ets smaller until only one contestant can reach the top. W e say: A n orig inal format developed by F remantle Mexico with plenty g oing for it, combining survival, competition, history and pre-Hispanic culture in a visually strik ing concept with a clear, scalable mechanic that is easy for audiences to follow.

Collision (39x45’) Escuela para maridos México (Format) D istributor and producer: TIS S tudios G enre: Competition reality They say: A g roup of husbands enrols in a specialised school to learn how to improve their relationships and confront the conﬂicts affecting their lives as couples. Throug h challeng es, therapy and real-life situations, they must prove whether they are g enuinely willing to chang e. W e say: A simple, instantly relatable relationship format built around one of reality TV ’ s most reliable eng ines: couples under pressure. Its mix of humour, confrontation, therapy and transformation g ives producers plenty of room for casting, local cultural ﬂavour and social media conversation, while the core premise is easy to adapt across territories.

D istributor: W arner B ros D iscovery P roducer: Telemundo S tudios G enre: Telenovela They say: F ollowing the sudden death of her father, Z oé returns to Mexico to claim her place in the family business and confront her mother, B elé n, in a power strug g le fuelled by secrets, forbidden relationships and old wounds. W e say: Col l i si on ( Col i si ó n is HBO Max’s first orig inal Mexican telenovela, combining the pace and production values of streaming with a story pack ed with melodrama, romance and mystery. B ased on work s by Corí n Tellado, one of the defining voices of Spanish-language romantic fiction, it boasts a cast led by stars Margarita osa de F rancisco and Macarena A chag a.

Las cantinas de Cornelio (14x30’)

D istributor: Castalia Communications P roducer: Mexicanal G enre: Travel They say: E xpert Cornelio G arcí a visits some of Mexico’ s most iconic cantinas to discover historic venues steeped in tradition and explore the popular culture behind the country’ s traditional drink ing establishments. W e say: Cantinas are an institution of Mexican popular culture, and L as c anti nas de Cor ne l i o uses them as windows into the country’ s history, music, food and traditions. W ith 1 4 self-contained episodes and a familiar travel and lifestyle component, it offers international buyers a local subj ect via an instantly recog nisable factual format.

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NEXT BIG THINGS: Mexico

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Dra. Lucía S3 (50x45’) D istributor and producer: TV A z teca G enre: Telenovela They say: D r L ucí a and her team face new medical cases this season that will test both their expertise and humanity. B etween diag noses, emotions and difﬁcult decisions, every patient brings a new life story. W e say: D r a. L u c í a has become a k ey title in TV A z teca’ s return to orig inal drama since launching in 2 0 2 3 . Its mix of self-contained medical cases, emotional storytelling and a cast led by Marimar V eg a, with stars including Itatí Cantoral and Ruy S enderos j oining , g ives it the k ind of accessible, repeatable eng ine that travels well. Three seasons in, it has also shown its ﬂexibility across windows, moving from free-to-air to streaming on D isney+ .

The Devil Knows Your Name (1x98’) D istributor: Ciné polis D istribució n P roducers: A be Rosenberg and Carlos Rincones G enre: Horror They say: Two documentary filmmakers investig ate the true story of an alleg ed possession and exorcism, only to encounter evil forces that put their lives in dang er. W e say: Mexican horror has a long tradition and a reputation that travels well beyond the country’ s borders, and T h e D e v i l K now s Y ou r N am e ( E l D i abl o sabe tu nom br e ) look s to tap into that international appeal with a possession and exorcism story inspired by a real case. The film also uses documentary investigation and interviews desig ned to appear authentic, blurring the line between fiction and reality.

¿Quieres ser mi... novia? (1x90’) D istributor: F ox E ntertainment G lobal P roducer: TelevisaU nivision G enre: Romcom They say: L u and J avi’ s romance is put to the test when his traditional family – and J avi’ s refusal to introduce L u as his g irlfriend – forces them to confront prej udice surrounding their age difference. As Lu finds comfort in a charming co-work er and J avi reconnects with a former love, they must decide whether to fight for their relationship or g ive in to new passions. W e say: L ed by popular stars L udwik a P aleta and J uanpa Z urita, ¿ Q u i e r e s se r m i . . . nov i a? already comes with proof of audience appeal: it drew more than one million admissions in Mexico and delivered one of the three big g est opening s for a Mexican film in the past five years. F or international buyers, that g ives this accessible ag e-g ap romcom something particularly valuable: a strong commercial track record at home and a simple premise that can travel.

Tierra de amor y coraje (77x60’) D istributor and producer: TelevisaU nivision G enre: Telenovela They say: The lives of the three Coraj e brothers are turned upside down when Clara B arrios returns to A riz ona to tak e over her father’ s leg acy. The owner of the neig hbouring ranch is determined to seiz e their land after discovering it holds enormous mineral wealth. A mid secrets, betrayals and a strug g le for power, Clara and the Coraj e brothers discover a connection behind their rivalry that is impossible to ig nore. W e say: B ased on I r m ã os Cor ag e m , the classic B raz ilian telenovela created by Janete Clair and one of lobo’s ﬁrst major hits, this is a Mexican telenovela with a difference, featuring a western setting in A riz ona, U S and an ambitious visual approach. A vailable on V iX since A ug ust, the series arrives at Mipcom fresh from its debut on L as Estrellas, Televisa’s ﬂagship network in Mexico.

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NEXT BIG THINGS: Mexico

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

¡Aquí espantan! (5x30’) D istributor: Comarex P roducer: Canal O nce G enre: History and mystery factual They say: ¡ A q u í e sp antan! visits some of Mexico’ s historic building s to uncover the stories, leg ends and alleg ed paranormal phenomena that live within their walls. Throug h testimonies, recreations and storytelling , the series combines the history and memory of each location with mysteries that have survived throug h the years. W e say: G host stories and paranormal phenomena have universal appeal, but ¡ A q u í e sp antan! gives them a distinctly local ﬂavour by turning some of the country’ s historic building s into the stars of the show. Its blend of mystery, heritag e, history and local leg ends provides an entertaining g ateway into Mexican culture throug h a g enre that is both familiar and accessible to international audiences.

Ciudad de muertos (1x90’)

Doc (80x45’) D istributor and producer: S ony P ictures Television G enre: D rama They say: A fter surviving an assassination attempt, D r A ndré s F errara loses all memory of the previous 1 2 years and wak es up to a life he no long er recog nises. W ith both help and obstacles from his family and colleag ues, he must rebuild his identity and recover what he once loved most but now seems to have lost. W e say: D oc arrives with one maj or advantag e: a premise that has already proved it can travel. The Italian orig inal IP has spawned adaptations in multiple mark ets, including F ox’ s U S version, the third season of which premiered in S eptember, while its blend of medical procedural and emotional drama gives buyers both a familiar genre and a strong serial hook. Netﬂix’s acquisition of the Mexican version for L atin A merica and the U S adds further validation.

El Chapulín & The Colorados (20x24’) Distributor: rupo Telefilms P roducers: THR3 S tudios, Huevocartoon, G rupo Chespirito G enre: F amily They say: The years have g one by and E l Chapulí n Colorado has put on a little weight. He is still fighting villains and saving innocent people with all his familiar g adg ets, plus a few new ones, but the biggest change in his life is that he has finally settled down and now has a very funny family of his own. W e say: F ew L atin A merican characters come with the built-in recog nition of E l Ch ap u l í n Col or ado, and this animated spin g ives the classic IP a clear g enerational twist by turning the famous superhero into a family man. He now lives with his wife S usana, children L ina and B obby and their g randmother, while continuing to battle villains in Chaotic City. The combination of nostalg ia for parents, broad comedy for young er viewers and a modern animation style g ives the series strong co-viewing potential.

D istributor: Cinemex D istribució n P roducers: P ení nsula F ilms & E ntertainment and Cinemex D istribució n G enre: P sycholog ical thriller They say: S urrounded by earthquak es, accidents and crime, E nrique has photog raphed thousands of dead bodies since childhood, inspired by police and detective ﬁlms. When a corpse is discovered inside a suitcase, E nrique becomes caug ht up in the investig ation of a secret service ag ent hunting a serial k iller, setting an unconventional investig ation in motion. W e say: Ci u dad de m u e r tos has a distinctive visual and thematic hook . D irected by J M Cravioto and inspired by the work of E nrique Metinides, one of the most important ﬁgures in 2 0 th century Mexican crime photog raphy, the black -and-white thriller turns Mexico City’ s dark er history into noir territory, blending murder mystery with photog raphy, memory and true-crime iconog raphy.

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PERSPECTIVE: Fernando Rovzar

Channel21 International | Fall 2026

Why we aspire to ‘look Mexican’ W Fernando Rovzar, cofounder and creative director at Lemon Studios, looks back at how Mexican content rediscovered the concept of quality.

The second, that foreign audiences would never read hen I was a child, if someone said a film “looked Mexican,” it wasn’t a description – like “it looks subtitles, also fell away. We wrote series and films in French” or “it looks American” – it was an Spanish for Mexico, but the platforms carried them around accusation, a verdict and a sentence: badly acted, badly the world and, to our surprise, we found audiences far beyond our borders. Subtitles stopped being a barrier and lit, badly shot. After the 1970s, the bravest decade in our cinema, became part of the experience. Today’s globalised viewer came 20 years in which Mexican film became so cheap no longer runs from another language; they seek it out: an it hit rock bottom in 1998 when just eight Mexican movies argument in Korean, an insult in Italian, a sad farewell in were released. An entire country recoiled in unison: “I don’t Spanish. While we debated whether foreigners would read watch that because it looks Mexican.” And that was when I subtitles, they were already reading them. The third warning was that what is made in Mexico stays decided to devote my life to film. At 23, when we founded Lemon Studios, the producers in Mexico. I have told the stories of Red Cross paramedics, who guarded the gates of Mexican cinema gave us three a tequila-producing family from Jalisco and Mexico City’s first corps of female police officers – warnings. One: Mexico would never three deeply Mexican stories for three achieve the quality produced abroad. The quality this platforms, and all three travelled the Two: foreign audiences would never country has built no world, connecting abroad as they did read subtitles. Three: anything made at home. in Mexico was condemned to stay in longer serves only to tell Year after year, production after our stories, it also allows Mexico. production, the distrust tattooed into us It wasn’t a welcome. It was a ceiling. us to open our doors is healing through results. With the old So the slogan with which we and position Mexico myths demolished, the question now is: launched the company and our first as a global production what does the future look like? film, Matando Cabos, was: “Mexico is destination. At home, more investment means different. So is its cinema.” more productions in our language, More than 20 years later, things look good enough for Mexican audiences to very different. In 2025, 235 Mexican feature films and 66 television series were registered in return to cinemas and seek us out on platforms. Abroad, those same stories are what the world is asking for, and production. How did we get here? First, through Eficine, an incentive that for 20 years has every one that travels earns Mexico another seat in the turned income tax into investment in films that otherwise global cultural conversation. The quality this country has built over 20 years no wouldn’t have existed. Second, through the arrival of the platforms. Ten years after launching its first original series longer serves only to tell our stories, it also allows us to outside the US, Netflix announced US$1bn for production open our doors and position Mexico as a global production in Mexico between 2025 and 2028. More recently, Prime destination. A new tax incentive was recently announced, Video committed over US$2bn to Mexico and Latin America creating further opportunities for international shoots and strengthening Mexico’s position as one of the world’s most through 2030 and pledged to double its Mexican originals. Those investments mean crews, payrolls and suppliers. competitive audiovisual hubs. Thirty years ago, “it looks Mexican” ended a conversation. In other words, an industry. That’s how the first warning was disproved, because quality turned out to be a matter Today, when someone in Madrid or Seoul says something of hours logged, with thousands of people in front of and looks Mexican, it’s beginning to mean something else. And if this is what we’ve achieved in 28 years, we should behind the camera working 200 days a year instead of 20. say it plainly: the second golden age of Mexican film and Hours create craft, and craft creates quality. Once that warning fell, I wondered how true the other two television has only just begun. Mexico is different. So is its film and television. were.

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