Present at the opening celebration of the new Banijay Mexico & US Hispanic studios, ttvnews spoke with its director to find out more about the projects they are preparing, including their latest novelty, a comedy with Ricardo O'Farril, who shared all the details.
Last Thursday, May 5, Banijay rolled out the pink carpet in Polanco, Mexico City, to celebrate the opening of its new studios, Banijay México & US Hispanic.
First announced in September 2021, the new studios and offices will focus on developing and producing original content in both Spanish and English for television, cable and streaming platforms in the US Hispanic and Mexican markets, under the direction of its Managing Director, Marie Leguizamo.
“I am so excited that today finally came the day to open new offices here in Mexico City, in Polanco. It is the first time that we have offices here, and I am very excited to share with you all the things that we are going to do, all the projects that we have planned and that we are celebrating here », Marie Leguizamo told ttvnews during the celebration of the opening of the studies.
“We have a lot of negotiations with talent and a lot of them are with us tonight. We are working with production companies, different companies, streamers, linear TV, cable… All the clients here have accepted us when entering this territory and are interested in working with us. I am very excited to see how we are going to go with this company », he added.
To kick things off, the studio is currently in pre-production for the next season of the hit Amazon Original series LOL: Last One Laughing (LOL) in Mexico for Prime Video. "I can officially announce that I am going to be the executive producer and showrunner of LOL 5 ", highlighted the executive.
And he revealed a novelty: “We are working with Amazon to be the LOL hub for Latin America for the first time. We are already in pre-production of the fifth season of LOL Mexico and other territories that we are going to do in LatAm.
Additionally, Banijay Mexico & US Hispanic has signed a deal with global superstar Becky G to produce a non-fiction documentary series on emerging Latin female group ANGEL22. And during the launch event, the studio announced that it will be joining Mexican comedy star, actor, and writer Ricardo O'Farrill ( LOL Mexico ) in a new unscripted comedy series . The as-yet-untitled series follows a team of comedians led by O'Farrill, who are charged with finding "solutions" to everyday problems through comedy, investigation, and interviews with experts in a truly unique way.
«Marie comes with Banijay to make unscripted formats. And we're going to do a format that combines both scripted comedy and reality. It is an idea with which we seek, through comedy, to raise social awareness about politics, homophobia, discrimination, the lack of blood donations... it is something to raise awareness in the public but in a comical way," he told ttvnews . comedian and actor, Ricardo O'Farrill.
O'Farrill is joined on the series by her Last One Laughing México (LOL) colleagues, comedians Isabel Fernández and Karla Camacho, as well as 23-year-old breakout star Josuesy.
“New content we are definitely going to be developing,” Leguizamo said. «In the first five months that we have been as a company we have developed a lot of projects. We are working with several partners and in these weeks we will be announcing more collaborations with other companies here in Mexico”, he added.
“I am always looking for the best talent that Mexico has. There is a lot of talent, not only in front of the camera but also behind the scenes, and a lot of them work for me now at Banijay's company. Last week we announced the first three members of the company, and I think there are many more and many opportunities to learn more, "explained the executive.
The first members are the experienced non-fiction producer Andrea Hülsz, who was appointed Executive Director of Production, along with Miguel Sánchez, who will serve as Director of Development and Fernanda Ruiz will be Development Manager.
«This is, we are, Banijay México & US Hispanic. It excites me because I am US Hispanic, I was born in NY and I live in Los Angeles part of the time, and I love having the opportunity to produce at home. I'm excited for what's to come," she concluded.
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