Martín Halac of Blue Hummingbird Working on Several Projects with TelevisaUnivision, Dopamine, and Máquina Vega

Argentine-American Martín Halac, who has 37 years of experience in the audiovisual industry as an independent producer, creative executive, director, and entrepreneur, is developing several projects through his new company, Blue Hummingbird Corp. (Miami, U.S.). These include the series Carnada for ViX, produced with Carlos Bardasano of TelevisaUnivision; the pre-production of a new original family entertainment format produced in Mexico and conceived for the international market (¿Quién es Mejor?, which debuted on Las Estrellas); two fiction projects—a series and a feature film—with Máquina Vega in Mexico; two fiction series with Dopamine in Spain; and a game show and a talk show for two Spanish-language networks in the U.S.

Halac spoke with Ríchard Izarra on #PRODUprimetime about these projects, as well as Destino Astral, a digital community project focused on wellness, reflection, and personal transformation.

CARNADA

Halac is the co-creator, alongside Carlos Alberto Cerutti, of Carnada, the new crime-comedy series for ViX starring Adrián Uribe, produced by Carlos Bardasano and directed by Pitipol Ybarra.

“This is a wonderful year for the company. We are currently producing at Televisa with Carlos Bardasano, Pitipol Ibarra, and an extraordinary team. Carnada is an original series we created with Carlos Cerutti. It is a tremendous source of pride to have Adrián Uribe as the lead. It is a reward for effort, dedication, and hard work. There are 16 episodes across two seasons,” he said.

MICROSERIES

Microseries are another area in which Halac is active. “We already have several microseries developed for Spain. We’re working with Dopamine and moving toward bringing a couple of stories to life. The big challenge is figuring out how to incorporate our production experience into the storytelling process,” he explained.

CHALLENGES OF INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Asked about the challenges facing independent producers, Halac noted that producers must remain highly attuned to their clients’ content needs.

“You have to pay attention to what they’re doing, what they’re offering, and whether the project you’re developing could be a fit for that client or platform. Then it’s up to the executive in charge to determine whether what you’ve brought them is useful, interesting, something they’re already developing, or perhaps something for the future. But we never stop working. We have to keep developing and maintain a large portfolio of material so we’re ready whenever we identify something that could be of interest to a client,” he said.

Regarding whether there are more clients, fewer clients, or about the same number as before, Halac explained that the business has only two revenue models: subscriptions or sponsorships, brands, and advertising.

“There is no third option. Therefore, the product you develop must be attractive to the company you present it to, either to help them gain more subscribers or to attract brands interested in participating in the program. Essentially, there is a great deal of competition, and you have to be up to the challenge. That starts with creation and extends to supporting the client in producing the show they need at that moment,” he said.

BLUE HUMMINGBIRD

Speaking about Blue Hummingbird, Halac said he works closely with Carlos Nahuel Cerutti, Gustavo Cotta, and Mariela Mastrángelo and maintains various partnerships with professionals in Spain, Argentina, and Mexico.

Martín Halac, creator and executive producer, alongside Carlos Nahuel Cerutti, creative producer, on the set of ¿Quién es el Mejor?

“Depending on whether we’re in a creative phase, we collaborate with certain people; if we’re in a production phase, we form different alliances. But essentially, the entire operation is managed from Miami.”

DESTINO ASTRAL

In a different sphere from premium content, Halac is also a founding partner of Destino Astral, a digital community project centered on wellness, reflection, and personal transformation.

“It’s a community for people interested in wellness and astrology. We’re exploring and experimenting to see how we can participate in that space,” he said, recalling that during his time at Mediapro he had the opportunity to work on Signos, an astrology channel in Colombia.

“It was a wonderful experience. Being involved with a universe you don’t really know was a fascinating challenge then and still is today. By combining technology, outside expertise, and additional collaborators, we’re seeing just how far this project can go.”

He added that Destino Astral has two other partners. “We’re three partners working together to fully develop something that began in January of this year,” he said.

Halac highlighted that they are producing a significant amount of content.

“We made a major investment and are now in a phase of development and exploration, which I believe is essential for creating something that can grow. We’re at that stage now, consolidating what we’re building,” he concluded.

According to Halac, Destino Astral, built around podcast production and multiplatform audiovisual content, operates under a different logic from traditional television or premium streaming services.

“Its model is based on building an audience through a daily connection with its community, with the potential to become an ecosystem that integrates content, experiences, retreats, and personal-development tools for millions of Spanish speakers.”