There is a lot of digital space in the US for Latin American productions

Digitization offers a huge opportunity for content generators. The challenge is to satisfy the new audiences that are getting used to increase local content and of higher quality.

“The opportunity is even greater because this digital ecosystem has opened markets almost within markets. For example, in the Hispanic US, which for a while was lethargic and controlled by Telemundo and Univision, we see and will see more investments from production houses and companies that think that OTT is a market opportunity,” said Angel Zambrano, president of Condeco.

He emphasized that there is a lot of room in the US (Hispanic and Anglo) for Latin American productions. Netflix has produced content in Mexico, and other parts of Latin America, that has performed amazingly in the Anglo-US market. The series Who Killed Sara? has been number one in the Anglo-US and was in the top five of Netflix in European countries.

“The mythical opportunity that Latin American content was going to reach many parts is happening while we are talking,” said Zambrano. “The value of the content is going to be measured according to how easy it is to consume, not only for the Hispanic public but for the American public. I estimate that a Netflix series produced in the US costs five or six times more than one produced in Mexico. Yes, Who killed Sara? costs 25% of what the studios invested, why not give it a try? In addition, the contents of Latin America have been succeeding in other territories for several years, such as the Narcos series. So, I think there is room to try to continue expanding to the US market the content made in Latin America”.

According to Zambrano platforms in Latin America, and also in the US, are beginning to discover content areas associated with massiveness, important for local audiences: Argentine films in Argentina, Mexican series in Mexico, etc. The contents that tried to integrate territories (with talents from various countries) are giving way to more local projects.

“Nowadays it is more effective for platforms to have projects that are very strong for the territory for which they are designed, trying to capture the opportunity when traveling to other territories. The new platforms’ subscribers are no longer just AB, but also C, and that change guides the evolution of the content.”