ENGLISH

Venevisión and HispanoMedio close production agreement that marks the return of fiction to Venezuela

April 26, 2023

Maribel Ramos-Weiner

Manuel Fraíz-Grijalba de VV y Daniel Ferrer Cubillan de Hispanomedios

An agreement between Venevisión and Daniel Ferrer Cubillán, CEO of HispanoMedio, sealed the return of fiction production to Venezuela. Cubillán, who has produced several original shows screened on Venevisión  —including What is up Alicia and Divinísimas (12×45′)—, is the author of the original story, together with Daniel Alfonso Rojas, Violeta Fonseca, and Indira Páez, dramatic advisor of the project.

It is a dramedy TV series with a cast of Venezuelan actors, some well-known and some new.

“The pre-production has already started and the recordings begin at the end of May. It is a co-production that will be filmed entirely in Venezuela, with the quality parameters required by international platforms. It will debut on Venevisión’s open TV primetime with export quality. The teleseries will bring together a cast not even seen in the golden age of Venezuelan TV. We are very happy with this project,” said Ferrer.

Manuel Fraiz-Grijalba, executive VP of Venevisión, stated: “After Para Verte Mejor, this new project excites us a lot and could become the beginning of a cycle of stable fiction productions that will revive the Venezuelan telenovela industry, so successful for more than five decades”.

“It is a project tailored to be feasible. All the equipment we use is of high quality, and adapted to international platforms. Venevisión will be the great set where this story will take place. This is the most important life project for me, since beyond the business, it is the opportunity for the return of fiction to the country,” he pointed out.

He added that Fraiz-Grijalba and Julio Iglesias, VP of Production at Venevisión, were the architects of the agreement. “They are in a restructuring process where they are betting on improving the quality of the network’s screen and making good new productions, doing interesting things. The return to fiction covers the public’s need to watch their stories adapted to the new formats and above all their talents.”

He noted that further details will be announced soon as part of the launch strategy. “We will announce the name of the series, the number of episodes, and the cast. Everything has been well-defined. It will be quite an experience around the return of fiction to the country. It is an element that defines us as Venezuelans. For us it is a wonderful opportunity, the news has generated expectations in the industry, consumers, clients, partners, and brands. We are very proud to be able to open this gap so that fiction production takes off again and show the world not only our human resources, but also the technical capacities, stories, and talents we have to carry out projects to export like Colombia and Mexico do, countries that continue to produce high-end content and that now Venezuela can do it again, regardless of the political scenario.”

Ferrer emphasized that the production will be 100% Venezuelan: from the talent to the executive heads and the production will entirely take place in Venezuela.