U.S. HISPANIC
Dynamo: Mexico opened the door to great productions, talents, and budgets
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 15 de julio de 2022
Juliana Flórez de Dynamo en México y Dale gas
Juliana Flórez, producer and partner of Dynamo, Mexico, stated that thanks to the decision that the Colombian production company made five years ago to settle in that country, they have been able to scale productions as big as La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta, the first western series made in Latin America for Amazon Original, as well as having access to very high-level budgets and talent. “Everything in Mexico is exponential and taking this step has been very important for Dynamo,” she said.
Flórez describes Mexico as “the Latin American production hub” and assures that it has the largest target audience of all platforms; the series made in Mexico have a greater scope, in addition to standing out for the quality with which they are produced. “What works in Mexico works in the rest of Latin America,” she said, after recalling that Dynamo arrived in Mexico just at the time that the main platforms were setting up offices in this country.
Since then, they have made around six series and two films in Mexico, including Falco, the sequel Historia de un Crimen for Netflix, and three major projects for Amazon Prime Video. They recently premiered on Netflix, Dale Gas (10×45´), a co-production with Paramount.
As head of Dynamo in Mexico, Flórez agrees that this country has a great tradition in film and television, which is why they have gotten acquainted and interacted with people of a high professional level, in addition to having access to excellent producers, directors, and writers. “It has been a great learning experience to work and learn with these professionals.”
Flórez has been working at Dynamo for 16 years and has been involved with 70% of their projects. Before moving to Mexico with Dynamo, she worked for various production services for large American companies, such as American-made —Barry Seal: solo en América— with Tom Cruise; Narcos; several Andy Baiz films, among others. Her last work in Colombia was in Frontera Verde, a series shot in the Amazon. Once she was offered the position in Dynamo Mexico, she took on Dale Gas with Alejandro Fernández. “From there on, my job has been to establish Dynamo as a Mexican company and create a team. It has been three years of understanding the Mexican market, the dynamics of production with its cultural differences, in addition to developing and producing projects for the platforms.”
Flórez also commented on what Dynamo brings to Mexico since it is a production company that takes risks. “We were among the first to make a series of the magnitude of Narcos without knowing how”, by generating innovation and knowledge. They do research, bring talent from other countries to train, and adapt techniques and processes to the way how the region works and the equipment that is used. These lessons are replicated in the work of other production companies.
“By doing production services with North American companies we have learned a lot, in addition to having contacts with very professional people in the US who we can call and ask for counseling,” she said.
