U.S. HISPANIC
HBO Max: It’s the right time for producers and creators to turn their projects into global hits
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 24 de septiembre de 2021
Jose Calderoni HBO Max
Almost three months after the launch of HBO Max for Latin America, one of the platform’s great successes has been its programing block “El Cine a Tu Casa”, which premieres major titles a few weeks after its release in cinema theaters, as was the case of Mortal Kombat; El Escuadrón Suicida of DC Comics, and Space Jam: A New Legacy, a standalone sequel to Space Jam (1996). All have in common their high level of production and that they target a family audience. Iconic films from different sagas such as Matrix and classic series such as Friends have also been included.
“The Champion League live matches have also performed very well, to which we have the rights in Mexico and Brazil,” reported José Calderoni, SVP Growth Marketing Latin America, HBO Max.
One of the big bets of the platform are local productions under the Max Originals brand. Amarres from Mexico and Dias de Gallos from Argentina have already premiered and great launches are coming for the next few months in Latin America such as Mill Colmillos in Colombia and Brazil, where also will see two realities: The Cut, about stylists, and The Bridge, related to construction. Also a cooking show with celebrities.
“The stakes are huge in terms of original content and it is a great opportunity for producers, directors, and writers to turn their ideas and projects into global successes, something unthinkable a few years ago,” said Calderoni.
Pay-TV is a very important business for the company because there is still an audience interested in it. “I think it is clear that people want flexibility, mobility and consume content when they want, on the device they want and our advantage is that we work with our distribution partners to have HBO Max for free. Our goal as a group is to offer multiple options to enjoy content and allow the user to choose. What is certain is that HBO Max will be where all our offers can be found,” he explained.
Faced with so much competition, for Calderoni it is important to identify the audience’s favorite programming and for this, they have their own important research tools.
