Hi Media Partners, Led By Cynthia Hudson, To Produce Film About Carlos Alberto Montaner’s Assisted Death

The project is an adaptation of Gina Montaner’s memoirs about her life with her father, Cuban intellectual Carlos Alberto Montaner, and his struggle at the end of his life to access a dignified death.

The audiovisual adaptation goes beyond the scope of the book, delving into the family’s struggles and tensions as they sought to ensure a dignified death, while also revisiting memories shared with a brilliant man who escaped from a Cuban prison to become an exile in the U.S. and Spain, and who went on to build a career as one of Latin America’s most influential journalists and authors. Montaner’s extraordinary story intertwines his intellectual legacy and final journey, within the context of a life devoted to democratic ideals, freedom, and political thought in Latin America, Spain, and the United States.

A companion documentary will be produced by his granddaughter, journalist Paola Ramos, who documented Montaner’s final years, offering an intimate, first-person look at his life and the final months of his journey, alongside his wife, his two children, and his granddaughters.

The multimedia adaptation will be led by Hudson as executive producer and creative director, bringing decades of leadership at the highest levels of global media in both English and Spanish. This announcement marks Hudson’s first feature-length audiovisual adaptation.

INNOVATION PHASE

“I’m happy because this is a stage of innovation. I’m actually building my company with my daughter, Leila Victoria Fernández, who is a screenwriter with whom we also have several projects in development, and who is also an actress. It’s a stage where I can create projects that align closely with the story of my own life. I’ve known Carlos Alberto since I was a child. Gina is my friend, the family is wonderful—Carlos, and Paola herself, his granddaughter. For me, it’s an honor to work on this project because he is a major figure in the news world, with 15 years at CNN. Carlos Alberto was one of our analysts. Being able to tell and bring to the screen such a deeply personal family story, and to show what this process was like—because we all go through this. We are all facing an uncle, a grandmother, or a mother who may be confronting a terminal illness, Alzheimer’s (as in my mother’s case), and we are looking at what freedoms society allows us in order to die with dignity,” Hudson said.

“Shortly before my father died, he asked me to write about one of the most painful processes of our lives. Writing this book was an act of love, courage, and responsibility. The commitment of the Hi Media Partners team to bring Wish Me a Good Journey (Deséenme Un Buen Viaje) to the screen is both an honor and a profound emotional challenge that completes my life journey with my father. Entrusting this story to Cynthia gives me peace. She knew my father personally, understood his world, and lived through much of this process very close to our family. I know this multimedia adaptation will honor the coherence and clarity that defined his entire life,” added Gina Montaner.

Hudson noted that at Hi Media Partners she is joined by a group of investors and a partner in Spain. “That’s why it’s called Hi Media Partners, because I believe no story of any kind can be told alone. No great work for television, film, or any medium is made in isolation. It is truly a collective effort of writers, creatives, producers, people who are putting up the money, and thinking about how this can matter and bring this story to audiences. I believe this is a relevant moment. Our Latin America, our Ibero-American reality, is facing extremely interesting political situations. Carlos Alberto was always highly respected for his fair, balanced analysis; he was a centrist who believed above all in freedom,” she added.

Hudson also said that during Content Americas she held conversations with groups that could participate not only in production, but also in theatrical distribution, “across different possible outlets, of course including streamers. We are just beginning this process. I hope to have the script ready next month, and once we have the script, we will already have a production date,” she concluded.

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