She will join the company as Head of the International and Business Development Area of Buendía Estudios, as well as of the international Distribution and Co-productions of Movistar+.
María Valenzuela joins Buendía Estudios and has been appointed as head of the International and Business Development Area of Buendía Estudios, as well as of the international Distribution and Co-productions of Movistar+.
In her new position as Senior Vice President of International Strategy and Business Development at Buendía Estudios, María Valenzuela draws on her experience in strategy and experience in content distribution to lead the international production business of Buendía Estudios and Movistar+ in the field of fiction, documentaries and formats.
With more than 20 years of experience in the audiovisual sector, where she has led Sony Pictures TV Distribution in Iberia for 16 years, during the last year, María has been responsible for content strategy and partnerships worldwide at Huawei Technologies, to promote the launch of the Huawei Video app.
With this new incorporation, Buendía Estudios continues its firm commitment to co-productions, in the field of fiction, documentaries and formats, as well as the production of Originals both for its partners Atresmedia and Movistar + as well as for global platforms such as Amazon, Netflix, HBO Max or Disney+.
The creation of Buendía Estudios as an independent production company, 50% owned by Telefónica and Atresmedia, represents an unprecedented strategic alliance in the audiovisual industry in Spain.
Buendía Estudios combines the experience of the teams behind Atresmedia Studios and Movistar+, teams made up of professionals who have proven experience to access the best creative talent and conceive contents that have been awarded and have achieved international success over the last decades . This team is the differentiator that makes Buendía Estudios a key partner for the creation and production of audiovisual contents around the world.
The new company will focus its activity on national and international operators, contributing to the revitalization of the Spanish audiovisual sector, and promoting partnerships with other companies in the sector.
Among the titles produced by the team of Buendía Estudios, is the fiction series La Templanza, an adaptation of the publishing success of Maria Dueñas, as an original series for Amazon. Set in the 1860s, it tells the dramatic love story between Mauro Larrea, a miner who, after suffering an accident, decides to fight for a better future; and Soledad Montalvo, a refined woman belonging to one of the most prestigious winemaking families in Jerez. The action takes place in Mexico, Cuba, London and Cádiz.
Buendía Estudios has also finished the production of Veneno, a fiction series created by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi about the life and death of Cristina Ortiz – La Veneno – one of the most important LGTBQ icons in Spain. The series has been released on the Atresplayer Premium platform and will be released on November 19 by HBO Max in the territories of Latin America and the United States.
Regarding international projects, the company is immersed in the development of various titles such as Phase IV, a horror anthology written by Guillem Morales and La Nueve, a series based on the true story of Spanish soldiers who became a key element in the liberation of Paris during World War II.
María Valenzuela will centralize the supervision of the international areas of Buendia Estudios, leading the responsibilities of Isabel Durán, who manages the unscripted content development area, Laura Miñarro, who controls the development of international fiction co-productions, and Nicolás Lecocq, who maintains the responsibility for the international marketing of the Movistar+ content.
Ignacio Corrales, Managing Director of Buendia Estudios, says: “the international market is key for Buendía Estudios, so it is very important to have professionals with the experience of María Valenzuela, who joins our great team of professionals”.
