María Pérez Campi, Sales Director for LatAm and US Hispanic at Dori Media, spoke to ttvnews about the company’s newest titles and initiatives for Natpe Virtual Miami.
Known internationally for years thanks to its Argentine telenovelas and teen titles, Israeli company Dori Media is currently experiencing a process of evolution towards premium series and entertainment formats, responding to market demands.
The best example of this is its association with Apple TV+ for Losing Alice, an original series on the Apple platform that will premiere worldwide on January 22.
In an interview with ttvnews, María Pérez Campi, Dori Media’s Sales Director for LatAm and US Hispanic, spoke about the new titles and initiatives the company has prepared for Natpe Virtual Miami.
What is Dori Media presenting Natpe Virtual Miami?
The big new title is Losing Alice, a premium series produced in association with Apple TV that is ready to come out on January 22 worldwide. And we also have Israeli series, Normal. It aired in Israel in November with very good results and now we are selling it to the international market. In addition, thanks to the fact that we were able to resume filming in September, we are moving forward with the second season of Israeli comedy, The New Black.
These are all short series. Is the company veering towards that direction?
Yes, we are doing a lot of shorter Israeli series, but of great quality. It is something that platforms are looking for a lot and they are now some of our strongest clients. And not just in Israel. In Argentina we are also developing a premium series, although it is still in the early stages.
What can you tell us about that series?
We are in the evaluation period, because we understand that there is a need for this type of content. Maybe the idea is to target a platform. The only thing I can predict is that it would be a short, high-quality Argentina-Israel series. We have the possibility of building teams in Israel, Argentina, Spain and other countries; and that allows us to partner with different cultures to create something new.
And what about the other premium series that are in development?
We have two types of approaches. On the one hand, a focus on short premium series to mainly supply the platforms. And then we keep our library business. We’ve done a lot of pandemic business with new platforms that may not ask for exclusivity, but they do ask for library content. And since we have so many hours in our catalog, we were able to do a lot of volume deals. We closed with Amazon, Pluto TV, Canela TV for Latin America and we are in talks with others.
Although the pandemic slowed us down in production, it made us move forward a lot in terms of sales for our library content. It was a good year for our sales, quite the opposite of what we would have imagined in March, especially in Latin America for content in Spanish. Everything that we have of Argentine content served us a lot.
Are platforms Dori Media’s main client now?
The are not our priority, per se. What is happening is that they are the ones who are buying, because traditional channels are also experiencing budget cuts given the context of the pandemic. We have also moved forward with various things with broadcasters.
For example?
We continue, for example, with our reality show Power Couple, which in 2020 we had to stop the fifth season in Brazil with Record and the second with Televisa. But they are already confirmed for 2021. We are moving forward, especially with entertainment formats, because we have a lot of game shows that work both on the street and in the studio.
What other entertainment formats are being offered to the market?
After the pandemic, we had the ability to adapt formats from street to studio. For example, we have an interview format called El buscador that is being evaluated in Latin America, because it is a low-cost format that is very good. Then, Power Couple, although it is a reality show, after the participants are tested, it can be done safely. It continues to be our star format because we sold it in all continents and as the seasons go by, it gets much stronger. And we are working on two new entertainment formats that we hope will be ready for Miptv.
Dori also has scripted formats. Is this another area that you are promoting in the region?
Yes, we actually sold Dumb for a multi-territorial adaptation to Warner for Europe. It is a series that has a lot of potential. Hopefully soon we will be able to see different versions. In this sense, there are many Israeli series that, due to the language, are perhaps more foreign to what Latin America is, but now they are getting closer to seeing our content with the possibility of making Latin series. In fact, we are likely to make an announcement in this regard soon.
Also, for example, we are offering In Treatment as a scripted format. It is a format with few actors in a single location. Context helps such a format. In Brazil it is for the fifth season. The context closes doors, but opens other possibilities. You have to keep moving and finding the opportunities in the face of crisis. Also evaluating the channels’ needs and finding possibilities together. For example, sometimes many of our formats are used as a segment within a program to refresh it.
Which recent deals would you highlight?
Obviously our partnership with Apple TV is the biggest deal most recently. We will also always highlight Netflix as a very important global client. We also closed a del with Amazon. Then, the collaboration with WarnerMedia with its channels and territories, linked to HBO Max in different territories. The aforementioned agreements with Pluto TV, Canela TV and VIX, another platform that is in need of content. We are in conversations with AMC, Disney+, Discovery… All with their new platforms are potential clients and luckily we have something to respond with.
