Showrunners and producers of shows like Narcos, The Closer, El Chapo, Sr Avila, Siempre Bruja and Tijuana will host conferences and panels during this year’s event in Cancun.
A double-bill of panels featuring top international showrunners plus a session on new practices in TV production will underline the focus on creativity at next month’s MIP Cancun Latin America content trade event.
Leading creatives Chris Brancato and James Duff will hold a joint Masterclass on the role of the showrunner in international productions, while Fernando Rovzar, Director of Lemon Studios, Mediapro’s Content Director Juliana Barrera, and Showrunner/Director/Writer Daniel Posada will lead a discussion on how roles are evolving in the production sector from a Latin American perspective.
The sixth edition of MIP Cancun, the only dedicated TV content market for Latin American and US Hispanic audiences, will take place from 20-22 November 2019, with pre-opening on 19 November, at the Moon Palace Resort, Cancun, Mexico.
On Friday 22 November, James Duff, creator and showrunner of the Emmy Award-winning series The Closer and Major Crimes, and Chris Brancato, co-creator and producer of the global hit Narcos, will hold a Masterclass on creating gripping scripted content built around strong female and male roles that engage audiences around the globe.
During the course of this in-depth session, the pair will also explore the essentials involved in identifying and developing breakthrough stories and provide insight into the sector’s ever-growing demand for compelling and original storytelling narratives.
As Showrunner at Chris Brancato Inc., Brancato has written and produced over 250 hours of television, including cult series such as X-Files, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and Hannibal. He also wrote the upcoming “Sherlock 3” for Warner Brothers and is currently co-creator and showrunner of Godfather of Harlem starring Forest Whitaker, set to premiere this autumn on EPIX.
Creator and Executive Producer at Walking Entropy, James Duff started out in theatre before moving to Los Angeles to work on TV movies. His credits include the series Popular, The Agency, Wolf Lake, and “Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard. He created and executive produced the ABC series The D.A., and went on to create and executive produce “The Closer”, staring Kyra Sedgwick and J.K. Simmons.
The Showrunner’s Role in Latin America is the theme of a panel discussion scheduled for Thursday 21 November. The American notion of a showrunner is a dream role in the TV industry, but do they really exist in Latin America? Is such a role possible, or even desirable? What partnership models have been established within the framework of series development and production?
The panel features Mexico’s Fernando Rovzar, co-founder and head of Lemon Studios, who has produced more than a dozen films, including Kilómetro 31, the third biggest box-office hit in Mexican film history. His TV credits include acting as showrunner on four seasons of “Sr. Ávila” (HBO), for which he won an International Emmy.
A well-known Colombian producer and showrunner, Juliana Barrera joined the Mediapro Studio team as Director of Content in Colombia. Her credits as executive producer include the first season of La Voz Colombia and the development and production of drama series Siempre Bruja, the first Netflix original series in Colombia.
Mexican Showrunner and Director Daniel Posada has made projects in Mexico, the United States, and Colombia. His most prominent work is the political thriller El Chapo, which reached the top spot in most Spanish-speaking territories across the Netflix platform. In 2017 and 2018, he served as Creator and Showrunner of the critically acclaimed Netflix series Tijuana.
A further MIP Cancun conference session will address New Practices in Production, notably examining how roles are evolving. Speakers include EndemolShine Boomdog’s Leonardo Zimbrón, MGM International TV Productions’ development chief Diego Piasek, and Manuel Martí, Head of International Development and Multiplatform Content at Polka.
This exciting conference line-up rounds out what promises to be a dynamic sixth edition of the MIP Cancun market, with more than 35 speakers already confirmed including Erik Barmack (Wild Sheep Content), Marcelo Tamburri (Turner Latin America), Joanna Lombardi (Movistar), Andres Reymondes (Vice), Nacho Gil (Vice Studios), Ana Paula Valdovinos (Telemundo International Studios), Federico Cuervo (Viacom), Moreyba Bidessie (A+E Networks International), Pablo Salzman (Connect 3) and Peter Naderman (Nadcon Film).
