Quintanilla becomes SVP and Head of Content and Production, Latam & USH; and Silva becomes SVP and Managing Director of Floresta.

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) announced the promotions of two key leaders within the company’s Latin American production business.

Carlos Quintanilla Sakar has been promoted to Senior Vice President & Head of Content and Production, Latin America and U.S. Hispanic, and Adriana “Dida” Silva has been promoted to Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Floresta, SPT’s production company in Brazil.

The promotions underscore SPT’s continued investment in building a leading local-language production business across Latin America, focused on developing distinctive local stories that have the potential to travel internationally.

Both will report to John Rossiter, Executive Vice President, Distribution, Networks and Production, Latin America, with Quintanilla Sakar based in Miami and Silva based in São Paulo.

“Carlos and Dida have been instrumental in strengthening our production business across Latin America and helping us raise the bar for locally produced programming,” said Rossiter. “Carlos continues to push the creative ambition of our slate, with Carlota representing an important next step in the evolution of our premium Latin American production business. At Floresta, Dida has built on the company’s leadership in unscripted while significantly expanding its scripted capabilities and pipeline.”

Since joining SPT in 2023, Quintanilla Sakar has overseen a diverse slate of scripted productions for the studio, including Rosario Tijeras, for which he has served as co-creator, writer, creative director and executive producer, as well as Doc Mexico, Yo No Soy Mendoza, Casados con Hijos and Enloqueciendo Contigo. Most recently, he has played an instrumental role in the development and production of Carlota, SPT Latin America’s premium historical drama slated to premiere on HBO Max in 2027.

In his role, Quintanilla Sakar will continue to lead SPT’s content and production strategy across Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market, overseeing the development and production of the studio’s slate.

Silva is a 15-year veteran of Floresta and has served as Vice President and Managing Director since 2021. Under her leadership, Floresta has expanded its production capabilities across scripted and unscripted content, delivering programming for leading broadcasters and global streaming platforms while developing original Brazilian ideas and formats with international potential. Recent productions include Luz, Netflix’s first Brazilian kids and family series, Quarto do Pânico, Shark Tank Brasil and Túnel do Amor. In her role, Silva will continue to lead Floresta’s growth and oversee the company’s creative and production operations in Brazil.

A Mexican multidisciplinary artist with more than 20 years of experience in production, screenwriting, stage direction and the dramatic arts, Quintanilla Sakar has created and produced a wide range of successful projects for major television networks and global streaming platforms.

Throughout her tenure at Floresta, Silva has held senior leadership roles across the company’s production operations, working across a broad range of genres and formats. She has played a key role in expanding Floresta’s slate of original productions and adaptations and strengthening its position as a leading Brazilian production company.

La entrada SPT Promotes Carlos Quintanilla and Adriana “Dida” Silva to SVP Roles se publicó primero en TTV News.

In the following interview with ttvnews, Carlos Quintanilla, VP & Head of Content and Production, Latam/USH at SPT Latam, discusses the company’s regional strategy of developing locally-rooted stories that can connect with audiences worldwide, the international potential of titles such as Rosario Tijeras and Carlota, and the evolving opportunities across the audiovisual landscape.

A true global powerhouse, with content that’s present all over the world, Sony Pictures Television sees in the Latin American and US Hispanic markets an opportunity to develop stories that are deeply rooted in local cultures, while reaching audiences far beyond their place of origin.

That strategy is reflected in titles such as Rosario Tijeras, a “deeply Mexican” story which in turn delves into themes that are fully universal; or Carlota, an ambitious new production with roots in Latin America, but the potential to travel worldwide.

As explained by Carlos Quintanilla, VP & Head of Content and Production, Latam/USH at Sony Pictures Television Latin America, the strongest international stories are not those designed to be universal from the outset, but those that combine cultural specificity, extraordinary characters and emotions that audiences can recognize anywhere.

In the following interview with ttvnews, the executive talks about SPT’s current production strategy for the region, the importance of developing relatable stories, his outlook on the new trends and evolution of the audiovisual industry, and his predictions for what’s to come for the Latin American market.

What are Sony Pictures Television’s current priorities for the Latin American and the US Hispanic markets?

Our priority today is very clear: to develop stories with a strong local identity, but with the ambition and potential to connect with much broader audiences.

I think that has evolved over the past few years. In the past, we might have started by thinking about a specific market or distribution window. Today, from a content perspective, we think about the entire life of a story: where it originates, which audiences it can reach, how it can travel and, most importantly, how it can build a long-term relationship with viewers.

Rosario Tijeras is a great example. It is a deeply Mexican and Latin American story, but the themes it explores, power, survival, love, family and loyalty, are universal. We recently premiered the fifth season with great success, and we are already shooting season six. Reaching that point demonstrates something very important to us: when a story truly connects, it can become much more than a series. It can become a franchise that builds a lasting relationship with its audience.

Carlota

At the same time, we continue to invest in new and ambitious projects. Carlota, which is currently in post-production represents another important part of our strategy: raising the scale and ambition of our productions and finding stories that are rooted in our region and our culture but have the potential to resonate internationally.

What types of stories do you think have the greatest potential to travel in today’s landscape?

Paradoxically, I think the stories that travel best are the ones that don’t set out to be universal from the beginning. They are stories with a very specific identity, extraordinary characters and genuine, recognizable emotions. I think there is tremendous curiosity today for worlds that feel authentic.

Rosario Tijeras is again a great example. It has a very distinctive world, but its protagonist and her emotional conflicts are relatable in any territory.

And Carlota presents a different kind of opportunity. It is a production built around extraordinary characters, events and a remarkable historical world, but with a contemporary perspective. We don’t want to make history that audiences simply observe from a distance; we want them to enter that world and experience it.

For me, that is the ideal combination: cultural specificity, universal emotion and execution that can compete on any screen in the world.

How have development and production changed for SPT following the expansion of streaming?

I think we have entered a much more disciplined phase and, in many ways, a healthier one for the business. It is no longer about producing more simply for the sake of producing more. Every project has to justify why it should exist, who it is for and what makes it different.

That requires us to be much more rigorous from the development stage. The concept, characters, talent, budget, production model and potential audience all need to be aligned long before we get to the set.

Rosario Tijeras

The conversation with our partners has changed as well. Today, it is not enough to present a good idea. We need to present a complete vision for the project, including how it can be positioned, what the right scale is and what potential it has to grow beyond a first season.

In a more selective market, being able to demonstrate that we can build properties that sustain and renew their audiences over time has tremendous value.

How has SPT adapted its strategy to new trends, such as digital miniseries, vertical content, and new consumption habits?

For us, it is essential to understand that audiences are not only changing what they watch; they are changing where, when and how they watch it.

Younger generations move seamlessly between television, streaming, YouTube, TikTok and other platforms. They don’t necessarily make the same distinctions between different types of content that our industry has traditionally made.

We are experimenting with an expansion of our storytelling language and our ability to reach new audiences. It is also an extraordinary space for learning. It allows us to understand new approaches to storytelling, duration, pacing, talent and engagement.

What do you think is next for the international audiovisual industry?

Focusing on the industry in Latin America, I think we are going to see several things happening at the same time. On one hand, there may be less indiscriminate volume and greater focus on truly distinctive properties. On the other, we may see much greater coexistence between long-form, short-form, digital and vertical content, alongside new forms of distribution.

I also believe that franchises and creating worlds and characters that audiences want to maintain a relationship with over many years will become increasingly important.

La entrada Sony Pictures Television Bets on Local Stories with Global Potential se publicó primero en TTV News.

The eight-episode series will be based on the stories by Spanish writer Salvador Gutiérrez Solís.

Sony Pictures International Productions is developing a short-form, eight-episode fiction series, based on the viral X content Los hilos del miedo, as it was first announced by Variety.

The series will be based on the stories by Spanish writer Salvador Gutiérrez Solís, which became popular on X with readers in Spain and Latam.

As reported by Variety, inspired by the everyday-horror atmosphere of Gutiérrez Solís’ suspense stories, Los hilos del miedo is designed to translate digitally native storytelling into a premium audiovisual format while retaining the speed and immediacy of its social-media origins.

The project also extends Sony Pictures International Productions’ collaboration with Madrid-based TAI Arts University School, integrating members of its international community of young creators into the series’ technical and artistic production.

Los hilos del miedo will premiere on Prime Video in Spain in the near future.

La entrada Sony Pictures to Develop Short-Form Series Los hilos del miedo for Prime Video Spain se publicó primero en TTV News.

The series, shot in Spain, stars Belinda, alongside Jaime Lorente, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Mabel Cadena, Bárbara de Regil and Sebastián Zurita.

Carlota, a production by Sony Pictures Television that will be available exclusively on HBO Max, has confirmed the start of its filming in Spain.

The acclaimed cast is led by Belinda (Carlota), Jaime Lorente (Maximilian), Miguel Ángel Silvestre (Van Der Smissen), and Mabel Cadena (Josefa), who bring to life the central characters of a story shaped by power, desire, and ideological struggle. With this strong ensemble, the miniseries expands its narrative universe with the addition of several key new characters played by renowned Mexican and international talent.

Set against the backdrop of a Mexico divided by war and ideology, Carlota reimagines the rise of Carlota and Maximilian, European aristocrats whose progressive ideals clash with a reactionary court hungry for control. With humor, boldness, and creative freedom, the series explores power, desire, betrayal, and politics from a contemporary perspective, challenging traditional historical narratives and exposing the human cost of empire.

Bárbara de Regil (Rosario Tijeras) will portray Enriqueta Villalpando, an aristocrat of the court; Sebastián Zurita (How to Survive Being Single) will play Leonardo Márquez, a military officer and former child hero. Spanish actors Álvaro Rico (El Jardinero) and Clara Alvarado (Money Heist) also join the cast as Carlota’s brother Leopoldo and Paula Kolonitz, respectively.

Conceived by creator and showrunner Carlos Quintanilla Sakar and Adriana Pelusi, who also serves as head writer, Carlota deliberately departs from solemn historical storytelling to offer an emotive reinterpretation of historical events. The series will be directed by Ana Lorena Pérez Ríos (Like Water for Chocolate) and Alejandro Bazzano (Money Heist). Executive production will be led by Alejandro García, Carlos Quintanilla Sakar, and Madeleine Contreras.

Carlota is produced by Sony Pictures Television in Latin America for HBO Max, where it will be available exclusively. Sony Pictures Television distributes the series. Filming will take place across several striking locations in Spain and Latin America. With this production, HBO Max reinforces its commitment to championing authentic, ambitious narratives crafted with the highest creative standards and designed to resonate with both local and international audiences.

La entrada SPT Begins Filming of Mexican Series Carlota for HBO Max se publicó primero en TTV News.

The first ten episodes of the series premiered on Sony Channel in January of this year.

Sony Pictures Television announced that it has sold the series Enloqueciendo Contigo to Disney in Latin America.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television, Enloqueciendo Contigo is the Mexican adaptation of the popular 1990s sitcom Mad About You.

It follows a newlywed couple, Jimena, portrayed by Regina Blandón (Accidente, La Búsqueda, Guerra de Likes, La Liga de Los 5), and Pablo, portrayed by Memo Villegas (La Gran Seduccion, Narcos: Mexico, Alejandra Guzman, Garfield, Fuera de Casa), with different personalities as they navigate the hilarious chaos of everyday life in a bustling Mexico City apartment. This adaptation injects the original concept with a healthy dose of Mexican humor. Through witty banter, passionate arguments and reconciliations, Enloqueciendo Contigo explores the universal themes of love, commitment and the endearing madness of finding your perfect match.

Enloqueciendo Contigo features a top-tier production team: José Raúl Zuńiga, Paula Rendón, and Salvador Suárez lead adaptation efforts, with SPT’s David Barraza and Yol Segura as Content Supervisors. Magaby García & Salvador Suárez serve as Directors. SPT’s Vice President of Content Carlos Quintanilla Sakar is Creative Director and Executive Producer, supported by Executive Producers Alejandro García and Maria Fernanda Bateman.

This project received the CINA incentive (Audiovisual Investment Certificate) granted by the Colombian government and administered by Proimágenes Colombia: a tax discount equivalent to 35% of the expenditure on audiovisual services in the country.

The first ten episodes of the series premiered on Sony Channel in January 2025.

“Since its debut on Sony Channel, Enloqueciendo Contigo has struck just the right chord of humor and romance with viewers. We can’t wait to share this couple’s story with Disney’s vast audience in the region,” said John Rossiter, Executive Vice President, Distribution, Networks & Production, Latin America, SPT.

La entrada SPT Sells Mexican Adaptation of Mad About You to Disney Latam se publicó primero en TTV News.

Wald and Spivak will co-lead the studio’s combined television and home entertainment distribution businesses

Mike Wald and Jason Spivak have been named Co-Presidents of Distribution & Networks for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) it was announced today. They will continue to report to Keith Le Goy, who took the helm as SPT Chairman last month.

Wald and Spivak will co-lead the studio’s combined television and home entertainment distribution businesses. Taking oversight of functions including post-theatrical distribution of films, distribution of television content around the world, multi-channel marketing, and international cable networks in Latin America and Europe.

“I’ve worked closely with Mike and Jason for what can only be described as a very long time. From their deep experience managing local markets around the world to navigating the evolving landscape in home entertainment, Mike and Jason each bring the unique, complementary skills to co-lead the business in this unprecedented period of change. I look forward to all that they will achieve in leading our world-class distribution and networks teams in these new roles,” said Le Goy.

“Sony is very well positioned to continue to succeed in the changing distribution environment. It is incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to work alongside the best teams in the world to navigate this next chapter for the business,” said Wald and Spivak.

Wald has held a number of senior roles during his tenure at Sony Pictures. As EVP of International Distribution and Content Strategy, Wald currently oversees all international distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment’s (SPE) TV series and feature films across all platforms, including international free television, basic cable, subscription pay television, and streaming platforms. Previously, he was based in London, where he led SPT’s distribution across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Prior to that, he worked in corporate development for SPT in Culver City and in Hong Kong, where he focused on emerging markets in Asia.

Spivak co-leads SPE’s North American distribution group responsible for post-theatrical distribution of SPE’s features and episodic programming in the region. In his role, he has overseen the evolution of the studio’s home entertainment business and was deeply involved in the studio’s landmark Pay-1 Distribution agreement with Netflix. Spivak joined Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2007 as SVP of Strategic Development and subsequently held the position of EVP Worldwide Digital Distribution. In this capacity he was instrumental in striking deals and managing SPE’s transactional digital distribution on a global basis.

La entrada SPT Appoints Mike Wald and Jason Spivak as Co-Presidents of Distribution and Networks se publicó primero en TTV News.

The animated series will premiere on Disney Channel, followed by Disney Channel On Demand and globally on Disney+.

Disney Branded Television scores a goal with the acquisition of Messi and the Giants, a sci-fi animated show inspired by worldwide football sensation Lionel Messi from Sony Music Vision and Sony Pictures Television – Kids (SPT – Kids).

The animated series, which unfolds in an epic saga where a young boy named Leo is transported from his home in Argentina into a fantastical alternate universe, will premiere on Disney Channel, followed by Disney Channel On Demand and globally on Disney+.

“I always dreamed of being involved in a project that would share the values of sports, the very same values that have been so important to my career, with younger generations. Nothing truly is impossible with teamwork, perseverance, discipline, and hard work,” said Lionel Messi. “I look forward to sharing this series with kids around the world, and I hope I will inspire them and motivate them to achieve their own dreams. Ever since I was a kid, I always loved animated series, and I look forward to watching this series with my own kids.”

Each 22-minute episode takes kids on a coming-of-age journey — that any viewer can see reflected in their own. The action-adventure series follows Leo, an ordinary 12-year-old boy with an extraordinary talent and a huge problem. The once-thriving world of Iko is in tatters at the mercy of the Giants who rule the 10 realms. Only one hero can save them … and he’s the size of a flea. Young Leo is plucked from another world to lead the fight against the tyrannical villains who have kept the 10 realms under their control.

“Football — or soccer as we call it in the United States — is the world’s most beloved sport, uniting and captivating millions of fans of all ages,” said Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television. “We are proud to work with Lionel Messi and Sony Pictures Television to bring ‘Messi and the Giants’ to our passionate, global kids’ audience. We know that its themes of family, friendship, and teamwork will resonate with not only football enthusiasts but everyone everywhere who loves a great story.”

Joe D’Ambrosia, EVP and general manager, Sony Pictures Television – Kids, said: “Football is one of those rare sports that brings people together and shines a light on the true meaning of teamwork. It’s been a privilege to team with Leo and our colleagues at Sony Music on this first-time collaboration. We’re thrilled that Disney is giving a global platform to this fun take on a classic tale and look forward to launching a global consumer products and branded partnerships program alongside the show’s debut.”

“There is an incredible team all working together on this project, with Leo’s magic as the inspiration behind it all,” said Afo Verde, chairman and CEO, Sony Music Latin Iberia. “We are thrilled that Disney has joined our roster to help bring this imaginative series to audiences and inspire fans worldwide.”

Messi, the recent fútbol world champion with the Argentine National Team, is a global icon and inspiration to millions worldwide. To date, he is the only athlete in the world to win eight Ballon d’Or Awards and six Golden Boots. Messi created a sensation when he joined MLS team Inter Miami in July of this year, with his debut match becoming the most watched fútbol game in U.S. television history. Off the pitch, Messi is recognized for his sportsmanship and passion for the sport, which will be featured heavily throughout the series.

Messi was always the smallest on the team but relied on his wits and incomparable skills to take on the giants and win. Messi and the Giants is not simply a series about the football skills of a boy named Leo. It brings out the rest of what he’ll need to achieve his destiny: persevering in the face of adversity, learning how to build a team, finding strength when you think you have none, and exploring what it takes to become a hero.

La entrada Disney Branded Television acquires animated series Messi and the Giants se publicó primero en TTV News.

Based in Mexico, Cagliolo will oversee the company’s Spanish language production business across the region.

Coty Cagliolo has been named Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Production, Latin America & US Hispanic for Sony Pictures Television (SPT), it was announced today by John Rossiter, Executive Vice President, Distribution, Networks & Production, Latin America, SPT, to whom she will report.

Based in Mexico, Cagliolo will oversee the company’s Spanish language production business across the region.

“Coty is one of Latin America’s outstanding creative leaders, both in nonfiction and scripted,” said Rossiter. “With her smart and inspirational approach at the helm, I’m sure our production businesses in Colombia, Mexico and US Hispanic will continue to flourish. We can’t wait for her to join our strong team already in place.”

“Joining SPT marks a significant milestone in my career. I am excited to collaborate with a group of exceptionally talented individuals, leveraging our collective creativity to push the boundaries of our industry and achieve great things together,” said Cagliolo.

Cagliolo, who will start in her new role in January, has over 30 years of experience working in the industry. She joins SPT from Fremantle, where, under her leadership, Fremantle Latin America became one of the most recognized production powerhouses in the region. She has held several roles over the past 11 years, most recently serving as Head of Production for Latin America. Prior to that, she was Managing Director of Fremantle Mexico. During this time, Cagliolo contributed to Fremantle’s territorial expansion, driving productions in key markets such as US Hispanic, as well as strengthening the company’s presence in Brazil and Argentina. Previously, Cagliolo worked as Creative Director at Endemol Argentina for nine years, and later as an independent consultant for several production companies in the region.

Cagliolo has a background in graphic design. She has a degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a certification in Film, Television, and New Media from UCLA Extension.

La entrada SPT Names Coty Cagliolo SVP and Managing Director of Production for Latam & US Hispanic se publicó primero en TTV News.