Set to deliver a masterclass this Wednesday at Brazil’s mega creativity event Rio2C, Iberseries & Platino Industria co-director Samuel Castro has doubled down on the major new strategic directions this annual conference, forum and market is taking in 2025: Europe and international distribution.
“We remain firmly committed to strengthening cultural identity, boosting commercial exchange, and showcasing Ibero-American talent to the world,” Castro said of the Madrid event, whose fifth edition runs Sept. 30-Oct. 3.
As markets contract, however, for non-English language films and series, Iberseries & Platino Industry is expanding its reach. “The positioning of Iberseries & Platino Industria as a bridge between Latin America and the United States, with a special focus on the Hispanic market, and now with a clear outlook toward Europe, marks a pivotal moment to expand our reach by strengthening the international sale of Spanish-language content,” Castro added.
Over the last decades, producers and sales agents in film have combatted declining theatrical openings abroad, and a plunge in prices paid per territory by driving into equity, in the case of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American captured by international co-production. As a rough rule of thumb, the larger a feature’s number of production partners, the bigger a movie’s market proposition, ambition and market interest. Spain has become an avid co-producer.
With global first-run TV orders down 25% on Peak TV, Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson observed at the Berlinale Series Production, TV producers are also attempting to tie down international production partners.
Iberseries Platino & Industria wants to take a market bull by the horns, however.
“Although the current landscape is favorable for project financing, we’re fully aware that the real challenge lies in global distribution. That’s why, in this edition, we’re reinforcing our collaboration with international sales agents, as well as with networks and commissioners committed to acquiring and investing in Spanish-language content.”
Many of these are found in Europe, and are not global streamers. Public broadcasters and private-sector networks accounted for over 80% of European series commissions in 2023, according to figures aired by the European Audiovisual Observatory at Series Mania Forum’s opening session.
“We want to build Ibero-American connections with Europe because we firmly believe they can enrich our productions and open new distribution channels through co-production or sales agreements. Europe and international distribution are, without a doubt, the two main pillars guiding our strategy this year,” Castro affirmed.
Castro will talk at Rio2C on How to Navigate Audiovisual Investment in Europe and the United States. One answer is private equity: Rio2C will host a panel on May 29 exploring private investment from equity to gap financing and receivables, with speakers taking in MUV Capital Head of Audiovisual Investment Laura Rossi, Gustavo Mello, Boutique Filmes parter-producer, Moonshot’s Edison Viana, head of business development and content strategy and Fernando Figueiredo, commercial head of Belat Brasil, a private investment fund.
Private investment funds or producers which arrange film-TV financing which have confirmed their participation in 2025’s Iberseries & Platino Industria include Arcano Partners, Balance Media, Elipsis Capital, Filmika Audiovisual, Holahoop Film, IPR.VC, Kenta Asset & Capital Finance, La Charito Films, Moby Dick Film Capital, Mogambo, Wandermoon Finance and Yunit, as Iberseries & Platino Industria confirmed at the Cannes Festival’s Marché du Film at a May 16 presentation.
Among potential speakers, Pilar Blasco, Banijay Iberia CEO, Ramón Campos, Bambú Producciones CEO and Alexander Marín, VP, distribution at Colombia’s RCN International have confirmed their presence, as have José Fragoso, programming director at Portuguese pubcaster RTP, RTVE director of film and fiction José Pastor, Raúl Berdonés, Secuoya Content Group executive chairman and Secuoya Studios CEO Brendan Fitzgerald.
Further execs attending take in Agustina Dompé, senior manager of content acquisition at The Walt Disney Company; Margarida Pereira, director of acquisitions at Portuguese broadcast network TVI; David Atlan-Jackson, chief content officer at Vuelta Group; Pilar Sánchez Macías, head of YouTube MCNs and Family Partners for Spain & Portugal, and Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola, showrunners of “La Casa de los Espíritus,” among many others.
