Spain’s Secuoya Studios wants to produce more English-language projects as part of its new international strategy. Brendan Fitzgerald, CEO of Secuoya Studios, addressed a packed audience at the 4th Iberseries & Platino Industria confab and introduced the company’s three new executive producers, Mónica Aguirre, Sergio Cánovas and Juan Carballo, who will lead the company’s international expansion strategy.
According to the former Sony Pictures executive, Secuoya Studios has organized its operations through a pod system, with each executive producer leading a multi-disciplinary team consisting of an executive producer, a head of development and a fiction coordinator. “This allows us to run multiple production fronts simultaneously, speeding up timelines without sacrificing quality,” he said.
Cánovas, showrunner and director of Stellar Media, brings his international perspective to the team, thanks to his extensive experience in the US. “My work in English has become self-evident, and now with Secuoya we can develop large-scale projects in this language. I’m working on a psychological thriller series set between London and Spain, with an international team that will surprise. In addition, we can benefit from the tax benefits of filming in Spain,” he noted, adding that the cast will feature mainly British talent, with some French and Spanish actors.
“We’ll probably be able to announce more details in six months, once we’ve solidified the cast,” Fitzgerald later said Variety.
“We want to become language agnostic and at least start with English,” said Fitzgerald, who added that they were opening a new position in Britain.
“We are also exploring other countries in Europe, but for now Spain, Latin America and Britain are our three main pillars,” said Fitzgerald, who joined Secuoya Studios in January. “We are looking for commercial content, exciting stories that connect with the audience. Once we manage to sell five or six series a year, we can start exploring other types of stories,” he added.
Carballo, a recently appointed writer and producer at Secuoya Studios, emphasized the importance of the studio’s infrastructure: “Projects that would be difficult to develop elsewhere due to their complexity find the necessary support at Secuoya to move forward. Not only in terms of production and distribution, but also in terms of time, which is crucial for realizing complex projects.”
Aguirre, founder of Black Sheep Productions, wants to expand the studio’s presence in Latin America: “We are focused on identifying local projects with the potential to succeed globally. We want projects born in Mexico or Colombia to resonate in other areas. Secuoya attracted me because it is one of the few production companies willing to take risks and combine proven major IPs with innovative and challenging stories.”
Aguirre also expressed her excitement about ongoing projects: “We are making significant progress on stories we are passionate about. The support of a production company that dares to take risks and allows us to retain creative freedom is invaluable.”
Fitzgerald concluded the presentation with an unequivocal vision of the future: “A year from now, I would like Secuoya Studios to be recognized as the most talent-friendly studio in Spain.”