Mexican media and telecommunications corporation Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., today announced it will greenlight production of multiple English-language series to fuel its own original content demands as well as those from the growing global on-demand and traditional TV markets. Among the first to utilize the 1991 Mexican-Canadian tax treaty for scripted series - together with Vancouver-based Odyssey Media - Televisa will offer the debut series in this venture, "Duality," starring Dougray Scott ("Hemlock Grove," "Desperate Housewives," "Taken 3"), at MIPCOM.
"Duality" depicts an elite, top-secret team of State Department, CIA and Mexican intelligence agents within Mexico who wage war against the world's most dangerous villains operating in Latin America. The series, based on an original story from writer-producer Barry Schkolnick ("Good Wife," "Law & Order"), depicts characters on dangerous missions while battling their own personal demons, maintaining their secret identities and encountering life-threatening conflicts.
Chris Philip, Head of Production and Distribution for Televisa USA; Jorge Aragon ("A La Mala," "Capadocia"); Eduardo Clemesha, Televisa´s General Director of New Content and Formats; Odyssey film and television producer Kirk Shaw (The Hurt Locker); and Scott will executive produce.
"Duality" and each series that follows will have globally recognized talent, combining star power from English-speaking markets with Latino superstars. They will attract the acculturated English-speaking U.S. Hispanic viewers highly coveted by U.S. networks.
"Our competitive advantage with unparalleled production capabilities and multi-platform networks gives us the scale to deliver the global market multiple high-quality series, and with creative casting we can target a powerful multicultural audience in the U.S., "said Televisa USA's Philip.
Televisa's Clemesha added, "Televisa brings to this venture access to our award-winning producers and directors; the economies of scale of shooting in Mexico with Televisa's facilities and crew; as well as the latitude to adapt formats from both Televisa's massive library of formats and third-party rights holders."
Mexico is among 53 nations that have signed co-production treaties with the Canadian government. The pacts enable producers and talent from each of the countries to co-finance, develop and appear in film and TV projects that are creatively and economically advantageous for both partners.
About Televisa
Televisa is the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world based on its market capitalization and a major participant in the international entertainment business. It operates four broadcast channels in Mexico City, produces and distributes 25 pay-TV brands for distribution in Mexico and the rest of the world, and exports its programs and formats to the U.S. through
Univision Communications Inc. ("Univision") and to other television networks in over 50 countries. Televisa is also an active participant in Mexico's telecommunications industry. It has a majority interest in Sky, a leading direct-to-home satellite television system operating in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America. Televisa also participates in Mexico´s telecommunications industry in many regions of the country where it offers video, voice, and broadband services. Televisa also has interests in magazine publishing and distribution, radio production and broadcasting, professional sports and live entertainment, feature-film production and distribution, the operation of a horizontal Internet portal, and gaming. In the United States, Televisa has equity and debentures that, upon conversion and subject to any necessary approval from the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") in the United States, would represent approximately 36% on a fully diluted, as-converted basis of the equity capital in
Univision Holdings Inc. (formerly, Broadcasting Media Partners, Inc.), the controlling company of Univision, the leading media company serving the United States Hispanic market.
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