In one of the packed events at Madrid’s 5th Iberseries & Platino Industria, Secuoya Studios brought out its latest international partners to discuss its global expansion plans and the perks of its pod business model.
Secuoya CEO Brendan Fitzgerald led the panel comprising Chiara Cardoso (BlackBox Multimedia, UK), Sydney Gallonde (Make it Happen Studios, France), Jónas Margeir (Act4, Iceland) and Chris Moukarbel (Permanent Wave Productions, USA).
Each partner shared his or her views on collaborating with the studio and the potential of this model to boost local projects across the international marketplace.
“Iceland is a country of 390,000 people. That’s very small, we’re all kind of related, and we’re all friends on Instagram,” quipped Iceland’s Jonas Margeir of Act4, adding: “This has been called the age of co-production, where you have to work across borders to get things going but that’s been our reality always. So, when we were approached by Secuoya, it was an absolute joy because we believe that Secuoya stands for quality in content, which aligns perfectly with our vision.”
For Blackbox’s Cardoso, the company has always focused on seeking the best co-production partners, she stressed. “When the opportunity to collaborate with Secuoya came up, it was the first time we felt we had a partner that not only offers creative collaboration, but also financing and production. It was a dream,” she said.
Cardoso explained that thanks to this approach, two projects are set to launch in 2025 with the potential to travel and connect with international audiences. “The team understands your needs, provides contracts, talent, and scripts that can work in the best possible way,” she said, extolling the creative inventiveness that makes it possible to recreate British landscapes in northern Spain or the Canary Islands.
Documentarian Moukarbel of Permanent Wave Productions, stressed that the line between documentary and fictional narrative has become increasingly blurred: “Documentaries have become more cinematic, with production values comparable to fiction. Collaborating with a partner who has credentials in that space makes a lot of sense,” he pointed out. The filmmaker emphasized that people are all documenting their lives and that the internet has become the epicenter of storytelling: “20 or 30 years ago, the only way to access someone’s life was through a documentary. That’s why there’s now a drive to give documentaries a cinematic treatment — to differentiate them and elevate their narrative level,” he said.
Asked what aspects of a project would most appeal to them, Cardoso replied that the emotional core of a story was key. Margeir cited the appeal of the multi Emmy-winning “Adolescence” on Netflix as an example of a simple story that was told differently, that surprised him.
“I want you to be ready to die for your project. That’s the only thing that I want,” said Gallonde of Make it Happen Studio, who sees the partnership with Secuoya as a qualitative leap in his way of producing: “Thanks to Secuoya, I’m not alone — now I’m part of a business with talent. That allows me to showcase what we’ve done and what we’re going to do, but also to move faster, close bigger deals and take on more ambitious projects.” Gallonde, who has worked on both French and international adaptations, argued that the strength of a project lies in its roots.
Based in Madrid with a strong international footprint, including operations in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and the U.S., Secuoya Studios is expanding globally through its innovative pod-based model. These creative and production pods allow the studio to quickly and efficiently develop, adapt and deliver content across multiple markets.