24 Jan 2023
iZen Group and Non Stop create "Cacao & Cía"
iZen Group joins Non Stop, the large production and services company of producer Patricio Rabuffetti. The new company will create and produce content in Spanish for the Latin American market with global ambitions.The joint venture combines the creating and production capacity of the iZen group in Spain with the experience of Non Stop. iZen is renowned for titles such as the blockbuster “El Cid” (Amazon Prime Video), the first reality show for Netflix “Insiders”, or the successful daily tv series “Centro Médico” (TVE), among others. Besides, Non Stop Group in Latin America stands out for hits for Disney such as “Soy Luna”, “Violetta”, “Santa Evita”, and “Tierra Incógnita”, among many others.
This alliance was born with the intent of proposing to the market a shared risk model with issuers and platforms, looking for new operating models that provide creative solutions to the financing and efficiency challenges facing the industry.
The distribution and financing capacity of Newen Connect, iZen’s partner, completes the capabilities of this association for the Latino market granting the new entity privileged access to its extensive catalog of fiction and entertainment content. This is generated from the production companies of the Newen group and the TF1 television channels.
Pedro Dávila, until now responsible for Non Stop Content, will lead the new company that will have a creative team with its own hallmark. Juliana Barrera will support the development of projects and the production of content from iZen Spain, which she has recently joined. Non Stop also has a growing track record in content production, with the most innovative production infrastructure in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Spain, with more that 70,000m2 of facilities spread over more than 20 studios. In addition, it has been the producing arm of Disney Latin America for more than 25 years.
iZen thus expands its International presence, adding the Latin market to its presence in the English market, both in fiction and in entertainment, through the production companies Chalkboard, Clapperboard and Storyboard Studios, which have produced numerous fiction series and programs for the most important UK TV outlets. This international presence, together with the association with Newen, will allow “Cacao & Cía” to turn their projects into global successes.
Pedro Dávila CEO of “Cacao & Cia” explains: “Under this new entity we will seek to support local talent and stories. We want to work with studios, but also with independent creators. We have the experience and resources to enter into co-production agreements and we are excited to work creating new models and offering production and distribution support in Latam or Europe”.
The new production company- will have its offices in Mexico City and Madrid, and will promote creation, talent, and content in Spanish. They are already working on their first projects, among which the acquisition of the rights for a biopic of the famous car racer Juan Manuel Fangio and another of the singer-songwriter Chavela Vargas, based on the book “Las verdades de Chavela” by María Cortina, which is being adapted by Arantxa Echevarría (“El Cid”, “Carmen y Lola”). These projects define the line of content to be worked on, reflecting strong Ips with protagonists closely linked to Latin America and strong international potential.
“The potential and size of Non Stop and its enormous capacity in services and technology perfectly complement the creativity of iZen and out distribution force”, summarize Sara Fernández-Velasco and Jose Velasco of iZen.
The Latino producer Patricio Rabuffetti adds: “In a context where budgets and projects will be tighter, this alliance with a company of the size and experience of iZen allows us to add top-level creative and production capacity to produce exceptional content both in original and in acquisitions, and thus help- out clients who will benefit by having high quality programming with a significantly lower investment”.