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Lured by Colombia’s coveted film incentives, new production shingle Miércoles Entertainment, co-founded by former Pantelion/Pantaya exec Paul Presburger, chose to shoot its first feature, “Belleza,” in Colombia.
“We
shot Pantelion and Pantaya projects in Colombia in the past but we’ve never had a smoother production. Thanks to Daniel Hernández and the Secuoya team, we came in on budget,” Presburger notes.
Although set in Mexico, “Belleza” was shot entirely in Bogotá, across roughly half a dozen locations around the city in May. The idea was always to make it feel like Mexico City on screen, and Bogotá ended up working surprisingly well for that – its urban texture and variety of spaces made it a convincing stand-in, says Hernández, CEO of Secouya Studios Latin America.
According to Presburger, Secuoya handled both the production services and financing for the film, essentially cash-flowing the project. “We structured the financing and assembled the underlying deals, but as with most arrangements—whether with HBO, Cinépolis or other partners—those agreements are typically paid on delivery or when a specific exhibition window opens,” Presburger explains.
“Secuoya was able to capitalize those agreements, using them to help fund the film upfront. In that sense, Secuoya played a key role across multiple layers: providing production services, monetizing the tax credit and supporting cash flow throughout the production process.”
While the crew was mainly Colombian, the cast, acting coach and its director Nadia Ayala hailed from Mexico.
“We tried to stay faithful to the script and we really followed the production plan closely. We were able to shoot all the scenes on schedule, and that’s really part of what made it such a positive experience,” says Hernández, who adds that they met the challenge to shoot the film in four weeks.
Starring Maite Perroni (“Rebelde”) and Fernanda Castillo (“The Lord of the Skies”), “Belleza” follows the intertwined lives of five women as they navigate body image, social pressure and identity at different stages of life, exploring self-acceptance, empowerment and the bonds between women.
The pic required a school setting as one of the characters was a teacher while another was a student. They found a former school that spanned nearly 645,835 sq. ft. (60,000 sq m) and included several buildings, which gave them the flexibility to accomplish a great deal in one place, essentially functioning as a backlot.
“One of the sisters, the youngest, plays baseball. We were able to find a sports complex in Bogotá with a baseball field where we filmed those scenes. For the office sequences, we also found some great locations that helped bring their professional lives to the screen,” Hernandez notes, who adds that 90% of the scenes were interior.
“Typically, we have problems to solve as we’re going through a shoot, but for me, sitting in Los Angeles, whatever problems they had to solve down in Colombia, never percolated back up to me. By the time I went down there a week before finishing, we were still under budget or on budget. So, for me, honestly, it was one of the easiest experiences we’ve ever had,” Presburger relates.
Founded about a year ago, Miércoles Entertainment teamed up with Hulu in October with the aim to bring U.S. Hispanic-targeted Spanish-language and bilingual shows that center on the Latino experience.
“Most of the content we’re bringing is being acquired but we also want make a couple of movies and series that we know will supercharge that audience,” says Presburger who co-founded Miércoles with his former Pantelion and Pantaya partners Edward Allen, Jim McNamara and Jacqueline Jimenez. “Belleza” is the first of the slate.
“We’ll make two to three films a year and a couple of series to start. Hopefully we’re going to grow into it and be able to do more in the future. And we’ll also come on board co-productions where we can come in early on the U.S. rights.”
Lionsgate will distribute “Belleza” across international TV platforms outside the U.S., including SVOD, cable, AVOD, FAST channels and its own global networks.
The deal launches a new slate of Miércoles Entertainment films to be handled by Lionsgate in the international TV space, with additional titles in development alongside BH5 and Secuoya Studios.
Produced by Rodrigo Trujillo of BH5 Studios and Miércoles Entertainment in co-production with Secuoya Studios, “Belleza” will be theatrically released by Mexican exhibition giant Cinepolis, which also invested in the movie.
