Movistar Plus+ Internacional is born, a division that puts Movistar at the core of the distribution of its originals

María Valenzuela leads the new International area of Movistar Plus+ , with which the company gives a new direction to its international distribution strategy to independently lead the marketing phase of its originals.

Maria Valenzuela, responsible for strategy and international business development at Movistar Plus+ since last summer; Sunday Corral, original production director; and Purification Gonzalez, communications and marketing director have shared the keys to Movistar Plus+ International. This new division aims, as an “ultimate goal”, to defend the relevancia global del contenido audiovisual en español.

Con esta iniciativa, Movistar Plus+ busca pasar a gestionar directa e independientemente the distribución y comercialización de sus contenidos, una apuesta que vendrá acompañada por un refuerzo de la producción interna a todos los niveles. De esta forma, si bien las ficciones originales de Movistar+ seguirán siendo el eje de su estrategia, se redoblarán esfuerzos en la creación y distribución de contenido de no-ficción, feature films, entertainment formats y contenido asociado con el sport.

Los creators también serán protagonistas de esta nueva etapa, que encontrarán vías para dar rienda suelta a su creativity y soluciones para que sus formatos tengan un “largo recorrido internacional”. Tal y como ha remarcado Corral: “Esta decisión demuestra que, para Movistar Plus+, la apuesta pasa por la producción local y original”.

Al frente de esta área se encuentra Maria Valenzuela, profesional con una amplia experiencia en empresas como Sony Pictures o Buendía Studios. Valenzuela, que liderará un equipo formado por cerca de diez profesionales, ha reiterado que los objetivos de esta iniciativa son tanto “generar ingresos” para el entramado de Movistar Plus+, como “seguir reforzando” sus socios de cara a futuras co-productions. De esta forma, se busca repetir fórmulas exitosas como la coproducción de Fortune between Movistar Plus+ y AMC.

Sinergias y primeros pasos

En esta primera etapa de Movistar Plus+ International, la compañía no planea desligarse de los “valiosos partners” that have accompanied him during the last five years. Series distributed internationally with the assistance of third parties they will follow that same path, a formula that will be replicated with some of the new seasons of fiction in progress. However, the team led by Valenzuela plans that the vast majority of new productions be distributed in exclusive by Movistar Plus+ International. In any case, “the agreements will be made title by title”, as commented by the person in charge of strategy and international business development.

Likewise, this process of reinforcing internationalization will not entail a strategy that change the focus of productions. The content local in Spanish will continue to be the great bet of Movistar Plus+, either alone or accompanied by external production companies, as has been done recently with Portocabo to shape the successful Hierro. Likewise, the preferred markets will be Europa, Eastern Europe and the Americas.

While the brand Movistar Plus+ is consolidated in the international markets, the firm recognizes the warmth of applause with formats like Iron, Madrid Burns o Anti-disturbances, and the profitability of The pier (“an absolute success in Europe, according to Corral) or Perfect Life (“a very profitable fiction”).

After 34 fiction series (with 54 seasons and 391 episodes) and four movies since 2018, Movistar Plus+ International faces his next challenges with optimism: “We are in a fantastic moment to take this step,” he stated. Valenzuela, opening the doors to new news that will arrive soon at events such as the Malaga Festival, MIPTV o Mania Series.