Unicorn Content: the story that gives meaning to today

How to remain relevant today in a world ultrasaturated by information continuously released through social networks? Unicorn Content You have found the answer to the question. He shares it in this interview with Xelo Montesinos, CEO; Yaiza Mené, production director, and Ainhoa ​​Clemente, post-production coordinator.

After leading Quartz and accompany the production company in its first steps after its acquisition by Banijay, Xelo Montesinos decided to found his own company hand in hand with Ana Rosa Quintana. Free from ties, Unicorn Content was born in 2018 to continue telling stories for on top of everything. Currently, it has become the second production company that accumulated the most hours of premieres and rebroadcasts on screen with a 5,7%, only behind Mediapro (6.7%) according to one of the latest GECA studies.

He has achieved this by relying on a wide selection of content spanning from the approach to the present with the focus on the stories that involve Ana Rosa's Program, It's Already Midday, Four a Day o 120 minutes; documentaries with an important bill like Dolores o The little Prince; contests from yesterday and today like Lingo o Tupper Club, y fictions as Disappeared.

Xelo Montesinos, CEO; Yaiza Mene, production director, y Ainhoa ​​Clemente, post-production coordinator (a more than representative sample for the commitment to female talent at Unicorn Content), share the producer's career, they reflect on the state of the television industry, they analyze the linear technological changes, they address the production processes within the chain and anticipate the more immediate future of the company.

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Stories in an uncertain world

With only five years of experience, Unicorn Content has accumulated important recognition both industrially and in terms of audiences. Is there a common denominator that identifies your production and helps explain your success?

Xelo Montesinos: “From the beginning we were clear that we are a content company and our goal is to tell stories. It is my nature, that of Ana Rosa and it extends beyond our mother program. From there, stories can be told in many ways, in many formats and on different platforms. That is the vocation with which Unicorn was born. Our common denominator? Create teams that believe in projects and tell stories, whether with current affairs programs or documentaries such as Dolores o The little Prince, or through fiction.

A point of origin for Unicorn Content could be defined, outside of the business initiative itself, in Quartz. What lessons or foundations do you draw from this stage to shape Unicorn Content? Could you say that it was a continuation of the project?

X.M: “I see it as an expansion. When I became director of Cuarzo I reached the last step of what I had left to learn and experience. Before, I had gone through practically all the departments: programs, content, projects. At this time I was also able to have contacts with different international partners to learn more keys about how to develop the international part of the projects. This whole experience came in handy once I decided to take the leap. Although we work in a very horizontal way, I always listen to what the team leaders tell me and try to reach a consensus agreement. We want the content not to hinder production, that the production not hinder the content and, at a business level, that the growth of the company does not paralyze a good project, even if it may not have the expected benefit."

Xelo Montesinos: “We want the content does not hinder production, production do not hinder the content and, at the level business, that the growth of the company does not paralyze a good project, although may not have the expected benefit.”

The pandemic benefited the production of current affairs formats. We now find ourselves in a period marked by uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine. Is this imminent lack of certainty taking part in conversations within production companies like Unicorn Content?

X.M: “Currently we still have a lot of work, but it is true that we have noticed that everything is more budget-friendly. I have talked about it with other production companies and it is practically happening in all productions, platforms and networks. I understand that this is a response to being a little forward-thinking about what may happen, but I can assure you that at the production level we are the same or even with more projects. I hope it continues like this.”

Yaiza Mené: “And with the pandemic we have not stopped. We have been one of the few producers that not only did not decrease its volume, but even increased it.”

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The value of the image

The news is your core, although entertainment or documentaries are areas that are developing strongly at Unicorn Content. What is it about live streaming that, even in an era in which non-linear consumption, continues to play such a determining role?

X.M: “Currently and immediacy. It is true that it is increasingly diversified and you can find information through social networks or digital newspapers. But, in the end, we are looking for something that goes beyond that information: stories. For example, thanks to the age of technology, we have been able to tell personal stories about the war in Ukraine or about the La Palma volcano in real time. Now you can talk to someone who has the bombs on them with their computer or mobile phone. That type of thing makes everything live with a feeling of reality that surpasses the information itself. Why does it work so much or will it continue to work from my point of view? Because when there is such global news, in the end television is what unites all families.”

This type of content could not have been developed without a paradigm shift in terms of the quality of the images that can be broadcast on television...

X.M: “Now, when you put on the news, 60 or 70% of the images that are broadcast come from mobile phones or social networks. That doesn't mean you can't have certain levels of quality, but almost all of that is being left more for documentaries; for longer stories covered in depth. In the case of daily information, the news is above everything and the image is above the quality of the image itself.”

Yaiza Mené: “At first, the Telecinco technical control screamed to heaven when an image was broadcast over mobile o one Skype with poor coverage. Now they have realized that are an option”.

Is this change in imaging requirements also resulting in mobile phones replacing broadcast backpacks?

Y.M: “It is something that is already done, since it is important to be able to experience the news first-hand. At first, Telecinco's technical control cried foul when an image was broadcast via cell phone or Skype with poor coverage. Now they have realized that they are an option. A backpack can give you a quality of 10, but cell phones, unless the entire image they offer you is a single pixel, are another source to take into account.”

X.M: “There are more and more applications for mobile phones and 5G has already reached backpacks. Of course, we have gone through the desert when the transition from direct satellite to backpacks occurred, since at first they failed permanently and everything became pixelated. However, it then stabilized. When the pandemic arrived, the same thing happened. You couldn't travel, and there were stories after stories. That's when we started with Skype, Zoom… and everything was failing until it stopped failing.”

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Hand in hand with televisions

When creating current affairs programs with Mediaset (Ana Rosa's program, It's already noon) or Telemadrid (120 minutes), How are production efforts divided?

Y.M: “In both cases they are approached in a similar way. They provide their facilities, such as a set and technical personnel, to carry out the entire production: cameras, production control, etc. Unicorn Content provides, so to speak, the content team. Production, editors…”

In the event that these own television resources are not available, does Unicorn Content handle all the technical production or do you prefer to have an associated production company to tackle that side of the project?

Y.M: “There is no single defined line, since each project has its particularities and must be seen in isolation. In the case of LimboAlthough they give up the set, we add other production resources. For example, when we make documentaries, we do absolutely everything: from pre-production to production and post-production. In the end, what we have to do is deliver the “tape in hand” to the chain. It is true that these projects give us greater room for maneuver to look for suppliers who can provide us with the quality we are looking for.”

Yaiza Mené: “Las platforms They have some minimums that they let you know from the beginning both at the level of recording, as conservation, security o post-production. If you don't reach those minimums, “They are not going to accept your format.”.

Outside of linear television, Unicorn Content has begun to work closely with platforms such as HBO Max or Amazon Prime Video. Can you see the difference in developing a project between both channels?

X.M: “Yes, it does show. The process of contacting them is similar. They know you are in the market and you know what they are looking for. (…) As the projects progress, a relationship of trust is created either because we know them well or because they know our know-how. In the end, they are waiting for you to bring them new projects to try to work with you. We also want to work with them, obviously.”

Y.M: “At the production level, it could be said that we have to work a little more demandingly, for example, at a technical level. The platforms have minimums that they let you know from the beginning, both at the level of recording and conservation, security or post-production. If you don't meet those minimums, they won't accept your format. “We have had to adapt to this new circumstance.”

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Post-production, the path of the virtual

How does post-production work at Unicorn Content? Do they have dedicated positions? Do you rely on external suppliers for both assembly and grading?

Ainhoa ​​Clemente: “At Unicorn we create post-production teams according to the format we have in hand at all times. This makes us better define the type of professional we need, because the same person does not always fit us in the editing and post-production of documentaries or in contest formats or any other type. In principle, in all our products we form a team in a first phase that is dedicated to the assembly of the content, and in a second phase to post-production and image processing. We try to ensure that the result of the editing and the work done in the editing rooms is as close as possible to the final product that viewers see, giving special prominence to the sound design and the photo and graphics proposal of the producers. The part that we usually outsource is the final processes, such as sound mixing and grading, because we use more specific companies in these fields. In this sense, we have trusted suppliers who have been carrying out the work almost since the production company began. This means that the synergies and work processes have the results that we proposed from the beginning and implementation of the projects.”

Ainhoa ​​Clemente: “In recent years we have been trying to implement the copies of our audiovisual materials in Virtual servers for avoid risk of storage in physicist”.

How do you manage all the assets audiovisuals involved in the construction of your different formats?

A.C: “We have, on the one hand, a server in which we store the audiovisual products that we are making, and various recurring work projects that are property of the company. In addition, in each project we rent a NEXIS or ISIS to store and network without problems, also including a physical disk copy of the audiovisual materials of the program in question. We keep this copy depending on the protocol of the client with whom we work or we deliver it once the work in question is completed. On the other hand, in recent years we have been trying to implement copies of our audiovisual materials on virtual servers, to avoid the risk of physical storage. We try to take maximum care of this type of storage processes, given that the material we work with is sensitive and also our high production means that sometimes the volume is not easy to manage. Although this, without a doubt, is a good sign.”

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More stories, online and in fiction

Beyond their production of current affairs, entertainment and fiction, in 2021 they began to carry out branded content. How has this area developed?

X.M: "He branded content It has become a constant in our production, but they are small projects. The R&D team is usually responsible for this content and there are people dedicated to the daily development of this type of content. Sometimes a project can come out branded of larger dimensions, which implies a greater production effort. In that case, a small team is created to produce that content, adding talent from other departments.”

How does the immediate future of Unicorn Content look like? What are the areas in which you would like to bet more strongly in the immediate future?

X.M: “We would like to move towards fiction and digital. We are going to explore all the possibilities to create content aimed at social networks. It's something we've been thinking about for a long time and that I would like to do. We have several pending meetings with people specialized in the area. On the other hand, we have the fiction part that we want to continue expanding, obviously without forgetting everything in which we are already dedicated: live programs for general television or research programs with a documentary approach for platforms. “We are going to continue along that line.”

An interview by Sergio Julián Gómez

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