Sum Content: Within the creative universe of the Javis with Beltrán Gortázar

Beltrán Gortázar, CEO of Suma content, transfers the pillars that support the producer led by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (Los Javis), authors of formats such as The call, poison or the imminent The Messiah.

The office of Suma content located in Madrid is a museum. There are details that allude to PS Management of the memorable Paquita Salas, and splashed the Walls fragments of scripts and Photographs of the projects promoted by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. Each image is identifiable and is part of the pop culture of the last decade in our country: one more evidence of the ability to connect with the Javis audience, omnipresent also from the point of view of talent in formats such as Drag Race Spain, Operation Triunfo or Mask Singer.

After devoting themselves to interpretation, they decided to undertake their First original creation formats Taking the producer as audiovisual Latin sum, with which in co -production format they shape Poison next to Atresmedia Studios, among other formats. In October 2021 it was presented in society Suma content, and Rebranding that would bring one new organizational structure and a renewed ambition. For this project, the Javis joined Beltrán Gortázar, who in the past had worked for firms such as Google, YouTube or Coca-Cola. His experience and training in the field of business allowed to constitute an armed producer to undertake regardless of projects of all types of scale.

It is not always easy to undertake a Transition of this draft And, at the same time, present a New brand that seeks to become Absolute market reference. The own Gortázar, CEO of Suma contentexplains the for those and Underline the ambitious objectives of this producer, that bets on creativity without losing sight of the industrial reality in which it is.

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An unexpected jump

What limitations did you identify in sum Latin to boost a conversion in sum Content?

I think the summary reality replies to the reality of its members. Add Latina was a perfect tool for what were the first years of the Javis. Through associations with third parties they could work in Incredible projects; However, there is a moment of saturation in which you are prepared for the next step.

Sum content is the tool with which it has been possible instrumentalize that evolution. The company has other internal management and development mechanisms that allow working with a very different scale than in sum Latin.

Apart from the industrial issue, there are creative derivatives They also influence. Now, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi are willing to cover more, being producers as well as directors or writers. Add content, in short, allows you to articulate this new moment.

Sum Content is about to reach the year of public life. How has the project escalated from sum Latin?

Honestly, we thought we were going to have a Much more stepped growth. The reality of the industry, our desire, our concern and the vital moment in which we are led us to face Four productions in one year. From zero to four. Imagine! We start with A Christmas with Samantha Hudson, a first encapsulated little thing to grease machinery. From there, it starts Cardo; Dressed blue, which is the continuation of Poison; y The Messiah, That is a way. It has been completely unexpected that we start with those four productions in a year, but the truth is that we are at the time of put the world behind us.

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Creating the most relevant markets in the market

Until now, the sum of Sum Content has been the content for television and new screens. Are you also in your focus, entertainment, branding or transmedia?

We are open to everything. We have started very fast with great projects, which I think we have tended towards the television part. The cinema is on the near horizon, although it has slower cooking periods. We also feel like doing a lot entertainment. If right now you raise a survey on television programs, I am sure that the public would be looking forward to seeing something produced by sum. Luckily, and because we are great enthusiasts of TV programs, we are already working on some proposals.

Our aspiration is that three or four products that we will launch a year are the Most relevant market.

The part of branding It is also on the horizon, but maybe not so much from the sum Content brand, but as an extension with another type of brand and drinks from synergies of the central brand. At the moment and being in such an initial phase of the company, our focus is on fiction, cinema and entertainment.

Sum Content has started at a very special market. How do they face the possible instability involved in the transformation of the platform market?

We should not look at the navel so much. How does the Banking Sector live unpredictability? How is the sector of the startups? There is unpredictability everywhere!

In our case, our obsession has been strengthen our proposal and anchor our Differential points, those in which we are stronger: a very obsessive for quality, a level of Exquisite production and one Author's defense. These stamps allow us to differentiate and offer a very relevant product. From there, it is true that the market is changing. There are certain signs of regrouping or redefinition of the strategy around quality and not in volume. That's where we are strong. Sum Content is not a volume company. If I hurry me, I would say that we have already reached our maximum capacity in the first year.

Our seal will always be quality and relevance. Our aspiration is that the three or four products that we launch a year are The most relevant in the market. If that is where the market is directed, then we are on the right side of the story.

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The Javis, Creativity Axis

How do decision -making processes work in short? How do you coordinate when making decisions about projects Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi and you?

In sum Content there is a part Creative that is totally led by the Javis And another very differentiated business part that I coordinate, although They are never alone And ultimately they are always present in these decisions.

Los Javis They are not the Typical producer That one day goes by filming. Produce, but have also been read Until the last coma of the last script And they have discussed absolutely everything: until the The protagonist's wig color.

The fact that Calvo and Ambrossi lead all the creative aspects of sum content is fundamental from the Business point, since it gives me the peace of mind that every project that is presented to the client has an unusual quality standard in the market. When they take a project, what enhance and develop it to the maximum to get the creators to achieve maximum excellence. It is a real luck for an entrepreneur to have that great confidence in the product you are offering.

Therefore, they not only produce, but they offer a very defined creative advice.

The Javis They are not the typical producer That one day goes by filming. They produce, but they have also read until the last coma of the last script and have discussed absolutely everything: Until the color of the protagonist's wig. They address every detail with the objective that the creator thinks every key and is safe with the decision.

Of the four sum content of this year, only one is written by Javier Calvo and Ambrossi and, of which they will start next year, none. You must have confidence in the authors and help them deliver The best possible version of your project.

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New proper names

The Javis have their own brand as creators. What importance gives sum to the creation of new talents and proper names for the audiovisual world?

Is one of our goals clue. One of Sum Content is being able to generate a brand that is a External talent attraction focus. In the end, for being more focused on quality than in volume, it is difficult for us to accommodate all the proposals, so you end up tending to talent that comes for another talent. In any case, sum content has generated Illusion in the market: not only in customers, but also in creators, who see the producer as a Creative Freedom Refuge and development. This makes us receive very special projects and a very gross and polishing talent, but what is Very magical.

One of the Great challenges of Suma content era transcend To the brand "Javis”.

Do they plan, in the future, to offer a squad of creators that can create different formats for their customers?

One of the great challenges of sum content was Transcend the “Javis” brand. A series of the Javis is going to love everyone, but a sum series was about to see. I think it is a totally fulfilled objective, basically because of the demand we have and the interest in working with sum and with the creators of sum. The test is Cardo, a series that is not written or directed by the Javis, but which was the series that achieved the most awards last year ..

It is not about separating the Javis from the sum brand, because it would not make sense: they are the soul, hands, body and everything, in short, of this company. But it was important that the market trusted the sum brand and its creators, and how, with the production of the Javis, great projects can be done.

Cardo or Poison They are two series that have received international recognition. Does Content tell global stories based on the Spanish context or is this context that may interest audiences around the world?

It is a mistake to make projects designed out. The local and the real, if it is true, It ends up being relevant to everyone. The example is Poison, A transsexual, television and the 90s that become a global icon. It is not necessary to make it American or paint from it a thing that was not, but try to make a local story that ends up being global. You have to count the Best possible story And that this is relevant, first, for the author. If so, there are many possibilities that what you want to count is relevant to more people.

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Alliances with industry

Sum Content is producing solo formats, although in some cases, such as The Messiah, We talk about originals. What is your position regarding co -productions?

We are not closed to Coproductions, since they are very important alliances and each partner can provide different elements to grow the project.

Until now, the productions are making them alone along with the chain to which the series is directed. But, from a predisposition point of view, we are open to all models.

As is a mercado with Much demand, although You try to have certain suppliers, there are times what is impossible.

Sum Content is currently in charge of all phases of the production of your formats. Do you currently have some key suppliers to undertake the most technical part of your productions?

The processes are very long and we have many suppliers for each production. Many times It depends on the chain itself or platform, since each client has their own technical requirements of delivery, sound or formats. Currently, we have two or three production equipment who are accustomed to working with suppliers with which they already have previous experiences. Even so, it is curious, since, being in a Mercado with a lot of demand, it is usual not to be able to repeat with certain equipment or suppliers in repeated productions.

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The Messiah: The great sum content project

Has been defined to The Messiah as a project of great dimensions, overcoming the size of fictions in itself as ambitious as Poison. How does this translate from a production or objective point of view?

It is difficult to enter the production part without counting details, because everything is quite magical. In addition, from the technical point of view, it is rolling from a very special way. If we talk about the resources of the production itself, whether equipment or time, we find an approach that is not usual.

The Messiah It is a project that will be Very defining in the history of Suma content And I can only tell you that, when you talk about the shooting weeks, Everyone lifts eyebrows.

Isn't it usual in the world of fiction or cinematographic?

You could say that everything has a more cinematographic scale And it is especially careful. It shows in all kinds of details. In another production you could roll the interior of a floor and go to anyone as long as it met the requirements. Here, everything is planned in detail. There is an ambition to make this a Single project, something that is not usual because it is very difficult to find the partner That has the ability to bet in such a wild way for something like that. We have been lucky to have the best possible travel companion, Movistar Plus+.

I am convinced that it will be a Very defining project In the history of sum Content. I can only tell you that when talking about the shooting weeks everyone lifts your eyebrows!

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Cardo and emerging windows

Another curious case is Cardo, a series awarded worldwide, but has had a limited window in our country such as Atresplayer Premium, still in the process of consolidation. Is Content, is ready to give up a certain exhibition in the market in exchange for being able to carry out projects as personal as the one at hand?

Completely. I think, if Atresplayer did not exist, there would be Many stories that would never see the light. As an industry we have to feel overwhelmed that this window exists. We work and have projects with all platforms, both in development and in production. Obviously, working with a very large platform has some exposure windows that a smaller one cannot give you. But I sincerely believe that Cardo I would never have seen the light out of Atresplayer.

Cardo I would never have seen the light Out of Atresplayer

That there are many channels is great because you can do things totally thought for a huge thing, and then more products rock and roll how Cardo.

At that point the confidence that Atresmedia could have with the Javis could be key.

Total. But they do not have it only with us, but because they are genuinely a platform that bets on projects for which no one bets. For example, The route It looks incredible. The existence of windows like Atresplayer Premium is Fantastic for industry, since you can raise different projects according to brand, seal or needs; and for the Spectators, which are the ones that will end up enjoying all kinds of content.

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The moment of rock and roll

A few months ago you confirmed that you had nine development projects. In which phase is your production currently?

Some of those products have passed to green light, but surely they will not be released until 2024. The issue of deadlines is complicated in our sector. Common sense tells me that next year we will release the second season of Cardo, Dressed in blue and The Messiah. Everything else will be for 24.

What are the short and medium term sum targets?

The challenge goes through digest everything that has happened. Apart from that, we want the projects that are released next year maintain the impact and relevance we were looking for. It is not just about sell and produce: It is key that they maintain the level of impact on the market, industry and public.

We are at the time of rock and roll and go for all, working libre And taking out several productions per year.

Beyond that, we want, of course, to open ourselves to the rest of the windows. We are interested in medium -term cinema and entertainment. And, of course, consolidate the model we have created this year: the one that shapes a site of freedom, with rigor in production and be a partner Market trust. That the industry knows that it is not only written and addresses well, but also occurs well, with a high quality standard.

When reference the "growing in windows", does it also refer to reaching other types of agreements with distribution platforms in Spain and in the rest of the world?

Undoubtedly, ending having exclusive agreements with production companies or very specific creators is a trend between platforms. In our case, these types of proposals have reached us and, after evaluating it, We have rejected them on all occasions.

Our vital moment has been key To make that decision. When you get leagues to an exclusive agreement you live very well and, of course, something to value, since you work with just one client and you have other types of dynamics, demand and volume of work. But, when we have done the analysis, we have concluded that we are in our 30 and at the time of the rock and roll and go for all, working libre And taking out several productions per year.

We are in a very changing industry, which always makes it open to rethink our own the status quo. But, in any case, right now we have the loaded batteries To continue with this Dynamics that we are passionate about.

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