Amazon Prime Video’s Pablo Iacoviello

Six months into the pandemic, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Studios committed $6 million to support television and film production in the European creative community. A year ago, the platform confirmed a series of new productions and donations to Covid-19 funds to support the television, film and theater industries in Mexico. To talk about the current landscape of local production in Latin America, TV Drama met with Pablo Iacoviello, content director for Latin America at Amazon Prime Video, who reflects on the work done during these last two years, production and viewing trends, development and original local productions.

TV DRAMA: How was viewing increased for Amazon Prime Video in the LatAm region during the pandemic? What role has the company’s catalog played in this regard?
IACOVIELLO: We launched in December of 2016 in the region, and after working at a more profound level, Prime Video became one of the most important players in Latin America. Our focus has always been the same: offer the best content catering to our viewers, including originals, exclusives, non-exclusives or licensed content, but always with a strong slate with series like Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Boys, as well as films like Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Coming 2 America. Content is critical; it’s what boosts business, but the important thing is having a great product, ample distribution and excellent marketing. We’re thrilled and proud of the work we’re doing with that combination.

TV DRAMA: You mentioned there’s been an evolution since the platform’s launch in LatAm in 2016. You started out offering international productions and then focused on original productions. What have been the greatest challenges in this space?
IACOVIELLO: Our aim is to find local and foreign content that attracts clients to offer quality titles. This has been Prime Video’s great model around the world. Recently, the challenge has been everything related to the pandemic. It’s affected the way we live, communicate and work. Our focus has been to create that content we desperately need, which is fundamental, in a safe and secure environment for our talent and crew.

We understand we’re not the only ones that have been negatively impacted; it has extended to the entire industry. We recently announced a donation of over $2.5 million in LatAm to give a boost to the film and television industries in the region. We’ve been working closely with most local governments and organizations in each country to give the necessary support to the industry. Covid-19 has been the greatest challenge, and we need the entire industry to step up, not just us.

TV DRAMA: I’ve spoken with many producers in the region, and they mentioned that they’ve been able to focus more on development during the lockdowns. Was it the same case for you? How did you continue to work and nurture creators and producers in Latin America?
IACOVIELLO: Everybody had a lot of time to write. I recently met a couple of writers who told me that the last year and a half is when they had produced and exploited their talent the most; they did nothing but write. We had already been working and developing. Original production is our focus. In Mexico, we’d been working on many projects and have a stable offering of shows that were recorded before the pandemic, as well as LOL: Last One Laughing, for which a new season was produced with Eugenio Derbez during Covid; the second season of El juego de las llaves, also done during the pandemic, and Pan y Circo.

We also had other projects that had launched just before the start of the pandemic or had been recorded [and ready to be released] at that time. El Presidente, which launched in 2020, and La Jauría are good examples. Another case is Maradona: Sueño Bendito, which launched recently in Argentina. The post[production] work we did on the series during the pandemic was very interesting.

There are other projects [that are part of the titles we were working on] that debuted in LatAm. This gave us the opportunity to offer volume to the rest of our slate in the region. On the film side, we have Causalidad, Porno y Helado, with Susana Giménez; Iosi, el espía arrepentido, with Natalia Oreiro; El fin del amor, with Lali Espósito. From Chile, we’re launching Sobrevivientes de Colonia Dignidad, which offers an interesting look into the subject matter, and in Colombia, we’re launching Noticia de un secuestro, A Grito Herido and Primate.

We’ve been able to come up with a process focusing on development and leveraging the opportunity of planning to make these productions. We’re very excited.

TV DRAMA: What trends are you seeing in terms of genres? Has the pandemic influenced what you’ll be producing in the future?
IACOVIELLO: Audiences are all different. Each person has their own preference, and we try to satisfy them all, but clearly there’s content that’s more popular. We identify as having high-quality titles with talent people can relate to.

Local content has the advantage of being more relatable. A good example is the series on Maradona, which expands on the icon’s growth and his environment and humanizes him. It investigates his origins and family relationships. The project was very successful in the region. It’s the most-watched series in Spanish in the U.S. on Prime Video. It had a significant impact around the world, including in Europe—Spain, Italy—Asia and India. People can relate. These types of stories cross boundaries. The darker they are, the more successful they’ll be.

TV DRAMA: As the number of productions continues to rise, not only for your company but also for others, how are you working with creators and new talent?
IACOVIELLO: Competition is the greatest challenge; there are many players in the same playing field. Netflix and Clarovideo already existed, as well as Amazon Prime Video. Recently, Disney+, Star+ and HBO Max have come on board, and Univision is working on its platform. They are all strong companies, with very talented and smart people. So, everyone is looking and competing for the same talent, in front of and behind the camera.

We were lucky to have started working before all these players did, and we were able to show the industry our work ethic, respecting the talent and creating the “house of talent” concept, which placed us in a very privileged position.

Beyond that, we firmly believe in acknowledging new talent. To tell stories, we need the best—and not only those who are established and well known. There’s plenty of great talent in the region. A few years ago, we met Joanna Chefo in Argentina, with whom we developed a fresh idea. We got together with Kapow, and Ana Katz came on board. Supernova was born. It’s a production with Canal 9 that we’ll be debuting.

We believe in the talent we’re already working with, as well as finding new talent and creating diversity. That said, we continue focusing on our users, looking at how to serve and offer them content they can enjoy. Competition is obviously a challenge, but Prime Video has an edge.