Lionsgate & Televisa Link Up with Wilmer Valderrama

SANTA MONICA/VANCOUVER: Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) has entered into an overall first-look film and TV pact with Pantelion Films and South Shore, which are the film and TV ventures, respectively, between Lionsgate and Televisa.

Valderrama will develop feature projects to star in and produce for Pantelion. For South Shore, he will be producing scripted and unscripted TV projects.

The move comes on heels of South Shore and Pantelion having recently signed a similar deal with George Lopez.

“Wilmer is a versatile acting and producing talent with strong crossover appeal to mainstream U.S. and Latino audiences,” said Paul Presburger, CEO of Pantelion Films and managing director of U.S. TV studio division Televisa USA. “This deal is part of our strategy of continuing to build a roster of Latino talent who will produce and star in mainstream commercial films and TV series that incorporate Latino characters and themes, and resonate with Latino audiences. The success of Pantelion’s Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish–language film ever in the U.S., underscores how large that audience can be.”

“We’re delighted to expand our relationship with Wilmer, one of the stars of Pantelion’s first film, From Prada to Nada,” said Kevin Beggs, the chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group. “Lionsgate has proven adept at creating TV programming and films for specific demographic audiences, and Wilmer joins a roster of Latino talent that already includes George Lopez and Zoe, Cisely and Marel Saldana, and positions us to deliver original, compelling and commercially exciting films and TV shows to the Latino audience in the U.S.”