RTI Signs Volume Deals with Televisa & RCN

BOGOTÁ: RTI has entered a seven-year production deal with Mexico’s Televisa, and has landed a separate three-year pact with RCN for Colombia.

The deal between RTI and Televisa covers more than 500 hours a year of series and telenovelas for the Mexican network. The agreement includes two production lines, one in Colombia and one in Venezuela, but filming and broadcasts are covered for the U.S. and Mexico. The first novela to be produced under the new agreement is La otra cara (working title), a remake of La usurpadora.

A separate pact was struck with RCN. The first series being produced under this agreement is about the Castaño brothers, who created a paramilitary army to help fight guerrillas and drug trafficking.

Patricio Wills, the president at RTI, said that RTI’s telenovela style has been successful and has traveled well internationally, and is the kind of new novela that the company’s new partners are looking for. He thanked José Bastón and Fernando Pérez Gavilán at Televisa for the trust and freedom given for production.