Shine Establishes Spanish-Language Division

LOS ANGELES: Shine America has dedicated a new division to the development and production of original Spanish-language content for the U.S. and Latin American markets.

Cristina Palacio has been named president of the unit, Shine Hispanic & Latin America. Palacio was most recently the founder and president of the Colombia-based production company BE-TV. She will report to Rich Ross, the CEO of Shine America. Palacio will oversee new Shine America offices in Miami and Bogota. All programming will be distributed through Shine International.

"With Shine Hispanic & Latin America we are looking to further develop and distribute both scripted and unscripted programming to the rapidly growing Spanish-language marketplace," said Ross. "Cristina’s vast experience in production and distribution make her the ideal person to lead our new team."

Shine Group CEO Alex Mahon added: “Christina is a brilliant, respected and versatile creative executive and as such naturally suited to both leading our drive into the Latin American market and collaborating with her like-minded peers across Shine. We are particularly excited about the creative potential of the Hispanic market in the U.S. and her experience will turbo charge the business we have started. We welcome her warmly to the group.”

"I am thrilled to take on this new role, where I can continue to work with many of my colleagues in Colombia and at the same time lead Shine America further into the Spanish-language programming business,” commented Palacio. “Shine has so many executives that I respect and admire, as well as a wealth of formats from across the globe that we plan to develop and distribute across the U.S. and Latin America.”