ITVS, Cattleya start Spanish drama label

The UK’s ITV Studios (ITVS) and its Italian production subsidiary Cattleya are launching a Spanish scripted label and have hired Netflix exec Arturo Díaz to run it.

Arturo Díaz

Díaz has been named MD of Madrid-based Cattleya Producciones, ITVS’s first venture in Spain. The new company will specialise in the creation and production of high-end drama for Spain and the global market.

Díaz takes on the role after spending almost five years as director of local-language originals at Netflix, where he focused on Spanish-language series.

During this time, he worked on Las Chicas de Cable, Netflix’s longest-running non-US series, Élite and Memorias de Idhún in Spain; Club de Cuervos, Diablero and the reboot of Rebelde in Mexico and El Robo del Siglo and Frontera Verde in Colombia, among others.

Díaz’s pre-Netflix roles include head of content at Dynamo Producciones, producer at Sangre Films and development executive at NBCUniversal Media.

Cattleya Producciones will be overseen by Cattleya founder and co-CEO Riccardo Tozzi alongside his co-CEOs Giovanni Stabilini and Marco Chimenz, plus Lisa Perrin, MD of international production at ITVS. The company’s drama series will be distributed internationally by ITVS.

Diaz said: “Being at the forefront of the expansion of Spanish-language storytelling to a global audience has been absolutely thrilling and every day I see how many more avenues and possibilities there are for Spanish-speaking talent to work on series and films that impact Spain, Latin America and the rest of the world.

“Having ITV Studios and Cattleya as our companions in this journey, with their incredibly successful track record and network of contacts, unlocks even bigger opportunities for creators to tell their stories.”

Tozzi added: “Spain, indeed all the Spanish-speaking world, is incredibly rich with creative talent. Over the years, we have coproduced many films with Spanish partners and had the pleasure of working with some of their biggest stars. ITV Studios giving Cattleya this opportunity to work on Spanish productions – it’s like a dream come true for us. We are also extremely lucky to have Arturo Diaz as the MD to guide Cattleya Producciones in this vibrant, but also very competitive, market.”

Cattleya Producciones will look to employ a Spain-based team, which will be supported by ITVS and Cattleya’s Rome HQ.

Cattleya’s recent global hits include Sky drama series Gomorrah, Netflix’s first Italian original series Suburra, and Sky, Canal+ and Amazon Prime’s cocaine trade drama ZeroZeroZero.

Cattleya Producciones joins a number of European labels under the ITVS umbrella, including Apple Tree Productions in Denmark (Equinox, Blackwater), Tetra Media Studios France (Balthazar, Paris Police 1900), World Productions (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, The Pembrokeshire Murders) and Mammoth Screen in the UK (The Serpent, Poldark).