JC Acosta unveils Mediapro Studio US/Canada’s first English-language content

JC Acosta on the Media Mastermind Keynote panel

MIPCOM: The Mediapro Studio US/Canada has unveiled its first slate of English-language content, including four new TV series, a crime documentary and a local version of hit Spanish gameshow format Catch Me if You Can.

Appearing on a Media Mastermind Keynote panel here in Cannes, JC Acosta, who was appointed head of the US Studio in May, introduced the programming roster alongside key creatives and Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio.

From new offices in LA, former Paramount executive Acosta is responsible for the development, production and distribution of all English-language content at The Mediapro Studio US/Canada.

The LA office expands The Mediapro Studio’s footprint in North America, where it already has offices in Miami, New York and Toronto, in addition to a production facility at Great Point Studios in Yonkers, New York. Globally, The Mediapro Studio’s parent company has more than 50 offices.

“From our perspective, The Mediapro Studio is a global company and we are so blessed to be able to walk into the US and Canada with these assets,” he said. “We’re writing a new chapter with our talent, coproduction partners and commissioning partners.”

The first title announced was Witness 36, the story of a woman who creates identities for people in witness protection programmes. Acosta described it as a “truly global collaboration” between showrunner Evan Katz (24) and creator Daniel Burman (Yosi, the Regretful Spy).

Katz said: “The premise is fantastic and it doesn’t feel like a version of something you’ve seen before. The show will have really big stakes but the story itself is really personal, which is what I always look for.”

Son of the Bride, meanwhile, is a comedy drama TV series adaptation of the Argentinian film of the same name from 2001, about a dissatisfied middle-aged man who re-evaluates his life after a heart attack. The movie’s original director, Juan José Campanella (The Secret in Their Eyes), will write and direct.

“The kind of human comedy that I like to do is very scarce,” Campanella said. “A story like this can help and heal us.”

I Love the Prime Minister follows the life of a young female Canadian premier as she tries to juggle the demands of political office with finding romance. The show is created by Ran Tellem, with Matt Hastings attached as showrunner.

“It’s a show about a woman who’s plus-one is an entire country,” Tellem told delegates.

Screaming Balls of Chaos is a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde story in which a woman with a mysterious past recruits a male exotic dancer to help her rob banks.

Pam Healey

The slate includes unscripted titles such as Catch Me If You Can, a gameshow format that has aired for more than 10,000 episodes in Spain and will now be shopped to buyers in the US market. Anthony Carbone, executive producer and showrunner of The Floor, will adapt the format.

Pam Healey, head of unscripted content at The Mediapro Studio, said: “I’m super excited about this one. It’s a huge hit in Spain and we’re redeveloping it for primetime in the US.

True crime factual title Hollywood Homicide: Robert Blake unpacks how actor Blake (In Cold Blood) came to be accused of the 2001 murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

Feature films in production include Mother Wolf, starring and produced by Melissa Leo (Frozen River), and schizophrenia-themed Is There No Place on Earth for Me?, with John Turturro (The Night Of) on board as writer, director and star.