Spain’s Mediapro Studio appoints Hemisphere alum Bilbao for US production push

Spanish producer Mediapro Studio has appointed Carolina Bilbao as its VP of content and business development for the US as it looks to produce more in the market.

Carolina Bilbao

Bilbao will take the lead on productions in both English and Spanish in the US. She will report to Juan Pablo Santos, senior VP of content and business development, and Daniel Burman, director of content at Mediapro Studio US.

Bilbao previously spent 13 years at US-based Spanish-language media company Hemisphere Media Group, where she held several senior roles. She has also worked for Telemundo Network, Oxygen Channel, Lee Hunt & Associates in New York, Cisneros Television Group and MTV Networks Latin America.

Mediapro Studio’s slate of projects in the US includes Is There No Place on Earth for Me?, written and directed by John Turturro and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Susan Sheehan novel of the same name, and spy thriller The Doctor, directed by Assaf Bernstein.

In addition, this year Mediapro Studio completed production in the US on Las Bravas, a coproduction with WarnerMedia for HBO Max, and thriller Código Implacable, produced alongside Sony Pictures Television for Claro Video.

It has also made TV movie Hunting Ana Bravo, a coproduction with Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content, starring Kate del Castillo.

In 2019, Mediapro announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros to bolster its international operations and expand its global production slate as part of its Mediapro Studio initiative.

Burman said: “Carolina will be a great asset to the studio not only because of her wealth of experience in content production, but also her extensive knowledge of the industry in the US.”

Bilbao added: “Mediapro Studio has an incredible pool of creators with whom we can develop productions, not only for the North American market, but for a global audience who have a huge appetite for fresh content.”

Earlier this week, Mediapro Studio appointed Eugeni Sallent, its former country manager for Colombia and Italy, as head of its operations in Latin America.

Sallent will oversee all Mediapro Studio offices and productions in the region, reporting to Marta Ezpeleta, director of international offices and distribution at Mediapro Studio.