The Latin American arm of The Walt Disney Company unveiled their upcoming Star+ slate, including Nada, with Robert de Niro playing a key role, Ringo, el Campeon del Pueblo, Pancho Villa, El Centauro del Norte and How to Be a Carioca.
What’s Happening:
- According to Variety, The Walt Disney Company Latin America was among the first of the studios to produce local content in the region, making Latino versions of Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy to start.
- On July 26th, the company began streaming one of its more ambitious shows, Santa Evita on Star+ Latin America, Hulu in the U.S. and Disney’s Star label in the rest of the world.
- The Pancho Villa series, shot mostly in Jalisco, Mexico, features live battle scenes and extraordinary production values, as does Ringo, filmed in Argentina – clearly inspired by such boxing classics as Rocky and Raging Bull – about Argentine heavyweight boxing champion Oscar “Ringo” Bonavena.
- On finding the right actor to portray Ringo, Mariana Pérez, VP, head of development and production, The Walt Disney Company Latin America, said “we take into account two key factors in making a show, the script, which can take eight to 10 months to get right and once there is a good script, director, etc. we search for the right lead, which, as Fernando described, finding the actor to play Ringo wasn’t easy.”
- C.H.U.E.C.O., Disney’s first original Latino sitcom for its sister streaming platform, Disney+, is also being produced.
- The series stars Argentina’s wildly popular comedian, Dario Barrasi, and Mexican comedian Consuelo Duval.
- The sitcom, produced by Buenos Aires-based Non Stop, revolves around a father (Barrasi) who is in dire financial straits until a rich uncle passes and bequeaths his fortune to him under one condition: He must take care of his chimp. Manipulated by a combination of puppetry, animatronics and direct handling, the chimp proves to be quite a handful for the patriarch and his family.
- On October 19th, bio-series O Rei da TV, a Gullane production about Silvio Santos, the Brazilian entrepreneur, media tycoon and television host, will be released.
- “It’s a big bet for our platform in Brazil,” said Barbosa who added that the show would be streamed worldwide.
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