Mediapro’s New Boss: Laura Fernández Espeso On Her Day One Priorities, U.S. Production Ambitions & Penelope Cruz’s Slate

deadline.com:

When Laura Fernández Espeso sits down in Grup Mediapro‘s General Director seat for the first time on January 1, it will mark the latest notable step in a career that began in indie film working with award-winning directors Francis Ford Coppola, Danis Tanović and Ken Loach.

In her first interview as Mediapro’s new leader (or last as CEO of The Mediapro Studio, depending on which way you look at it), the Spanish exec tells Deadline, “It’s an amazing opportunity, a dream come true.” Fernández Espeso is certainly qualified.

Having led the Spanish firm’s production wing to make films and shows for the likes of Prime Video, Netflix, Max, Disney+, ViX, Movistar Plus+, Atresmedia and RTVE, she has become one of the most powerful execs in Europe and Spanish-language media, even while Mediapro’s wider business faced tough challenges such as falling revenues during the global pandemic.

She is a board member for the International Emmys and advocates for equal opportunities at exec, writing and acting levels. Fernández Espeso joined Spanish-language production giant Globomedia in 2009 as Director of International Development and Director of the Cinema Division, before moving to oversee its international TV and film unit and becoming a key player in the emerging co-production biz.