Amazon Prime Video has appointed seasoned Mexican film and TV producer Leonardo Zimbron for the newly created position of head of film for Spanish-speaking Latin America, effective January.
Zimbron was most recently with Endemol Shine Boomdog where he led its scripted unit since 2018. He has moved to Miami where he will report to Javiera Balmaceda, head of local originals for Spanish-speaking Latin America at Amazon Studios.
With this new role, Zimbron fulfills his long-time ambition to expand his purview from Mexico to the rest of the region. It is unclear who will oversee Portuguese-speaking Brazil.
Zimbron’s film credits include some of the biggest box office hits in Mexico, taking in 2013 comedy “We are the Nobles” (“Nosotros los Nobles”) Gary Alazraki’s debut feature, which has been or will be remade in various territories, including the U.S.
Aside from founding his own production company, Traziende Films, Zimbron ran Warner Bros. Pictures’ local production operations in Mexico from 2004 to 2010. He produced a number of hit films with the studio, including “Efectos Secundarios,” “Bajo la Sal,” “No Eres Tu, Soy Yo” and “Viento en Contra.”
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Traziende Films’ credits include comedies such as Diego Kaplan’s “My Boyfriend’s Meds,” Issa Lopez’s “Todo Mal” and Jose Bojorquez’s “Mas Sabe el Diablo por Viejo.”
Zimbron has also produced such hits as Pantelion U.S. release, “Pulling Strings” and horror pic “Darker than Night,” the first 3D action movie produced in Mexico.
On the television side, he produced Netflix’s first original production in Mexico, the popular soccer-themed comedy series starring Luis Gerardo Mendez, “Club de Cuervos,” now on its fourth season.
Zimbron has held key industry positions in Mexico, including president of Canacine (Mexico’s National Chamber of the Film Industry) and president of its television producers association, PIMA.
Zimbron’s appointment signals Amazon Prime Video’s ramp-up of its commitment to local production in the region. Last November, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke announced that the studio planned to spend $300 million on local production in Mexico alone over the next three years.
Amazon executive chairman-founder Jeff Bezos revealed last year that its e-commerce giant Amazon Prime had reached 200 million subscribers worldwide. Streaming service Amazon Prime Video’s are lower, however. Here, Amazon goes up against streaming giant Netflix, which reports some 204 million subs worldwide while Disney Plus has more than 100 million.
According to LABS (Latin America Business Stories), Amazon Prime Video reaches some seven million subscribers in the region where it now ranks as the second biggest streamer.
Analysts from Digital TV Research predict that Disney Plus will outpace Amazon Prime Video in the next few years to rank second while Amazon Prime Video will vie for third place with HBO Max, which would be still make it a key player for film and TV in Latin America.
Given consumers’ insatiable demand for new original programming, the streaming giants and their creative teams face never-waning challenges to hold their current subscribers’ attention and gain new ones.
