“Flee” and “Pride” producer Vice Studios looks set to build its presence in Latin America with a new order from Netflix, “La Divina Gula,” as well as the appointment of “Last One Laughing: Mexico” executive producer Edgar Jaramillo as senior director of unscripted for the region.
The latest move from Vice Studios, the global production arm of Vice Media Group, forms part of a drive to expand its offering across both unscripted and scripted content with a focus on Latinx stories, the company said Wednesday.
Th new series and appointment build on Vice Studios’ considerable success to date in Latin America as the producer of Diego Osorno’s doc series “1994” — showcased at 2019’s Los Cabos Festival and still one of Netflix’s finest achievements in the region — and a second title for the same U.S. streamer, “The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo,” which won an Ariel from the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
While Mexico’s cinema market is dominated by big family plays from Hollywood, its gastronomy remains a resilient mix of famed national dishes and extraordinary regional specialities: the suckling-pig tacos, Juchitan armadillo and worms from Oaxaca celebrated by Gael García Bernal’s character, for instance, in Mexican movie “You’re Killing Me, Susana.”
A six-part food series, “Heavenly Bites” (“La Divina Gula”) takes this exploration of Mexican gastronomic delights one step further, being described by Vice Studios as a culinary journey through Mexico that follows the characters who have created the most eccentric and delicious flavors by mixing their ingenuity with their passion for food.
“Heavenly Bites” is directed by Juan Márquez, an alum of Mexico City’s prestigious Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica and co-writer of Lila Avilés’ “The Chambermaid.” A best Mexican feature laureate at Mexico’s Morelia Festival, the film also scooped kudos at the Havana, Lima, Marrakech, Palm Springs, Portland and San Francisco festivals and the Platino Awards.
The series is created by Nacho Gil and Laura Woldenberg, narrated by Memo Villegas, executive produced by Laura Woldenberg, produced by Ivonne Gutiérrez and edited by Joaquín Celaa. Carlos Correa serves as cinematographer.
Elsewhere, through his new appointment, Jaramillo (pictured below) will oversee production operations in Latin America and will be responsible for growing Vice Studios’ non-scripted content pipeline in the region as well as developing and producing content focused on Latinx audiences. Based out of Los Angeles, he reports to Danny Gabai, head of Vice Studios U.S.
An International and Daytime Emmy-nominated creative, he has produced television for Endemol Shine Boomdog, Viacom and Talpa Media, among others, with his work playing on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, MTV, Univision and NBC Universal Telemundo. He recently executive produced three seasons of Amazon Prime Video’s “Last One Laughing: Mexico” and worked before that as co-executive producer on “La Gran Sorpresa” for Carnival Corporation, which filmed in over 10 countries.
“Edgar is a hugely talented creative who has already impressed us with his taste for strong characters, compelling stories and a very fresh perspective, and he has an unparalleled knowledge of the region — he is the perfect leader to grow our Latinx unscripted pipeline,” Gabai said.
“Vice Studios has a strong track record of producing premium unscripted content in Latin America and it’s exciting to join the business at this time of expansion,” Jaramillo added.
Edgar Jaramillo
Vice Media
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