In two strategic appointments as co-production becomes the order of the day, Secuoya Studios has launched a new European Sales and Global Co-Production Division, overseen by Brendan Fitzgerald, ex Sony Pictures Entertainment senior exec who joined Secuoya Studios as its CEO at the beginning of the year. 

The Division’s first director will be María García-Castrillón, who has been named its Head of International Co-Productions. Former Grupo Boomerang TV’s Camino de Valcárcel has joined the division as an executive. 

Announced on the eve of Conecta Fiction, the Europe-Americas co-production forum, the new division launch and first appointments come as the TV industry as a whole is turning to co-production to not only counteract spiralling production costs but also to retain IP ownership, building company asset value. 

The new appointees’ brief is broad. “We are happy to be able to announce the incorporation of María García and Camino de Valcárcel to the Studios team. Their presence will contribute to the reach for opportunities of co-production with other companies and expansion in new markets,” Fitzgerald said in a written statement. “Equally, this division will develop collaboration between creative teams, which defines the Studios’ very essence and that of the Secuoya Group, as well as generating innovative projects.”  

“The new area will oversee projects in development with international reach, courting production alliances with producers ad networks around the world. These will include pre-sales – hence the Division’s title – given the emergence of European broadcasters, both pubcaster and big commercial players, as a first port of call for anchor pre-sales which form part of a show’s financing package. 

García-Castrillón and Valcárcel will also look for third-party projects that have chosen to shoot in Spain. Here, Secuoya Studios can flip a purely foreign shoot into a co-production offering a mix of equity participation and tax credits. 

María García Castrillón brings a lot to the table in the breadth of her expertise and length of her work experience. 

Working at Continental Producciones and then Latido Films over 2002-05, Garciá-Castrillón climbed the ranks at Spain’s Boomerang Group, serving as a manager in sales (2008-16) and scripted international co-production (2016-19) before heading up international (2019-2020).

In 2020, she was head-hunted by Mexico’sDopamine Content, where she served as head of international business through May 2024. 

Recent career highlights take in executive production on the groundbreaking  “Cicatriz,” from Plano a Plano and Dopamine, Celina Murga’s “The Smell of Freshly Cut Grass,” backed by Martin Scorsese, and BBC series “Granite Harbour.” 

Valcárcel has worked at Grupo Boomerang TV and La Competencia Producciones as an assistant in business development, sales and international co-production.