People to Meet: Luis Peraza, EVP, original programming and acquisitions, HBO Lat-Am

Luis Peraza is the executive VP of original programming and acquisitions at Latin America and will be heading to NATPE to meet with producers and distributors.

What has been the defining content trend in the Latin American TV business in 2011 and how did HBO Latin America capitalise upon that?
On the pay-TV side the trend has been the production of original content and HBO has been the leading producer in the region terms of volume, quality and critical acclaim.

In terms of acquiring content, how useful is NATPE. How does it compare to MIP and MIPCOM?
NATPE is useful in keeping updated with distributors but in general, less acquisition deals are generated there for HBO.

There has been more and more original content on HBO Latin America ¬ what originals have worked best and what is coming up in 2012?
Fortunately, all of our original series have been very succesful (hence they won various awards & nominations).

Most recently, action/drama Profugos was very well received. In 2012 there will new seasons of Capadocia (Mexico) and Mandrake (Brazil) as well as a new series called Destino Sao Paulo (Brazil).

In addition, non-fiction magazine series Destino Deporte will continue with new episodes.

What is the mix of acquired and original content on your channels and is that mix changing at all?
The mix is our “secret recipe” and the original content (both US & LatinAmerica-produced) will increase in 2012.

You get a tremendous pipeline of content from the US HBO channels, which shows have proved the most popular with HBO Latin America¹s audiences?
Most US productions are popular in Latin America; True Blood, Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, etc., needless to say the same about The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Entourage that continue to be periodically available On Demand and soon through HBO GO.