In a sign of new growth plans afoot, leading Chilean company Quijote Films (“The Settlers”) has appointed former Fabula COO, Sergio Carme, to lead the company’s new business drive.
“Since the beginning, Quijote has been known for producing internationally acclaimed, award-winning and world-premiered auteur works,” said Giancarlo Nasi, founder of Quijote Films, which opened an office in Los Angeles a few years ago. “Thanks to the success of the established model and the company’s good financial health, we were able to invest in opening a new strategic division within the company where we develop our own projects internally.” He added that Quijote, which operates out of the Chilean capital Santiago and Los Angeles, aims to “generate new business models.”
“The idea is to use our proven ability to raise public funds, invest in private equity, and partner with streaming platforms and broadcasters around the world to expand into documentaries, series, and more mainstream genres, while always maintaining the excellence and quality we have strived for,” Nasi said. diverse.
As Quijote's new chief strategy officer, Karmi will lead the new ventures division where the company will explore more commercial genres, including romantic comedy, adventure, youth sports and a variety of non-fiction projects.
“Kigute has a long history of working in co-production,” Karmi noted. “This has been the model through which all of her films have been financed.”
According to Nasi, Quixote has shot more than 20 feature films in regions such as Chile, Colombia, Spain, Ukraine, Germany, Argentina and Peru, and has co-produced films with more than 22 countries, including Mexico, Poland, France, Taiwan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
For example: Chile's official entry to the Oscars, The Settlers, won the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes, with three other international producers besides Quixote, plus four co-producers coming from France (Cine Sud Promotion), Denmark (Snowglobe), Sweden (Film i Fast), and Germany (Sutur Kolonko).
“My mission will be to oversee the projects and work on the financial structure, including live streaming as potential partners. In other words, always working with producers, always leveraging Quijote’s strong ability to secure public financing,” Karmi said, also noting the search for equity partners and combining diverse funding sources to boost the international distribution of projects.
Armed with an MBA in economics, he plans to tackle content as a business opportunity. “Giancarlo has a very strong creative development team,” he said. “I came to build relationships with platforms and investors and create different business models, structures and financing methods to make good films.” diverse.
This year, Quijote is participating in the Toronto International Film Festival with two films it co-produced: “Horizonte” by Colombian director César Acevedo in the festival’s Discovery section and in its official selection with “Los Tortuga” by Spanish director Belen Funes. “Zafari” by Venezuelan director Mariana Rondon is participating in the Horizontes Latinos section in San Sebastián.
