José Manuel Lorenzo (DLO): “We take more risks when we move away from the originals”

The philosophy of DLO Productions, its position compared to the model of originals or his vision on film production are addressed in depth by José Manuel Lorenzo, founder, president and producer of the company that created formats such as The hunt, 'Lord, give me patience', 'Tell me who I am' or 'The Immortal'.

The extensive resume of Jose Manuel Lorenzo shows extensive experience in all areas of the universe television. His training in TAI and in the field of television marketing at San Diego State University opened doors for him as commercial director of CBS/Fox Spain y Spanish Television, as vice president of Publiepaña or as general commercial director of Antenna 3 in 1993, of which he would end up being general director in 1995. After serving as general director of Canal+ For six years (1998-2004), he accumulated experiences in the field of production as founder of the Drive Group (the musical Today I can not get up or the movie One franc, 14 pesetas) and president of Boomerang (Physics or chemistry, Beijing Express), among other adventures in the cinematographic field.

After these initiatives, the time came to go alone with DLO Productions, a producer of fiction, film and television which premiered with a I just want to walk by Agustín Díaz-Yanes (2011) which did not have the expected success, but which ended up opening the door to films like The Japan (2019) o Lord, give me patience (2022), series like The Adventures of Captain Alatriste (2015), The hunt (2019) o The inmortal (2022), or innovative formats like Radio Gaga, a format of slow TV that saw the light in Movistar+.

During the last years, DLO Producciones (participated by Grupo Banijay since 2013) has deepened its production for platforms like Netflix (The gardener, Not one more), Disney+ (The long shadows) or Movistar Plus+ (Second Death, The Immortal, Tell Me Who I Am), in addition to Prime Video, with whom they are already working on an unannounced project. The production models in coordination with video-on-demand platforms occupies a large part of this conversation with Lorenzo, serving to transversally address other topics of great interest such as the state of Spanish audiovisual production, independent production in the face of the new platform model, the slowdown in film creation, the voracity in content production in Spain or a future in DLO that may be marked by a greater volume of short-term productions.

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DLO Productions, at its best-worst moment

Is DLO Producciones, with projects announced and in development for multiple video-on-demand platforms, at “cruising speed”?

I think we find ourselves, as I would always say, at the best-worst moment of our life like DLO. It is the best moment because this year things have been done very well. We have been able to build a team of people around DLO who speak the same language, are very enthusiastic and have delivered top-level products. This has given us an extraordinary position in the market. So yes: it is the best time for us, but also the worst because we have a lot of work.

How do you structure your DLO production pace? How many formats are you currently working on, between projects in production and in development?

We do not consider ourselves a large company, but rather a small company that takes care of each of our productions. We never do two at a time. We have the ability to pre-produce one series, produce another and post-produce a third at the same time. In parallel, we have a very interesting creative team and projects being written, in preparation or in development. But always one at a time!

We do not consider ourselves a large company, but rather a small business who takes care of each of their productions. We never do two at a time..

We take care of all the plans for each production and give it a lot of thought. We are very unindustrial: we focus on addressing things of artisanal way, do them very well and not go crazy or grow beyond what it means to control all the processes of a project.

Have you ever considered the possibility of starting to produce several projects in parallel, doubling your production rate due to high market demand?

It has happened to us many times a week and, obviously, it is a internal debate. I, as founder, owner, executive president and producer of DLO, consider that addressing more things would mean losing that personal imprint that I try to apply to all projects; I would have to dedicate myself to managing the production company and the projects that others would do, and I have not created DLO for this. DLO was born as a vehicle in which, surrounded by a wonderful team, I can practice the dream that I have always had as a producer. I have been a manager of many television networks and large production companies, and now what we try is for our name to have a certain character and all processes to be taken care of. And for that you have to be on top, there is no other choice. Can we grow more? Yes. Are we interested? Not yet.

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The risk of originals versus co-productions

He comments that DLO has been created to be able to produce projects with his personal stamp. How do you feel in the current context of the industry, in which originals seem to be beginning to shift in favor of perhaps more traditional co-production models?

I don't think there is a single model to apply to. The versatility of this sector gives many opportunities. I understand and respect the conditions when I am making an original, whether for Netflix, Disney+, Amazon or Movistar Plus+, What are the streamers with whom I have worked. It is a very big bet that these agents make by taking the economic risk, no matter how much we take the risk in development and execution. When one plays to do originals, he knows what he's playing.

Nobody obliges to do originals. If you want to do it, it will be with their rules of the game, and if you are able to lift a co-production and drink risks, also.

It is also true that the market is transforming little by little and they are beginning to consider co-production models. In fact, our next series are going that way. With this approach, we can keep the IP with the tax benefits that this entails, have part of its distribution and manage the sale beyond the streamer. It also lightens their economic burden, and it opens up other types of market risks for us.

I like this hybrid system in which we are settling. One can choose or propose under which model to make a series or a movie. For me, both are valid, although it is true that we would always like creative capacity to be respected in each project. But hey, I don't have a clear complaint. Nobody forces you to do originals. If you want to do it, it will be with their rules of the game, and if you are capable of setting up a co-production and taking risks, too. I find it interesting that we can expand business models.

Does this hybrid production model, with different business modalities in the world of fiction, benefit independent production companies?

DLO is a very independent production company. We have the Banijay umbrella, which is a great partner because we understand each other very well and it always helps us financially, but we work for free, in any case. I am an independent producer because control of the production company is mine, and that makes me feel independent. So... does this situation benefit us? The truth is that we take many more risks when we move away from the model of originals. We have to supervise the distribution, do some pre-sales, try to find windows inside and outside of Spain, and look for help.

In reality, we take risks with everything: financial risks, creative risks... We develop many projects. Between books purchased and projects in development we have twenty formats. I know that there may be ten that may never come out or that will begin to see the light of day in five years, and we have invested a lot of money in them. It is a risk that we take from day one, but it is part of the game and there is no businessman who does not take it. Of course: if you can combine the two models, you will live better. You take risks in one, and in the other you are more assured. Both are valid.

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Creativity and Spanish industry

Does creativity, which you have referred to on several occasions, have a place in current production, which in the last five years has been evolving from a micro-audience model to increasingly general commissions?

What has happened represents a wonderful evolution. It all comes from the fact that many years ago, Antena 3, Telecinco, Spanish Television and some Spanish regional broadcasters opted for fiction and played an enormous role in its development. This allowed Spain to create a way of telling stories which has ended up working all over the world, much better than we had thought. Furthermore, this has helped to train for years screenwriters, directors, technicians, photographers, musicians…After the American one, and of course the English one, I think that Spanish production is in wonderful health worldwide. You just have to see how Spanish series work in the Latin market or how there are several Spanish series placed in the top 100 on Netflix.

It's wonderful to be able to do big budget series without having to think that you must have a niño, a grandmother o one padre.

I also find the role he has played very interesting. Movistar Plus+ to tell our story with increasingly risky series. Creativity has opened up. We no longer work for general audiences, but for segmented audiences. We can afford luxuries that we couldn't before at the level of creativity: from the characters to the stories. And, in addition, budgets have improved greatly, which has allowed us to transcend the local industry. It's wonderful to be able to make big-budget series without having to think that you have to have a child, a grandmother or a father.

On the other hand, we have traveled the path of adapt books, something that had not been done for a long time. The time between seams is a good example, but there are also many totally original productions that come from a script. We have addressed all fields, which makes the creativity is like never before. It's a very sweet moment.

After working with Movistar Plus+ in the two seasons of The inmortal, are about to complete Second Death. How is DLO's relationship developing with this key agent of the Spanish industry?

I have been general director of Canal+ for six years, I have been general director of Sogecable, general director of content for the entire platform... They were wonderful years and I have always felt Movistar Plus+ like my home. I think that the leadership that the arrival of Cristina Burzako or Domingo Corral has entailed has propelled Spanish production to an extraordinary place. For me it has been very comfortable working with them. The relationship has not been immediate. Since they launched To Fish of Alberto Rodríguez, it took us four or five years to launch our first project with them, the series of Tell me who I am based on the book by Julia Navarro. Thanks to this teamwork, the personal and trusting relationship that Movistar Plus+ has in DLO and in José Manuel Lorenzo as producer was developed.

Las platforms has us changed life to all.

Then it came The inmortal, The first season has been a huge success, now we are going to release the second and hopefully make a third. We already have it prepared in terms of the type of series we want to do. Now we just finished Second Death, a thriller written by Agustín Martínez with which we are very happy with them. I also find your cinema model of going to theaters very interesting.

This excellent relationship of respect happens the same with other agents such as Disney+, Amazon or Netflix, who are wonderful to work with. Today, Netflix is ​​very clear about what it is, what it wants and what it does. It is a very open and creative company, with absolutely professional internal processes. people like Verónica Fernández or Diego Ávalos They understand this industry perfectly, they help you, they accompany you very well and, in addition, they are increasingly open not only to originals, but to other co-production models. Platforms have changed our lives.

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Consumption without limits and cinema

Platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video or Amazon have huge catalogs that are fed by local and global production. Do you think that consumer voracity will continue, allowing Spanish production to maintain the high volume of production acquired in recent years?

All platforms want, first, to keep their subscribers happy and not lose them, and second, to grow subscribers in more territories with a higher penetration rate. This can only be achieved by launching a range of projects every month that satisfy a huge range of clients.. If you are looking to expand your subscriptions, it is important to have very different products. I can enter a platform and have ten things of which I choose two, but my neighbor will choose two different ones than mine, because we are different families and have different tastes. That is why there is such a voracious pace of releases: because they are very important for customers to stay and not leave, in addition to the fact that growth ceilings are still very far away.

It's very important cater to catalog growth, not only to attract new customers, but to keep to those who are already inside.

Another thing is that the growth ceilings begin to break. In that case, the objective will be to keep subscribers with many new releases, because people who have not seen the series that are in a catalog are never going to see them. This rhythm will be maintained as long as the investment budgets and there is growth perspective, and I don't see this having an immediate end, not even I cut it off prematurely. When the industry reaches its limits, the same very high budgets will be maintained, but perhaps there will not be 50, but 40. It is very important to attend to the growth of the catalog, not only to attract new customers, but to keep existing ones. that are already inside.

In recent years, DLO has opted for more series than movies. What is the production company's vision of cinema? Should film production be linked to preferential release windows beyond theaters, whether streamers o broacasters?

Cinema has always been my passion. It is true that, in recent years, we have produced more series than movies, but to my credit there are some movies that I still like like I just want to walk by Agustín Díaz Yanes Lord, give me patience, another comedy that was very funny. Of course, if everything goes well, this year we will make two big films and we have two more for next year. COVID has made cinema suffer and has caused the inertia of going to theaters to be lost. Now we are seeing that This trend is recovering again.

In the cinema, I advocate for a hybrid model in which you can do movies directly for platforms, others with a reduced premiere and that they fall immediately on streaming services, and others to have a long journey in cinema.

In this field, I advocate a hybrid model in which you can make films directly for platforms, others with a reduced release and that fall immediately on streaming services, and others to have a long run in cinema. We have just seen a phenomenon as big as The Snow Society, which I am sure that if it had been in theaters longer it would have raised a lot of money. They opted for a hybrid model, generating 400,000 viewers in the three weeks it was on display, and then million-dollar audiences around the world through Netflix.

We must adapt to new models in which we can develop our projects. In the end, what we producers and creators want is to create our stories, and for as many people and in as many places in the world to see us as possible, the better. Let people choose if they want to see it in theaters or at home. Movie theaters are also becoming spaces that are like the living room of your own home or even better, which is very interesting.

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The inevitable evolution of DLO

Throughout the conversation, he defended DLO's current craft model regarding the volume of productions. Do you anticipate that this model could vary following market trends in the coming years?

It has cost us a lot to be where we are; be perceived as a producer with a high quality stamp capable of creating products that work. We are enjoying this moment, but we must not fall into the error of believing it and do the same by doubling production. I am of an age, I really enjoy this job as a producer and as an executive producer... but I also do not want to put limits on the people who are training with me and who will probably, in a few years, have the enormous ability to carry out your projects I remain in control of mine under the same DLO umbrella.

Our growth will depend on the preparation of the people of our production company. There are people who are developing a lot that I am sure will be better producers than me in the future, if only because I am turning my age towards a downward curve and they are turning their age towards an upward curve. Surely, in a few years we will transform step by step, and I know that one day there will be people like Miguel Lorenzo, a producer who works with me, who will say that he wants to tackle a project by himself. At that time, we will expand our production capacity, but that will come when we can do it in a way very organic and non-industrial.

I'm sure it's going to happen, because the people are too good and they can do things the way I like without having to be on top of me. The day that happens, we will grow a little... But little, not much!

An interview by Sergio Julián Gómez

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