Reversing the traditional migration of the old world to the new, Los Angeles and Mexico City-based production shops MADRE and MADREFOCA are venturing into Europe and the U.K. with executive producer Carl Wyant at the helm.
Wyant, former EP at Amsterdam-based production company 100% HALAL and prior to that the global Great Guns, will drive MADRE’s growth across the European and U.K. markets, working to promote the MADRES’ roster of talent to agencies and brands while bringing fresh European-based talent to the U.S. and Latin American markets. An industry veteran with global experience, Wyant is a custom fit for MADRE’s borderless approach to production.
In 2022, boutique Mexico City production company MADREFOCA, led by director/producer/partner Jorge Aguilera and EP/partner Alejandro Saevich, founded MADRE in the U.S. with EP/owner/partner Jonathon Ker as managing director. Ker’s production house pedigree includes stints at such shops as Palomar and Limelight.
With a roster built on bringing a Latin American gaze to the U.S. from MADREFOCA, combined with international directors from Ker’s previous U.S. associations and top-curated global talent new to all three partners, MADRE made its mark in the U.S. with the work of Aguilera, director team Kid Burro, Luisa Kracht, and Faride Schroeder.
Over time, the three partners, Ker, Saevich, and Aguilera, began to contemplate the opportunities the MADRES might have in Europe to look at high-profile creative briefs from agencies and brands, as well as the chance to attract fellow U.K. and European production shops to Mexico–a region that has become one of the creative meccas of the cinematic world–for all the advantages of production expertise, talent, creative spirit, cost, and weather that MADREFOCA’s service arm has to offer.
The idea of an Eastward expansion started to gain momentum earlier this year when Ker and Wyant reconnected to produce a large-scale comedy and visual effects-driven campaign for antacid brand Tums and Grey NY with MADRE director Kracht. The spots were shot in Europe in a combination of locations and on a large virtual production LED studio in the Baltics, with casting across Europe and the U.K. from Berlin.
“I had the privilege of working with Jonathon [Ker] in the U.S. at Limelight and Palomar,” remarked Wyant. “When we were finally able to reunite last January here in Europe on the campaign for Grey, it immediately became clear to us both that the combined assets of MADRE and MADREFOCA could have tremendous success on this side of the Atlantic, provide an additional creative outlet for the U.S. and Mexico businesses, as well as the ancillary benefit of exposing European brands, agencies, and production houses to all that Mexico has to offer as a production location, and as a service destination.”
Conversations about an EU/U.K. presence for the MADRES continued throughout the year and were finally cemented just a few weeks ago in Berlin when Wyant and Aguilera met at Ciclope, where MADREFOCA took home a Gold and two Silvers for its work on Renault with director team Pantera.
“MADREFOCA’s global recognition at a top European craft-centric festival like Ciclope convinced Jorge and his partners Ale and Jonathon that the time was right to leverage the MADRES’ strengths and successes in the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America with the move into Europe and the UK, for all the creative opportunities that the combined regions have to offer,” said Wyant.
Ker added, “I can’t think of a better person than Carl [Wyant] to lead MADRE’s U.K. and European efforts. His wealth of experience around the world with some of the most awarded directors allows him to see through any issue. He encourages everyone to discover solutions alongside him and has a knack for selecting the best people for the team, then trusting them implicitly to do what they’re best at. He’s an extraordinary leader, and we’re very fortunate to have him with us at MADRE.”
Wyant concluded, “I was drawn to the focus on creativity and the boutique sensibility at MADRE and MADREFOCA, the brilliant director talent they’ve assembled, with more to come, the production teams they’ve built in the image-making and storytelling capitals of Los Angeles and Mexico City, and the companies’ borderless philosophy, which closely aligns with my own nomadic professional history. I look forward to growing these incredible brands in Europe and the U.K.”
With the new outlet in Europe and the UK for their diverse and selectively expanding rosters, the two MADRES are set to collaborate with brands and agencies across multiple time zones and are poised to produce work on both sides of the pond, in Europe, the U.S., and throughout Latin America.
