Cristian Liarte to lead fast-growing prodco, which has also acquired rights to a format from The Traitors creator
Spanish production outfit MediaCrest has appointed Cristian Liarte as its new chief exec, whilst also picking up remake rights to an All3Media International format created by The Traitors firm IDTV.
Liarte has been with the company since November 2023 following his departure from Rakuten TV and previously held positions at Endemol, Mediapro, Secuoya, La Fábrica de la Tele, and El Cañonazo.
He replaces Francisco Pou at MediaCrest, which was launched in 2019 and has been behind the adaptation of ITV Studios quiz show The Chase for RTVE.
Along with the leadership change, MediaCrest has revealed a new commercial structure that will see expand its commercial presence in Mexico, Los Angeles, and London.
Details have not been revealed, but the company will retain its various divisions and leaders, which include: Gustavo Ferrada for scripted; Fernando Jerez for unscripted; Israel López for documentaries; Emma García as chief operating officer; and Denis Pedregosa as head of international production services, which launched last fall.
“This new phase reaffirms our mission as an independent and diverse production company, connected to the current state of the domestic market but with great international ambition,” said Liarte.
“We will focus on independent creators, on quality, and on rigor. We will continue to build on our own IP model, with global reach and long-term value.”
As part of the strategy, MediaCrest company has also appointed Antonio Aragón as chief corporate and financial officer.
He was previously at Fonte Films, having served as chief financial officer at Morena Films for more than eight years, and has overseen productions such as Invisible, The Invisible Girl, Piggy, and Campeones. He previously worked in the financial department at Bankinter.
Traitor creator’s format heads to Spain
MediaCrest has also acquired two international entertainment formats for adaptation in Spain, including All3Media International’s The Unknown.
The psychological social experiment format was created by IDTV of The Traitors fame and was first unveiled at MIPCOM in 2022, while the Spanish firm has also acquired rights to adapt board game Party & Co from toyco Jumbo Group.
The unscripted division, led by Jerez, is also working on a new comedy vertical with talent, although little detail is available.
Five new documentaries are alspo in development, including a biopic about a prominent Spanish artist. It is worth noting that MediaCrest signed an agreement with Isabel Pantoja last March to tell her life story from both a documentary and fiction perspective.
The pick-ups, and new chief exec, mark the latest expansion for MediaCrest, which earlier this year premiered its first scripted series.
Asuntos Internos was produced for RTVE, while feature film Daniela Forever by Nacho Vigalondo also launched, with the movie selected to open the Panorama section at TIFF 2024.
Other recent launches include RTVE documentary El Durmiente (RTVE), while the company is also in production on two US feature films for Hallmark and the competition show Cazador Stars for RTVE. It has also worked on the reboot of ‘¡Boom!’ for Mediaset España’s Cuatro.
MediaCrest is also currently shooting two scripted feature films and developing an original series for a streamer. Ferrada’s division also works with creators such as Aurora Guerra, José Ignacio Valenzuela “Chascas”, Guillem Morales, and María Ripoll. Internationally, it is developing two fiction co-productions.
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