- Fifty mayors and 17 state economic development secretaries meet in Los Angeles with the six major film production companies and the Motion Picture Association
The Foreign Ministry, together with Mexican state and municipal governments, agreed today to form a working group with the six main Hollywood studios to give impetus to Mexico's film industry, thereby promoting new investment and jobs.
At Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and as part of the investment convoy organized by the Foreign Ministry, a meeting was held between Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, 50 mayors and 17 economic development secretaries from 22 Mexican states, with executives from the six major movie studios in Hollywood: Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Brothers, in addition to the Motion Pictures Association.
The parties agreed to launch a working group to translate the interest of the movie studios into the production of new films and series in Mexico. "This means more than a million jobs, more or less, in Mexico," said Secretary Ebrard.
During the meeting, the significant economic impact of the audiovisual industry in Mexico was reviewed. According to the Motion Pictures Association, Mexico has become a key player in the video streaming market, especially in the export market.
The creative industries contribute 54 billion pesos directly and 42 billion pesos indirectly. At the regional level, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been of great importance for the industry and for the protection of intellectual property. Therefore, to continue with this integration, it was agreed to add this sector to the High-level Economic Dialogue (HLED) between Mexico and the U.S., which will facilitate coordination between the two countries in terms of promoting the expansion of this sector.
Representing Disney were Michael Lebovich, Vice President, Global Public Policy, and Gieselle Fine, Senior Manager, Production and Investment Planning; for Netflix, Pierre Vandoorne, Director of Public Policy, Mexico/Content and Studio Affairs, Latin America, and Francisco Ramos, Vice President of Latin American Content; for Paramount, Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Regulatory Counsel Keith Murphy; for Universal, Yvette Estrada, Director, Government Affairs; for Warner Brothers, Jay Roewe, HBO Senior Vice President of Production Planning, and Jesse Saldivar, Director, Production Finance-HBO; and for the Motion Pictures Association, Carla Sánchez Armas, Managing Director of Latin America.
The Mexican delegation included Roberto Velasco, Chief Officer for North America; the Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles, Marcela Celorio; Daniel Millán, Chief of Staff to the Foreign Secretary; and Ximena Escobedo, Director General of Political Coordination.
The Foreign Ministry reaffirms its commitment to attracting foreign investment and creating jobs for the welfare and development of Mexico.
