TELEVISA USA, ATALAYA PRODUCTIONS TEAM TO BRING DANIEL PETERS’ BOOK ‘THE LUCK OF HUEMAC’ TO LIFE AS ‘AZTECS’
Writer-Showrunner Michael Chernuchin (‘Law & Order,’ ‘Black Sails’) to Helm English-Language Series in Development that will Feature a Multi-Ethnic Cast; Offers First Television Production Presenting the Ancient Civilization from the Eyes of the Aztecs
Santa Monica, CA, Jan. 11, 2015 – Televisa USA Development, LLC(Televisa USA), a subsidiary of the Mexican media company Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. (Grupo Televisa) and one of the largest television companies in the Americas, has partnered with Santa Fe- and London-based Atalaya Productions to develop Aztecs for television. Michael Chernuchin (Marco Polo,Black Sails) has signed on as showrunner of the English-language seriesbased on the Daniel Peters’ critically acclaimed book, The Luck of Huemac.
The series represents the latest project put into the pipeline from Televisa USA, which has dramatically increased scripted production over the past year, and follows on the heels of hours including Maleficio with Starz; the Dougray Scott starrer Duality under its initiative to provide high-episode commitments to multiple series; and Gran Hotel, which will be shot at Lantica’s PinewoodDominican Republic Studios and is based on an original script adapted to pre-Castro Havana by Emmy-winning and -nominated showrunner Stephen Kronish (“24,” “Kennedys”). Lantica is set to co-develop and co-finance multiple projects with Televisa USA.
Aztecs, featuring a multi-ethnic cast and following a family living in the waning moments of a glorious but little-known civilization as the Spanish invasion looms, becomes the first TV project to tackle the subject of the pre-Columbian empire from their own vantage point rather than that of Cortez and the Conquistadors.
‘The team we assembled is perfect to bring this shockingly tragic cultural tale to TV in an authentic and respectful way,” said Chris Philip, head of production and distribution for Televisa USA. “Intrigue, betrayal and romance will be part of this great story and it all will be told from the eyes of the people that built and lost this great civilization.”
Televisa USA partnered on Aztecs with Atalaya Productions, an independent film and TV company whose partners and producers include best-selling author Hampton Sides, former international investment banker Giovanni Orlando and former Hollywood agent Irene Webb. Atalaya currently has a number of projects in development in the U.S. and U.K. that brings together a team of creative and financial experts producing epic dramas that are compelling, durable, relevant and marked with deep historical DNA.
Atalaya’s Orlando and Webb will serve as executive producers. David Sigurani, Director of Development, Televisa USA, who brought in and packaged the project, will oversee the production for the company.
About Televisa USA
Televisa USA is a division of Televisa, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of the Mexican media and telecommunications corporation Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. the largest and most dynamic producer and distributor of Spanish-language content in the world. Televisa USA develops, finances, coproduces and distributes to the U.S. and international audiences high quality, mainstream English-language programming based on existing formats and original concepts.
The division is actively teaming with leading talent, producers, and studios and networks to create scripted and unscripted content across all genres that significantly over index the coveted American-born or English-speaking Latino audiences. Televisa USA also has access to Grupo Televisa’s enormous library, which includes many of the world’s most popular telenovelas, for adaptation in the English language as high quality productions.
Current productions in which Televisa USA participates include Devious Maids, a collaboration with ABC Studios and Executive Producer Marc Cherry, on Lifetime; and reality series Douglas Family Gold, produced by WV Enterprises in association with Televisa USA and Lionsgate TV that has Wilmer Valderrama, Jessica Acevedo, Natalie Hawkins and Gabrielle Douglas serving as executive producers.