Eugenio Derbez, Mexican multihyphenate and chairman-co-founder of 3Pas Studios headlined not one but three events at the Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid, underscoring the impact of his work on the global stage.
In his keynote address on Thursday he reflected on his three decades in the biz, how he broke into Hollywood with his directorial debut feature “No Instructions Included,” and how his company plans to navigate fast-changing viewing habits.
With his partner Ben Odell at 3Pas Studios, they are now pivoting toward working with new digital formats to keep the lights on but also plan to keep making features and series, he told Variety.
He is now eyeing two possible projects to direct in English. “I’m gravitating towards making a dramedy; one can’t really separate comedy from drama,” he said.
After “Instructions Not Included,” he recently helmed the pilot and final episode of 3Pas’ International Emmy-nominated series “They Came in at Night” (“Y llegaron de noche”), a big hit on TelevisaUnivision’s streaming platform, ViX.
At his keynote address, he related how he learned the hard way that his brand of humor did not travel well past Mexico’s borders.
“Now with streaming platforms, which distribute worldwide, one needs to make shows with broader, universal appeal,” he said. But local stories could still work as long as they resonated emotionally, he said, citing such hits as “Squid Game,” “Roma” and “Parasite.”
Navigating the biz in Hollywood meant reinventing himself to prevent being boxed into comedic roles. By starting his own production company, he was able to make “Radical,” which was shelved for 10 years until “Coda,” where he had a pivotal supporting role, won a Best Picture Oscar and opened doors for more dramatic roles.
“Comedy may be more difficult to make but they’re not appreciated,” he said, citing comics like Robin Williams who had to turn to drama to gain some Oscar recognition.
I only started getting more respect after making “Radical,” which is still the highest grossing drama in Mexico,” he noted.
Reflecting on the advent of AI, he sees it as a double-edged sword. “It could help make the use of expensive VFX much easier but these shows won’t have the soul of ones made by humans,” he said.
A dramatic 3Pas-produced series he presented at Iberseries is now currently in post, “El Juicio,” (roughly translated to “The Trial”). It will likely start streaming on Prime Video next year. In it, he stars with “Money Heist” lead Pedro Alonso in the eight-episode series based on a real-life case of sexual abuse, uncovered by investigative journalist Leon Krauze.
He also presented Season 5 of “Derbez Family Vacation” (De Viaje con los Derbez”), which he said will not be the last. “Season 1 nearly broke up our family,” he told Variety, “We didn’t quite know how to navigate the format but we’ve now set up boundaries, and it’s worked great.”
