Secuoya Group, the Spanish group that owns the studios in Madrid selected by Netflix for its first European Production Hub, has appointed James Costos, former HBO vice president for global licensing and retail, as president of Secuoya Studios, its television and film fiction production division.
Additionally, Secuoya will open an office in Los Angeles, which will be led by Costos, in a key move to strengthen its presence between Spain and North America. This expansion is added to the construction of new sound stages in Madrid to create Madrid Content City, a 140,000 m² business park that will combine audiovisual production, filming services, a university campus, and sports and leisure areas.
Costos, who served as the United States ambassador to Spain from 2013 to 2017, appointed by former President Barack Obama, arrives at a time of growth for Spanish-language production globally. Series like La Casa de Papel and Élite dominate international platforms, and Spanish fiction production exceeds French production in volume, with significantly lower production costs (a high-budget episode in Spain is around 1.5 million dollars).
Under Costos’s leadership, Secuoya Studios will promote opportunities between Spain and the United States in three key areas: content development and literary adaptations; production services for international projects; and co-productions that unite actors and producers from both markets and other countries.
Recognized and appreciated in Spain, Costos helped as ambassador to bring “Game of Thrones” to film on Spanish territory, which encouraged new policies supporting cinema in Spain. After his diplomatic tenure, he was named honorary ambassador of the Spanish Film Commission for his role in linking Spanish and U.S. companies.
Splitting his time between Los Angeles and Madrid, Costos will take an active role in boosting the international projection of Spanish fiction, bringing experience in packaging and pitching projects to global platforms and U.S. partners.
Raúl Berdonés, president of Grupo Secuoya, highlighted that Costos’s incorporation will help raise the visibility of Spanish offerings in North America and meet the growing demand from the U.S. audiovisual industry. “Spanish-language fiction production is at its highest point and this is our moment. Now we are ready to turn expectations into concrete results,” he concluded.
