Forms New Production Company 3Pas with Benjamin Odell
Pantelion Films, the Latino Hollywood film studio launched in 2010, which released hits like Instructions Not Included, Casa de mi Padre, and Caesar Chavez, and Mexican actor/director/writer, and producer Eugenio Derbez have signed an exclusive first-look deal.
The 53-year-old actor, who is no stranger to the business, directed and starred in Instructions Not Included, which was the highest-grossing Spanish language film ever released in the US. Now Derbez and his new production company, 3Pas (“tripas”), and his partner former Pantelion President of Production Benjamin Odell, will focus on Spanish and English- language films catering to Latinos all over the US.
“We are thrilled to take our longstanding relationship with Eugenio to the next level,” said Pantelion Films CEO Paul Presburger. “He is a true auteur in every sense of the word, and he has an amazing ability to tap into the shared passions of Latino and American audiences. We look forward to working with Eugenio and our friend and colleague Ben Odell who was instrumental in helping us launch Pantelion.”
A unique element of Pantelion’s great success is the joiint venture between Lionsgate and Mexican media corporation Grupo Televisa . This union has allowed Pantelion access to A-list stars from south of the border to appear in many of their films, thereby introducing them to American audiences and television and film producers in the U.S. Leveraging this star power, as in the case of Derbez in Instructions Not Included, has proven a sucess.
Derbez added, “Pantelion and Televisa can reach my core fan base better than anyone and, with the distribution expertise and brand recognition of Lionsgate, I know we can build on the crossover audience that we began to reach with Instructions. I’m very happy to continue my relationship with all of them.”
Odell explains that the name of their production company 3Pas or “tripas” means guts in Spanish, comes from the that being where Derbez has made all his career decision, from the gut. Those gut decisions have brought great success to Derbez, who was able to crack the U.S. market, difficult to do when coming from a foreign country.
This is not the first collaboration between Odell and Derbez. They worked together on Sangre de mi Sangre in 2006, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and for which Ordell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Ordell also produced the indie film Girl in Progress, which starred Eva Mendez, Eugenio Derbez and introduced young starlet Cierra Ramirez. Odell’s previous project Spare Parts, is set to release in January 2015, directed by Sean McNamera and starring Spy Kids’ Alexa PenaVega and George Lopez..
Derbez was first introduced to American audiences in the 2006 film Under the Same Moon, another high-grossing Spanish language film. He is currently developing a new project under his new deal with Pantelion, a remake of the 2006 French film The Valet, which grossed $29 million worldwide.
Derbez is represented by CAA and attorney Howard Abramson of Behr & Abramson, LLP.
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