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III - 2012
the lIfestyle feature Destination: Mexico, Mexican Design at MoMA Stores
creativeindustries in mexicoMatrix of the Spanish Digital Wave
There Are mAny wAys To geT your clienTs’ ATTenTion,
none As effecTive As ours
negocios.promexico.gob.mx [email protected]
Published monthly in English.
Distributed among businessmen, decision-makers, research centers and national and international subscribers.
Close to 10,000 copies out of 15,000 are distributed abroad through a network of more than 30 representative offices located in 22 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East; all Mexican embassies and consulates and at international trade shows and expos.
Geographic distribution covers a wide spectrum of key countries and cities, which guarantees a strategic coverage in the world’s leading markets.
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fedex.com/mx 01.800.900.1100
O14957 FXP MEX IBA REV PROMEXICO ENG.indd 3 1/20/12 10:45 AM
From the CEO 5
Briefs 6
Figures mexico’s trade and investment 10
Mexico in the World mexico in the video game industry 14
Business Tips mexico and digital creative cities 16
Mexico’s Partner kaxan media group 30
gyroscopik studios 32
slang 34
neggi studios 36
larva game studios 38
xiBalBa studios 40
digital chocolate 42
metacuBe 44
canana films 46
2 Negocios
20Cover feature
Creative industriesin MexiCo:Matrix of the
Spanish Digital Wave
Contents
the mexicanfilm industryA Plot that Continues to Thicken
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NEED A SUPPLIER?
Mexican exporting companies meet the highest international quality standards and are all-set-up to serve the most demanding markets, helped by the largest network of free trade
agreements in the world and competitive costs.
We have the largest directory of Mexican world-class companies.
Let us help you find the perfect match for your needs.
Can be your best ally.
4 Negocios
TheLifestyleBriefs 50
Gastronomy MaxiMo bistrot loCal 52
TV&FilmIndustry tHe liFt 54
48HoursIn Puebla 68
MexicoAccordingTo CeCilia suárez 72
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the lifestyle Contents
young naMes
In the MexicanCreative Scene
56
ProMéxiCo
carlos guzmán Bofillceo
ilse oehler grediagaimage and communications director
sebastián escalantemanaging coordinator
miguel Ángel samayoa advertising and suscriptions
natalia herrerocopy editing
q-10 CoMuniCaCión
emma lucila lópez valtierra publisher
sergio anaya editor in chief
paola valenciathe lifestyle editor
carlos molinadesign
cover illustrationmariana ramos romo
this is an editorial project for proméxico by Q-10 Comunicación.
download the pdf version and read the interactive edition of negocios proméxico at: negocios.promexico.gob.mx
this publication is not for sale. Its sale and commercial distribution are forbidden.
Negocios ProMéxico es una publi-cación editada mensualmente en inglés por proméxico, camino a santa teresa número 1679, colonia Jardines del pedregal, delegación Álvaro obregón, c.p. 01900, méxico, d.f. teléfono: (52) 55 54477000. página Web: www.promexico.gob.mx. correo electrónico: [email protected] editor responsable: gabriel sebastián esca-lante Bañuelos. reserva de derechos al uso exclusivo no. 04-2009-012714564800-102. licitud de título: 14459. licitud de contenido: 12032, ambos otorgados por la comisión ca-lificadora de publicaciones y revistas ilustra-das de la secretaría de gobernación. issn: 2007-1795.Negocios ProMéxico año 5, número iii, marzo 2012, se terminó de imprimir el 10 de marzo de 2012, con un tiraje de 11,000 ejemplares. impresa por cía. impresora el universal, s.a. de c.v. las opiniones expresadas por los au-tores no reflejan necesariamente la postura del editor de la publicación. Queda estricta-mente prohibida la reproducción total o par-cial de los contenidos e imágenes de la publi-cación, sin previa autorización de proméxico. publicación gratuita. prohibida su venta y distribución comercial.ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. The institution might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the respon-sibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it states otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the infor-mation printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, in-accuracies or mistakes. March 2012.
64
from the ceO.
In a world where ideas and creativity have become fundamental toglobaleconomy,Mexicomaintainsitspositionasasourceoftalentandapoleofinnovation.AyoungpopulationofMexicans,growinghandinhandwithtechnologydevelopment,havefoundawaytointegratetheirculturalidentityandtraditionsintonewtrendsofthecreativeindustries.
Theircreativetraditionandinnovationcapacityarealsojoinedbytechnology.The result is a creative economy that moves forward confidently in the globalmarket;youngbusinessesthatarebecomingleadersinfieldssuchasvideogamedevelopment,digitalanimation,filmandtelevisionproduction.
Characters sprung from Mexican imagination are present in TV, film andvideogamescreensinSpanish-speakingcountriesandaroundtheworld;storiesimaginedandnarratedbyMexicansarenowconsidereduniversallanguage.
However, the contributions of Mexico’s creative industries are not limitedto what appears on those screens; behind the images and movements of thecharactersinavideogameoradigitalanimationproductaretheknowledgeandtalentofmanyMexicans.
Mexico is consolidating itself as an important development pole for today’screativeindustries,wheretechnologyisundoubtedlycrucial,butsoistheabilitytohandleitandthetalentandcreativitytoapplyittospecificproducts.
ThisissueofNegociosintendstoprovethatMexico’screativenatureisnotonlyuniquebutalsobooming..
WelcometoNegocios!
Carlos Guzmán BofillceOProméxico
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fOOd industry
Mexican&OrganicThefirmCertimexobtainedapprovalfromtheEuropeanUnion(EU)ofofficialcertificationtoinspectorganicproductsfromMexicancom-paniesseekingtoexporttoEurope.
CertimexisthefirstandonlyMexicancom-panyinitssectorapprovedandregisteredbytheEUtocertifythatcertainMexicanprod-uctsmeettherequirementsforsaleinall27EUmembercountries.
TheEUtooktwoyearstoevaluatethecom-pany,whichisheadquarteredinOaxaca.Cer-timexhas50employeesandisrepresentedin10Mexicanstates.Amongitsclientsarecom-paniesproducingorganiccoffee,mangoes,agavesyrup,honey,avocado,mezcal,rum,sugarcaneand50otherproducts.
www.certimexsc.com
briefs.
EricssoninauguratedanewGlobalNet-workOperationsCenter(GNOC)inMex-icoCity.Thenewfacility,calledEricssonTecnoparque,houseshighlyskilledICTandservicesprofessionals, it isthecom-pany’sfourthGNOCworldwideandwillhelp Ericsson to expand its operationscapabilitiesintheregion.Itholdsamulti-disciplinaryteamwithcapacitytoserve
multipleplatformswithmultiplecustom-ersandtechnologies,employingseveralhundred bilingual professionals fromvariousdisciplinesandspecializations,which are highly trained on advancedtoolsfornetworkmanagementandcus-tomerservice.
www.ericsson.com
StrengtheningGlobalLeadershipfromMexico
infOrmatiOn technOlOGy
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fOOd industry
InthelandofCacao
ItalianconfectionerFerrerowillconstructa190millionusdproductionplantinMexico–itsfirstinthecountry.Thefacil-ity,consistingoffourproductionlines,willbeconstructedattheParqueOpcónindustrialpark,inSanJoséIturbideinthestateofGuanajuato.ItwillproduceNutellaandKinderproducts;40%ofoutputwillbeexportedtotheUS,withtheadditional60%rolledoutinMexicoandCentralAmericanmarkets.
ThesiteisexpectedtobefullyoperationalinMay2013.Whenatfullrate,itwillemploy500personsbesidesthe600alreadyworkingforFerrerodeMéxico.
www.ferrero.com
reneWable enerGy & mininG
AnEffortonBehalfoftheEnvironment
With an investment of more than 115 million usd, Grupo México will build five hydroelectric plants in the state of Puebla between 2013 and 2016, to generate power for the company’s own consumption. The energy will be sold to the company’s mines through the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), as an alternative to mitigate the environmen-tal impact of Grupo Mexico’s mining operations.
www.gmexico.com
GrowthPlansWal-MartdeMéxicoexpectstopostsalesgrowthofbetween13%and15%in2012.Thecompanyplanstoinvest1.55billionusdin2012,fromwhichmorethan60%willbeusedtoopen410to436storesinMexicoandCentralAmerica.In2011,Wal-MartdeMéxicoopenedonenewstoreadayonaverageinMexico.
www.walmex.mx
retail cOmmerce
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8 Negocios8 Negocios briefs.Ph
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reneWable enerGy
ExpandingHorizonswithEnergyInanefforttofurtherexpanditsrenewableen-ergybusinesses,MitsubishiCorporation(MC)hasdecidedtoacquirea34%stakeinMareñaRenovableswindpowerprojectinOaxaca,witha396MWcapacity,whichisthelargestwindfarmprojectinLatinAmerica.
Theproject,whichwillcostapproximately1billionusd,willbejointlydevelopedbyMC,Mac-
quarieMexicanInfrastructureFundandPGGM.Theproject involvesinstalling132windmillsacrossseveraltensofkilometersoftheTehuan-tepecIsthmus,andisexpectedtobecompleteinJuly2013.ThepowergeneratedbythewindfarmwillbeprovidedtoFEMSAandHeineken.
www.mitsubishicorp.com
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Germany’sHellaKGaAHueck&Co.planstobreakgroundonanew215,000-square-footfacility toproduceautomotiveheadlampsandrearlightingsystemsinIrapuato,Gua-najuato,laterthisspring.
Thenewplant isscheduledtoopen inJune2013withanannualcapacityofapprox-imately1.2millionheadlampsand1.5millionrearcombinationlamps.Thecompanywillinvestmorethan97millionusd inthenewfacility.HellaisalsoexpandingitsfacilitiesinGuadalajara,whereitwillopenanewdevelop-mentcenter.
The new manufacturing facilities willincreaseHella’sannualproductioncapacityintheAmericasforheadlampsfrom3.7mil-lionto4.9million.Productioncapacityforrearcombinationlampswillgrowfrom2.5millionto4million.HellacurrentlysuppliesBMW,Chrysler,Ford,GeneralMotorsandMercedes-BenzfromitsMexicofacilities.
www.hella.com
autOmOtiVe
lOGistics
FromBelgiumtoTheAmericasKatoen Natie, a Belgian logistics and storage company, opened a multi-modal distribution center at Huehuetoca in Estado de México, with an investment of 25 million usd.
www.katoennatie.com
EnlighteningMove
briefs.
DonaldsonCo.,oneofthelargestfiltrationsystemsmanufactur-ersintheworld,openedanewmanufacturingplantinAguas-calientes,Mexico,closetoitsex-istingplantinthecountry,whichisthecompany’sheadquartersforLatinAmericaandTheCa-ribbean.
Thenew150,000squarefootfacilityisfullyoperationalandsignificantlyexpandsDonald-
son’scapabilitiesforproducingairfiltrationproducts.Addition-ally,Donaldsonwillutilize itsexistingplanttoincreaseliquidfiltrationmanufacturing.
The new Aguascalientesplant,whichemploys260peo-ple,ispursuingLEED(Leader-shipinEnergyandEnvironmen-talDesign)certification.
www.donaldson.com
manufacturinG
FilteringSuccess
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JapaneseManufacturers’EyesonMexicoJapaneseautopartsmanufacturerYorozuwillinvestabout70millionusdtobuildanewplantinthestateofGuanajuato,inresponsetorisingdemandforvehiclesintheAmericas.ThenewMexicanunitisexpectedtobefullyoperationalin2015,creatingabout230jobsandgeneratingsalesof62.5millionusd.YorozuhasanothersubsidiaryinthestateofAguascalientesandplanstomanufactureshockabsorbersatthenewplantinGuanajuato.
Yorozu’sannouncementcomesjustoveramonthafterJapaneseautopartsmanufacturerDensounveileditsplanstobuildaplanttoproduceaircondi-tioningequipmentinGuanajuato.BasedinthecityofApodaca,Guanajuato,DensoMexicowillstartconstructingitsnewfactoryinMarchinSilao,atatotalcostof57millionusd.
www.yorozu-corp.co.jp / www.globaldenso.com
autOmOtiVe
IntelligentInteriorsWitha25millionusdinvestmentandthecreationof150di-rectjobs,Faurecia,aglobalautopartscompanyspecializedintheengineeringandproductionofautomotivesolutions,openeditsnewfacilitiesinCiudadTextilIndustrialParkinHuejotzingo,Puebla.
www.faurecia.com
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In 2011, Mexican exports grew over 17% compared to 2010 and
more than 110% compared to 2000. Source: Banco de México.
MEXICO,A BIG PLAYERIN INTERNATIONALTRADE
Samoa 0.76
Germany 4,343.62
Singapore 592.25
Egypt 66.31
US 274,698.20
Canada 10,676.59
Colombia 5,632.67
Brazil 4,891.33
Chile 2,072.03
Spain 4,902.45
Italy 1,554.28
The Netherlands 2,084.05
UK 2,159.49
China 5,965.15
Japan 2,256.92
India 1,799.34
South Korea 1,523.49
South Africa 263.42
Nigeria 35.54
Algeria 201.70
Angola 69.54
Australia 894.57
Papua New Guinea 3.16
New Zealand 91.94
New Caledonia 1.44
TOTALMEXICANEXPORTS
IN THELAST
DECADE(million USD)
200514,232.96
2000166,120.72
2011349,675.86
2010298,473.15
Growth 2000-2011
1,674.93%
AFRICA Total Mexican exports
(million USD)
41.62
342.
17 466.
13
Growth 2000-2011
869.95%
OCEANIATotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
102.39
364
718.
19
993.
08
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10 ‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
Growth 2000-2011
229.54%
EUROPETotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
6,41
2.10 9,
439.
58 15,8
06.4
2
Growth 2000-2011
574.64%
ASIATotal Mexican exports,
(million USD)
2,15
8.38
4,77
910
,703
.51
14,5
61.3
5
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
Growth 2000-2011
98.26%
THE AMERICASTotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
157,3
97.7
9
199,
234.
17
270,
598.
53
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
ME
XIC
O’S
TO
P PARTNERS IN.... Exports by country in 2011 (million USD)
738.
74
312,
060
.12
21,1
30.1
9
2,15
8.38
10,7
03.5
1 14,5
61.3
5
10 Negocios10 Negocios InfograPhIC OLDEMAr
In 2011, Mexican exports grew over 17% compared to 2010 and
more than 110% compared to 2000. Source: Banco de México.
MEXICO,A BIG PLAYERIN INTERNATIONALTRADE
Samoa 0.76
Germany 4,343.62
Singapore 592.25
Egypt 66.31
US 274,698.20
Canada 10,676.59
Colombia 5,632.67
Brazil 4,891.33
Chile 2,072.03
Spain 4,902.45
Italy 1,554.28
The Netherlands 2,084.05
UK 2,159.49
China 5,965.15
Japan 2,256.92
India 1,799.34
South Korea 1,523.49
South Africa 263.42
Nigeria 35.54
Algeria 201.70
Angola 69.54
Australia 894.57
Papua New Guinea 3.16
New Zealand 91.94
New Caledonia 1.44
TOTALMEXICANEXPORTS
IN THELAST
DECADE(million USD)
200514,232.96
2000166,120.72
2011349,675.86
2010298,473.15
Growth 2000-2011
1,674.93%
AFRICA Total Mexican exports
(million USD)
41.62
342.
17 466.
13
Growth 2000-2011
869.95%
OCEANIATotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
102.39
364
718.
19
993.
08
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10 ‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
Growth 2000-2011
229.54%
EUROPETotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
6,41
2.10 9,
439.
58 15,8
06.4
2
Growth 2000-2011
574.64%
ASIATotal Mexican exports,
(million USD)
2,15
8.38
4,77
910
,703
.51
14,5
61.3
5
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
Growth 2000-2011
98.26%
THE AMERICASTotal Mexican exports
(million USD)
157,3
97.7
9
199,
234.
17
270,
598.
53
‘11‘05‘00 ‘10
ME
XIC
O’S
TO
P PARTNERS IN.... Exports by country in 2011 (million USD)73
8.74
312,
060
.12
21,1
30.1
9
2,15
8.38
10,7
03.5
1 14,5
61.3
5
Negocios figures
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN MEXICOTotal FDI by year, million USD
MEXICO, AN ATTRACTIVE
INVESTMENTDESTINATION
Chiapas 0.37
FDI BY STATEDURING 2011(million USD)
Distrito Federal
13,565.60
Nuevo León 924.97
Chihuahua 884.19Estado de México 622.52
Baja California 599.47
Jalisco 508.50
Querétaro 310.51
Tamaulipas 302.84
Puebla 217.71
Durango 215.55
Guanajuato 204.50
Quintana Roo 183.59
Baja California Sur 128.67
Nayarit 91.54
Morelos 87.54
Veracruz 78.33
Guerrero 52.30
Coahuila 39.44
Sinaloa 37.12
Michoacán 33.05
Yucatán 19.09
Tlaxcala 14.01
Colima 8.44
Oaxaca 6.59
Aguascalientes 6.18
Zacatecas 5.85Tabasco 2.89
Campeche 1.25
Hidalgo 0.67
123456789
1213
15
17
18
19
20
1110
14
16
32
31
30
29
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Source: General Directorate of Foreign Investment, Ministry of Economy.
TOP 10 INVESTORCOUNTRIES
FDI in Mexico by originduring 2011 (million USD)
US 10,699.35
The Netherlands 1,305.79
Switzerland 1,228.69Japan 664.62
Brazil 298.97
Ireland 258.94
Germany 229.88
France 161.91
Spain 2,911.15
‘00
18,1
10.0
1
‘01
29,8
60.7
7
‘02
23,9
32.3
1
‘03
18,5
54.1
0
‘04
24,8
20.9
1
‘05
24,3
73.3
7
‘06
20,0
06.
44
‘07
31,3
13.3
8
‘08
26,8
88.5
2
‘09
15,9
58.9
9
‘10
20,2
07.
63
‘11
19,4
39.8
1
Sonora 145.34
San Luis Potosí 141.1832
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24 23
22
21
16
15
13
1211
10
9
8
76
5
4
3
2
14
20
19
1817
1Canada 668.21
WHEREDOES FDI GO?FDI in Mexico by sectorduring 2011 (million USD)
Manufacturing 8,572.0Finance and Insurance 3,504.2Construction 1,239.5
Information 1,110.8
Wholesale Trade 1,077.6
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 829.9
Retail Trade 775.8
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 726.0
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 616.7
Accommodation and Food Services 600.5
Transportation and Warehousing 252.9
Utilities 218.8
Management of Companies and Enterprises 155.8
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 75.9
Other Services (except Public Administration) 70.7
Administrative Support,Waste Management and Remediation Services 27.1
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 16.8
Educational Services 3.7
Health Care and Social Assistance 2.5
12 Negocios12 Negocios InfograPhIC OLDEMAr
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN MEXICOTotal FDI by year, million USD
MEXICO, AN ATTRACTIVE
INVESTMENTDESTINATION
Chiapas 0.37
FDI BY STATEDURING 2011(million USD)
Distrito Federal
13,565.60
Nuevo León 924.97
Chihuahua 884.19Estado de México 622.52
Baja California 599.47
Jalisco 508.50
Querétaro 310.51
Tamaulipas 302.84
Puebla 217.71
Durango 215.55
Guanajuato 204.50
Quintana Roo 183.59
Baja California Sur 128.67
Nayarit 91.54
Morelos 87.54
Veracruz 78.33
Guerrero 52.30
Coahuila 39.44
Sinaloa 37.12
Michoacán 33.05
Yucatán 19.09
Tlaxcala 14.01
Colima 8.44
Oaxaca 6.59
Aguascalientes 6.18
Zacatecas 5.85Tabasco 2.89
Campeche 1.25
Hidalgo 0.67
123456789
1213
15
17
18
19
20
1110
14
16
32
31
30
29
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Source: General Directorate of Foreign Investment, Ministry of Economy.
TOP 10 INVESTORCOUNTRIES
FDI in Mexico by originduring 2011 (million USD)
US 10,699.35
The Netherlands 1,305.79
Switzerland 1,228.69Japan 664.62
Brazil 298.97
Ireland 258.94
Germany 229.88
France 161.91
Spain 2,911.15
‘00
18,1
10.0
1
‘01
29,8
60.7
7
‘02
23,9
32.3
1
‘03
18,5
54.1
0
‘04
24,8
20.9
1
‘05
24,3
73.3
7
‘06
20,0
06.
44
‘07
31,3
13.3
8
‘08
26,8
88.5
2
‘09
15,9
58.9
9
‘10
20,2
07.
63
‘11
19,4
39.8
1
Sonora 145.34
San Luis Potosí 141.1832
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24 23
22
21
16
15
13
1211
10
9
8
76
5
4
3
2
14
20
19
1817
1Canada 668.21
WHEREDOES FDI GO?FDI in Mexico by sectorduring 2011 (million USD)
Manufacturing 8,572.0Finance and Insurance 3,504.2Construction 1,239.5
Information 1,110.8
Wholesale Trade 1,077.6
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 829.9
Retail Trade 775.8
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 726.0
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 616.7
Accommodation and Food Services 600.5
Transportation and Warehousing 252.9
Utilities 218.8
Management of Companies and Enterprises 155.8
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 75.9
Other Services (except Public Administration) 70.7
Administrative Support,Waste Management and Remediation Services 27.1
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 16.8
Educational Services 3.7
Health Care and Social Assistance 2.5
Negocios figures
Photo ArCHIvE
The multimedia industry isone of the most relevantworldwide, considering itis expected to drive globalgrowth during the follow-
ingyears,notonlyfromaneconomicper-spective,butalsoasawayoftransferringculture and promoting technological de-velopment.Withinthemultimediaindus-try,thevideogamesoftwaresectorconsti-tutesakeyelement,giventhatitisexpect-edtogrowfourtimesfasterthanthemediaandentertainmentmarketsaltogether.Asa result of this global growth, the videogame sector has diversified, permeatingotherareasbeyondentertainment,suchaseducationandawarenesscampaigns.Fur-thermore,theexpansionofthevideogameindustryhasledtoanincreasingdemandfor skilled people, competitive costs andgovernment support. This has, in turn,ledtothearrivalofnewplayerswhohavetransformedthemarket.
Mexicohasemergedinthisnewwaveofcountrieswithpotentialtodevelopthevideogameindustry.Todayitisthemostimportantmarket for video games in Latin Americaandoneof the top15worldwide.And,eventhoughmostofthecontentproducedbyMex-icoisconsumedabroad,thecountryhasbeensetting up the bases to develop a nationalindustry, through the attraction of the mostrepresentative international companies andthepromotionofdomesticcompanies.
Thedevelopmentofthevideogamein-dustryinMexicocanbeattributedtosev-eralfactors,suchas:
Low costs in audiovisual productionand development, surpassing countrieslikeCanada,theUKorFrance.
Competitive human capital that willsteadily increase in the following years, asshownbythefactthatmorethan790,000stu-dents are enrolled in engineering and tech-nology-related programs and over 100,000graduatefromsuchprogramseachyear.
Increasing training and education inareas such as design and game program-mingbyspecializeduniversities.
PortofentrytootherLatinAmericanmarkets,especiallythosewithSpanishastheir primary language. This means for-eigncompaniesinterestedinenteringtheMexican market, may also have the op-portunitytopenetrateotherLatinAmeri-canmarkets.
Mexico’s interactive media sector cur-rently exhibits many of the characteris-ticscommontoagrowingindustrysector,wherecompaniesaremorefocusedonthebeginning of the value chain. And, eventhough the interactive media industry isoftenseenasonethatisnotlimitedbyge-ography,inthecaseofMexico,ithasdevel-opedanexcellentbaseonwhichtobuild.
Mexico has succeeded in developing anational industry, which is being driven
by cluster-like sectors in the major cen-
ters, comprising companies that develop
MexiCo:A KEy PLAyEr In tHE vIDEO GAMEInDustryMexiCo is tHe biggest Market For video gaMes in latin aMeriCa and Has eMerged as one oF tHe Countries witH tHe largest Potential to develoP tHe video gaMe industry.
by alfonso mojica navarro*
14 Negocios
MexiCo in tHe world
softwareforvideogames.Forthisreason,
the Mexican government –at the federal
and local levels– has promoted the gen-
erationofaworld-classvideogamedevel-
opmentindustryinthecountry,managing
multipleprogramsaimedatattractingfor-
eign companies and propelling national
developers.
Such is the case of Mexico’s Digital
Creative City project, which was recently
launched in Guadalajara, Jalisco. This is
the most ambitious project the govern-
menthasimplementedtopromotethecre-
ative industries. The Digital Creative City
will welcome domestic and international
companies specialized in developing soft-
wareforthecreativeindustries,lookingto
createsynergiesbetweenthem.n
* Trade Commissioner at ProMéxico’s Repre-
sentative Office in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Photo ArCHIvE
Theterm“creativeeconomy”wascoinedin2001byJohnHowkins, a journalist whonow acts as a consultantto over 30 governments
around the world. In an interview withthe World Intellectual Property Organi-zation (WIPO), Howkins defined suchan economy as one in which “the majorinputs and outputs are ideas […] it’s aneconomy where people spend most oftheirtimeinhavingideas.It’saneconomyorsocietywherepeoplethinkabouttheircapacitytohaveanidea;wheretheydon’tjust have a nine-to-five job, somethingroutine and repetitive, which is whatmost people did for many years whetherit was in the field or in the factory. It’swherepeople,doingthemostcommonofthings–talkingto their friends,havingaglassofwine,wakingupatfouro’clockinthemorning–,thinktheycanhaveanideathatactuallyworks.Notjustanideawith
somesortofesotericpleasure,butratherthedriveroftheircareer,thoughtsofsta-tusandthoughtsofidentity.
A ‘creative economy’ operates throughtransactions in creative products. Eachtransactionmayhavetwocomplementaryvalues: intangible intellectual propertyandphysicalcarrierorplatform.Insomeindustries,suchasdigitalsoftware,thein-tellectualpropertyvalueishigher.Inoth-ers,suchasart,theunitcostofthephysi-calobjectishigher.”
Inthiscontext,Howkinsisreferringtoaproductionmodelbasedoncreativity,onideasthatbreakwithestablishedpatterns.Asforthelinkbetweeneconomyandcre-ativity,hestatesthat:“Managingcreativityinvolves knowing, first, when to exploitthenon-rivalrousnatureofideasand,sec-ond, when to assert intellectual propertyrights and make one’s ideas-as-productsrivalrous. These two decision points arethecruxofthemanagementprocess.”
Thegoodnewsisthatdevelopingcoun-triesstandtobenefitfromacreativeecono-my.In2008,forinstance,emergingecono-miesexported“creative”goodsandservicesvalued at some 176 billionusd –equivalentto 43% of those traded by the world’s cre-ativeindustriesasawholethatyear.Whatis even more interesting is the fact thatthesefigureswerepostedinthemidstofan international economic crisis, whichpointstothecreativeeconomyasavehi-cle forgrowthandfightingpoverty,evenunder the most unfavorable of economicconditions.
Creativeeconomieshave,inturn,givenriseto“digitalcreativecities”likeToronto,SanFrancisco,Paris,Prague,Dublin,Sko-pje, Singapore, Wellington and, recently,the Mexican city of Guadalajara in thestateofJalisco.
Take Wellington, for instance. In No-vember 2011, New Zealand’s capital an-nounced a digital strategy and a three-
MexiCoanddigitalCreativeCitiestHe establisHMent oF a digital Creative City in guadalajara, jalisCo, Puts MexiCo in a leading Position witHin “Creative eConoMies” worldwide. guadalajara’s digital Creative City will be designed to attraCt HigH-level investMent in tHe inForMation and CoMMuniCations teCHnologies seCtor.
by maría cristina rosas*
16 Negocios
MexiCo in tHe world
creative economies have, in turn, given rise
to “digital creative cities” like toronto, san francisco, paris, prague,
duBlin, skopJe, singapore, Wellington and,
recently, the mexican city of guadalajara in
the state of Jalisco.
business tiPs
prongedplanofaction:toturnthecityintoa place where the world’s most talentedpeople would want to live; inspire thedevelopment of ideas and creativity andmakeitahubfordigitalactivities.
Based on the above, one could arguethattheexistenceofadigitalcreativecitypresupposestheexistenceofadigitalcity,something that seems simple enough butthat implies countless challenges. Firstoff, digital cities have digital citizens whoholddowndigital jobs inanenvironmentthatutilizesdigital infrastructure.Yetifadigital city is a real city it will have mul-tipleneighborhoods,markets,culturalar-eas, residential streets, business districts,industrialcorridorsandallkindsofinfra-structure.Thenotionofadigitalcitytakesthisbasicurbanapproachandapplieson-linetechnologyandinfrastructuretojobs,local events, entertainment, healthcare,the environment and everything else thatintervenesinaperson’slife.
Foradigitalcitytogrowandprosper,itmust represent multiple viewpoints, opin-ions and efforts and be built on the prin-
ciplesofopenness,empowermentofitsciti-zensandthepresenceofactorsinboththeprivateandpublicsectors.
Multiplicity is the key word here but itis generally accepted that digital cities areengineeredto:
Connect the online world to the realworld.
Emphasizetheuseofonlinetechnolo-giesbylocalcommunities.
Setupdigitaloffices. Createlocalevents. Createjobs. Develop multimedia products on a
largescale.These criteria underline an open plat-
formthat fosters innovationand, in turn,helpscreatejobs.Thus,planstoturnGua-dalajaraintoadigitalcreativecityarekeyto the development of a creative economyin Mexico. The state of Jalisco leads theway in terms of high-tech industries. Ac-cordingtofiguresfurnishedbytheNation-al Chamber of the Electronics, Telecom-munications and Information Technolo-giesIndustry(CANIETI),hi-techproducts
andservicesmakeupover60%ofJalisco’sexports. The state has some 700 hi-techcompaniesemploying90,000people,withGuadalajaragearinguptotakeoverastheleadingdeveloperofdigitalmediainallofLatinAmerica.
For all digital intents and purposes,Guadalajara has effectively joined thelist of cities that have taken on the majortechnological innovations driven by theso-called knowledge-based economy. Cit-ies like Singapore, which has digital ur-bandevelopmentssuchasOne-NorthandMediapolisinSingapore;MediaCityUKinManchester, the new headquarters of theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),tailored to meet the needs of the creativeanddigitalindustries;andtheDigitalMe-dia City in Seoul, South Korea, the firsthigh-techcomplexintheworldfordigitaltechnologies, comprising 56 square hect-aresofstate-of-the-artinfrastructure,net-workedofficesandculturalcenters,allof-feringincentiveplansforinvestors.
Drawing on these international experi-ences,Guadalajara’sdigitalcreativecitywill
18 Negocios Photos ArCHIvE
guadalajara’s dIgItal CreatIve CIty Will Be designed to attract high-level investment in the information technologies and communications sector. We are talking aBout the largest multimedia proJect in latin america, financed With state, federal and municipal funds.
bedesignedtoattracthigh-levelinvestmentin the information and communicationstechnologysector.Wearetalkingaboutthelargest multimedia project in Latin Amer-ica, financed with state, federal and mu-nicipalfunds.TheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT)willbeactingascon-sultantinthedevelopmentofthecomplex,whichwillcreateanestimated25,000directjobs at leading global firms specializing inthedevelopmentofsoftware,videogames,moviesandmobiledevices.
Located in the Parque Morelos districtof Guadalajara, in addition to a cluster ofmultimedia companies, this sustainableurbanprojectwillalsofeaturearesidentialareaforthepeopleemployedbythecompa-niesthatsetupshopthere.
AmongthemanyadvantagesGuadala-jara offers investors are wide experienceinthenewtechnologiessectorandhumancapital to spare. This cosmopolitan Mexi-can city also shares the same time zoneas several major cities in the US. Indeed,proximitytoandconnectivitywiththeUSwere factors MIT took into consideration
when choosing Guadalajara over the 11Mexicancitiesthatcompetedforcertifica-tionasdigitalcreativecities.
As a member of the global network ofdigitalcreativecities,Guadalajaraaimsto:
Facilitate international relations be-tweeneducational,businessandcom-munity organizations, which special-izeindigitalmedia.
Create new business activities be-tweenjurisdictions.
Foster growth and innovation in ex-istingdigitalmediabusinesses.
Develop innovative digital media ac-tivitiesineachlocality.
Provideincentivesforpublicandpri-vate sector investment in advanceddigitaltechnologiesandfostertiesbe-tweenjurisdictions.
Broaden workforce development andeducational opportunities in digitalmedia.
Provide technical support for digitalmediacreators.
Develop strategies to address rapidchangesindigitaltechnologies.
Keep stakeholders informed aboutemergingissuesrelatedtodigitalme-dia,innovationandbestpractices.
Clearly, Guadalajara’s digital waybill isa policy of cooperation with other cities inMexicoandabroad,astrategythatopensupthepossibilityofpoolingeffortsandreapingthemutualbenefits.Thefactthat11citiescon-tendedforthestatusofdigitalcreativecityin-dicatesthereishugepotentialforotherMexi-cancitiestofollowinGuadalajara’sfootsteps.
Digital cities aim to use new-generationtechnologiestobuildtheinfrastructureofthefuture.Inaworldthatisbecomingsmarterand increasingly interconnected, change,often rapid and unpredictable, is the onlyconstant businesses and governments cancounton.Thatiswhyitisimperativetoac-company this infrastructure with the rightincentivesandmakesureconditionsareripefordigitalcitiestoflourishintheinterestsofsocietyatlarge.n
*Professor and researcher in the Political and Social Sciences Faculty, National Autono-mous University of Mexico (UNAM).
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01
02
03
01 OnE-nOrtH, singapore02DIGItAL MEDIA CIty, seoul02MEDIACItyuK, Manchester
Photos ArCHIvE
Latin America is one of theworld’sfastestgrowingmediamarkets and Mexico is lead-ing the digital audiovisualproduction revitalization in
theregion.Mexico’screativeindustriesaretransforming their business and produc-tion models and evolving with the adventof new technologies and new consumertrends. A wide range that comprises cin-ema, TV production, digital animation,specialeffects,videogameandmultimediadevelopment,thenationalmedialandscapehasexperiencedaveryrapidgrowthrateinrecentyears.Thisplacesthecountryattheforefront of the digital culture and enter-tainment revolution in our own languageand is making Mexico the matrix of theSpanishDigitalWave.
The need for specialized content thatbettercaterstotheSpanish-speakingmar-ket,alongwiththesearchforstrategicpart-nersforglobalmediacompaniesbasedpri-
marily in North America and Europe, hasprompted an increased interest in the re-gion.DuetoMexico’sknowntalentacrosstheboard,aswellasverycompetitivecosts,international quality standard infrastruc-ture, natural wonders, world renownedhospitality,greatlocalmarket,proximitytokeyinternationalmarketsandgenerousin-centives,thecountryhasbecometheclearproductiondestinationofchoice.
Spanish-languagecontentiswarm,hu-man,relevant,entertainingandisincreas-ingly popular at a global level. Mexico isthecontentgenerationleader:MexicanTVproductionsareviewedbymorethan1bil-lion viewers in over 100 countries aroundthe world; Mexican films are rapidly re-gaining recognition in the world’s mostprestigious festivals; Mexican companiesarereleasingtheirvideogamesonthelat-est platforms and our VFX specialists arecreating movie magic effects for Holly-woodstudioproductions.
Media industries have been recog-nized by the Mexican Government asstrategic for the economic developmentof the country. The government is fullycommitted to boosting the growth ofthis industrialsectorandhasfurther in-creased its support in the form of finan-cialincentives,governmentdevelopmentprograms, specialized service platformsandtalentgeneration.
THE MEXICO ADVANTAGE1. the Filmmaking and audiovisual Production Platform Mexico has been the production destina-tion of choice of many studios that haveproducedfilmsnowregardedasclassics.Itisoneofthemostcompetitiveintheworldin terms of below-the-line production andlabor costs. That allows filmmakers todream big and build spectacular and im-pressivesets,makingthemostimaginativeproductiondesignsareality.
Creative industriesin MexiCo: MAtrIx OF tHE sPAnIsH DIGItAL wAvEMexiCo is at tHe ForeFront oF tHe digital Culture and entertainMent revolution. tHe Country is tHe largest exPorter oF Creative goods and serviCes in latin aMeriCa. tHe need For sPeCialized Content tHat better Caters to tHe sPanisH-sPeaking Market, along witH tHe searCH For strategiC Partners For global Media CoMPanies based PriMarily in nortH aMeriCa and euroPe, Has PlaCed MexiCan Creative industries at a leading Position in tHe region.
by luis archundia ortiz*
20 Negocios
Masterfilmmakershavefoundthebestproduction support from Mexican indus-try workers and artists, creating futureandfantasyworlds forsuchblockbustersand classic cinema as Dune, Total Recall andElysiumorrecreatingadistantpastforFrida, The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Master and Commander, Pearl Harbor and Titanic or transformingMexico into another country, making itlooklikeSantiago,ChileinMissing,orCali,ColombiainColombiana.
Mexico is also very advanced in devel-oping digital media expertise: a new gen-eration of young Mexican visual effectsprofessionals with Digital Imaging Tech-nician (DIT) certification in the produc-tion of digital imaging for state-of-the-artvideo game development, multi-textured3Danimation,multimediaandNewMediaproduction, and several post productionservice houses are becoming part of theHollywood-approved international qual-ityandsecurity-certifiedgroupofinterna-tional VFX companies outsourced by themajor studios to generate digital realities,fromsetcreationandsetextensionstodig-ital animatics, among other visual effectswonders, for films like Zodiac, The Social Network,The Curious Case of Benjamin But-ton, Let Me In, Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger TidesandTron Legacy.
Cover Feature creative industries in mexico
Mexicogoesbeyondfilmmaking.Itsau-diovisual and interactive industry is com-mitted to the development of intellectualproperty for the digital screen on diverseplatforms.Itscreativeindustriesaretrans-forming their business and productionmodelsandevolvingwiththeadventofnewtechnologiesandnewconsumertrends.Weare building an ideal business and indus-trial environment for media productionthrough globally competitive incentivesandindustrysupportprograms.
Strategicallylocated,neighboringthemostimportant market in the world and gatewaytotheLatinAmericanandPacificRimmar-kets; business culture affinity; integral gov-ernment support platform; quality of life;industry-tailoredincentivesandhighlycom-petitive costs are just some of the elementsthattotaltheMexicoadvantage.AccordingtoKPMG’sCompetitive Alternatives 2010report,Mexicooffersthegreatestcostadvantagesforthe development of software, video games,
Web and multimedia, among 102 countries.KPMG’sreportconsidersallcompetitivenessvariables: logistics, labor and transportationcosts,aswellasnetsales,amongotherfactors.
2. industry-tailored incentivesMexico offers attractive industry-tailoredincentive schemes, benchmarked againsttheworld’smostaggressivecompetitorsandcreatedtopromptgrandscaleinternationalproductionsinMexico.Its incentives–Pro-Audiovisual Fund (ProAv), EFICINE andFIDECINE–aredesignedtoboostlocalandforeign film and audiovisual productions.Theirscopegoesbeyondfilmmakinginor-der to stimulate investment in digital R&Dand IT development, with specific applica-tionsinvideogames,interactive,animationandnewmedia.
Thereisasupportprogramforthehigh-impact film and audiovisual industry thatoffersanincentiveofupto17.5%ofapplica-bleexpensesincurredinMexicowhichcon-
sistsofacashrefundappliedonallverifiableproduction-relatedexpensesandthereturnoftheVATdisbursedfromthoseexpenses.Additionally,theprogramspurredthecre-ationoftheFilmandAudiovisualIndustryGovernmentServicePlatformthatcontem-platesaschemeofintegralattentiontofilmandaudiovisualhigh-impactproductionstooffer them the best shooting experience inour country. An industry information webresource called Film Friendly Mexico hasbeen created to attract foreign audiovisualproductionsandserviceproductioncompa-niesfromaroundtheworld.
In addition to these funds, Mexico alsooffersotherschemesliketheProSoftFund,Mexico First, CONACYT (National Coun-cilonScienceandTechnology)InnovationFund,amongothereconomicincentives,tosupportimportantinvestmentrequiredforequipment,licensing,trainingandR&Dforaudiovisualenterprisesandprojectsfocus-ingondigitalmediaproduction.
22 Negocios Photo ArCHIvE
3. the talentBeyond the infrastructure and financialadvantages,Mexicooffersawealthoftal-ent with a multidisciplinary populationtrainedtobecomekeyplayersinthedigitalproduction spectrum, from software de-velopers,tovisualartistsanddesigners,toanimation and visual effects/ multimediaspecialistsservicingdomesticandinterna-tionalcompanies.
According to ANUIES (Asociación Na-cional de Universidades e Instituciones deEducación Superior) in Mexico, close to125,000 students graduate each year fromanimation,digitaldesign,filmmaking,virtu-almediacommunication, imageandsounddesign,interactivedesignanddigitalmediaengineeringcareers.MexicoistheninthITtalenthubintheworldandthemostimpor-tanttechtalentpoolinAmerica.
Furthermore, Mexico is developingnew specialized academic programs formedia and interactive industries. There
aremorethan900postgraduateprogramsrelated to engineering and technology inMexicanuniversities.
4. the spanish-speaking Market Mexico is one of the most important con-sumermarketsandthegatewaytothehigh-estgrowingmarketsintheworld.Accord-ingtoseveralanalyses:
Mexicoexported5.17billionusdworthofcreativegoodsandservicesin2008andis the largest exporter in Latin America,followed by Brazil’s 1.222 billionusd dur-ingthesameyear.Infact,Mexicoexportsmore than Latin America and the Carib-beancombined.
Over 1 billion people around the worldin more than 10 languages are watchingMexico’saudiovisualcontents.
Mexico is the largest film market inLatinAmerica,with190millionticketssoldduring 2010 and the second largest of theAmericasaftertheUS.
In 2010 the media and entertainmentsector in Mexico registered close to 18 bil-lionusdinsales.Thatsectorincludesadver-tising, free to air broadcast television, payTV,marketingandcinema.At thecloseof2011, Mexico’s box office revenues reached9,766billionpesos(7.8%morethanin2010).
Mexico is ranked among the 15 mainvideogamemarketsintheworldandisthefirstinLatinAmericawithmorethan50%of theregion’ssales,equivalent to757mil-lionusdduring2010.
The Spanish-speaking population is asegmentwithcontinuousandrapidgrowthworldwide.Thistrendisespeciallyevidentand swift in the US. Mexico is not onlya prime market for entertainment prod-uctsbut isalsoan idealplatformtocreateSpanish-languagecontent.Thecountrynotonly serves as a test market but also as adevelopmentcenterforproductsgearedforthe increasingly important and influentialSpanish-speakingmarket.
Cover Feature creative industries in mexico
Thatsegmentcomprisesahugecommu-nitythatsharesproducts,services,andcul-tureandsuppliesbusinessesandinstitutionswithatrulyuniquegrowthopportunity.Ac-cordingtoRichardEstevezfromtheCSNIn-telligenceforGlobalBusiness,somekeyfactsregardingtheSpanishlanguageare:
It is the official language in 21 countriesandisthethirdmost-spokenlanguageintheworld, after English and Mandarin. Morethan400millionpeoplespeakitworldwide.
Experts predict that by the year 2050therewillbe530millionSpanishspeakers,ofwhich100millionwillliveintheUS.
ThedemandforqualitySpanishcontentthroughouttheUShasbeenfueled,inpart,by the Hispanic media market explosion,led by television advertising at a nationalandnetworklevel,whichhasseengrowthofnearly74%inrecentyears.
5. digital Creative City,Home of the spanish digital wave Governmentpolicyhasspecificallyidentified
thecreativeindustriesasafocusforgrowth,encouraging the development of a ‘creativecluster’ model which concentrates talent,skills,learning,employmentandfacilities.
That encourages collaboration and co-operation between experts and pairs com-plimentaryactivitiesandindoingsofacili-tatestheexchangeofknowledgeandideas.Thatistherationalebehindthecreationofa world-class media production hub to bebuiltinGuadalajara,whichwillbeknownasDigitalCreativeCity(DCC).
Thisurbandevelopment,whichwillbecreatedundertheguidanceofMIT’sMediaLabandamultidisciplinarygroupofMexi-canspecialistswillbethelargestpurpose-builtmediacommunityinMexicoandLat-inAmericaandthelargestSpanish-contentproductioncenterintheworld.
In addition to state-of-the-art studios,DCCwillhaveanunparalleledcommunica-tionsstructure,thatwill increaseMexico’spresence and influence in media contentproductionaroundtheworld.
DCCisadigitalmedianodethatwillbedeveloped in several phases and it is pro-jected to have a population of 50,000 in-habitants, including media industries andinformation technology professionals anddiverseglobalmediacorporations.
Pairing futurist and historic Mexicanarchitecture, DCC will be an environ-ment for the age of knowledge and Ideas,anidealurbanenvironmenttoinvest,live,create, learn, enjoy, discover and developtheshapeofthefutureincultureanden-tertainment. Itwillbehometooneof thelargesttechhubsintheSpanish-speakingworld. It will set a new standard of eco-nomic and environmental sustainabilitycoupled with maximum efficiency of re-sources where the creative communitywillunitemindsandforcestogeneratetheSpanishDigitalWave.n
* Business Intelligence Unit, ProMéxico.
24 Negocios
The demand for qualiTy SpaniSh conTenT ThroughouT The uS haS been fueled, in parT, by The hiSpanic media markeT exploSion, led by
TeleviSion adverTiSing aT a naTional and neTwork level, which haS Seen growTh of nearly 74% in recenT yearS.
Photos COurtEsy OF LArvA GAME stuDIOs
sPeCial Feature mexican film industry
Theyearhasbarelybegunandalready the movies are thetalk of the town. HundredsofreviewsoftheFrench-Bel-gian film The Artist –which
took home no less than five Oscars at the84th Academy Awards– are making theroundsaswespeak.
This month also brings the GuadalajaraInternationalFilmFestival(FICG,accordingtoitsSpanishacronym),affordingaudiencesinMexico’ssecondlargestcitythechancetoseethepremieresofsome50Mexican-madefilmsatcommercialmovietheaters.
Another 50 or so film related events,somemorespecializedthanothers,willbetakingplacethelengthandbreadthofthecountryoverthecomingmonths.Mostof
the MexiCan filM industry A Plot that Continues to Thicken
thenewMexicanfilmsshowcasedatthesefestivalshavebeenfinancedbyacombina-tionofprivateandgovernmentfundsun-deramechanismthathasbeenoilingtheindustry’sprojectorssince2006.
Determinedtoexpandintermsofbothquantity and quality, Mexico produced 67feature films in 2011, 58 of which were fi-nanced with government funds and ninewithprivatecapital.
According to the Mexican Film Institute(IMCINE),59ofthesefeaturespremieredinMexico,confirmingthatthenumberofMexi-canproductionsandpremiereshasincreasedslowly but surely since tax incentives wereintroduced to consolidate the seventh art asanindustry,basedonamodelthatcombinesgovernmentandprivatesectorfinancing.
as tHe industry Progresses in takes and wraPs, MexiCo Continues to Make quality FilMs witH box oFFiCe Potential tHat deserve tHe international reCognition tHey Have garnered.
by omar magaña
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26 Negocios
Under that model, the Mexican govern-mentallocates70millionUSDayeartofilmprojects. These funds are distributed viaentities such as the Fund for Quality FilmProductions (FOPROCINE) and the FilmInvestment and Stimulus Fund (FIDE-CINE).Additionally,Mexicanlawprovidesfor thesettingupofaprivatecapital fund,managed and distributed by IMCINE viatheEFICINE226incentive.
Created to support the production offictional features, documentaries andanimatedfilms,Mexicanproductioncom-panies and individuals are eligible forFOPROCINEfinancing,althoughforeignfilmmakerscanapplyprovidedtheyhavebeen residing in the country for at leasttwo years and can prove they have beeninvolved in the Mexican film industryduringthattime.
FIDECINE is geared more toward theproduction, postproduction, distributionand screening of fictional features andanimatedfilmsandincludesincentivesforcommercial showings and good track re-cords at Mexican and international festi-vals.Forinstance,directorswhosefilmsre-coup 100% of financial assistance received
underthemechanismaregrantedanequiv-alentamounttomakeasecondfilm.
These two funds operate via venturecapital and credit lines: filmmakers mayonly apply for financial assistance fromone at a time but both can be combinedwithEFICINE226.
Commonly referred to as simply “226”,the incentive was introduced in 2006 andallowstaxpayers,bothindividualsandcor-porations, to participate in the productionand postproduction of Mexican featuresandco-productions.
Thebackerreceivesataxcreditequiva-lenttotheamountinvested–uptoamaxi-mum of 20 million pesos– which can beusedtooffset incometax.Amaximumof500millionpesosisgrantedintaxcreditseveryyear.
Since the mechanism came into effect,408 companies have backed 207 film proj-ects,includingfirstfeatures,documentariesandanimatedfilms.
Asidefromthefringebenefitsthatcomewith a successful festival tour, like the oneon which Patricia Martínez de Velasco’sAquí entre nos (2010) embarked, films likeLuis Estrada’s El infierno (2010) have en-
couragedMexicanaudiencestogoseefilmsmadeontheirhometurf.
“The 226 incentive has proven to be agood source of investment and has helpedconsolidate the Mexican industry. Thenumberoffilmsproducedhasincreasedinrecentyears,”saysAndreaStavenhagen,co-directorofthe“Industry”sectionofFICG.
OthercountrieslikeSpain,whichiscon-stantlyproducingfilms,haveeitheradoptedorareseekingtoadoptsimilarjointfinancingmodels,accordingtoaninterviewJoséMaríaLasallegavetotheSpanishdaily,El País,notso long ago. Appointed Ministry of CultureunderthegovernmentformedbySpain’snewpresidentMarianoRajoy,Lasalleisquotedassaying “we shouldn’t think of film as a cre-ativeartbutasabusiness”forwhichapublicand private financing model urgently needstobefoundifitistosurvivegovernmentbud-getcutsinthesetimesofcrisis.
If the last six years are anything togo by, Mexico’s industry should have notrouble weathering the storm, reeling inincreasinglargeraudienceswithfilmsthatleave no doubt as to the growing profes-sionalizationandtechnicalcapacityofthecountry’sfilmmakers.
Photos ArCHIvE
sPeCial Feature mexican film industry
Lastyearwasespeciallypromising,withthereleaseof fourfilmsthatrekindledna-tionalprideinMexican-madefilms,causedanimpactabroadandbroughtinsubstantialboxofficetakings:theanimatedfeatureDon Gato wasseenbysome2.6millionviewers,another2millionpaidtowatch Salvando al soldado Pérez,thedocumentaryPresunto cul-pableattractedaudiencesof 1.7millionandLa leyenda de la Llorona1.3million.
In2011,Mexicanmovietheatersreceivedatotalof13millionviewersandpostedboxofficerevenuesof45millionusd.
MovietheatersarestartingtooffermoreMexican-madefilmsandareshowingthemfora longerperiod.Theyarealsocreepinginto the portfolios of the large distributors–representedinMexicobythemultination-als Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox,Paramount,BuenaVistaandDisney.
“All the large distributors brought Mexi-can films with good box office potential” tothisyear’sFICG,saysAlejandraPaulín,whoco-directs the festival’s “Industry” sectionalongwithStavenhagen.“Insomecases,”sheadds, “distributors that have their own pro-ductionareashaveinvestedinthesefilms.”
OtherMexicandistributorslikeVideo-cine,asubsidiaryofTelevisa,areinvolvedintheproductionofMexicanfilms,whichtheydistributealongwithinternationalti-tles.VideocinemanagedtobringBetoGó-mez’Salvando al soldado Pérez to275movietheatersforitspremiereonMarch18,2011,andtoanother312intheweeksthereafter.
On the international festival circuit,Mexico continues to live up to its reputa-tionasaseedbedofdocumentaryfilmmak-ers, many of whom are graduates of theFilmTrainingCenter(CCC),theUniversityCenterforFilmStudies(CUEC)attheNa-tional Autonomous University of Mexico(UNAM), the Sound and Image Depart-ment(DIS)attheUniversityofGuadalajara(UdeG) and other universities offering au-diovisualrelatedcourses.
Competing at the 27th edition of FICGare documentary filmmakers who havedeveloped their own cinematographic lan-guage, like Everardo González, director ofCuates de Australia, and Juan Carlos Rulfo,whoco-directedCarrière, 250 metros –afilmon the life of the French screenwriter JeanClaudeCarrière–withNataliaGil.
“As a form of artistic expression, weare seeing more and more Mexican filmsthatreflectthepersonalviewsoftheirdi-rectors,likethoseofRodrigoPláandCar-los Reygadas and films like El premio andCochochi, which met with internationalcriticalacclaim,”saysStavenhagen.
The Industry Section of Gualajara’sFestival that Stavenhagen and Paulín di-rect isdesignedtohelpmeshthecreativeandbusinessaspectsoffilmmaking.
Newfilmmakers,theysay,mustremem-berthatthebefore,duringandafterofeveryprojectrequiresadetailedfinancingplansothefilmcanbeproducedandcompletedus-ing localcapitalorasaco-productionandto ensure that it is distributed and that itreachesinternationalmarketssotheinitialinvestmentcanberecouped.
The Morelia, Guanajuato, Mayan Riv-iera and DocsDF film festivals have cre-ated similar sections, where industry ex-pertsdiscusstheroleofproducers,agentsand distributors in a plot that looks des-tinedtothickenintoasolidindustrythatservesasabenchmarkforitsLatinAmer-icancounterparts.n
Pho
to F
ICG
27 /
GIL
bE
rtO
tO
rr
Es
28 Negocios28 Negocios InfograPhIC OLDEMAr
Spain7 | 3
MEXICANFILMS INTHE WORLDInternational Co-productions2007-2010
InternationalAwards forMexican Films
…ACTION!MEXICAN FILM INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS
New FilmReleasesin Mexico
Foreign films (non US)
US films
Mexican films
26
121 132
2005: 279
133 132
2006: 298
33
142 120
2007: 305
43149 128
2008: 336
49
131 122
54
2009: 307
140 117
29
14
14
14
11
5
5
5
3
56
2010: 313
Attendancelevels(millions)
Germany
France
Spain
Argentina
Uruguay
US
Chile
Peru
Colombia
Box-office Revenue(million USD)
*Conversion rate as of December 31 of each year.
‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10
34.48 36.72 42.99 22.08 26.46 22.79 36.57 45.55 38.54 37.98 40.76
433.33 442.51 449.62
404.72
483.50536.44
562.59611.64
525.81
591.88
731.93
Total Mexico
‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10
189178182
175165163163
137152
139130
Countries with highest number of Mexican film releases(number of Mexican films released)
34
42
35
12
35
75
41
68
57
61
‘01
‘02
‘03
‘04
‘05
‘06
‘07
‘08
‘09
‘10
‘01
‘00
‘02
‘03
‘04
‘05
‘06
‘07
‘08
‘09
‘10
‘11
US12 | 3
Country‘09 | ‘10
Venezuela3 | 3
France5 | 7
Colombia5 | 4
Uruguay3 | 3
Argentina3 | 3
UK2 | 4
Germany3 | 5
Canada3 | 3
Films ProducedWith State Funding 100% Private Funding
17
17 12
7
7 7
25 11
42 11
41
57
58
58 11
57
13
29
9
9
34 30
14
11
sPeCial Feature mexican film industry
Spain7 | 3
MEXICANFILMS INTHE WORLDInternational Co-productions2007-2010
InternationalAwards forMexican Films
…ACTION!MEXICAN FILM INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS
New FilmReleasesin Mexico
Foreign films (non US)
US films
Mexican films
26
121 132
2005: 279
133 132
2006: 298
33
142 120
2007: 305
43149 128
2008: 336
49
131 122
54
2009: 307
140 117
29
14
14
14
11
5
5
5
3
56
2010: 313
Attendancelevels(millions)
Germany
France
Spain
Argentina
Uruguay
US
Chile
Peru
Colombia
Box-office Revenue(million USD)
*Conversion rate as of December 31 of each year.
‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10
34.48 36.72 42.99 22.08 26.46 22.79 36.57 45.55 38.54 37.98 40.76
433.33 442.51 449.62
404.72
483.50536.44
562.59611.64
525.81
591.88
731.93
Total Mexico
‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10
189178182
175165163163
137152
139130
Countries with highest number of Mexican film releases(number of Mexican films released)
34
42
35
12
35
75
41
68
57
61
‘01
‘02
‘03
‘04
‘05
‘06
‘07
‘08
‘09
‘10
‘01
‘00
‘02
‘03
‘04
‘05
‘06
‘07
‘08
‘09
‘10
‘11
US12 | 3
Country‘09 | ‘10
Venezuela3 | 3
France5 | 7
Colombia5 | 4
Uruguay3 | 3
Argentina3 | 3
UK2 | 4
Germany3 | 5
Canada3 | 3
Films ProducedWith State Funding 100% Private Funding
17
17 12
7
7 7
25 11
42 11
41
57
58
58 11
57
13
29
9
9
34 30
14
11
Source: Mexican Film Institute ( IMCINE).
Photos COurtEsy OF KAxAn MEDIA GrOuP
Three days after its launch itwas the most popular paiddownload at the iTunesstoreinMexico.Ithassincetantalized taste buds in 60
countries. India gobbled it up and so didChina,whereitrosetonumberfiveonthemenuoffavorites.IntheUS,itenteredthetop 40 right off the spit. We are talkingabout Taco Master, a video game createdby Kaxan Media Group, based in Guada-lajara,Mexico.
Distributed by Chilingo, which was re-cently taken over by Electronic Arts, Taco Master is just one of many success storiesof a company that has transformed withthe paradigms of conventional animation,creatingitsowncampusofsortswhereem-ployees learn from “the best in the world”inrealtime.
“Thebestintheworld”meaningprojectand film directors at studios like Disney,Pixar,Dreamworks,UbisoftandLionhead.
Investment in state-of-the-art technol-ogyhasalsoplayedapart in thecompany’sglowing performance: Kaxan uses the exactsame hardware and software as the world’smostprestigiousanimationandvideogamestudios and every artist is equipped with aWacom Cintiq display, which combines theadvantages of a digital workflow with thefreedom of traditional pen and paper. Thecompanyalsohastwomotioncaptureteamsandboothsfor5.1surroundsoundmixing.
Thisperfectbalanceofintellectandtech-nologyhasproventobearecipeforsuccess.
Back in 2008, when the company wasfounded,itfocuseditsenergiesonBatallón 52,aseriesofanimatedshortfilmsontheMexi-canWarofIndependenceandthecountry’sRevolution.Soon, itwastoevolveintoade-veloper and creator of intellectual property,withfilmproductions,videogamesandap-plicationsformobiledevicesunderitsbelt.
Kaxanhascertainlymadeaconstructiveuseofitstime.Fromdayone,ithadthefore-
sighttoapplyforalicensetodevelopprod-uctsforNintendoWii,Xbox360andPlay-station–thefirstcompanyinLatinAmericatodoso.Notsatisfiedwithitsearlysuccess,itbegandevelopingcellphoneapplicationscompatiblewithApple’siPhone/iPad,Win-dowsPhone,AndroidandNokia.
Today, the group’s 110 employees areengaged in the development of innovativeproductsatKaxan’sstudiosinGuadalajara,ChapalaandPuertoVallarta,threecitiesinthe state of Jalisco a two-hour flight awayfromdevelopmentcenterssuchasLosAn-geles,PhoenixandHoustonintheUS.
SowhatisKaxanchannelingitsenergiesinto these days? “Into consolidating a 360degree company,” says PR and MarketingManagerAbrilReynoso.
By360degrees,Reynoso isreferringtoKaxan Games and the creation of intellec-tualpropertyviathedevelopmentofmulti-platform video games and games for theInternet, without overlooking applications
faMe andthe Pursuitof an osCarCreator oF Taco MasTer, a toP selling video gaMe For Mobile deviCes, kaxan Media grouP is now seeking to Conquer new Markets and take HoMe tHe HeavyweigHt title in tHe aniMation and video gaMe Play oFFs.
by sandra roblágui
30 Negocios
formobiledevices,animatedtelevisionse-riesand3Dmovies–aprojecthalfthecom-pany’screativeforceisworkingon.
Their next video game, developed forNintendoWii,holdsgreatpromise.Sched-uled to launch in April 2012, the gamefeatures“ElChavodelOcho”,a1970stele-vision character that familiarized LatinAmerica and the rest of the world withMexico’sslangandidiosyncrasies.
Televisa and Grupo Chespirito will re-tain the intellectual property rights over“El Chavo del Ocho”, while Kaxan will benamedthegame’sexclusivedeveloperun-der the strategic alliance formed for thisnew product, whose launch will coincidewith El Secreto del Medallón de Jade, ananimated children’s film in Spanish thatpremieredatthe2012GuadalajaraInterna-tionalFilmFestival.
“Andthenwehaveanotherprojectwhichwe’rehopingwillearnusanOscarnomina-tion,”saysReynoso,falsemodestyaside.
That project is Poncho Balón, a 3D ani-matedmoviethatKaxanhasbeenworkingonsincemid-2011.ThefilmwillbedirectedbyRenéCastillo,whohaswonseveralinter-nationalawardsforhisshortfilmsHasta los huesosandSin sostén.
Poncho Balón will be co-produced withMandarakaFilmsandrecordedinEnglishwith famous actors doing the voiceovers.Aimedatayoungeraudience,Kaxantrustsit will be understood and appreciated bychildrentheworldover.
Yettheupcomingreleaseofavideogameandtwofeaturefilms–onewithitssightsseton an Oscar– hasn’t stopped the companyfromworkingonthepre-productionofBru-no,anotherfilmwithuniversalappeal.Anditseemslikethereareplentymoreprojectsonthehorizon.Sowhat’sthesecret?Accord-ingtoReynoso,it’sacombinationofMexicangeniusandcuttingedgetechnology.n
www.kaxanmediagroup.com
KAxAn MEDIA GrOuP HAs CErtAInLy MADE A COnstruCtIvE usE OF
Its tIME. FrOM DAy OnE, It HAD tHE FOrEsIGHt tO APPLy FOr A LICEnsE tO DEvELOP PrODuCts FOr nIntEnDO wII, xbOx 360
AnD PLAystAtIOn –tHE FIrst COMPAny In LAtIn
AMErICA tO DO sO.
MexiCo’s Partner kaxan media group
Photos COurtEsy OF GyrOsCOPIK stuDIOs
There is such a thing as magicand Gyroscopik Studios istangible proof. In just eightyears, what began as a smalladvertising agency manned
bytwohasblossomedintoan18-strongteamof creators in an industry that is taking offinMexico.Today,Gyroscopikhasthecapac-itytoproduce30-secondanimatedcommer-cialsovernightand3Dfeaturesinnotmuchlonger,usingthesametechnologyemployedbytheworld’smostprestigiousstudios.
Thecompanyhasalreadymadeanen-tryintotelevisionproductions,thedevel-opment of cell phone applications, char-acterdesign,storyboarding,modeling,3Dprintingandthepre-visualizationoffilmprojects and plans to test the waters inmovietheatersinthenearfuture.
Gyroscopikoffersitsclientsthewholepackage:technologicalcapacity,datapro-tection and creative talent on a par withthebestintheworld.
Its studios in Guadalajara and theChapalaMediaPark–bothinthestateofJalisco–boastoneofthemostsophisticat-edViconmotioncapturesystemsinLatinAmerica,withover32camerascapableoftrackinganepicwarorthemovementsofafantasycreature.
“When we founded Gyroscopik, ourgoal was advertising, not animation, be-cause at the time the common belief inMexico was that animation was only forartisticprojects.Nowanimationisamongthose techniques with the brightest fu-ture,”saysGyroscopikfounder,CEOandproducerYoanpabloPérezAnaya.
PérezAnayastudiedindustrialdesignbutwasdrawntoanimationand3Dwhenhesawhowitcouldmaterializeeveryfig-mentofthehumanimaginationand“defythelawsofphysicsandgravity.”
Less than 10 years down the line, hiscompanyhas53peopleonitspayrollandhas been involved in projects like the
WWE wrestling game, one of the top 10best selling video games in America, forwhich Gyroscopik did fragments of ani-mationandvisualeffects.
According to Pérez Anaya, the nextstep isevenbolder.Inadditiontodevelop-ing creative projects for companies in theUS, Canada, Germany, Spain, France andPanama, Gyroscopik is on the lookout forinvestors for a 35 million usd animationproject,oneofthemostambitiousofitskindinLatinAmerica.TheplanistorestoretheiconiccomedianMarioMorenoReyes,a.k.a.“Cantinflas”(1911-1993),oftenreferredtoastheMexicanCharlieChaplin.
The Adventures of Cantinflas, as theproject has been dubbed, has been en-dorsed by Moreno’s son and has thebacking of Televisa, one of the largestbroadcastingcompaniesonthecontinent,whichwillactasdistributor.
So, if all goes according to plan, in thesecond half of 2013 an animated “Cantin-
gyrosCoPik To the Millionaire Rescue of a Comedy ClassicgyrosCoPik studios, a leading MexiCan CoMPany in tHe Field oF aniMation, is about to eMbark on an aMbitious ProjeCt tHat inCludes tHe develoPMent oF a television series, a Feature FilM, video gaMes and aPPliCations For Mobile deviCes Featuring “CantinFlas”, a 20tH Century iCon oF MexiCan PoP Culture.
by sandra roblágui
32 Negocios
flas”willbestutteringandstammeringhiswaythroughthreeseasons,eachcomprisedof26episodeslasting11minutesapiece.
Theseries is justonepartof theproj-ect, which includes a feature film, videogames, applications for cell phones andtablets, souvenirs, and a look-in on theworld’s televisions, movie theaters andcellphonesviaTelevisa.
The Adventures of Cantinflasisanattrac-tivedealforinvestors,too,whoareguaran-teedcontinuedreturnsofbetween20%and40%foraperiodoffiveyearsaftertheyhaverecoupedtheirinitialinvestment.
In the meantime, Gyroscopik’s Prime-timeproductioncompanycanbecreditedwith developing an animation programandapplicationsthathaveput the faceofMexico’s most beloved comedian on theslotmachinesofcasinosaroundtheworld.
“Cantinflas is the launch pad, ourticket to the major leagues,” says PérezAnaya,addingthattheenormouscreative
capacity of Mexico’s animation industryhasnowbeenmatchedbyitstechnologi-calcapabilities.“Themarket ishuge,notjustathome,wheretherearemillionsofvideogameconsumers,butworldwide.”
Culturallyspeaking,Mexicohasa time-honoredcreativetradition–artists,drawers,sculptors, screenwriters, storytellers– andnowitalsohasrecoursetocuttingedgetech-nology.AccordingtoPérezAnaya,“Mexicoand Gyroscopik are not only equipped totakeon largescaleprojectsbutarealsoca-pableofcreatingtheirownintellectualprop-erty.”Plusthecountryisstrategicallyposi-tioned,bothgeographicallyandintermsoftimezones.
“We Mexicans are capable of creat-ingproducts thataresuccessful theworldover,”saysPérezAnaya.AndjudgingfromthesuccessofGyroscopikStudios,it’shardtodisagreewithhim.n
www.gyroscopik.com
ACCOrDInG tO PérEz AnAyA, “MExICO AnD
GyrOsCOPIK ArE nOt OnLy EquIPPED tO
tAKE On LArGE sCALE PrOjECts but ArE ALsO
CAPAbLE OF CrEAtInGtHEIr Own IntELLECtuAL
PrOPErty.”
MexiCo’s Partner gyroscopik studios
Photo COurtEsy OF sLAnG
Only one company can becredited with bringingMexican wrestling iconsand “El Chavo del Ocho”,a popular television series
starringMexico’sRobertoGómezBolaños,tovideogameconsoles.
“Slangwasfoundedin2008withthemis-sionofsupplyingtheLatinAmericanmarketwithvideogamesmadebyLatinAmericans.WesawbothachallengeandanopportunityinanindustrydominatedbyUS,Europeanand Japanese game publishers. But we alsorealized Mexico has traditions and char-acters that can be turned into great videogames.Thatwastheinspirationforourfirstprojects,oneofwhichisbasedontraditionalMexicanwrestlingandanotheronthechar-acter of ‘Chespirito’ from the popular tele-vision series El Chavo del Ocho,” says SlangCEOAbrahamBautistaArgüello.
Slang is the only game publisher inLatin America with a license for all three
consoles on the market: Sony, NintendoandMicrosoft.Initsshortlife,thecompanyhasgainedconsiderableexperience, to thepointwhereitnowhasthecapabilitytode-velopandpublishgamesforpracticallyanyplatform,beitmobile,socialorconsole.
“Wehavecreatedgamesthatmightnev-er have been developed by other studios,likeLucha Libre AAAandEl Chavo del Ocho,which is scheduled for release in the nearfuture,”saysBautista.
In 2009, just one year after Slang wasfounded,theMinistryofEconomy(SE)rec-ognized it as the first Mexican publisher ofvideogamesforXBox,PlayStation3 (PS3),PlayStationPortable,WiiandNintendoDSconsoles.Thatsameyear,thecompanywonthePYMEAward–forsmallandmedium-sized businesses– granted by the MexicangovernmentintheInnovationandDevelop-mentcategory.
SlangistheonlyLatinAmericancompa-nyregisteredintheEntertainmentSoftware
Association (ESA), which all the big inter-national video game publishers are mem-bersof.ItalsoworkswithJapaneseandUSpublishers,relaunchinggamesataffordablepricesforLatinAmericanmarkets.
AccordingtoBautista,“piracyisoneofthe more serious problems the industryfacesandthebestwaytobeatitistoofferconsumersqualityproductsatreasonableprices,sotheycanenjoythistypeofenter-tainmentinitsbestpossibleform.”
Although there is no international in-dustryrankingassuch,SlangundoubtedlysetsthebarinMexicoandLatinAmerica.Hopefully, that will serve as inspirationfor others by proving that it is possible tocreatevideogamesinMexico.Allyouhaveto do is set yourself high goals and reachthem,saysBautista.
Oneofthesegoals,Bautistasays,wastoofferchildren,teenagersandadultsinter-activeentertainmentproductsonavarietyofplatformsavialibleinthemarket.
virtualMexiCanCultureMore tHan an entertainMent CoMPany, slang Pays tribute to Mass MexiCan Culture witH quality video gaMes tHat are winning over Fans on tHe international Market.
by antonio vázquez
34 Negocios
MexiCo’s Partner slang
ThatishowLucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ringcametolife.DevelopedincollaborationwithanotherMexicanstudio,itwasthefirstgameSlanglaunchedontheLatinAmericanmarketandwithresoundingsuccess.
“It’snotwrestling;it’slucha libre”isthemottoweusedtopromotethegameandourcultureusingthismassentertainmentme-dium,saysBautista.
Slang’s catalogue boasts products likeLucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring forXbox360,PS3andWiiconsolesandAtrévete a So-ñar,developedbyKaxanforWiiconsoles,plusasuiteofothergamestobelaunchedintheupcomingmonths.
“OurdevelopmentstudioinMexicoCityis working on three games right now, oneofwhichisforXbox360andPS3consoles,”saysBautista.“Theprocessvariesdependingontheproject.Ifthereareintellectualprop-erty rights involved, as was the case withLucha Libre AAA,that’swherewebegin,butif the concept is created from scratch, it’s a
different story. That gives our creative de-partment the freedom to bring ideas aboutconcepts,genreandgamestylestothetable.There are lots of variables to be taken intoconsideration,fromtheplatformwe’regoingtousetothetargetmarket.”
In 2012, the company aims to create 20newjobsforgraduatesofprivateandpublicuniversitiesagedbetween20and30.Need-less to say, an interest in video games is aprerequisite for candidates. “If you workhere, you must be passionate about videogames.It’sbecauseofthatpassionthatwehavesuchatalentedteam,”saysBautista.
Slang plans to continue making videogames inspired by mass Mexican culture,while expanding its operations throughoutthecontinent.“Ourstudioisdevelopingin-creasinglyambitiousgamesthatimplymorespecialized knowledge, which we are help-ingtospreadinMexico,”saysBautista.n
www.slang.vg
sLAnG Is tHE OnLy LAtIn AMErICAn
COMPAny rEGIstErED In tHE EntErtAInMEnt
sOFtwArE AssOCIAtIOn, wHICH ALL tHE bIG
IntErnAtIOnAL vIDEO GAME PubLIsHErs ArE MEMbErs OF.
tHE COMPAny ALsO wOrKs wItH jAPAnEsE
AnD us PubLIsHErs, rELAunCHInG GAMEs
At AFFOrDAbLE PrICEs FOr LAtIn AMErICAn
MArKEts.
Photos COurtEsy OF nEGGI stuDIOs
In1985,GermánVázquezplayedMa-rioBrosonaNintendoNESconsolefortheveryfirsttime.Hewasjustaboybackthen.Today,atthestillten-derageof33,thisyoungentrepreneur
fromMonterrey,NuevoLeón,isfounderandCEOofNeggiStudios,thecompanythatcre-atedBicentenario 2010: Los Héroes de México.
Thousands of iPad users are familiarwiththevideogame,whichApple’siTunesportal describes as a “fitting celebration ofMexico’sWarofIndependence.”
Players are invited to reenact key mo-ments of the War of Independence, like thefirst battle at the Alhóndiga de Granaditasin Guanajuato in 1810, the siege of Cuautlain1812andthedefenseoftheSotolaMarinaRiver in 1817. Battles from the 1910 MexicanRevolutionarealsoreenactedinthecompanyof historic figures like Emiliano Zapata andPorfirioDíaz.
Vázquez’storyisalessbellicoseone.Af-terstudyingInternationalCommerceatthe
Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) –oneofthecountry’stopprivateuniversities–heteamedupwithFlorida-educatedprogram-mer Iván Ramírez and founded a smallcompany specializing in video games forsmartphonesandtablets.
InApril2010,whenpreparations for thebicentenary of Mexico’s independence werein full swing, Neggi Studios had five peopleworking on the design of Bicentenario 2010: Los Héroes de México.
“We had already worked for video gamecompanies.Wehadalwaysbeenimmersedinthemedium,keepingupwiththelatestnews,staying informed. We followed the successstoriesofcertainprogramsandapplicationsandgotcertifiedbyApple,”saysVázquez.
So,withApple’sapproval,NeggiStudioslaunched Bicentenario 2010: Los Héroes de México. In a matter of days, it had achievedhighlevelsofacceptanceamongiPadusers,nowversedinanimportantchapterinMex-ico’shistory.
“In2010,itwasthefirstgameforiPadin Mexico. It’s in a genre of its own. Thestrategy consists of defending your tow-ers. You position your defense to protectyour bases from the enemy. It all takesplace within the context of the MexicanWar of Independence, where we see JoséMaría Morelos defending the city of Cu-autla as well as other historic episodes,”explainsVázquez.
Bicentenario 2010: Los Héroes de Méxicowas launched just days before September15, 2010, the day that marked the bicente-naryoftheoutbreakoftheMexicanWarofIndependence.Todate,some25,000usershavedownloadeditontotheiriPads–freeofcharge–fromtheApplestore.
FroM History to FiCtionIn light of the success of Bicentenario 2010: Los Héroes de México,NeggiStudiosdeveloped two updates of the game: onethatrevolvesaroundtheDayoftheDead,
videogaMeswithhistoryneggi studios CoMbines History, FiCtion and design to Create video gaMes tHat Have establisHed tHeir very own niCHe in a Multi-Million-dollar Market tHat Continues to exPand worldwide.
by antonio vázquez
36 Negocios
celebratedinMexicoevery1stofNovem-ber, and another with chapters from the1910 Mexican Revolution and other keybattlesfromMexicanhistory.
InJuly2011,thecompanylauncheditssecond iPad video game: Zombie Piñata,in which an ancient Mayan curse causessome piñatas to come to life, will featuremonthlyupdates.
“Inthegame,youhavetoridMexico’scitiesofthese‘zombiepiñatas’usingase-ries of weapons that you have to deploybeforetheyattack,”explainsVázquez.
Traditional Mexican piñatas are filledwithcandybutthiszombiepiñatabroughtitsownsweetsurpriseintheformofmorejoboffersforNeggi.CompaniesfromEu-rope,India,Korea,JapanandHongKonghavecontactedthestudiotonegotiatethelaunchofAndroidversionsoftheirvideogamesfortheirdomesticmarkets.
According to Vázquez, business isbooming, proof of this as the imminent
creationofaMexicanFederationofVideoGame Developers will facilitate contactbetweenMexicanstudios–locatedmainlyin Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadala-jara– and foreign firms interested in theMexicanindustry.
“Before, foreigners would be sur-prisedtolearnMexicohadstudios.Now,theyconsideritnormalbecausewefocusmainly on the creative aspect. Mexicandesigniswhatgrabsthemostattention,”saysVázquez.
Thatdayin1985whenGermánVázquezliftedthecontrolsofaNintendoNEScon-sole marked the beginning of a story thatis still being written –the story of NeggiStudios. “I still play video games,” saysVázquez, “for at least an hour a day. It’sharder now to find the time because wehavetodevelopthembutwhenwe’redoingresearch,weplayforlonger.”n
www.neggistudio.com
COMPAnIEs FrOM EurOPE, InDIA, KOrEA, jAPAn
AnD HOnG KOnG HAvE COntACtED tHE
stuDIO tO nEGOtIAtE tHE LAunCH OF AnDrOID vErsIOns OF tHEIr vIDEO
GAMEs FOr tHEIr DOMEstIC MArKEts.
MexiCo’s Partner neggi studios
Photo COurtEsy OF LArvA GAME stuDIOs
JorgeMoralesisayoungentrepre-neur from Guadalajara, Jalisco,whorefusestotake“gameover”forananswer,nomatterhowtoughthegoinggets.Aftergraduatingfromthe Tecnológico de Monterrey
(ITESM) –one of the country’s top privateuniversities–withadegreeinComputerSys-tems, he began working in the multimediasector designing web pages but deep insideheknewhiscallingwasvideogames.
“I’vebeenagamermywholelife.WhenI was 11, I received my first video games:Atari, Pac Man, Space Invaders and thelike,”hesays.
Aroundthattime,afriendlentMoralessoftwarethatallowedhimtocreatehisowngaminglevelandthat’swhenhewasbittenbythevideogamebug.
Designing web pages allowed him tomakeadecentlivingbutitwasn’tlongbe-forehedecidedtotakealeapoffaithandstartdevelopinghisownvideogames.
Businessdidn’texactlygetofftoaboom-ing start, though. His first project was aflop. The tiny multimedia department atthecompanywhereheworkednevergotoffthegroundandwhenhispartnersinsistedit was a lost cause, Morales sold them hissharesandwentonalone.
In 2007, he partnered up with a groupof Colombian investors and ImmersionGamesMexico–asubsidiaryofImmersionGamesColombia–wasborn.
Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars, a first-person shooter game in which players canchoose from superpowers like telekinesis,teleportation and speed running, was pro-duced by Immersion Games Mexico forXBoxandPlayStationconsolesandwasthefirstvideogameMoraleslefthismarkon.
“While we were developing this game,wemetalotofpeoplefromcompaniessuchas Slang and Televisa and that’s when webeganworkingonLucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring,inmid-2008,”saysMorales.
Released on October 2010 for XBox360andPS3consoles,Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring faithfullyreproducestheworldofMexicanwrestling,asportthathasmillionsoffansnotonlyinMexicobutworldwide.
In this virtual world, players donthe masks and personalities of Mexicanluchadores “La Parca”, “Doctor Wagner”,“Abismo Negro”, “Psycho Clowns” andotherlegendarywrestlersastheyimmobi-lizeeachotherwitharmlocks,executehighkicksandjumpfromtheropes.
Some450,000copiesofthefirsteditionofLucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ringwerepro-duced.Morethanavideogame,itisaMexi-canproductthathasfamiliarizedtheentirecontinent with this iconic Mexican sport,fromCanadaallthewaytoArgentina.
“Over and beyond its commercial suc-cess, this game opened the door to newgamestudios.TheNationalCouncilonSci-ence and Technology (CONACYT, accord-ingtoitsSpanishacronym)realizeditwasa
larva gaMe studios: gaMe ontHis MexiCan video gaMe CoMPany is known For taking tHe aCtion to tHe next level. in its sHort liFe, larva gaMe studios Has beCoMe one oF MexiCo’s toP video gaMe develoPers, one tHat does not know tHe Meaning oF “gaMe over”.
by antonio vázquez
38 Negocios
nichewithpotentialgrowththatwasworthinvestingin,”saysMorales.
FROM LARVA TO PUPABy the time Morales and his team had fin-ished working on Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring, Immersion Games Colombia wastrappedinadownwardspiral.SobeforeitssubsidiaryinMexicowassuckedin,theysetupanewcompany:LarvaGameStudios.
Thecompanystartedoutmakingvideogames and doing animation for Televisa,but the original team of 12 that comprisedImmersionGamesMexicohassincegrownto an army of 45 recruits involved in proj-ectsforXBoxandPlayStationconsolesandgamesforsmartphones,iPodsandiPads.
LarvaGameStudiosiscurrentlydevelop-ingLast Day On Earth.“It’saboutanextrater-restrial invasion,” explains Morales. “Thegamebeginswiththearrivalofhundredsofthousandsofaliens,whomustbekeptatbaybythehumans,whoareoutnumbered.It’sa
newgenreinwhichhumansliveinbunkersandhavelimitedtimetocomeupwithastrat-egybeforetheinvadersland.Whenyouwinground, you entrench yourself in the nextsection and the story begins all over again.Youdefineyourstrategyagainsttheclock;wehavesetmines,barbedwireandcanons.ThegamewillbelaunchedonNovember2013.”
Mexico’svideogameindustryischanging.“Notsolongago,consolecompanieslikeSonyandMicrosoftweren’tinterestedinwhatweweredoingbutlastyear,Sonyinitiatedanin-cubationprogramforLatinstudiosandMi-crosofthasfollowedsuit,”saysMorales.
AccordingtoMorales,thenextlevelistoconsolidateMexico’sstudios.Infiveyears,he forecasts, Mexico will be Latin Ameri-ca’sleadingdeveloperofvideogames,gain-ingacompetitiveadvantageovercountrieslike Brazil, Chile and Argentina that havewell-establishedindustries.n
www.larvagamestudios.com
“nOt sO LOnG AGO, COnsOLE COMPAnIEs LIKE
sOny AnD MICrOsOFt wErEn’t IntErEstED In wHAt wE wErE DOInG
but LAst yEAr, sOny InItIAtED An InCubAtIOn
PrOGrAM FOr LAtIn stuDIOs AnD MICrOsOFt
HAs FOLLOwED suIt,” sAys MOrALEs.
MexiCo’s Partner larva game studios
Photos COurtEsy OF xIbALbA stuDIOs40 Negocios
Mexico’s video game in-dustryboastsdevelop-erswithapassionwhohave come up withgaming wonders for
all kinds of platforms on budgets of nexttonothing.
Xibalba Studios, founded in 2004 byRicardo Villareal, Steven Johnson andRodolfo Romero in Monterrey, NuevoLeón,isoneofthem.
In ancient Mayan mythology, Xibalbasignifiesthe“underworld”,adimensionin-habitedbythegodsofdiseaseanddeath,alandruledbyfear.YetthisparticularMexi-cangamedevelopercanhardlybeaccusedofbeingafraidof innovationornewideaswhenitcomestointeractiveplay.
“We’re seeing an industry in the fullthroesofgrowth.We’reattheearlystag-es still but progress is already tangible,”says Ricardo Villareal, the first MexicantograduatefromtheprestigiousDigiPen
Institute of Technology in Redmond,Washington,wherehestudiedRealTimeInteractiveSimulation.
“When we show our projects in otherpartsoftheworld,thefirstthingyouper-ceive is just how creative Mexicans are.Many foreign developers make clones butwhat we do is unique. Lots of companiesaroundtheworldsendtheirvideogamestobemadeinChina,wheretheindustryhasbeenexperiencingaboomoverthelastde-cade,butwedon’tdothat,”hesays.
BeforeembarkingontheirXibalbaStu-dios venture, Villareal and his partnerswere involved in the development of ninegames and had been twice nominated forindependentgamingawards,earningthemtherecognitionoftheindustry.AssoonashereturnedtoMexicoin2004,Villarealsetaboutcreatinghisfirstvideogameengine.Space Monkey,developedentirelyin-house,was later to adopt the concept of the ballgameplayedbytheancientMayas.
Mayanlegends,gaMesandaCtionxibalba studios is anindePendent develoPer in araPidly exPanding businessniCHe tHat Has tHe iMPulseto CataPult young Pioneersto internationalgaMing FaMe.
by gustavo aréchiga
MexiCo’s Partner xiBalBa studios
Itwaswiththis initialexperienceun-dertheirconsolesthattheycreatedtheirown studio. Xibalba’s first project wasIcebreakers, a PC game with split-screensupport for up to four players, who usetheiricetrailsandspecialabilitiestobeattheirsledgerivals.
ThegraphicsandvisualsofIcebreakersare supported by Vision Engine. Devel-oped by Trinigy GmbH of Germany, this3D engine is the basis of several qualitygamescurrentlyavailableon the interna-tionalmarket.
DesignedforPCandonlinegaming,Ice-breakers won “Best Character Design” andcame second in the “Best Laptop Game”categoryoftheIntelGameDemoChallenge:Levelup2010, inwhichXibalbacompetedagainst846gamesfrom32countries.
Today the company enjoys the back-ingofProMéxico,employsastaffof15andrenders game programming, multi-player,concept art, illustration, modeling, textur-
ingandanimationservices,workingsimul-taneouslyonPC,Mac,Android,iOS,FlashandHTMLplatforms.
“We’ve had booths at fairs in Japan,Germany,theUSandnowFrance.Whatwedoiscontactthevideogamedistribu-torsandspecializedpress,giventhatthisis such a highly international industry,”saysVillareal.
In late 2011, Xibalba Studios present-ed its latest game, Militant, in Paris –anentertaining shooter game in which theplayerisalonesoldierantwhomustde-fendhishomecolonyfromaninvasionbyotherbugnations.
Thus, the virtual worlds created by Xi-balbaStudiosarenotinhabitedbyevilspiritsliketheMayasbelievedbutheraldapromis-ingfutureinwhichthisMexicanenterpriseisfirmlyontracktobecometheworld’sleadingdeveloperoforiginal3Dgames.n
www.xibalbastudios.com
“wHEn wE sHOw Our PrOjECts In OtHEr PArts OF tHE wOrLD, tHE FIrst
tHInG yOu PErCEIvE Is just HOw CrEAtIvEMExICAns ArE. MAny
FOrEIGn DEvELOPErs MAKE CLOnEs but
wHAt wE DO Is unIquE.”
—rICArDO vILLArEAL
Mexico hasn’t been leftbehindintheracetode-velop games for socialnetworks that can beadapted to a variety of
platforms.Thesoftwareindustryisadvanc-ingrapidlyandcellphone,socialnetworkandvideogameconsoleusersarejustasquicktoadoptnewapplicationsanddevices.Inlightofthebusinessopportunitiesthisopensup,Mexicandevelopersareseekingtoturnideasonpaperintoprofitableventuresonscreen.
Globalsoftwarecompanieshavecottonedontothecreativityandtechnicalknow-howof Mexico’s young developers and are in-cludingthemintheircreativeteams.
Digital Chocolate is case in point. ThisCalifornian-based company is behind thevast majority of the social games associatedwith the Internet revolution of the last de-cade. In mid-2009, it discovered the youngtalentitneededtomeetgrowingdemandfor
new content in the border city of Mexicali,BajaCalifornia.
The company was founded in 2003 byTripHawkins,amemberofthedevelopers’dynastyofthe1980sresponsiblefortakingvideogamestotoday’slevels.AreputableSiliconValleyentrepreneur,Hawkinshasplayedthegameinallitsvariables,found-ing Electronic Arts, launching the 3DOconsole in the 1990s and pioneering Java-basedcellphonegames.
ThegamesdevelopedbyDigitalChoco-late have been adapted for iPhone, iPodTouch, Blackberry, Facebook, PCs andcellphoneswithAndroid,Windows7andWindowsMobileoperatingsystems.
Hawkins has even come up with theterm“OmniMediaGamer”todescribehisproducts’ capacity to adapt to a multitudeofplatforms.
But ubiquity of this dimension is notachievedovernight.Adecadeago,Hawkins
formed remote porting teams in Helsinki,Finland; Bengaluru, India; Barcelona,Spain and Mexicali, Mexico, to make thenecessarytechnicalmodificationstoensureDigital Chocolate games function on themostpopularoperatingsystems.
“The engineers here are very versatile.They can be working on Facebook for awhile and then switch to mobile or othertechnologies,”saysDigitalChocolateMexicoOperationsManagerFranciscoCasanova.
It wasn’t long, however, before Digi-tal Chocolate’s Mexican subsidiary pro-gressed from specific technical to morecreative aspects of the development pro-cess. When Casanova was contacted bythe company in 2009, he and two othersbegan working at its offices in Mexicali.Beforetheyearwasup,theyweresubmit-tingideasfornewJava-basedvideogames.
ThencametheFacebookboomandtherise in popularity of social games. Soon
soCial gaMes, addiCtiveas ChoColatedigital CHoColate is a CaliFornia-based develoPer oF video gaMes For soCial networks wHose MexiCan subsidiary Has Proven to Have not only tHe teCHniCal know-How but also tHe Creative talent to CoMe uP witH new ProduCts tHat Have enabled tHe CoMPany to Consolidate its leading Market Position.
Photo COurtEsy OF DIGItAL CHOCOLAtE
42 Negocios
therewere32peopleworkingelbowtoel-bowatthecompany’sMexicanoffice.
“We’re a relatively young team. I’d saytheaverageageis26.We’reallhappywiththespacewehaveandourcolleagues,”saysCasanova,whosupervisesdevelopersfromMonterrey, León, Mexico City, Tijuana,Guadalajaraandotherpartsofthecountry.
ThegrowthofDigitalChocolate’sMexi-canofficecanbeattributedtothecompany’sgood results and an extremely diversifiedproduct portfolio, which runs the wholegamutfrommartialarts,action,adventureand city building to casinos, card games,puzzles,racing,strategyandsportsgames.
Facebookisthepromisedlandofsocialgames, with Millionaire City, Zombie Lane,Galaxy Life,Army Attack,New in TownandMMA Pro Fighter –now rating among thecompany’sbiggestmoneyspinners.
Millionaire City, the most popular ofDigital Chocolate’s games, boasts 2.3 mil-
lionmonthlyactiveusers(MAU),accordingtotheAppDataserviceprovidedbyInsideNetworkforthesocialgamingindustry.
AppDataputsthetotalnumberofusersof all the company’s games, regardless ofthe platform they operate on, at 7.48 mil-lionMAU.
In monetary terms, profits come fromtheitemsplayersacquireduringeachgamesotheycancompete,keepprogressingandsetrecords.
That means developing a new productdependsjustasmuchonideasandcreativityasitdoesonacarefullythought-outstrategybasedonmarketresearchandtheneedsofusersofsocialnetworksandmobiledevices.
“Thisisabusinessbecauseacopiousofmoney changes hands. First, we conductan opportunity analysis and market re-searchto identifytrends.Thenwelookatthetypeofgameplay,thesizeofthemarketandtheplatform,”saysCasanova.
“We know the gaming ideas we comeup with here in Mexicali must relate toglobal trends. The products have to beconceivedformarketsnotonlyinMexicobutalsoasfarafieldasNewZealandandourproductportfoliohastoappealtoallkindsofusers, fromachildtohisorhergrandmother,”headds.
That is why Casanova attends meet-ingsatDigitalChocolate’sofficesalloverthe world. Back in Mexico, he is nego-tiating staff exchange agreements withsoftware developers to take advantage ofthe relative freedom his office has beengiven to expand and is also organizing a48-hour marathon to get ideas circulat-ingandcreateprototypesfornewgames.Allwiththebackingofatalentedteamofhomegrowndevelopers.
www.digitalchocolate.com
It wAsn’t LOnG, HOwEvEr, bEFOrE
DIGItAL CHOCOLAtE’s MExICAn subsIDIAry
PrOGrEssED FrOM sPECIFIC tECHnICAL
tO MOrE CrEAtIvE AsPECts OF tHE
DEvELOPMEnt PrOCEss.
MexiCo’s Partner digital chocolate
44 Negocios44 Negocios Photo COurtEsy OF MEtACubE
“Forme,filmisaboutunderstandinglifethroughfantasy.Itopensupthepossibilityofadeeperunderstand-ing of who we are, where we areand why. The experience becomes
an emotional one when you get sufficientlylostinafilm.Yougetthechancetotraveltoplaces you’ve never been and meet peopleyouwouldhavenevermet.Filmistheclosestthingthereistomagic.”
These are the words of Guillermo delToro,afilmdirectorborninGuadalajarawhoisnowabigHollywoodname.
They are also words that find an echoin Metacube, a company headquartered inDel Toro’s hometown that has witnessedfirsthand the “magical” transformation ofMexico’sanimationindustry,fromtheval-ianteffortsofsolitaryartistsbattlingitoutfor funds to the equipping of studios andclusterswithcomputersand3Dsoftware.
“In the last five years, we’ve seen thesector evolve and our company has ben-
efitted from this new mindset the federalgovernment has adopted. We’ve workedwithpracticallyeveryoneinthebusiness,”saysMetacubeCEOCarlosGutiérrez.
Founded a decade ago by Gutiérrez,Rubén Pérez and Jaime Jasso, Metacubeisthego-toguruwhenitcomestospecialeffects,3Danimationandconceptart.
Over and beyond these creative con-cepts, the company has its sights set ontheHispanicmarketintheUnitedStatesand,ontheinternationalarena,Asia.
“Our goal is to eventually develop ourown contents, characters and stories anduse Mexico as a global launch platform,”saysGutiérrez,addingthatthisisthe“mostcomplicated and most expensive aspect,”eventhoughMexicoistheworld’sfourth-largest consumer of movies and televisionentertainmentprovidedbycompanieslikeTVAztecaandTelevisa.“Theadvantage,”hesays,“isthatourcontentsaredesignedtotravelandwillbeseenbymoreandmore
“wE wAnt tO CELEbrAtE Our CuLturE AnD
trADItIOns but In A unIvErsAL LAnGuAGE.
IF A MExICAn-MADE FILM Is MEAnt tO bE Funny, It
sHOuLD bE PErCEIvED As suCH wHEn It’s sHOwn In CHInA AnD AuDIEnCEs At
HOME sHOuLD bE PrOuD It wAs MADE In MExICO.”
— CArLOs GutIérrEz
MexiCo’s Partner metacuBe
peopleoutsideMexico,makingforamoreprofitablebusiness.”
Metacubeiscertainthattheaudiovisualtablesareturning.OratleastintheUnitedStates,wheretheHispanicmarketnowex-pects animated films and other productsthat“speak”Spanish.
“WeareincreasinglyclosertotheHis-panic market in the United States. Ap-proximately 30% of the population therespeaks Spanish and they want contentsthat help them identify with and latchon to their roots. In that respect, originalquality contents made in Mexico have awindowontheworld,”saysGutiérrez.
“Rightnow,”hesays,“wehaveaninter-estingopportunitytodevelop‘aspirational’contents specific to Mexico. Disney hascashed in on cyclops, dragons and pega-suses;nowit’sourturntocapitalizeonourown culture, our own tales of glory. Thisis the type of story today’s audiences areclamoringfor.”
liCense-trollingMetacube is currently working on a 3DmoviebasedontheHuevocartoonanimatedcartoon series and is co-producing the fea-tureNoche de MuertoswithÁnimaStudios.
An animated version of El Chapulín Colorado, the popular television charac-tercreatedbyRobertoGómezBolaños,isalsointhepipeline.Anambitiousprojectbyallaccounts,thisproductionlookssetto be the most expensive ever made inLatinAmerica.
Metacube has also purchased thecopyrights to Soft Monsters, a book by aDisney artist on which it plans to baseanotherfilm,whileOctober2012willseethe release of Buu!, a 2D children’s pro-duction inspired by classic big screenmonsterslikeFrankensteinandDracula.
AnotherambitiousprojectisLion of War,an epic on which Metacube will be collabo-ratingwithSpidermanproducerGrantCurtisonconceptartandpre-visualizationaspects.
a MexiCan ePiC in MultiMediaforMatMetaCube sPeaks tHe language oF a growing HisPaniC MarketwitH Contents tHat Celebrate PoPular MexiCan Culture.
by gustavo aréchiga
ToensuretheseiconsofpopularMex-ican culture and world cinema reach awider audience and are duly licensed,Metacube set up a Product MarketingDepartmentthisyear.
“It’sareality;thingsarealreadystart-ingtohappen.Thefuturelies inthecre-ation of intellectual property and prod-uct licenses. We’ve been working hardon this side with El Chapulín Colorado,ashaveotherproducers likeGyroscopikStudios with Cantinflas’ and Kaxan withEl Chavo del Ocho.”
“Wewanttocelebrateourcultureandtraditionsbutinauniversallanguage.IfaMexican-madefilmismeanttobefunny,it should be perceived as such when it’sshown in China and audiences at homeshould be proud it was made in Mexico.Weaimtoshowcaseourtraditionsfromanewperspective,”saysGutiérrez.n
www.metacube.com.mx
Originalnarrativeswithuniversalappeal,screenwrit-ersthatareheirtoacenturies’oldliterarytradi-tion,actorswhohavecarvedoutinternationalfame,photographersacclaimedintheUSandEurope,directorswiththetalenttoturntheircamerasto
anythingandeverything,fromananimatedshorttoadocumentary.ThesearetheingredientsoftheboominNewMexicanCinema.
And according to Canana Films Marketing Director Leo Cor-dero, there’s more: Mexico is virgin territory for filmmakers andentrepreneursfromallovertheworld.
Takeitfromus.Corderoknowswhathe’stalkingabout.Found-ed in 1997 by the actors Gael García and Diego Luna in partner-ship with the producer Pablo Cruz, Canana Film’s mission is togivegreaterexposuretotheregion’scinema.Thecompanybacksprojects by an up and coming generation of filmmakers eager todiscover new forms of expression and tell stories that questionmoderndaycultureandentertainmentasseenthroughtheeyesofLatinAmericans.
Canana filMsGood Stories that are Good for Businessin a very sHort tiMe, Canana FilMs Has beCoMe synonyMous witH quality ProduCtions. Founded in 1997 by tHe aCtors gael garCía and diego luna in PartnersHiP witH tHe ProduCer Pablo Cruz, tHis ProliFiC enterPrise Has ProduCed 14 Features, two television series, organized itinerant doCuMentary FilM Festivals and is about to release its First englisH-language FilM.
by sandra roblágui
Photos COurtEsy OF CAnAnA FILMs46 Negocios
01
02
In a very short time, this prolific enterprisehas become synonymous with quality produc-tions. To date, Canana Films has produced 14features,twotelevisionseries,organizeditiner-ant documentary film festivals and is about toreleaseitsfirstEnglish-languagefilm.
“Thereisn’tonespecificfactorCananacanat-tribute its success to. We could write an entirebookbecausewearetalkingaboutincentivesforthe industry in general […] They’ve introduceda young audience to something that used to bereservedforanoldercrowd,”saidMexicancriticÁlvaroCueva.
ThebestknownofCananaFilms’productionsis the television series Soy tu fan (I’m Your Fan,2010), co-produced by the public broadcastingcompanyCanalOnce.Theveryfirstepisodeofthesecond season featured among Twitter’s globaltrending topics the minute it was broadcast andwasthemostwatchedcontentonNetflix.
Wedon’tknowyetifSoy tu fan willhaveahap-pyending.WhatwedoknowisthatCananaFilmsandCanalOnceareontoawinner.Duetoitsex-cellentproductionqualityandsimpleapproachtoitssubjectmatter,theprogramhasbeenpickedupbyNBCfordistributionintheUSandwillbedis-tributedbyMTVinLatinAmerica.
MexiCo’s Partner canana films
01MIss bALA (2011), directed by GErArDO nArAnjO (02) was selected to compete at Cannes. It then went on to represent Mexico
at the Oscars and toured the international festival circuit, where it was well received by
audiences hungry for original stories.
03DIEGO LunA, founder of Canana Films in partnership with Gael García bernal and Pablo
Cruz, directed the film AbEL (04) in 2010.02
04
03
Aroundthistimelastyear,anotherCananaFilms’production–GerardoNaranjo’sMiss Bala (2011)–wasselectedtocompeteatCannes.Itthenwentontorep-resentMexicoattheOscarsandGoyas,andtouredthe international festival circuit, where it was wellreceived by audiences hungry for original stories.Fox International Pictures purchased the distribu-tionrightsandMiss BalahassincehitmovietheatersintheUS,theUK,GreeceandSpain.
ThenextstepisthereleaseofthehorrormovieJuego de Niñosinthesecondhalfof2012.ShotinthestateofQuintana Roo in southeast Mexico, the film featuresVinessaShaw,Ebon Moss and Daniel Giménez Ca-choinwhatisCananaFilms’firstEnglish-language
production.Thefilmhasn’tevenpremieredyetandalreadyInterna-tionalFoxPictureshasofferedtodistributeitworldwide,whileVideo-cine,asubsidiaryofTelevisa,willbedistributingitinLatinAmerica.
Canana Films doesn’t follow a script and, more importantly,its directors and producers are not interested in making run ofthe mill commercial movies. “We promote the unadulterated vi-sionsofourcreatorsandhavefoundthatthisintegrityhasstruckachordwithaudienceswhowanttoseequalityproductionstheycanidentifywith,”saysCordero.
Speakingofquality,CorderobelievesMexico’sfilmindustryisuptherewiththebestintheworld,withtheadvantageofbeingavirgin territory that offers filmmakers the chance to experiment.The result, he says, has been independent productions that havebeenembracedbythepublic.
InthecaseofCanana,thefactthatitsproducersanddirectorsareyoungmeansthey’remorewillingtotakerisks.
Perhaps because the industry has found a loyal ally in theMexican government, which has been supporting filmmakers intheformoftaxincentivesandfinancingmechanismsforseveraldecadesnow.
WhenaskedwhytherestoftheworldshouldbeinterestedinMexicancinema,Corderoisquicktoreplythat“it’saformofau-diovisual expression that is free of purely commercial objectivesbut that can fill movie theaters with everything from romanticcomediestohorrorfilms.”
Havingsecuredofficialbackingathome,NewMexicanCinemaisnowonthehuntforinternationalpartners.“It’sagreatopportu-nityforinvestorstotapintoanenormousnewmarketpackedwithtalent,”saysCordero.
“Mexicancinemaisabouttoexplodeasamediaforce,”heas-suresus.AndjudgingfromthenumberoffansCananaFilmshaswonoverinitsshortlife,theboomisjustbeginning.n
www.canana.tv/2.0
Photo COurtEsy OF CAnAnA FILMs48 Negocios
the first episode of the second season of soy Tu fAN featured
among tWitter’s gloBal trending topics the
minute it Was Broadcast and Was the most
Watched content on netflix.
the lifestyleTheCompleteGuideoftheMexicanWayofLife. p. 62
young namesIn the MexicanCreative Scene
p. 56
Des
tina
tion
: MexiCo
briefs.The Lifestyle
ThesecondeditionofLéaLA,theLosAn-geles Spanish-language book fair, is to beheldfromMay11to13,2012attheLosAn-gelesConventionCenter,inresponsetotheneedforaccesstobooksinSpanish.
This year, the organizing committeeplanstotriplethespaceassignedin2011totheexhibitionandsaleofbooksandothereventsoftheshow,with200boothsinsteadof the 80 of the first edition. To date, 185publishers from Ibero-America, including
Australian sculptor Ron Mueck has set a new personal re-cord: 583,991 Mexicans turned out to see his larger than lifesized sculptures at the High Impact Hyper-realism exhibi-tion that visited the Monterrey Contemporary Art Museum(MARCO)andtheFormerCollegeofSanIldefonso,betweenMarch2011andFebruary2012.
Mueck’s is the second most-visited exhibition staged bySanIldefonsointhetwodecadesithasbeenoperatingasanartcenter,drawinginacrowdof416,291peopleoveraperiodof20weeks.OnlytheMexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuriesout-didthisrecordbackin1992,withareported900,000visitors.
www.sanildefonso.org.mx
art
Ron Mueck DRAWSINTHEREAL-LIFECROWDS
ro
n M
ueC
k /
In
bE
D P
ho
to A
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HIv
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Mexico, have confirmed their attendance.In its first edition, LéaLA attracted morethan36,000visitorsandincluded141pub-lishers and 120 authors and academics.Visitorshadaccesstoseveralbookpresen-tations,discussionsandforums,aswellasachildren’sroomandfourhallswithliter-aryandacademicprogramming.
www.lea-la.com
literature
LéaLAIBEROAMERICANLITERATUREFLIESTOL.A.
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Designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada hasteamed up with Mexican leather companyCloe to launch a new collection of purses,luggageandaccessories.ThisisthefirstlineRuiz de la Prada has designed exclusivelyfor the Mexican market, although her tieswiththecountryanditsaestheticsgobackalongway.
“Intellectually, because of its colorsandeverythingelse, I feelmoreconnectedto Mexico than any other Latin Americancountry. I love Colombia, for example, butthere’snowherelikeMexicowhenitcomestofascinatingcolors,”saysRuizdelaPrada.
Only India, she says, can lay claim tosuch a wealth of colorful everyday objects.“There’s something to it. Some day it’llcome to light but there’s a parallelism be-tween these two countries. Although theyare more or less opposed (geographically),theypossessthegreatestknowledgeofcoloranduseitmoreextensivelythananyother.Here,colorismarriedwithgeometry;there,youseemoregoldflecksandsequins;here,you’llseeredandyellowwallsthatstopyoudeadinyourtracks.”
RuizdelaPradaenteredLatinAmericathrough the doors of Chile, Colombia and
Puerto Rico, where she has built up suc-cessful businesses in the last decade. Nowshe wants to strengthen her presence inMexico with the help of Carlos and SilviaRuizvelasco and Elena Peña from Cloe.Theymetatthe2010Intermodafashionfairand agreed to produce a line impregnatedwith the explosive pink hearts, flowers,stars and citrus colors synonymous with“theworldofRuizdelaPrada”.
Afternearlytwoyearsofcutandthrust,theycameupwithalinethatmeetstheneedsofCloeandtheapprovalofRuizdelaPrada,whowasthere inpersontopresent itat theSoumayaMuseuminMexicoCityandatGua-dalajara’sAndaresMallinFebruary2012.
www.agatharuizdelaprada.com fashion.oemoda.com
FasHion design
Agatha Ruiz de la PradaFASCINATEDBYTHECOLORSOFMEXICO
briefs.The Lifestyle
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52 Negocios I the lifestyle
in deCeMber 2011, tHe roMa distriCt lost a MediCal suPPlies store. soMe were sad to see tHe wHeelCHairs and CrutCHes go, otHers were deligHted to see good, quality Food take tHeir PlaCe. MaxiMo bistrot loCal, a restaurant witH an innovative ConCePt, is set to be one oF MexiCo City’s Favorite eateries. CHeF and owner eduardo garCía sHares tHe seCret oF His overnigHt suCCess witH Negocios.
by paola valencia
RestauRant of the Day
MaxiMoBistrot LocaL
Photos COurtEsy OF MAxIMO bIstrOt LOCAL
gastronoMy maximo Bistrot local
—Where did you get the idea to open Maximo? I’vebeencookingfor18yearsandGabrielaLópez–mypartnerandspouse–studiedRestaurantManagementat theSanÁngelCenterofHigherEducation.Ourdreamhasalwaysbeentoopenourownrestaurantandbeourownbosses.
Igrewup inkitchens. Iwasraised in theUnitedStatesandbecausemyfamilywasn’twelloff,mydadsentmeouttoworkataveryyoungage.Ibeganwashingdishesinarestaurant.That’swhere I realized I enjoyed the environment and I learned a bitfromwatchingthechefscook.ItrainedinNewYorkatLeBer-nardin,andinAtlantaasexecutivechefattheVanGogh.
ThenIcametoMexico.IworkedasheadchefforEnriqueOl-veraatPujolforthreeandahalfyears.That’swhenImetGabri-elaandwedecidedtopursueourdreamtogether.
Wediditandwe’reextremelyhappy.OurrestaurantisdoingwellandIthinkithasalottodowiththefactthatwelovewhatwedo.Itcanbeaverystressfuljobbutwe’rehappydoingit.
—In a very short time, Maximo Bistrot Local has become a “staple” of Mexico City’s culinary scene. How did you manage to pull this off?Thefirstweekthingswereveryslow.GabrielaandIwerewor-riedbecauseourbankaccountwas literallyempty,soIstartedwalking through the neighborhood and inviting people in, offthe street. I’d explain the concept to them and encourage themto try out Maximo. That strategy seemed to work because thenextweekwewererunoffourfeet.Wordbegantospreadandinlessthanamonthwewereoperatingatfullcapacityandoverthemoon,sowewereabletopaythebills.It’sbeenthreemonthssince we opened and we’re going from strength to strength. Ifyouaskme,it’sbecausewe’repouringourheartandsoulintoit.PlusthepeopleoftheRomadistrictacceptedusfromtheget-go,asneighborsandasaplacetoeat.
—Why did you pick the Roma district?From the start, Gabriela and I envisaged something small in thestyle of a neighborhood bistro, although, truth be told, we neverguessedwe’dgrowsomuchinsuchashorttime.Ourthreealterna-tiveswerethePolanco,CondesaandRomadistrictsbutthefirsttwowerealreadysaturated.Also,welikethearchitectureofthisarea.Andwelivenearby.Allinall,Ithinkwemadetherightchoice.
—Do you still get visits only from locals? No,wehavepatronsfromallareasofthecityandlotsofforeign-erswhoarehereonvacation.Originally, the idea was for people to walk in off the street orarrivebybicycle.That’snothowitworkedoutbutwe’rehappypeoplecometovisitusfromotherareasofthecityandtheworld.
—This corner is a prime location. How did you find it?Itwasastrokeofluck.Acrossthestreetwasa“ForLease”signbutwhenwewenttoseeit,itturnedouttobearuse.Wesawoth-erpremisesrightnextdoorbutweweren’tconvinced.Justaswewereleaving,wesawamanputtinga“ForLease”signuphere.Wecrossedthestreet,hadalookattheplaceandsaidwewantedit.Thisusedtobeastorethatsoldwheelchairsandcrutches.Ittookustwomonthstorenovatetheplacebutwe’resatisfiedwiththeresults.
—What about the furniture and interior design?GabrielaandIdiditwiththehelpofafriendfromSanFrancisco.AndwhenIsaywedidit,Imeanitliterally.IstrippedthefloorandbuiltthecisternandGabrielaandIpaintedtheplace.AllthetablesaremadeofwoodwebroughtfrommyranchinMezquite,Guanajuato. We designed the floor and had it custom made byOriginalMissionTileinSanLuisPotosí.ThecurtainsarefromOaxacaandthepig-shapedsaltshakersarebyKythziaBarreraandDiegoMieryTeránfromColectivo1050º.
Wewantedthedecorationtohaveanorganicfeel.AfriendcameupwiththeTreeofLifeconcept.Welikedtheideaandhiredsome-onetosculptaplasterversion.TheresultwasaTreeofLifewitharoughtouch,whichisthefocalpointofourrestaurant.Weloveit.Atnightweputcandlesontheleavesanditlookscool.
—Why did you name your restaurant Maximo?It’snamedaftermyson.HismotherisfromtheUS.That’swhyitdoesn’thaveanaccentonthe“a”likeinSpanish.Ithoughtitwouldgivetherestaurantagoodvibe.
—How would you define the food at Maximo?Itissustainable,local,organicand,aboveall,extrafresh.Sinceourdishesaremadewithfresh,localproduce,themenuchangeseveryday.
—So patrons can expect to find totally different dishes on the menu every day?Notentirely.Iadaptmydishesdependingonwhatfreshingre-dientsIhaveathand.Forexample,onedayI’llmakeasparagus–which,incidentally,areverypopular–withacertainsauceandthenextdayI’llpreparetheminadifferentway.Theidea is tousefresh,topqualityproducts.
AnotherreasonI’mconstantlychangingthemenuisbecauseI’mthekindofpersonwhoiseasilybored.IfIhadtopreparethesamemenueveryday,I’dgooutofmymind.Mygoalistohavefunandsurpriseourpatronswithcreativedishesthataremadefromfreshingredients.
—Could you call it “spontaneous cooking”?I guess so. The idea is to keep the menu going all day and of-ferourpatronssomethingneweverytimetheyvisitus.AlotofthemaskmetomakewhateverIwantforthem,whichisgreatbecausethenIcansurprisethem.
—What’s the chef ’s recommendation?When you’re ordering, tell the waiter to “get Eduardo to sur-priseme”soIcanmakesomethingspecialforyou.Ipromiseyouwon’tbedisappointed.n
maximo bistrot localTonalá133ColoniaRomaMexicoCityT.+52(55)52644291www.maximobistrot.com.mx
54 Negocios I the lifestyle
In today’s hyper-informed, hyper-communicated world, it takesmorethantalenttoputoutacre-ative message capable of makingitself heard above the avalanche
of advertising we are bombarded withonadailybasis.Whatittakesisaudacity.
That is precisely what has earned TheLift a place among the top 30 audiovisualproducers in the advertising world. Themission of the production company is tobreakwithcontextandinitiateanewtypeof dialogue, expose other points of viewand reinvent the language of advertising.In short, it has put itself in the capablehandsofMexicantalentandassumedtherisksthatcomewithchangingthecreativelandscape.
“AsPepeMontalvo,presidentoftheMex-icanCircleofCreators,usedtosay, insteadoflookingattheoutsideworld,we’refinallylookinginwards,”saysTheLiftPartnerandManagingDirectorforMexico,AvelinoRo-dríguez.“Themomentwetapintothecoun-try’s latent potential, we’re on our way todoingthingsdifferentlyandputtingitupanotch,”hecontinues.
Createdtofillagapinadvertisingpro-duction services, The Lift took off on thewingsofthebrand’scontactsandclientsinBarcelonaandautomaticallyconquereditsexistingEuropeanmarket.
Successandprofitabilityhavegonehandinhandforthecompany,whichnowhasof-fices in Barcelona and Mexico, not to men-tionthebusinessofprestigiousbrandslikeAudi, Coca-Cola, Nokia, Renault, GeneralMotors,Bacardí,NissanandBecel.
TherecanbenodenyingRodríguez’ex-perience at film production companies likeAltavista Films, Argos and Televisa Cine,wherehehelduppermanagementpositions,hascontributedtothissuccess.
Today,TheLifthasastaffof20produc-ers,directorsandcreatorsinMexicobuthasbeenknowntotakeonasmanyas120tem-porarystaff,dependingonthemagnitudeoftheprojectathand.
This creative capacity is what is behindthe 70-odd commercials The Lift produceseveryyear,60%ofwhichareforglobalmar-ketsand40%forlocalclients.
Awards and recognition aren’t lackingeither.Pajaritos,aspotproducedforMTVincollaboration with the Argentine advertis-ing agency La Comunidad and directed byMexico’sJoséAntonioPratwiththecreativeinput of Ramiro Raposo, Fernando Sosa,Ezequiel Soules and Martín Insúa, won aSilverLionatCannes.
AccordingtoRodríguez,thatprovesthatMexicoisjustaswell,ifnotbetterequippedthancountries likeFrance, theUKandtheUSthathavecompanieswithmuchmoreex-
perience inwhathasrecentlybeendubbedthe“creativeeconomy.”
“Mexico has infrastructure, quality ser-vicesandlocations.It’saninterestingdesti-nationandthatattractsprojectsfromothercountries and helps us generate substan-tialrevenues.Weareproudtosaywehavehelped consolidate an economy that didn’texistbefore.Wehaveproducedmanyproj-ectsMexicowouldn’thavebeenconsideredasalocationforbefore,puttingusonaparwith countries like Japan, Denmark andSweden.Mexicoisanextremelycreative,vi-sualcountry,”saysRodríguez.
FROM GAbRIEL FIGUEROA TO LUbEzkIMexicohasatimehonoredvisualtraditionthathasproducedlegendarycinematogra-phers like Gabriel Figueroa, who workedfordirectorsofthestatureofLuisBuñuel,JohnFordandJohnHuston,andtheOscarnominatedEmmanuelLubezki.
the liftChanging Mexico’s Creative Landscape tHis ProduCtion CoMPany aiMs to reinvent tHe language oF advertising and Pave tHe way For a new dialogue witH every advertisMent it Makes.
by gustavo aréchiga
Photos ArCHIvE
tv & FilM industry the lift
AccordingtoRodríguez,thistraditioniscomplementedbyadiversityofproductionlocationsandMexico’screativetalent.
“In the specific case of film and audio-visual productions, what Mexico offers isgeographic diversity and creative talent.Plus,it’sanindustrywithnounionrestric-tions,somethingmanyclientsfindappeal-ing. And in the case of film projects, taxincentives are available to facilitate theirmaking,”saysRodríguez.
ALTERNATE PROjECTsTheLiftalsobacksMexicanartistsandin-dependentculturalprojectsthatchampionartasavehicleofprovocation.
One such project is Tóxico Cultura,a Mexico City-based creative think-tankfoundedbyGabriellaGomez-Mont,whoin-vitesinternationallyacclaimedartists,film-makers, photographers, industrial design-ersandwriterstogiveworkshopsandtalksoncontemporaryartandculture.
Tóxico Cultura has won several inter-national awards and grants, includingTEDfellowshipsin2009andforthe2010-2013period.
The Lift also supports Filmadora Na-cional, an audiovisual and entertainmentcompany that has produced a series offilms Efectos Secundarios, Sultanes del Sur,Bajo la Sal andAmar no es Querer, thathavemetwithsuccessonMexicanandinterna-tionalmarkets.
FilmadoraNacional’s line-upofnewre-leasesincludesCarrière: 250 metros,adocu-mentarydirectedbyJuanCarlosRulfoandNataliaGilthatwillbecompetingintheZa-baltegi-SpecialssectionoftheSanSebastiánFilmFestival,andVentanas al mar,currentlyinpostproduction.n
www.thelift.tv
“MExICO HAs InFrAstruCturE, quALIty sErvICEs AnD LOCAtIOns. It’s An IntErEstInG DEstInAtIOn AnD tHAt
AttrACts PrOjECts FrOM OtHEr COuntrIEs AnD HELPs us GEnErAtE substAntIAL rEvEnuEs. wE ArE PrOuD tO sAy wE HAvE HELPED COnsOLIDAtE A tyPE
OF ECOnOMy tHAt DIDn’t ExIst bEFOrE... ”
— AvELInO rODríGuEz.
56 Negocios I the lifestyle logos COurtEsy OF MoMA DEsIGn stOrE
m exico will be the next featured country in the museum of mod-ern art (moma) de-sign store’s Destina-
tion: Design series. available from april through June at all moma design store locations and websites, the Destination: Mexico collection features 150 lifestyle products by over 60 emerging mexi-can designers, including home accesso-ries, furniture, paper goods and jewelry.
Destination: Mexico is the result of a joint initiative by moma, the mexican embassy in the us and Proméxico to promote mexican creative industries. also supported by centro university of design, film and television, Destination: Mexico will provide an important plat-form for the promotion and marketing of products by mexican designers.
moma started the Destination: De-sign program in 2005, inviting object designers and artists –of items from fur-niture and lighting, home accessories to printed material, stationery, jewelry and watches, personal accessories, games and children’s items– to present and market their products in the museum’s prestigious stores.
in previous editions, moma has in-vited various countries and cities includ-ing Portugal, south Korea, berlin, Japan and turkey.
this unique opportunity for mexican design arises from the success of Rethink-ing Tradition: Contemporary Design from Mexico, an exhibition curated by ana ele-na mallet and shown in the mexican cul-tural institute in Washington, dc, from June to november 2010. after a visit by moma’s marketing executives, the mexi-
can embassy and moma’s team agreed to dedicate the 10th edition of Destination: Design to mexico.
In a first stage, ProMéxico, together with centro university launched a com-prehensive invitation to design talent from all around the country.
Centro Univeristy identified and pro-posed more than 500 products by close to 300 designers from which moma se-lected a total of 150 pieces by 62 design-ers. nevertheless, a catalogue that will be distributed by mexican embassies worldwide and will be available at moma design stores, will include the 500 prod-ucts. moreover, moma will include the best-selling pieces of Destination: Mexico in its permanent catalogue.
the products are rarely available out-side of mexico and are primarily exclusive to moma design stores. the selection celebrates mexico’s design heritage, in-cluding its bold colors, pop culture ico-nography and ceramic innovation.
“We are so impressed by the depth of talent among mexico’s emerging design-ers,” said Kathy thornton-bias, president of moma’s retail division. “not only are we seeing innovative products crafted from unique materials, we are also in-spired by these designers’ passion for cre-ating new, contemporary visions of classic mexican themes.”
“more so than in past Destination: De-sign projects, we are fostering a strong
sense of community engagement in mexico that informs many aspects of the process,” thornton-bias said. “for ex-ample, our creative team collaborated with students from mexico city’s centro university of design, film and television to develop a visual identity for Destina-tion: Mexico’s displays and signage, online graphics and collateral materials.”
Products that focus on a positive en-vironmental and social impact –such as items made of local, recycled and organ-ic materials, or produced by collectives that create employment opportunities in small, rural villages– are also an impor-tant part of the collection.
moma’s selection includes pieces such as a pre-columbian-style pitcher ren-dered in polyester resin, a chair woven with ancient mayan techniques that uses zinc-galvanized PVc string, an everyday market bag reimagined as a ceramic fruit bowl, and a handmade and handpainted table inspired by colorful toys.
Products will also be available at the stores of several mexican museums, like mexico city’s university museum of con-temporary art (muac), as well as dolo-res Olmedo, franz meyer and soumaya museums, monterrey’s museum of con-temporary art (marcO) and Oaxaca’s museum of contemporary art.
www.momastore.org
58 Negocios I the lifestyle
—Ana Elena, how did the destination: mexico initiative come about?MoMAstartedtheDestination Designprojectsixyearsago.Theideaisthattheirstoresdevotethreemonthstoacountryorcitywithanemergingdesignpanorama.Inearly2010,KathyThorton-Bias–directoroftheMoMAstore–contactedmetoex-plorethepossibilityofdoingaDestination: Mexico project.Acoupleofmonthslater,KathycametoMexicoandwespenttwodaysvisitingdesigners,privatefounda-tionsandevenlocalandstategovernmentofficialswithaviewtogettheprojectofftheground.
ItsohappenedthatIwascuratoroftheRethinking Tradition: Contemporary Design from MexicoexhibitthathadopenedinWashingtonatthetime.IinvitedKathyandLauren–herright-handwoman–tojoinusataroundtablewithMexicande-signersandtakeintheshow.Theywereamazedatthevarietyofproductsandde-
signs,alsotheroundtableturnedouttobeveryenlightening.Iftheyhadanydoubts,theywereclearedupandtheywerecon-vincedthatMexicandesignwasbooming.
MexicanAmbassadortotheUS,ArturoSarukhán,andculturalattachéAlejandradelaPazplayedamajorrole.TheytookthereinsoftheprojectandsentletterstoMexicanfederalorganizationstellingthemhowimportanttheprojectwas.ProMéxicorepliedandbecameasponsorandpartner.
MoMAofficiallyhiredmeasacuratorialconsultant.Myjobwastomakesuggestionsregardingdesignersandproductsfortheproject.Afewmonthslater,thedeanofCen-troUniversitycalledtotellmeProMéxicohadhiredheruniversitytooverseetheoper-atingaspectsandcoordinationoftheproject.
—What criteria were used to select design-ers and pieces?aem:Thepieceshadtobecompleted–notprototypes–andinterestingfroman
aestheticandconceptualstandpointandextremelywellmade.TheyalsohadtofallintooneoftheestablishedMoMAstoreproductcategories:householdarticles,smallfurnitureitems,jewelry,T-shirts,stationeryandofficeaccessoriesandmer-chandiseforkids.
—To what extent did the MoMA Store in-tervene in the selection process?aem:IwouldmakesuggestionsbuttheMoMAstorebuyersalwayshadthelastword.Theyhaveaveryclearideaofwhatsellsandatwhatprice.
— Ariel, what does it mean for a designer to have their work on sale at MoMA stores?MoMAdesignstoresareaninterna-tionally-recognizedshowcasefordesignproducts.Theobjectssoldthereserveasareferenceforhundreds–maybeeventhousands–ofpotentialbuyers.Afewyearsago,Iwasluckyenoughtohaveone
ANA ELENA MALLET& AriEL rojoTwo Faces of Mexican Designdesigner ariel roJo and curator ana elena mallet share With Negocios their vieWs on contemporary mexican design and the DesTiNATioN: Mexico proJect from the museum of modern art (moma).
by paola valencia
Photos COurtEsy OF AnA ELEnA MALLEt
ANA ELENA MALLETAna elena Mallet is a Mexican independent curator specializing in contemporary design. she recently assembled the exhibit rethinking tradition: contemporary design from mexico, at the Mexican cultural institute in Washington. Dc.
tHe liFestyle Feature destination: mexico
60 Negocios I the lifestyle
ofmyproducts(Cerdo ahorrador, PiggyBank)soldattheMoMAstoreinNewYork.Fromthenon,myofficestartedreceivingcallsfromallover;peoplefromcountriessuchastheUK,Turkey,Den-mark,JapanandSouthKoreawouldvisitmysite.It’samazinghowMoMAstoresputyouonthemap.
—Do you think this will have an interna-tional impact and open doors for upcoming generations?ar:Definitely.ThisprojectisgoingtovalidatecontemporaryMexicandesignathomeandabroad,nottomentioncreatingdesign-relatedjobsandboostingsales.Thereisnoquestionitwillhaveapositiveimpactonfuturegenerationsofdesigners.
—How did both of you get interested in design?ar:Iwas17andfoundmyselffacinganexistentialproblem.Ononehand,Iwant-edtostudytheplasticartsand,ontheother,robotics.IhadalwayspaintedasaboyandwouldmaketheserudimentaryPlasticinesculpturesbutthefamilybusi-nesswaselectronics.
Oneday,afriendofmyfather’saskedmewhatIwantedtodowithmylifeandIunveiledtohimmypredicament.HetoldmetherewasmiddlegroundandrecommendedIstudyindustrialdesign.Icheckedoutacoupleofbooksandthatwasallittook.IenrolledatuniversitywithoutreallyknowingwhatIwasget-tingmyselfinto,butasitturnsoutImadetherightchoice.I’mstillhere!
Photo COurtEsy OF ArIEL rOjO
aem: OnesideofmyfamilyisengagedinthefurniturebusinessanditwassomethingI’dalwaysfoundinteresting.Theothersideismorebusinessoriented.Betweenthetwo,designwasalwaysanoption.
—How do you view future generations in terms of industrial and object design?ar: Theonlywaytolearnisbymakingyourownmistakes.Futuregenerationsareourbestbet.Toclaimthatwe’rebetterthanthoserisinguptherankswouldbearetrogradementalitythatwouldendinzerosorevenaminusnumberonthescaleofsocialevolution.
I’mthefirsttoputmyfaithinyoungergenerations.It’struetheyfacemuchtougherglobalcompetitionbut,bythesametoken,theyhavemoreopportunitiesandmediumsinwhichtoexpressthem-selves.EverydayI’msurprisedatthescopeoftheworkofcertainyoungdesign-ersinMexico,nottomentionthereward-ingexperiencesI’vehadteachingdesignworkshopsatdifferentuniversities.
aem: I’venoticedthatyoungergenera-tionsaremuchmoreawareoftheimpor-tanceofdevelopingtheirownconcepts,ofunderstandingthemarketandcateringtoitsneeds.
—Ariel, at the height of today’s international design boom, what do you think sets Mexican design apart from that of other countries?ar: Icouldtalkforhoursonthesubjectbuttosumup,Ithinkit’sthatmixofhumor,history,traditionandindividual
identitythatishelpingpositionMexicandesigninternationally.
—Can we talk of “contemporary Mexican design” as a trend? ar: MexicoisexperiencingadesignboombutIthinkit’sgoingtotakeabitmoretimebeforewecandefine“contem-poraryMexicandesign.”Manyelementshavetocometogetherfirst.I’mnotsayingitdoesn’texist,I’mjustsayingwe’reintheprocessofmeldingasaprofession.
—Can we talk of a “school” of Mexican design? aem: Idon’tthinkthere’sa“school”assuch.WhatwehaveisauniverseofMexi-candesignersdoingthingswell.
ar: Designasaverb–toindicateanaction–hasexistedinMexicosincepre-Hispanictimes.Exceptthattodaywe’restrippingob-jectdesignofthe“industrial”paradigmandlabel–somethingthatoccurredinEuropealongtimeago–andredefiningitas“prod-uctdesign.”Inotherwords,whatmattersaretheattributesadesignerconfersonanobjectregardlessofhowmanytimesitisreproduced,refutingtheideathatagooddesignisonethatismass-produced.
Often,andIcitethebestinternationalschools,designsareintendedtobepro-ducedinlimitedorone-of-a-kindeditions.Ifthatisthecase,thenyes,thereisgooddesigninMexicoandit’sbeenaroundforthousandsofyears.
That’snottosayweshouldgetallfolksyortryandbuyorapproachouridentitysuperficiallybymeansofparadigms.
Ithinktherearesomeexcellentexam-plesofdesignwithidentitybut,aboveall,Ibelieveitisavoyageofpersonaldiscoverythedesignerundertakesduringthecourseofhisorhercareer.
— How well accepted is Mexican design in Mexico and abroad?ar: Inanutshell,IthinkithasmetwithgreateracceptanceabroadthaninMexico,forseveralreasons.Possiblybecauseothercountriesareeducatedindesignandhaveadesignculturethatisjustbeginningtotakeholdinourown.
aem: Mexicandesignisbeginningtomakewavesabroad,appearinginmaga-zinesandatinternationalfairs.InMexico,itisgraduallygainingafoothold.Weareen routetocreatingadesignculture.
—Are there any other initiatives to promote Mexican design? ar: Lots!In2012,I’msurewe’llseesomeinterestingthingsfromdifferentgroupsandcities.Thatsaid,alotremainstobedoneandwecan’tthrowinthetowel.It’swork,work,work!
aem: Firstandforemost,weneedtocon-solidateadesigncultureinMexico.Thisistheonlywaywecanbetterpositionourselvesintheeyesoftheoutsideworld.Onthehomefront,therearesomeveryinterestinginitia-tiveslikeZonaMACODiseño,DesignWeek,theRoma-CondesaCulturalCorridorandElPalaciodeHierro’sNew Design in Mexicoproject,tonamejustafew.n
This project is going to validate contemporaryMexican design at home and abroad, not tomention creating design-related jobs and
boosting sales. There is no question it will have a positive impact on future generations of designers.
—Ariel rojo
tHe liFestyle Feature destination: mexico
Isabel Rodríguez MartínezBag Tote
Paulina González-Ortega &Amaya Gutiérrez
Toy Inspired Table
62 Negocios I the lifestyle
cATch A gLiMpsE of MExicAN dEsigNDesTiNATioN: Mexico Will feature 150 pieces from more than 60 designers Who Work in mexico. here is a sample of What visitors and Buyers Will see in the moma design stores in neW york, Japan, korea and at the museum’s online store, from april to June 2012.
Anonymous DesignAcapulco Chair
Yolanda ResendezPaper Strips Bowl
Iguana 4 StudioWood Coasters
Alejandra AntónConciencitas Earrings
Mauricio Lara EguiluzPencil Holder
Photos COurtEsy OF MOMA DEsIGn stOrE
Juan Sebastián BeltránFruit Bag Bowl
Liliana OvalleTrivet Flame
Ana Gómez and Alberta MateosTripod Cochinito Bowls
Yolanda ResendezPaper Strips Vase
Paulina González-Ortega & Amaya Gutiérrez
Toy Inspired Coat Hanger
Mauricio & Sebastián LaraSombrero Dish
Emiliano GodoyBowl Glass Canasta AQUA
Luciana Corres TamezSilver-Knitted Flower Necklace
tHe liFestyle Feature destination: mexico
64 Negocios I the lifestyle
Young Names trAvELInG
tHE wOrLDby paulina lasa
we bring you a grouP oF Creative talents wHo are CoMMitted to tHeir resPeCtive Fields oF exPertise; MexiCans wHose work
enjoys international exPosure and wHo Have gained reCognition botH at HoMe and abroad. tHese young ProFessionals Have tHeir
wHole Careers aHead oF tHeM to exPlore tHe PatHs tHey Have started suCCessFully and will undoubtedly Make an invaluable
Contribution to MexiCo’s Cultural Heritage.
sPeCial Feature young names in the creative scene
literatureValeria Luiselli (1983) LuiselliwasborninMexicoCitybuthaslivedinCostaRica,Korea,South Africa, India and Spain. She currently resides in Harlem,NewYork,wheresheistakingaPhDatColumbiaUniversity.After graduating from the National Autonomous University ofMexico(UNAM)withadegreeinPhilosophy,shewonaNationalFundforCultureandtheArts(FONCA)scholarshiptopursueherwritingambitions.
ForseveralyearsnowshehasbeencontributingtoMexicanliter-arypublicationslikeNexosandLetras Libres andinternationaldailieslikeEl País,The New York Times,InternazionaleandGranta.
Shehasalsobeeninvolvedinmultidisciplinaryprojects,writinga ballet libretto for choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and theNewYorkCityBalletand,morerecently,amonologueforanexhibi-tionbyNewYorksculptorMelissaStern.
Herfirstnovel,Papeles falsos(SextoPiso,2010),wasratedpickoftheyearbytheMexicannewspaperReforma,whileLos ingrávidos (SextoPiso,2011)iscurrentlybeingtranslatedintoEnglish,French,German,Italian,Dutch,PortugueseandHebrew.
CineMaElisa Miller (1982) AnativeofMexicoCity,whereshecurrentlylivesandworks,ElisaMillerstudiedEnglishLiteratureattheUNAM.In2008,shegrad-uatedfromMexicoCity’sCinematographicTrainingCenter(CCC)filmschoolinscreenwritinganddirectingwithhershortfilmRoma.The previous year, her short film Ver Llover won a Palme d’OratCannesandwentontotourtheinternationalfestivalcircuit.Herfirstfeature,Vete Más Lejos Alicia,premieredatthe2010MoreliaInternationalFilmFestivalandwasnominatedforaTigerAwardatRotterdam.InJune,itwasreleasedatmovietheatersinMexico.
In 2009, Miller was awarded a scholarship by the FONCAYoung Creators Program and in 2010-2011 she participated inthe BingerFilmLab writers program, an Amsterdam-based in-ternational feature and documentary film development center.The project she is currently working on has the backing of theHuber Bals Fund, an initiative of the Rotterdam InternationalFilmFestival.
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66 Negocios I the lifestyle Photos ArCHIvE
arCHiteCture ProductoraProductoraisaMexicoCity-basedarchitecturefirmwhosepartners–AbelPerles(Argentina,1972),CarlosBedoya(Mexico,1973),VíctorJaime(Mexico,1978)andWonneIckx(Belgium,1974)–comefromdifferentcornersoftheglobe.
Thefirmiscurrentlyinvolvedinresidential,governmentandcorporateprojectsinMexico,SouthAmericaandAsiaanditspartnersgiveclassesandconferencesinMexicoandabroad.
ProductorawasselectedtoparticipateintheYoungArchitectsForumorganizedbytheArchitecturalLeague(NewYork,2007).Thefirmalsotookpartinthe2ndArchitectureBiennialBeijing(China,2006)andtheVeniceBiennaleofArchitecture(Italy,2008).
AsoneofthegroupsinvitedtoparticipateintheOrdos100ProjectforthedesignofahouseinInnerMongolia(China,2008),Pro-ductorawontheInternationalArchitectureCompetitionwithitsproposalforthenewheadquartersoftheDevelopmentBankofLatinAmerica(CAF)inCaracas,Venezuela,incollaborationwithLucioMuniain.
ThefirmwascommissionedtobuildaninstallationattheNationalArtMuseumofBeijing(China,2009)anditsworkwasshownatthe1:1ArchitectsBuildSmallSpacesexpoattheVictoria&AlbertMuseum(London,2010).
visual artsEmilio Valdés (1983)ThevisualartsareValdés’mainareaofinterest,althoughhehasalsoparticipatedinfilmprojectsasaphotographer,screenwriterandactor.AgraduateofLaEsmeraldaartschoolinMexicoCity,video,photographyanddrawingarehismediumsofchoice.
Since2003,hehastakenpartincollectiveexhibitionsattheLuisAdelantadogallery,Valencia,Spain;theStenersenMuse-um, Oslo, Norway; the Zamek Ujazdowski Contemporary ArtMuseum, Poland; the Play Gallery, Berlin, Germany and theCisnerosFontanalsArtFoundation(CIFO),Miami,US.Inhisnative Mexico City, he is represented by the Luis AdelantadoGalleryandisinvolvedintheMonclovaandGarashprojects.
Two-time winner of the FONCA Young Creators scholar-ship,Valdésreceivedagrantfromthe2007CIFOprogram.HisworkhasbeensnappedupbymajorcollectionslikeJumexandGrupoHábitainMexicoandtheDarosFoundationinSwitzer-land,amongothers.
sPeCial Feature young names in the creative scene
FasHionGabriela Artigas (1981)BornandraisedinMexicoCity,GabrielaArtigasbeganmakingherfirstpieceswhileshewasstudyingTextileDesignattheIberoamer-icanaUniversity(UIA).In2003,shefoundedGabrielaArtigasCo.inLosAngeles,wheresheiscurrentlybased.
InOctober2006,shewastheyoungestdesignerselectedtoshowacollectionatGenArt’sFreshFacesinFashion,LosAngeles–thefirstjewelrycollectiontoevermakeitintothegiftstorecatalogueoftheLosAngelesContemporaryArtMuseum.
Artigas’designsarecarriedbydozensofstoresintheUS,Japan,FranceandMexicoandhaveappearedininternationalpublicationslikeHarpers Bazaar,Marie Claire UK,Elle,Elle Japan andVogue.
design Diego Cárdenas (1987)AftergraduatingfromtheUNAMin2011withadegreeinIndus-trialDesign,CárdenastraveledtoFrance,wherehetookcoursesintheuseofbambooasadesignmaterial.
Hisfirstdesign,aneco-bicyclemadealmostentirelyofbam-booharvestedinVeracruz,hastraveledtheworld,appearinginpublications like National Geographic, Entrepreneur, Life&Style,Women’s HealthandtheMexicannewspaperReforma.
In 2010, his bamboo bicycle was nominated for the CondéNast UK Sustainability Award and in 2011 it won the QuórumAwardintheTransportcategory.
Cárdenas currently lives in his native Mexico City, where herunshisownbamboobicyclecompany,Bamboocycles.
68 Negocios I the lifestyle
HOURS IN
by daniela elbahara
7:00P.M.PueblaisthefourthlargestcityinMexicoandisjustasimpres-sive a sight by night as it is byday. Famous for its good foodand colonial architecture, itsskyline is dominated by thetowersanddomesofitschurch-es, which number in the hun-
dreds and come in all shapesandsizesimaginable.
We recommend you checkinto Casareyna, which occu-pies an old building –typicalof those found in the HistoricCenter– and is decorated withTalaveratiles,hand-paintedus-ing a mixture of Chinese, Ital-ian, Spanish and indigenoustechniques. The hotel has 10
spacious, finely appointedsuitesanditsrestaurant,whichspecializes in regional cuisine,is renowned for its high stan-dardsandexcellentservice.
casareynaPrivada 2 Oriente 1007historic centert. +52 (22) 232 0032www.casareyna.com
9:00P.M.Aftertakingaquicknap,itisnow time to sample the richdiversityoftraditionalPueblafare. Right beside the cathe-dralisElMuraldelosPobla-nos,arestaurantthatspecial-izes in regional dishes with amoderntwist.
To whet your appetite, werecommend tlacoyos de la si-erra and chalupas poblanas to share, washed down witha shot of mezcal. As a maincourse,yourbestoptionisthemoletastingmenuorthechiles en nogada, provided they arein season (August and Sep-tember). If you prefer some-thing a bit less spicy; the ce-
cina de Atlixcoisatastyalter-native.Stillroomfordessert?Trythenougaticecream.Itisoutofthisworld.
el mural de los Poblanos16 de septiembre 506historic centert. +52 (22) 242 0503www.elmuraldelospoblanos.com
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10:30A.M.The tour begins at the PlazaMayor in the Historic Center.Nearlyallthesightsarewithinwalkingdistancefromherebutif you are not keen on going itby foot, you can always boardthe Turibús, a double decker
tour bus that leaves every halfhourfromthesquare.
Our first stop is the Cathe-dral, whose twin bell towersare the tallest in Mexico. Builtin stops and starts over threecenturies, its style is predomi-nantly Baroque and Renais-sance,withsomeNeo-Classicalinfluencesvisibleonthefaçade.
After admiring its altarpiecesandmajesticpiano,takeawalkaroundthesquare,haveanicecream, sip on a cup of coffeeinfullviewofthearchwaysoftheHotelRoyaltyorbuysomecigars and Talavera ceramicstotakehomeasasouvenir.
12:30P.M.TheAmparoMuseumboastsamagnificent permanent collec-tionofreligiousartandPre-Co-lumbian artifacts dating fromthe Pre-Classic right up to thePost-Classic periods. It is alsoa popular venue for itinerant
exhibitionsbyprestigiouscon-temporary Mexican and inter-nationalartists.
Due to renovations –a newlibraryisbeingbuilt, theaudi-torium is being upgraded andfacilities are being adapted toaccommodate children’s work-shops– access to certain areasmayberestricted.
Evenso, this isanopportu-nity that cannot be missed byanyoneinterestedinthehistoryofartinMexico.
museo amparo2 sur 708historic centert. +52 (22) 229 3850www.museoamparo.com
2:30P.M.FondaLaMexicanaisalocalfavorite,perhapsbecauseofitsdelicioushomestylecookingandexten-sivemenuoftraditionaldisheslikechalupas,mole poblanoandpipián verde.Theportionsaregenerousandthepricesreasonable.Fonda La Mexicana • 3 Poniente 316, Historic Center, T. +52 (22) 242 2837
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48 Hours in pueBla
9:00A.M.Get the day off to an energeticstart with breakfast at GrupoHabita’sHotelLaPurificadora.
This hotel has an exclusiverestaurant serving up a selec-tion of contemporary Mexicandishes that range from French
toast to chilaquiles and enchila-das.ChefEnriqueOlvera,own-erof thefamedrestaurantPu-jol,designedthemenuandthefamous Mexican architect Ri-cardo Legorreta came up withthe concept for the tables. In-cidentally, the tables are madeofreclaimedwoodfromtheold
waterpurificationplantwherethehotelnowstands.
Hotel La Purificadoracallejón de la 10 norte 802 Paseo san franciscocolonia barrio el alto t. +52 (22) 2309 1920www.lapurificadora.com
70 Negocios I the lifestyle
4:00P.M.ContinuingourtouroftheHis-toric Center, the next point ofcallisLaCasadelosMuñecos,so called because of the large-scalehumanfigurespaintedontheTalaveratilesthatadornitsfaçade. The figures have been
interpreted in a multitude ofwaysbutonetheoryisthattheywere intended to poke fun atthecity’sauthorities.Thebuild-ingitselfbeganlifeasaprivateresidence, was subsequentlyturned into a fabric store andthen became El Lux, the city’sfirst movie theater. Today ithousestheInteractiveMuseum
of the Autonomous UniversityofPuebla (BUAP)andapopu-larrestaurant-bar.
la casa de los muñecos2 Oriente / don Juan de Palafox y mendozahistoric center t. +52 (222) 242 4825www.casadelosmunecos.com
5:30P.M.Lovers of the decorative artssimply must visit El Barrio delArtista, a neighborhood whoseoldmarketbuildingshavebeen
converted into artists’ ateliers.In the main square is El Cafédel Artista, where you cancatch a play or maybe even amusical by theater directorJoséRecekSaade.
el barrio del artista6 norte / 6 Orientehistoric centert. +52 (222) 242 4029www.barriodelartista.org
6:30P.M.Also in the Historic Center isLaPasita(formerlyElGallodeOro), on the ground floor of ahouseinPlazueladelosSapos.
One of the most famousbars in Puebla, this establish-
menthasbeenaroundforover80yearsandisnamedafteranancient Mexican beverage dis-tilled from fermented grapesandother“secret”ingredients.
Pasitas are served in shotglasses and decorated with acube of cheese and a raisin.Takeyourcuefromthepropri-
etors, who claim that “If youwanttobeluckyinlove,drinkpasita,fellows.”
la Pasita5 Oriente 602 Plazuela de los saposcolonia barrio de los sapos
7:00P.M.Hidden behind the façades ofPuebla’s old colonial buildingsaresomespectacularcourtyardsbut none more breathtakingthanthoseoftheMesónSacris-
tíadelaCompañía.Intheinteri-or,woodenbookcasesandhand-embroidered table linens makeforahomelyatmosphere,whiledishes like pork in manchaman-teles sauce, breaded steaks andcrèmebrûléestyledesserts tan-talizethepalate.
mesón sacristía dela compañíacalle 6 sur 304callejón de los sapos t. +52 (222) 232 4513www.mesones-sacristia.com
10:00P.M.If you are looking for someactionbeforeturningin,dropintoLaMartinaorLaBúrbulafor a drink. Both bars are inContainer City in Cholula, atown that has been absorbed
by the metropolitan zone ofPuebla. Built entirely outof shipping containers, thisshopping center is somethingofanoveltyintermsofurbandesignandapointerastode-velopments in sustainable ar-chitectureinMexico.
container city12 Oriente esquina 2 norte número 9colonia san andréscholula, Puebla
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10:00A.M.Your stay at the Casareyna includes continental breakfast at the hotel restaurant. So mosey ondownforapipinghotcupofcoffee,asliceofthechef’sspecialorangespongecakeandafruitplat-tertogetyoufueledupforthedayahead.
12:00P.M.El Mercado de los Sabores is amarketwhereyoucanfindvir-tuallyeveryingredientthatgoesinto Puebla’s regional cuisine,allunderoneroof.
Traditionalcandiesandmolemakegreatgiftsbutdonotleavewithouttastingacemita,acrispbread bun topped with sesameseeds and filled with avocado,beans,cheese,onion,papalo,chi-potleandpoblanochilipeppers.
mercado de los sabores4 Poniente entre 11 y 13 nortecolonia san miguelito
Sunday
1:00P.M.Just 20 minutes from down-town Puebla is the Cholulaarchaeological site, where thelargestandoneofthemostan-
cient pyramids in Mesoamer-icaoncestood.Concealedbyalayerofearthandrocks,inCo-lonial times the pyramid wasthought to be a hill. A churchwasbuiltatthetop,command-
ing unparalleled views of thecity below and the Popocaté-petlandIztaccíhuatlvolcanoesinthedistance.
2:00P.M.Hungryagain?OneofCholula’sfiner restaurants is La Casa deFrida, where the house spe-cialty is mole poblano. Legendhasitmolewasinventedinthe17th century by a DominicannuncalledMotherAndreadelaAsunción from the Santa Rosa
conventinPuebla,wholiterallyrustledtogethereveryfoodstuffin her kitchen in an attempt toimpressavisitingbishop.
LaCasadeFridahascarriedon the tradition, marrying amyriad of ingredients –choco-late, endless varieties of chilipepper, tomatoes, almonds,walnuts, bananas, raisins, ses-
ame seeds, clove, cinnamon,parsley,pepper,onionandgar-lic–withothersthatareclassedasa“familysecret”.
la casa de fridamiguel hidalgo 109colonia san Pedrocholula, Puebla t. +52 (222) 178 2303
4:00P.M.Nowthatyouhaveexperienceditatfirsthand,youwillunderstandwhythelocalsarealwaysasking“Isn’tPueblapretty?”Astemptingasitmaybetolinger,werecommendyouleaveforMexicoCitynolaterthan4:00p.m.toavoidtherushhourtrafficthatbeginsaround6:00p.m.n
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72 Negocios I the lifestyle
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Agraduate of the TheaterArtsFacultyofIllinoisStateUniversity,CeciliaSuárezisthefirstSpanish-speakingactresstobenominatedfor
anInternationalEmmyforherperformanceinthetelevisionseriesCapadocia.HerfilmcareerincludesfeaturefilmssuchasHidalgo(2010),Blue Eyelids(2007)–forwhichshewonBestActressattheLleidaFilmFestivalinCat-alonia,Spain–A Wonderful World (2006),Pink Punch(2004),Gimme the Power (2000)andSex, Shame and Tears (1999).
Born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Suárezhas appeared in international productionslikeThe Air I Breathe (2007),The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada(2005),Spanglish(2004),several US television series and theaterproductions.Morerecently,sheplayedCar-men Romero, the wife of Porfirio Díaz, intheMexicantelevisionseriesEl Encanto del Águila andappearedintheMexicanfeaturefilmNos vemos papá(2011).
As a member of the Chicago companyTheatre With a Viewshehasatightschedule,yetstillmanagestofindtimetodoherpartfor the community, whether by acting asspokeswomanfortheUnitedNations’(UN)humanrightsinitiativeDeclárateorchampi-oningthecauseoftheHumane LaborprojectinpublichospitalsinMexicoCity.
—What is your favorite place to relax?TheMayanRiviera.
—Which Mexican city inspires you the most?Oaxaca.
—What is your favorite Mexican dish?Codzitos,adishfromYucatán.
—Your favorite Mexican food restaurant.DulcePatria(contemporaryMexicancui-sine)andFonda99.99(traditionalYucatándishes),bothinMexicoCity.
—What place in Mexico should everyone visit?Teotihuacán.
—A Mexican city or state you’ve never been to and that is on your “must visit” list?Campeche.
—What do you miss most about Mexico when you’re abroad?Thefoodandpeople.
—What do you love most about Mexico?Itsirreverence.
—Mexican movie star that you admire.MaríaFelix“LaDoña”,PedroInfante,JoaquínPardavé,DoloresdelRío,MarioMoreno“Cantinflas”,JorgeNegrete,theSoler
brothers,Tin-Tán,RobertoCobo,SalvadorSánchez,AnaOfeliaMurguía,ErnestoGó-mezCruz,SilviaPinal,KatyJurado...Icouldgoonandon.It’shardtopickjustone.
—Who is your favorite Mexican director?Idon’thavejustonefavorite,althoughIabsolutelyloveworkingwithErnestoContreras[Blue Eyelids,2007;Seguir Siendo: Café Tacvba,2010].
—Who would you like to star alongside on the big screen?SeuJorge[aBrazilianmusician].
—Which historic female figure would you most like to play?MaríaAntonietaRivasMercado[aMexicanintellectual,writerandfeminist]andSorJuanaInésdelaCruz[aMexicanpoet].
—A Mexican film every foreigner should see.El Violín,directedbyFranciscoVargas.n
Mexico According to...
CeciliaSuárezby naomi palovits
