{"id":35778,"date":"2023-02-28T13:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T17:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=35778"},"modified":"2023-05-08T15:53:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T19:53:29","slug":"senor-television","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/senor-television\/","title":{"rendered":"SE\u00d1OR TELEVISI\u00d3N"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin bu-blocks-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-flip has-box has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"750\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/05\/com365-carlos-bardasano-banner.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Carlos Bardasano posing with camera.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/05\/com365-carlos-bardasano-banner.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/05\/com365-carlos-bardasano-banner-509x636.jpg 509w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by German Hernandez. Other photos courtesy Carlos Bardasano.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSe\u00f1or Televisi\u00f3n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Veteran producer and alum Carlos Bardasano is at the nexus of big changes coming to Spanish-language television.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-categories\">\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/alumni\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlumni\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/com-365\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCOM\/365\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/category\/film-television\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm &amp; TV\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">February 28, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/authors\/steve-holt\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSteve Holt\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div style=\"display:none;\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-inner js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t<h4>Share<\/h4>\n\t\t<p class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-title\">SE\u00d1OR TELEVISI\u00d3N<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-share-tools-article-link\">\n\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" value=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/articles\/senor-television\/\" readonly>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<label>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Copy URL:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"js-prepress-component-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Copy<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Speaking on Zoom from his office in Miami, television producer Carlos Bardasano shares his screen with me and clicks \u201cplay\u201d on a trailer from his newest series, Travesuras de la Ni\u00f1a Mala. Like Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa\u2019s 2006 novel by the same name (The Bad Girl in the English version), the drama follows Ricardo Somocurcio\u2019s decades-long obsession with the shadowy and enigmatic Lily he first encounters in Lima in the 1950s. The minute-long clip\u2014a romantic dreamscape shot on location in France\u2014shows the couple reuniting in 1960s Paris, and the scenes feel plucked directly from that time period. Aerial footage showcases the city\u2019s historic architecture at sunset. Dressed as if they\u2019d stepped out of a midcentury French fashion catalog, the lead characters stroll through crowded plazas and past the Eiffel Tower, and dine in outdoor caf\u00e9s. Antique cars roll by in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very ambitious show,\u201d says Bardasano (Questrom\u201994, COM\u201997), president and head of content at W Studios, which produces original programs for Spanish-language media and content giant TelevisaUnivision. \u201cIt\u2019s probably one of the most expensive shows ever shot in the Spanish language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How expensive? \u201cIt\u2019s a multimillion-dollar series,\u201d is all he can tell me. Pulling together a pricey, sprawling drama like Travesuras is a departure for Bardasano. Over his 25-year career, he has produced hundreds of episodes of primetime broadcast television\u2014still the preferred medium for most viewers in Latin America. These have mainly been in the popular genre known as telenovelas, although Bardasano has worked on a few sitcoms and dramatic series, and even produced the Billboard Latin Music Awards show. Travesuras, Bardasano\u2019s first exclusively streaming show, will be one of the top draws on TelevisaUnivision\u2019s shiny new ViX+ platform, which launched in July 2022. It\u2019s also his grandest project to date\u2014portraying four distinct decades across a handful of global cities. W Studios tapped Alejandro Bazzano, who directed the Spanish-language crime series Money Heist, which is among the top five most-viewed shows on Netflix, to direct the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have done period pieces, and we had to do things where we had to travel to different countries. But having to do both?\u201d Bardasano says. \u201cIt\u2019s tough, and we wanted to up the level on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-teal-background-right\"><p>When you see something like Grey\u2019s Anatomy, it\u2019s using the same elements that the novela uses, that come from Shakespeare, and Shakespeare took them from the Bible. It\u2019s all about the heart.\u201d<\/p><cite>\u2014Carlos Bardasano<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The average TV watcher in Medell\u00edn or Mexico City may not recognize his name because he\u2019s always behind the scenes. But now, as the world\u2019s largest Spanish-language media company prepares to enter the streaming wars, Bardasano\u2014who serves on the Dean\u2019s Advisory Board at COM\u2014holds immense sway over the stories being told to close to 600 million Spanish-speakers around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4>EPISODE 1: LOVE AT FIRST SCREEN<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>As a child in Caracas, Venezuela, Bardasano was never far from the allure of television and entertainment. Working for the country\u2019s main broadcast network, his father produced commercials for companies like Pepsi. \u201cI don\u2019t remember not being on a set since I was very little,\u201d Bardasano says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"636\" height=\"509\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-636x509.jpg\" alt=\"Travesuras de la Ni\u00f1a Mala Scene 1\" class=\"wp-image-35850\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-636x509.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-2048x1639.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-episode1-1250x1000.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At home, Spanish-language network Televisa\u2014then and now the world\u2019s largest\u2014was often on in the evenings. (The Mexico-based network and the US media company Univision announced their $4.8 billion merger in April 2021 and closed it in January 2022.) American series like The Love Boat, The A-Team and Cheers were also frequently on. Bardasano looked forward to the family\u2019s summer trips to the US so he could catch Johnny Carson and David Letterman, which weren\u2019t shown in Venezuela. One of his most vivid childhood TV-watching memories was of seeing a name pop up over and over at the end of some of his favorite shows: legendary producer Aaron Spelling, who created more than 200 series over his 50-year career, including Charlie\u2019s Angels, Dynasty and Beverly Hills 90210. Bardasano imagined his own name there, at the top of the credits. \u201cTelevision has been my passion since I can remember,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bardasano followed that passion to BU, where he entered Questrom School of Business to study the business side of entertainment. He turned some initial anxiety about the language barrier into motivation to listen more carefully in his undergraduate business classes. Throughout his undergraduate studies, he took summer internships with media and entertainment companies like Disney and kept his eye on his dream of eventually producing great television shows. After searching the country for a graduate program that would combine media and management, he landed across Comm Ave at COM, where he enrolled in the master\u2019s program in film and television management. He credits the international community at BU with \u201copening my mind and my eyes\u201d to a world in which Spanish-language television could be a career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"636\" height=\"424\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-636x424.jpg\" alt=\"Travesuras de la Ni\u00f1a Mala Scene 3\" class=\"wp-image-35852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-1499x1000.jpg 1499w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala1.jpg 2044w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t start out there, however. His first job was at Universal Studios, working on NBC sitcoms of the late 1990s, like Something So Right and Fired Up. Then he moved into executive and supervisory positions at Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Television, respectively. His Spanish-language production work ramped up when he joined Telemundo in 2000 as its vice president of programming, responsible for all primetime programming and production. Over the next two decades, Bardasano would earn producer, executive producer and writer credits on some of the most consequential Latin American shows of the modern era\u2014including telenovelas like La Piloto, which he developed, and Amar a Muerte, one of the most-watched telenovelas of 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4>EPISODE 2: TELENOVELAS\u2026AND BEYOND<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Bardasano smirks as he tells me his favorite definition of a telenovela: \u201ctwo protagonists\u2014a guy and a girl\u2014trying to kiss each other, and a writer not letting them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes confused with soap operas, telenovelas differ in a few ways, he says. Telenovelas tell a finite story with a beginning and an end, even if it takes 200 episodes to do so. Soaps, on the other hand, \u201cgo on for generations,\u201d he says. Telenovelas also tend to air during primetime and are watched on broadcast TV rather than streamed. In fact, he says, as much as 90 percent of Spanish-language television is watched when it airs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Amar a Muerte (Love to Death)\u2014for which Bardasano served as executive producer\u2014premiered in Mexico in 2018, for instance, 3.8 million households were tuning in. Just over 1.5 million households watched the show\u2019s US premier. The show, which aired 88 episodes over a single season, won 14 TVyNovelas Awards in 2019, including Best Telenovela of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The genre has found its way into general market American programming. Network shows like Ugly Betty and Jane the Virgin draw from the telenovela formula\u2014albeit with fewer yachts and wind machine\u2013blown hair. Jane, which ran for five seasons, integrates many of the genre\u2019s well-known tropes\u2014characters coming back from the dead and secret identity reveals\u2014throughout the plot. And the telenovela\u2019s storytelling elements of love, treason and revenge also play prominently in the themes of other shows, Bardasano says, such as Shonda Rhimes\u2019 Grey\u2019s Anatomy and Bridgerton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"636\" height=\"424\" src=\"\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-636x424.jpg\" alt=\"Travesuras de la Ni\u00f1a Mala Scene 2\" class=\"wp-image-35851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-1498x1000.jpg 1498w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/files\/2023\/03\/carlos-bardasano-travesuras-de-la-nin\u0303a-mala-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen you see something like Grey\u2019s Anatomy, it\u2019s using the same elements that the novela uses, that come from Shakespeare, and Shakespeare took them from the Bible,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Telenovelas, the only purely Latin American TV genre, are still \u201cpart of the central structure of any network\u201d aimed at a Spanish-speaking audience and not going away anytime soon, Bardasano says. But the creation of streaming platforms and series like Travesuras de la Ni\u00f1a Mala is an acknowledgement of shifting demographics and media consumption habits across the Spanish speaking world. This is especially true among the more than 62 million Hispanic people in the US, who possess \u201chumongous purchasing power,\u201d Bardasano says. Creating streaming content has become an even bigger priority since Televisa and Univision merged. W Studios is playing an outsized role in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not an or but an and,\u201d Bardasano says, referring to the addition of streaming series to his portfolio. However, he says \u201cwith the creation of new platforms like ViX and ViX+, we have the opportunity to do the things that we never before have been able to dream, just because of the budgets that these new platforms are making available to us.\u201d A streaming platform, Bardasano says, also gives him the opportunity to present content that pushes the envelope beyond what he\u2019s traditionally made for more family-oriented network television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">Whether he\u2019s immersed in the romance-fueled hijinks of a telenovela or a period drama like Travesuras, Bardasano says he relishes the chance to tell stories that, he hopes, transport viewers to Paris in the \u201960s, a yacht in the Caribbean, or any number of fantastic destinations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking on Zoom from his office in Miami, television producer Carlos Bardasano shares his screen with me and clicks \u201cplay\u201d&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21449,"featured_media":36198,"template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"categories":[962,1481,9],"tags":[13,126],"bu-publication":[],"discipline-type":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/35778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21449"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/35778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45567,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/35778\/revisions\/45567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"discipline-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/discipline-type?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=35778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}