Warner Bros Discovery just named Jose Maria Caro as Director of Original Production for Max in Spain.
Caro will lead on scripted originals coming from the streamer, overseeing development and production. This comes after Max completed its European rollout in June 2024 and at a time when WBD says it is “strengthening its local language offering in Spain.”
On Caro’s slate will be originals such as When Nobody Sees Us and Rage, both of which premiere later this year. His team has an “expanding” Spanish-language slate with “multiple projects currently in development,” according to WBD.
Caro will report directly to Laura Carafoli, Warner Bros. Discovery’s SVP Content Networks & Streaming, Local Productions for Italy & Iberia. Spanish-language Discovery TV networks and Max unscripted originals will continue to be oversee by Bibiana González, Director, Content Networks & Streaming, Non-Scripted Original Production.
Having worked at the likes of Amazon Studios, Caro is considered one of Spain’s most-experienced scripted execs with more than 25 years on the clock. After spending several years in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, where he worked with the likes of Mediapro ME, MBC and Originals Medias Group, he joined Buendía Studios, where he exec-produced shows such as La Templanza for Prime Video, and La Cocinera de Castamar, Señor Dame Paciencia and Los Protegidos, El Regreso for Atresmedia.
He later became Head of Spanish Original Series at Amazon Studios (now Amazon MGM Studios) and worked on the likes of Los Farad, Reina Roja, Sin Huellas and Romancero before exiting for WBD.
He is stepping to the hot seat at Max at a time where Spanish-language originals are doing gangbuster numbers for streamers, with the likes of Berlin and Culpa Tuya breaking out around the world.
Spain was one of the few European territories that survived a major WBD pullback from streaming originals in 2022, and went on to order When Nobody Sees Us as its first local series a year later. Former Spanish originals chief Miguel Salvat exited WBD in a restructure that saw Italian exec Carafoli promoted to take on the territory.
