Los Angeles-based production company Joinery and established producer Cesar Ahumada are bridging cultures with their newfound partnership. Already a formidable presence in the Hispanic market, the alliance with Ahumada enables Joinery to represent a strong and diverse offering of award-winning directors from the Argentinacine roster to work in the U.S.
Argentinian-born Gerard Cantor, Executive Producer and Managing Director of Joinery, has seen his company’s role in the Hispanic market grow, owing to their robust roster of general market directors who have frequently crossed over into the multicultural space.
Cantor forms this powerful affiliation with Ahumada, a 28-year industry veteran and the former Founder of La Fabrica Films. Teaming up with Ahumada enables Joinery to represent several of the decorated directors from the Argentinacine roster to operate within the Hispanic market. From the Argentinacine lineup, Joinery adds Augusto Giménez Zapiola, Camila Zapiola, Martin Romanella, Lara Arellano, Nano Tidone, and Belén Gayán for projects in the U.S.
Recent projects include a Goya campaign directed by Lara Arellano for Dieste, and an AT&T spot directed by Camila Zapiola, also for Dieste. It is telling of the shifting times that both of these landmark jobs were directed by women. Being a catalyst for diversity in both the Hispanic and the U.S. markets is in the fabric of this new affiliation.
“We are in a ‘post-Hispanic’ period where many Hispanic people in the U.S. are so integrated that appealing to the audience requires a more universal approach,” explains Cantor. “It made perfect sense for Cesar to take so many of the directors who speak to this new period and integrate them into a company that has been wired like that from day one.”
“I’ve witnessed how the idea of the ‘Hispanic market’ has evolved so much in the past 20 years,” remarks Ahumada. “It’s perhaps that dynamism, the constant transformation, that characterizes the multicultural market of the U.S. that I find most appealing.”
Indeed, Ahumada’s approach to production aligns beautifully with Joinery’s general market philosophy: to give access to award-winning directors and to equip each project with the tools needed to deliver the highest quality result, regardless of the conditions. To ensure a seamless collaboration, they provide hands-on involvement from a Partner or Executive Producer on each and every job they produce.
Adding to Joinery’s Hispanic and Latin American-market offering is the company’s longstanding partnership with Madrefoca, named Mexico’s Best Production Company at Circulo de Oro. Madrefoca directors Jorge Aguilera and directing duo Pensacola are represented by Joinery for both the general U.S. and Hispanic markets, while Santiago Chaumont and Franco Garuti are repped solely for the Hispanic market.
Heading up the production team alongside Ahumada is Executive Producer/Partner Alejando Saevich and EP Vanessa Hernández; in company with Cantor at Joinery is EP/Partner Elliot Lucas. Ileana Goldenstein is Representation Head for both companies.
Ahumada states: “I believe that with the directors that we are adding to the company, Joinery now has one of the most powerful Hispanic rosters in the market, therefore they will become an even greater player in that field.”
“Together we are stronger than the sum total of one’s individual parts,” concludes Cantor. “Cesar has a hard to come by reputation; well beloved, trusted, with high standards and a great deal of integrity – both personally and professionally.”
“I find it quite amazing how organic this transition has been,” says Ahumada. “I really feel at home at Joinery and I am enjoying the trust that they have placed in me. It feels like a new beginning. A radiant and exciting beginning.”
L to R: Gerard Cantor, Cesar Ahumada