Spanish audiovisual production company Mediacrest Entertainment has linked with European TV veteran Stephen Johnstone and his consultancy business Old Dog to boost international business.
Stephen Johnstone
The agreement between the two companies will see Old Dog secure coproduction and production service deals for Barcelona- and Madrid-based Mediacrest with UK and international producers across all genres of TV and film.
This follows the launch of Mediacrest Global Production & Services at Mipcom last year, a new unit focusing on providing production services for international series and films shot in Spain.
Johnstone launched Old Dog last year, based in London and focused on the development, production and financing of independent television series and films for the international market.
Among the projects in which Old Dog has already participated are a dating reality show with Mad Monk, Gary Monaghan’s producer, and a horror movie also with Mad Monk and New Page Entertainment, by Giuliano Papadia.
Until April last year, Johnstone served for seven years as MD of the UK office of Spanish production giant Mediapro, working on series including Amazon-owned Prime Video documentary series All Or Nothing: Manchester City, on which he was executive producer.
Johnstone has also served as director of EMEA (ex-UK) for GroupM Entertainment, part of advertising giant WPP, and has previously worked at Channel 4 and spent 10 years at Turner Broadcasting, where he was European senior VP of youth channels.
Mediacrest CEO Francisco Pou said: “We are very keen to find international projects that can benefit from our access to investment and tax credits and excellent production capabilities, whether that be for coproduction or production services.
“We are also increasingly interested in developing international projects and, with Stephen’s help, will be looking for partners from the UK and beyond.”
Johnstone added: “Many years spent developing international strategy for Spanish-speaking entertainment outfits makes this partnership with Mediacrest the perfect starting point. Spain offers attractive tax credits and incentives that vary region to region, which creates natural competition and world-class services — as the likes of Kaos, The Crown, The Covenant and The Split: Barcelona have recently discovered.
“Access to tax credits and local investment is an enticing possibility for international productions in these straitened times.”
Founded in 2018, Mediacrest has established itself as one of Spain’s most active production companies.
The company produces the adaptation of ¡Boom! for Mediaset España and made Asuntos Internos for RTVE, as well as the latest seasons of El Cazador (RTVE) and The Floor (Atresmedia).
Over the past five years, Mediacrest has also been responsible for producing La Noche de los Cazadores, Mapi for RTVE, and Crónicas del Zoo (Discovery, Apunt, Canal Sur), among others.