Vivian Reinoso: "From the beginning, J2911 Media was focused on promoting clean content for the entire family"

This month, J2911 Media celebrates its 10th year from the beginning of its operations in 2014. Señal News talked to Vivian Reinoso, J2911 Media Founder & Head of Worldwide Acquisitions and Distribution, to discover the company's main milestones in its first decade within the global content industry.

At a professional and personal level, what does it mean for J2911 Media to reach its 10th Anniversary?
"From both points of view, I see this 10th anniversary of J2911 Media as confirmation that God has always been with us, as stated in the Bible verse from which the name comes from Jeremiah 29:11 that reads: “Because I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.”

What were the main milestones and achievements of the company in these ten years?
"In the beginning, it was very inspiring to have many clients from the time I worked at HBO Enterprise and Echo Bridge Entertainment reached out to encourage me to launch my own distribution company. Once I decided to do so, it was heart-touching to discover that many of those clients put a word for me among independent producers by providing excellent professional references for the honest and hard work that I am always committed to doing, and that allowed those producers to trust in the potential of J2911 Media for distribution purposes. Ten years later, we continue working with most of those initial producers who believed in us since 2014, and of course, we have added many more since then. Our producers are treated with great respect and total transparency in every single deal, which has led us to keep an outstanding reputation among them and the clients we work with."

How was the company’s business development in the global distribution industry?
"From the beginning, J2911 Media was focused on promoting clean content for the entire family (no sex, no violence, no nudity, etc.) and allowing independent producers to bring their content to the international arena. With that in mind, we were strategic on maximizing the resources to promote our content globally most effectively. Throughout these years, we have closed deals in different parts of the world, including Latin America, the USA, France, Spain, Serbia, Portugal, Germany, Australia, the Middle East, and some African countries, in addition to worldwide rights deals. It was so that in 2020-2021, when the world was dealing with the worst of COVID, it was our best years in terms of closed deals… understand the difficult financial situation some buyers were going through because of the pandemic and the need for content that could bring a positive message, was a great formula to see deals happening. So, considering that our content comes 100% from independent producers and usually does not fall under the traditional commercial content type, it has been an outstanding achievement for us to stay active in this industry, making deals and signing agreements all these years."

Which titles would you like to highlight in terms of being well-known and distributed by J2911 Media throughout this decade?
"Our main focus is the documentaries, even though we also have animation, movies, and factual content. Then, from these categories, I would say that the USA docuseries 'Following The Messiah' and 'Searching For A King,' along with the Chilean docuseries SHIPWRECKS (Naufragios), are among the titles we have closed many deals throughout these years. It is important to note that most of our titles have subtitles in either English or Spanish, depending on the content's original language. The animated edutainment series Huevokids from the Mexican producer Huevocartoon has had great success among our kids' buyers, as has the inspirational animated series THEO (USA production).”

How would you analyze the changes that have taken place in the industry in the last ten years?
"The transformation not only has been of almost 180 degrees to digital as the main source of revenue via advertising but also in how quickly the audiences establish the demand for a specific type of content, and how fast independent producers can adapt to those demands. Of course, technology has played an important role in the process, including the launch of market platforms, which also compete against the traditional distribution model. The competition for viewership consumption is so intense that, in one way or another, even big companies needed to reinvent how they were doing business to preserve their profits”.

What are J2911 Media’s short and long-term goals after this anniversary?
"The vision is still the same: Give the audiences content that will positively impact their lives rather than just entertaining them. In general terms, the goal in short and long terms is to continue adding titles with great stories/information, keep doing business with our highly appreciated clients, add more to our existing portfolio, and secure deals in territories where our content is still not present.”