CEO Paul Presburger Exits Pantelion Films And Pantaya

Paul Presburger, CEO of Pantelion Films and streaming service Pantaya for more than a decade, is leaving the company to focus on Globalgate Entertainment, an international production and co-financing company he co-founded six years ago.

“I am extremely grateful to my original partners at Lionsgate, Televisa, and Hemisphere. I am immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished, creating and distributing record-breaking films and paving the way for premium Hispanic content in the U.S. through our highly successful launch and recent sale to TelevisaUnivision,” says Presburger. “Of all the things we accomplished, I am most proud of the opportunities and careers we championed for young Latinx talent and executives. As I move on, I am looking forward to working with them on more ground-breaking premium content.”

TelevisaUnivision, which acquired Pantelion Films and Pantaya from Hemisphere Media GroupHMTV
last month, announced Presburger’s departure. The exec, who led the first streaming service targeting the U.S. Hispanic market since its founding in 2016, will work on a slate of new productions through Globalgate Entertainment, including future projects for TelevisaUnivision’s streaming service, VIX.

“It has been a pleasure working with Paul from the outset and as he facilitates our companies’ transition,” states Pierluigi Gazzolo, TelevisaUnivision’s President and Chief Transformation Officer. “As the architect of Pantaya and Pantelion, Paul has long had his finger on the pulse of the Latin community, both in the U.S. and around the world, building audiences and careers, and we look forward to continuing to work with him on new projects, expanding upon the strong foundation he built.”

Launched in 2017, Pantaya was the first premium streaming service dedicated to Spanish-language films and series. As it gained traction, it started producing original series. Its first was the hit El Juego de las Llaves in 2019, which was picked up for two additional seasons. The second installment debuted in September 2021. Other originals include this year’s crime thriller La Negociadora, its first produced in Spain, dramedy Mi Tío, two seasons of the non-scripted Eugenio Derbez family travel series De Viaje con los Derbez and beauty pageant thriller Señorita 89, a co-production with Starzplay, now Lionsgate+.

Pantelion Films releases include the blockbuster Instructions Not Included, starring Derbez, which became the highest grossing Spanish language film of all time in Mexico and the U.S. and the remake of Overboard, also starring Derbez with Anna Faris,and Eva Longoria.

Globalgate is a curator of intellectual property, primarily focused on the production and co-financing of local-language content. It has partnered with a consortium of top-tier production and distribution companies operating around the world, including Lionsgate, Televisa, TF1, Rai, Nordisk, Tobis, Lotte, Viva, Falcon and Rakuten.