My Dreams Are Coming True: Interview with Slovak producer Peter Núñez
Peter Núñez leads Slovakia’s leading independent production company NUNEZ NFE which stands behind some of the biggest TV hits in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This summer, he is taking on a new challenge, producing a large-scale international documentary production – yet another dream come true for the prolific producer. The previous ones include winning the PITCH & PLAY LIVE! format contest in 2017, and the recent co-production with Turkey of a high-profile romantic drama for TV JOJ which has been renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere.
Stanislav Kimchev checked with Peter Núñez to find out more about these success storied and what the future holds for him.
Stanislav Kimchev checked with Peter Núñez to find out more about these success storied and what the future holds for him.
Love in Istanbul
Peter, your Nunez NFE is one of the leading independent producers in Slovakia, working on all kinds of genres - fiction and non-fiction, producing for all major broadcasters, as well as feature films. How many projects are you working on right now and what are your plans for 2024?
We have more than twelve main, big projects for four broadcasters in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic.
Nunez NFE shoots both original projects as well as big formats. What is the main difference between shooting original formats and adapting international hits?
With adapted formats, you have a kind of an alibi in case things go eventually wrong., while with own format, all the mistakes are yours. But if everything goes well and it turns into a success, the original format brings you usually higher profit and also higher satisfaction.
There have been an increasing number of both Czech and Slovak series shot in other countries in CEE. You filmed JOJ’s newest drama series Love in Istanbul in Turkey’s capital last year. Could you tell us more details about the production? How was the idea for the production born and why did you choose Turkey?
The series is completely our product. Every episode is closed. It is a romantic, happy ending story. However, in all episodes you can follow a second line, a “dog and cat” relationship between the Slovak ambassador with the Slovak general consul. They met 20 years after their studies, a time when they had a love affair. Now they meet again at Slovakia’s mission in Turkey in the positions of boss and employee. We choose Turkey for the attractive and exotic locations. Also, the prices and professional quality of the crews was great.
I arranged a risky cooperation with my friend Ruyhan Duralı, the famous Istanbul creator and producer. The result was so good, that TV JOJ immediately, before the premiere of the series, ordered a second season. But, unfortunately, the inflation in Turkey raised the prices so high, that we had to move the second season to Tunisia under the title Love in Tunis.
Tell us a bit more about your partnership with Ruyhan. We know it all started with your win at PITCH&PLAY LIVE! How has this relationship evolved in recent years?
The cooperation with Ruyhan turned into a friendship. For the first time I met him in Miami, but the final handshake on cooperation happened after the success of my format The Land is Singing at PITCH & PLAY LIVE! in Budapest. Ruyhan helped me a lot, taking me to the higher level of international TV productions. With him I also got a place in the catalog of Global Agency, which is really a fantastic success for me.
Where do you see the role of co-productions in CEE? Do you expect more such projects in the future and are you planning any with partners from other countries in the region?
Definitely. It’s the only chance to play “higher games” in my opinion. We should aggregate capital and know how, if we want to be comparable with international products.
At the beginning of the year, it was announced that Big Media and Nunez NFE have teamed up for JOJ World content. Tell us more about the parameters of the deal, what is the type of content you are producing for the niche net and how many hours do you plan to produce this year?
At this moment I have six new documentary series on the table from Big Media. I hope, we will realize all of them. On top of that, we have one completely Slovak production, including a host, creative production and executive production. This is a new “upgrade” for us. Until now, Big Media covered the creative part of productions, and we are the executive producers. The series is titled The Last Ones. With Tomáš Hulík and my team we will travel all around the world to see the last among the disappearing animal species. We will start in July in Mongolia, following Przewalski’s horse. To have own documentary content in wide international distribution is really another dream come true for me.
You also operate niche nets: Senzi TV, Folklorika, Lala TV. Do you plan to expand your portfolio? Are you looking into the FAST channels phenomenon that is slowly gaining pace in CEE?
At this moment, these projects are running in “automatic pilot regime”. But I know that I have to take care of them, if I want to keep them as successful and profitable projects in the future. So, probably, next year, we will have FAST channels in CEE.
Local streaming services in Czechia and Slovakia have been increasingly investing into original content. Do you see an opportunity there and do you expect for international streamers to also start producing local content in the two countries?
Yes, definitely. The quality of local productions is rising and it’s comparable with the quality of worldwide distributed content. The prices are mostly much better. So, in my opinion, it’s just a question of time. Imagine, if we can offer a German version of Love in Istanbul for the German speaking territories for a price under 300.000 euros. The same in English or in other languages. Is it not a great offer?
We have more than twelve main, big projects for four broadcasters in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic.
Nunez NFE shoots both original projects as well as big formats. What is the main difference between shooting original formats and adapting international hits?
With adapted formats, you have a kind of an alibi in case things go eventually wrong., while with own format, all the mistakes are yours. But if everything goes well and it turns into a success, the original format brings you usually higher profit and also higher satisfaction.
There have been an increasing number of both Czech and Slovak series shot in other countries in CEE. You filmed JOJ’s newest drama series Love in Istanbul in Turkey’s capital last year. Could you tell us more details about the production? How was the idea for the production born and why did you choose Turkey?
The series is completely our product. Every episode is closed. It is a romantic, happy ending story. However, in all episodes you can follow a second line, a “dog and cat” relationship between the Slovak ambassador with the Slovak general consul. They met 20 years after their studies, a time when they had a love affair. Now they meet again at Slovakia’s mission in Turkey in the positions of boss and employee. We choose Turkey for the attractive and exotic locations. Also, the prices and professional quality of the crews was great.
I arranged a risky cooperation with my friend Ruyhan Duralı, the famous Istanbul creator and producer. The result was so good, that TV JOJ immediately, before the premiere of the series, ordered a second season. But, unfortunately, the inflation in Turkey raised the prices so high, that we had to move the second season to Tunisia under the title Love in Tunis.
Peter Nunez with the PITCH & PLAY LIVE! Trophy at NATPE Miami 2018
Tell us a bit more about your partnership with Ruyhan. We know it all started with your win at PITCH&PLAY LIVE! How has this relationship evolved in recent years?
The cooperation with Ruyhan turned into a friendship. For the first time I met him in Miami, but the final handshake on cooperation happened after the success of my format The Land is Singing at PITCH & PLAY LIVE! in Budapest. Ruyhan helped me a lot, taking me to the higher level of international TV productions. With him I also got a place in the catalog of Global Agency, which is really a fantastic success for me.
Where do you see the role of co-productions in CEE? Do you expect more such projects in the future and are you planning any with partners from other countries in the region?
Definitely. It’s the only chance to play “higher games” in my opinion. We should aggregate capital and know how, if we want to be comparable with international products.
At the beginning of the year, it was announced that Big Media and Nunez NFE have teamed up for JOJ World content. Tell us more about the parameters of the deal, what is the type of content you are producing for the niche net and how many hours do you plan to produce this year?
At this moment I have six new documentary series on the table from Big Media. I hope, we will realize all of them. On top of that, we have one completely Slovak production, including a host, creative production and executive production. This is a new “upgrade” for us. Until now, Big Media covered the creative part of productions, and we are the executive producers. The series is titled The Last Ones. With Tomáš Hulík and my team we will travel all around the world to see the last among the disappearing animal species. We will start in July in Mongolia, following Przewalski’s horse. To have own documentary content in wide international distribution is really another dream come true for me.
You also operate niche nets: Senzi TV, Folklorika, Lala TV. Do you plan to expand your portfolio? Are you looking into the FAST channels phenomenon that is slowly gaining pace in CEE?
At this moment, these projects are running in “automatic pilot regime”. But I know that I have to take care of them, if I want to keep them as successful and profitable projects in the future. So, probably, next year, we will have FAST channels in CEE.
Local streaming services in Czechia and Slovakia have been increasingly investing into original content. Do you see an opportunity there and do you expect for international streamers to also start producing local content in the two countries?
Yes, definitely. The quality of local productions is rising and it’s comparable with the quality of worldwide distributed content. The prices are mostly much better. So, in my opinion, it’s just a question of time. Imagine, if we can offer a German version of Love in Istanbul for the German speaking territories for a price under 300.000 euros. The same in English or in other languages. Is it not a great offer?
