2bLatam CEO & Development Head on Going Global with a YouTube Channel from Ecuador

Continuing their series on what it takes to create meaningful products and strategies for Latino audiences, Canela Media founder and CEO, Isabel Rafferty, sat down with 2bLatam CEO & Head of Development, Arturo Yepez, to discuss going global with a YouTube channel from Ecuador. Arturo Yepez was named by Variety as one of the 10 Rising Stars in Latin American Talents and has been involved in some of the most successful Spanish-language productions of the past couple decades.

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. The highlights of this episode are detailed below:

On going global with a YouTube channel from Ecuador

Laughter has proven to be an international language. 2bLatam has helped Enchufetv grow into the global hit it is today, with a massive following.

“Enchufetv started in 2011 from scratch. They started uploading one sketch per week. Two years later, they had 10 million subscribers on YouTube. Today, we have the biggest Spanish speaking channel of comedy sketches on YouTube in the world with 25.5 million subscribers and we have 27 million followers across social media.

“At the beginning of the project, people started to think that this could be a very local, successful program. Suddenly, it started to travel a lot because the kind of comedy we do is more identifying. We subtitle it, and it's very interesting, because now we are in China. Subtitles in Chinese are very successful.”

On 2bLatam’s role in the marketplace

2bLatam is the recent rebrand of Touché Films. The company hired Arturo after his work as an independent producer. Within six months, he’d been named CEO of the company. 

“We created 2bLatam, which is a network, where we have a production studio, we develop IP, and create content. We have a talent network and digital creators, and we have 2bLatam Originals, which is the brand that we create for our premium content.”

On the opportunity for LatAm content

A 20-year producing career enlightened Arturo to the challenges that exist for LatAm content. Too often, he’d struggle with funding and distribution. However, the tides are turning.

“Making people laugh is much harder than making people cry. What we did with 2bLatam Originals is try to explode that into long-form content. The amount of platforms that are growing in the industry is amazing. Everybody's looking for content, and people are paying attention to the Latin, Latin X and Hispanic cultures. That gives us a huge advantage.”

On what’s next for 2bLatam

Arturo knows that the sky's the limit for 2bLatam. Working with Canela Media is just one of many things his company will be working on in the coming months and years. 

“We are in deep conversations with different platforms. We are talking to Warner media and setting up a deal that is soon to be announced to make content for Latin America. Soon to be announced is another series that we are co-producing with a company in Mexico for another major platform. It’s going to be led by a big Mexican comedy actor.”