Univision Upfront 2016: Netflix, Story House 'El Chapo' Series Co-Production Announced

Netflix, the world’s leading Internet TV network, and Univision Story House, Univision Communications Inc.’s (UCI) new development and production arm, announced that they will co-produce a boundary-breaking drama series, “El Chapo,” based on the life story of one of the world’s most notorious criminals.

“El Chapo” will be available to Netflix members in the United States following its television airing on UniMás in 2017. In the rest of the world, episodes of “El Chapo” will premiere exclusively on Netflix.

“‘El Chapo’ is a great example of how Univision continues to innovate and evolve with premium storytelling formats. The IP we’ve developed from more than 50 years of award-winning news and investigations gives us unique and innovative ways to tell stories in a way no other network can,” said Randy Falco, president and CEO of Univision Communications Inc. “We are pleased to deliver this groundbreaking series to audiences in the U.S. and around the world.”

“We are thrilled to partner with the award-winning Univision Story House on the timely and globally relevant drama series based on the life story of El Chapo,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer.

The announcement is part of an unprecedented promotional and co-production agreement between Netflix and Univision. Earlier today, the companies announced that Univision Network and UniMás will be the first U.S. networks to air full seasons of Netflix’s original series “Narcos” and “Club de Cuervos” respectively.

These days, it seems like everyone wants a piece of ‘El Chapo’s’ story. Only two weeks ago, the History Channel announced they will be turning the life of the infamous drug lord into a TV series, titled “#Cartel.”

Jana Bennett, History president and general manager released a statement to announce the exciting project. “As we expand the canvas of topics covered by History to include events of the recent past, we are pleased to be teaming with Chris Brancato on this project,” she said. “The true story of ‘El Chapo’, fraught with murder, drugs, corruption and celebrity, has been and continues to be one of the most disturbing and fascinating of the past decade,” Bennet continued before calling Brancato “the perfect person to bring this slice of modern history to the screen.”