Bacardi historical drama in development at Secuoya Studios

Secuoya Studios and Arrivallo Producciones are teaming up to develop the first TV series focusing on the founding and legacy of spirits company Bacardi.

Inspired by the true story of Bacardi’s founding and rise to global recognition, the series is developed in collaboration with The Bacardi Archives, a private collection managed by the Bacardi company.

Secuoya describes the show’s narrative as “a story of ambition, adversity and family that begins with founder Don Facundo Bacardí Massó and his vision to create the world’s first thin rum.” The series tells how the company grows from its humble Beginning in Cuba in the 19th century, he has persevered through countless hardships, political unrest, economic crises and forced exile from his homeland to become a global spirits empire.”

While specific details about what will be included in the show are still being developed, Zeta says the historical drama will touch on contemporary themes such as “political revolution, economic crises, groundbreaking expansion, social changes, women’s emancipation, trade disputes.” Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency and the Treason of Cuban Revolutionaries That Forced Many into Exile.”

Bacardi was founded in 1862 and remains family-owned after more than 160 years. Today it is the largest private international spirits company and has more than 200 brands and labels. Earlier this week, Forbes named Bacardi the 79th best place to work in the world.

The production will be led by showrunner and director Jonathan Jakubowicz (“Resistance,” “Hands of Stone”), with additional talent from both sides of the camera to be announced soon.

“Over the last two centuries, the Bacardi company has played an important role in the events that shaped Cuban history, while also pioneering one of the greatest entrepreneurial stories of all time,” Jakubowicz said of the story he wants to tell. “It is a true honor to bring this never-before-heard story to life with the help of its protagonists, who have generously made their archives available to us. I have always dreamed of creating an epic that captures the complex history of Latin America and its relationships with the United States and Europe.”

Zeta and Jakubowicz currently have a completed pilot script and a bible for the series’ first season. While everyone involved hopes to tell a story over multiple seasons, Secuoya CEO Brendan Fitzgerald says they won’t hold anything back when producing the first season.

“We’ve had conversations about how many seasons we’d like to do, but what we’re aiming for now is one great season where we use all our best ideas to deliver something special and then start thinking about the next thing .”, said the managing director diversity ahead of today’s announcement. “I think that’s what the market demands now, and if we start saving things for a later season, the later seasons may never come.”

Acknowledging the industry has moved past the “peak of television”, Fitzgerald says the landscape is still crowded and the Bacardi series needs to be special to stand out from the crowd.

“We know that two weeks before our series is released on whatever platform, there will be a piece of world-class television from someone else coming out. There will be another one two weeks after our show ends. We have this short space to capture the planet’s attention,” he explained.