CinemaChile Taps Ximena Baeza as New Executive Director (EXCLUSIVE)
CinemaChile’s newly appointed executive director Ximena Baeza makes her Cannes debut as the promotional org presents its annual catalog at the Marché and a sizeable contingent of 27 Chilean production companies present their titles.
Baeza, who was selected after a two-month headhunting process in which more than 160 applicants for the position were interviewed, comes armed with nearly 20 years of experience in the marketing and communications field.
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She was previously director of marketing and content at Imagen de Chile, a country brand agency. Her experience in the entertainment industry runs deep. She worked at Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) for 15 years, where she was assistant manager of marketing and communications. She also held similar posts at Universal Music Chile, Telefónica CTC Chile and MusimundoChile.
“Her experience in the audiovisual world with a focus on marketing and communications, as well as her strategic vision of positioning and collaborative leadership and great team building were key in her election as the new head of CinemaChile,” said producer Gabriela Sandoval, a board member of APCT, Chile’s Association of Film and Television Producers.
Baeza, who has lived in Germany and England, has received multiple awards across a number of years, including the Effie, which recognizes the effectiveness of marketing communications strategies, the PromaxBda International in 2010 and 2011, and more recently, the 2022 City Nation Place Award, which values the performance of Place Branding, at the annual world forum in London.
Led by standout companies Clara Films, Errante, Juntos Films, Mesa Redonda Studio, Planta, Storyboard Media and Wood Prods., the Chilean delegation comes with a host of interesting projects, mostly fiction, followed by documentaries.
Among their activities are the Docs in Progress showcase organized by Chiledoc on Sunday, May 21; co-production meetings, promoted by ProChile France and organized by Germany on May 22, and ChileShorts screenings on May 23.
The presence of an important national delegation at the Marché du Film which arrives supported, in good part, by Chile’s Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, is always good news for the sector, said the ministry’s undersecretary, Andrea Gutiérrez, “because it opens new paths for our audiovisual industry, allows to make it visible and to consolidate projects, create alliances and advance further in the international market.”
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