Office With a View: Karen Barroeta Says Taking Your Time and Using Emotional Intelligence Can Pay Off
As she leads the network’s development strategy and oversees all long-form scripted productions across mediums, Barroeta seeks out pilots and projects that bring Spanish-speaking audiences nationwide to NBCUniversal-owned properties. which currently stands as the largest manufacturer. Spanish-language scripted content in the United States. It requires making tough decisions and balancing data with gut checks.
While stressful moments can cause one’s mind to race and immediately consider possible outcomes, Barroeta sees active listening as a way to take in all the necessary information. And next step? Confide in a trusted advisor.
For Baroeta, who rose through the ranks of an industry dominated by men for decades and shifted to studying journalism to pursue production as a career, finding mentors who helped her climb the ladder Saw something special in him.
“I’ve met amazing champions along the way who definitely saw potential in me,” Barroeta said. “hard work [and] Dedication has obviously played a key role in all this, but without champions, I don’t even think you can get where you are.”
Barroeta said, “Champions instill their faith in you, because they have faith in you… They will always be our voice of support and our authoritative voice of support when you’re not in the room.” “If you’re just starting out in your career, look to people who can champion you, who can mentor you, because they’ll always have a word of advice.”
Barroeta also shared his insights on the essential elements of a pilot or series that appeal to US-based Spanish-speaking audiences, and clarifies how it feels to have a hit on your hands.
This conversation was edited for length and clarity.
In terms of TV projects, what appeals to you for Spanish-speaking audiences in the US?
For me, being here, was about the American dream… There are people who come here through the border, and it’s so hard for them, so strong characters, characters who get rags-to-riches, Characters who are aspirational who give that motivational element to the audience, make them feel that you can do it, that you might fall but you can get up – those kinds of characters, be it the protagonist or the antagonist.
For example, “El Señor de los Cielos”, which is the story we have now, I can tell you good things about [the protagonist]: She is very beautiful. He is the protector of his family. He fights for them as best he can because he wants to protect them. But he’s a ladies’ man, and he’s also a drug lord. So he’s a total antihero, but our audience really loves him because he’s powerful, and he comes from a humble background, and he’s made it on his own. He’s standing up, and he’s fighting other drug lords, from politicians to the DEA. So people kind of want to see that you can make it here in America
What makes a pilot or project successful in its early stages?
There are two answers: there is a qualitative side to knowing and a quantitative side. At the end of the day, there’s no secret formula that you can just go ahead and buy, right? Otherwise, the manufacturer will buy it.
The first thought that comes to mind is, “Okay, that feels great. If I’m reading it, or if I’m getting a pitch, and then you have the quantitative side, and that’s the data, I can get enough of the story. Nowadays, we use a lot of data to decide whether we are going to greenlight a series or not. We have a set of analysts who analyze the story against our audience profile [questions like] Are these character characters speaking to our audience? Is this the kind of character our audience wants to see and the kind of story we want to see on our screens?
We also work with research, not for all stories, but we do for many pilots, and we do concept testing, so we get those insights as well. We have our own development committee that takes all this data, and then decides whether we’re greenlighting or not. But at the end of the day there is always a huge risk. You never know how the audience is going to react.
What have you learned from the industry that you would like to pass on as knowledge to your peers and those who are pursuing their careers?
You have to believe in yourself and your abilities and your potential to deal with any kind of crisis. I think if you develop confidence in yourself, you will be amazed. Sometimes it is even more important than merit. Obviously, ability is very important. You have to be prepared, you have to work hard and you have to be very flexible. But research shows that confidence makes up 79% of your gravitas. So even if you work very hard and do a good job, it is not enough, if you do not develop your confidence.
