Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron and the producer of his latest film Y Tu Mama Tambien, Jorge Vergara, have formalised their relationship in a new production company Anhelo to make Spanish and English-language films, some of which Cuaron will direct.

The outfit has already boarded Guillermo Del Toro's ghost story The Devil's Backbone, a co-production with Pedro and Agustin Almodovar's El Deseo which will start shooting in Spain on June 1 and star Federico Luppi, Eduardo Noriega and Marisa Peredes.

Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is being sold here by Good Machine International (GMI), was fully financed by Vergara, whose company Omnilife is a Guadalajara-based supplier of nutritional supplements operating in nine countries.

"We want to take advantage of the talent pool of Latin and Mexican creative people," said Cuaron, "while at the same time making movies in English." Vergara, a renowned patron of the arts in Mexico, added that the next film being put together is in English.

Cuaron, whose English-language credits include A Little Princess and Great Expectations, said that he has commitments to make a studio movie after Y Tu Mama Tambien, but that he is hoping to negotiate that Anhelo come on board as co-producer. Y Tu Mama Tambien finished shooting two weeks ago.