New Spanish production outfit Plural Entertainment, a 100%-backed Grupo Prisa company with headquarters in Madrid and New York, has signed a landmark co-production agreement with the television filial of The New York Times.

The accord, the first of its kind for The New York Times TV, will see the two firms co-produce television product for joint distribution worldwide, beginning with an English-language documentary series about Cuba set to shoot this spring. The agreement will encompass a series of projects, mostly documentaries.

The announcement came as part of Prisa's official launch of the new production label. Plural is already capitalizing on its unique advantage of having headquarters on US soil. "One of our main challenges is to make the bridge between Spain and Hispanic populations in the US and elsewhere," said new Plural president Jose Vicuna, until now president of rights and distribution house Sogepaq.

Vicuna will oversee Plural together with former Telecinco news director Luis Fernandez as general director, and former Gran Via Musical development director Rafael Gomez as managing director.

"We will be active in the whole spectrum of audiovisual contents, from localized TV product to documentaries, series, animation, TV movies and feature films," Vicuna said. The company has already boarded feature film co-production The Blue Room (La Habitacion Azul), which began shooting in Mexico on January 15, and has a handful of documentaries in production.

Plural has also reached a co-production agreement with Spanish-language publishing giant Santillana, recently bought out by Prisa, to develop audiovisual content. Two animated TV series - Entre Amigos and Cocorolos - are already in the works.