Made in Mexico: why the new Hollywood is south of the border

Churubusco Studios, a rambling complex in Mexico City, has been in business since 1945; in that time it has overseen some 3,000 movies and more telenovelas than anyone can remember. Today, on one of its sound stages, sits something from the future: a curving, luminous wall of 800 LED panels, stretched out in a panorama the size of four double-decker buses. The giant screen, displaying a computer-generated backdrop of Mexico City, is manipulated by technicians who can change the weather or rearrange buildings from a nearby console covered with glittering monitors and switches. It is “like flying the Apollo 11”, says Monica Reina, the head of Simplemente, the company that built it.