Prime Video Renews ‘La Oficina’ from ‘Club of Crows’ Co-Creator Gaz Alazraki (EXCLUSIVE)

Prime Video is renewing “La Oficina,” the Amazon MGM Studios Mexican adaptation of global hit “The Office”, after the successful March 13 launch of Season 1. 

“La Oficina” is set in Aguascalientes in central Mexico and follows the misadventures of the employees of the family-owned soap company Jabones Olimpo, led by its inept nepo-baby regional manager Jerónimo Ponce III, played by Fernando Bonilla (“Las Muertas,” “Un Extraño Enemigo”). 

Related Stories

Diane Lane and Luke Grimes' National Park Foundation PSAs to Run in AMC Theaters and on NFL Network (EXCLUSIVE)

‘Hamilton’ Actor Andrew Chappelle Makes Directorial Debut With Queer Erotic Short Starring Tony Nominee James Cusati-Moyer (EXCLUSIVE)

Produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Máquina Vega, the Mexican series is the latest international iteration of the uber successful BBC Studios series “The Office”, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, joining reversions in the U.S., France, Chile, Poland, Australia and several other territories.

“‘La Oficina’ really broke through in Mexico in a way that felt immediate and sustained,” Javiera Balmaceda, Amazon MGM Studios’ head of local originals for Latin America, Canada and Australia, told Variety. “It quickly became our most-watched title on Prime Video locally and, more importantly, it stuck — audiences keep discovering it and talking about it well after launch,” she added.

Vogue Mexico recently praised “La Oficina” for introducing new or little-known Mexican actors, saying that “this decision perfectly reflects the essence of ‘The Office.’ Ricky Gervais rose to global fame after creating and starring in it, while it was the first major role for actors like Martin Freeman.”

News of the renewal comes as Balmaceda described comedy as a key element in Amazon Prime Video’s content mix. “Comedy is a huge part of how we think about storytelling in Latin America — it really connects with audiences and reflects the culture in a very direct, recognizable way,” she told Variety.

On board to direct and executive produce once more is Gaz Alazraki, a seminal figure in the Mexican film and television industry who wrote, produced and directed the movie “Nosotros los Nobles.” Released by Warner Bros. in 2013, the film became the highest-grossing Mexican movie of all time, dethroning “The Crime of Padre Amaro” after claiming that title for 11 years. 

Alazraki and “La Oficina” showrunner Marcos Bucay worked together on the hit show “Club de Cuervos,” starring Luis Gerardo Méndez (“Nosotros los Nobles”) and Maria Treviño (“A Man Called Otto”), which was Netflix’s first fully non-English language original series.

“It’s the first time I take on such a beloved title. My other show was an original idea. This is the biggest IP in the world, so there was a lot on the line. At the same time, I wanted to make something new with it, and the response has been outstanding. Everyone felt there was no reason to touch such a beloved IP, but once they saw what we did with it, they embraced it wholeheartedly,” Alazraki told Variety.

Season 2 of “La Oficina” has yet to receive a premiere date, but Balmaceda told Variety that the writers are already “building on what resonated most from the first season – leaning even further into the characters and the kind of workplace humor audiences really responded to.”  The series will again be shot in the State of Mexico. 

Variety caught up briefly with Balmaceda, Alazraki and Bucay.

Has it been especially satisfying in some way to produce this show?

Gaz Alazraki: It was very satisfying! For starters, the opportunity to have a pre-lit soundstage allowed us to change set ups in less than 10 minutes. So we were able to focus on performances and do a lot of takes. We didn’t have to rush. We were able to reshoot things we didn’t like. We rehearsed. We also created a little compact studio in an industrial park with make-up, wardrobe and the art department. So we were very efficient. Also our actors were eating with other employees from the industrial park at the local taquerías, still dressed in character. So it was a very organic production. 

Why do you think “La Oficina” has resonated so well in Latin America, Brazil and Spain? 

Alazraki: I think Latin American offices have a different brand of chaos given the amount of family companies and lack of legal enforcement that allows for a different kind of ethos to exist in the work space. And while the Anglo versions of the show certainly captured a familiar working environment, there is a layer that stems from making a Latin American version, on a streamer like Amazon, which gave us free rein to go as far as we wanted and created a new brand of the show you don’t get to see from Anglo countries. 

Why do you think it’s important to create original local stories?

Alazraki: I think that we need to see ourselves on the screen. There are local conversations that must be had between our content and our audience, in order to create social movement in different areas of life. It becomes part of a local identity and local culture. 

How do you explain the global phenomenon that “The Office” has become?

Alazraki: Offices demand a certain uniformity across the globe, which is fascinating when you realize how they look across different cultures.  No matter how conservative or liberal, religious or agnostic, modern or classic a society is, they all need to adapt to office life. And it becomes a looking glass at how we are all the same, as humans, once we need to conform to certain rigid structures. And that itself is fascinating to watch.

What was the biggest challenge in adapting “The Office” to the Mexican version?

Marcos Bucay: Finding that sweet spot between honoring the format and making it feel genuinely ours. So the challenge was building fresh stories that still carry that painfully real office energy, but with a spicy Mexican twist.

What can we expect from Season 2?

Bucay: Everything gets stranger, and somehow more relatable. We expand the world, answer the chaos we left behind, and introduce new characters who stir things up. Unexpected office romances, a French soap conglomerate, and maybe even a horse in the office. “La Oficina” spirals into more absurd territory – but in a way that feels oddly familiar if you’ve ever worked in Mexico.

What makes this version unique?

Bucay: Mexico already feels like a scripted comedy. A norteño band randomly shows up mid-workday, the team breaks a record with a giant soap bar, the boss brings a homeless man to teach people about motivation… surreal is normal here—so “La Oficina” doesn’t push reality, it just presses record.

What stood out for you about Season 1?

Javiera Balmaceda: What stood out was how fans made it their own. Scenes and characters turned into memes almost overnight, brands started showing up in online conversation, and we saw everything from think pieces to fan debates about favorite moments. That kind of engagement translated into people actively asking for more — more seasons, more episodes — which made the demand for Season 2 very clear.

How does comedy fit into Amazon MGM Studios’ strategy in Latin America?

Balmaceda: We’re focused on building shows that can return and grow with audiences, like “La Oficina” in Mexico or “Porno y Helado”in Argentina, while also continuing to scale formats like “LOL: Last One Laughing,” which started in Mexico and has gone on to resonate in multiple markets. At the same time, we’re pushing into new voices and tones — projects like “Prefiero la Muerte” show how far we can stretch the genre. The goal is a slate that feels local, distinctive and genuinely entertaining.

John Hopewell contributed to this article.