The Argentine Victoria Alonso, who became the most powerful Latina in Hollywood by developing a successful career as a producer at Marvel, left the company, apparently for participating without permission in the film “Argentina, 1985”, according to trans-Andean media reported this week.
The executive would have incurred in breach of contract by participating as one of the 8 co-producers of the film directed by Santiago Mitre, distributed by Amazon, reported the newspaper Página 12.
“It was a seismic jolt at Marvel, where for years Alonso was part of the so-called ‘holy trinity,’ along with Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and co-chairman Louis D’Esposito, who took the Marvel Cinematic Universe to ever-greater heights,” P12 said.
According to Marvel sources consulted by The Hollywood Reporter, Alonso violated a 2018 agreement that included the company’s standards of business conduct, which states that employees cannot work for competing studios.
Annoyance
Sources say Alonso did not ask for permission to work in “Argentina, 1985,” nor did he give notice. When Disney learned of the project and the breach of contract, her longtime service and veteran status led the company to give her a waiver on the condition that she no longer work on the film. Nor should he promote or publicize it in any way. The situation of a senior executive working on a film outside the company’s boundaries was deemed serious enough to involve management’s audit team and a new memo was signed, according to a source.
“Argentina, 1985” premiered in September 2022 at the Venice International Film Festival, and since then Alonso has been at the center of the film’s promotional campaign, attending screenings and panels and doing interviews on behalf of the film.
According to sources, he was reminded of his agreement and non-compliance several times, but the campaign continued. She even appeared on the Oscar red carpet not as a Marvel executive associated with that studio’s multi-nominated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but as a producer on “Argentina, 1985,” walking alongside the film’s director, Santiago Mitre, and his entire team.
What would also have upset Disney executives was that while she was busy promoting “Argentina, 1985,” her outreach on Marvel visual effects, as president of physical production and post-production, visual effects and animation, was busier than ever.
Personal challenge
For Alonso, “Argentina, 1985” was a personal challenge.
“I did a lot of stories about superheroes,” she told IndieWire in an interview published last month. “And I always wanted to tell a story about what happened in Argentina, because I could have been one of those 30,000 people who made the military dictatorship disappear.”
According to IndieWire, it was co-producer Axel Kuschevatzky who convinced Victoria Alonso to join the Argentina team, 1985. But according to that same portal, Kuschevatzky “had suggested that he first ask permission from Marvel and Disney to help him make the film,” something that Alonso apparently would not have done.
Long career
Alonso, who arrived in the U.S. at age 19, joined Marvel in 2006 as executive vice president of visual effects and post-production, and served as co-producer of blockbusters such as “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2” and “Thor.”
In 2015, Alonso was named Marvel’s executive vice president of production. Six years later she became the president of Postproduction, VFX and Animation at the studios with which she assumed the supervision of all the post-production of Marvel productions.
Blockbusters like “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” also had Alonso behind them.
In a recent interview with EFE, Alonso, 57, said Hollywood is cyclical. “Today we are at one level and tomorrow at a totally different level. It may be that whoever helps me with coffee today is tomorrow at my post.”
Marvel has yet to release several films in which Alonso is an executive producer.
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