Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives, talent and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we’re talking to Mercedes Ron, the bestselling author behind the hit Culpables trilogy. The Argentine-Spanish author and producer went from posting chapters of her first novel My Fault (Culpa mía) on Wattpad to now having 10 of her books adapted into films for Amazon MGM Studios. She is the first Latina author to sign a first-look deal with the streamer. Her new movie Drawn Together debuts September 9 on Prime. 

Mercedes Ron has always dreamed big. The Argentine-Spanish author was just 19-years-old when she finished writing her now wildly successful YA romance book My Fault (Culpa mía) and even before it was in the hands of readers, she admits envisioning it as a movie.  

“When I was writing the story, I was so young and dreamt that it would be published in English or that I would have a movie adaptation,” Ron tells Deadline from her home in Seville. “I remember when I finished writing the car racing scene, telling my mom how cool it would be to see this scene in a movie.” 

Now, at the age of 33, that dream has become something considerably bigger. In the last decade, Ron has gone from posting chapters of that debut book on Wattpad to becoming a New York Times bestselling novelist whose work has become an enormous source of IP for Amazon MGM Studios. 

What began as a single book adaptation for Prime Video in 2023 with My Fault, the first of her Culpables series, has now grown into a major multi-project relationship. The company has adapted 10 of her 11 books into movies – seven in Spanish-language and three in English via Amazon UK – under the umbrella title House of Ron. 

The films have shattered viewing figures with three films from the Culpables series becoming Prime Video’s most-watched international originals globally, leading to Amazon formalizing their relationship with a first-look deal with Ron, a first for a Latina author at the studio. The company is currently developing its first U.S. adaptation of her Bali series Thirty Sunsets to Fall in Love (30 sunsets para enamorarte), which will see Ron step into an exec producer role.  

“Right now, I’m really living my best moment,” she says. “Everything is happening so fast. Last year, we had six movies filmed in the same year, so I’ve been traveling nonstop. I’m trying to learn as much as I can on the production side and I’m very excited about 30 Sunsets – going to Hollywood is a dream for me.” 

While that project is still in the early stages, Ron has enough IP swirling around the Amazon ecosystem to keep her busy. Today sees the launch of Drawn Together, an adaptation her romance-suspense novel from her Enfrentados series. Marketed as her “adult debut”, the story follows a wealthy young heiress who faces hidden threats after a mysterious kidnapping, only to spark a dangerous, forbidden attraction with the stern bodyguard hired to protect her. 

Next year Prime will launch Our Fault: London, the concluding chapter of the English-language adaptation of the Culpables trilogy with Asha Banks and Matthew Broome. There’s also a follow-up to Tell Me Softly (Dímelo Bajito), the Spanish-language high-school romance that launched in 2025, slated for next year.

In May, she published a fourth book of the Culpables series in Spanish, titled Culpa Vuestra (Their Fault), with an English version set to be published in 2027. When pressed on whether that book will be adapted for the screen, Ron says: “That’s the big question. I would love to adapt the fourth book. When I was writing it, I had it mind so my job is done now, and we will wait and see what is going to happen. Who knows? The good thing is that we have a Spanish version and an English version. I’m happy if any of them want to adapt the fourth book.”

She continues: “I think it’s going to be an easy book to adapt. It has all the ingredients to make this movie work. We know the characters. I know what people want from this book. People are so happy with the story but right now, there’s nothing on the table, but who knows?” 

What we do know is that Amazon is banking on Ron to build out its Spanish- and English-language content for younger audiences. The three Spanish Culpables films combined have been watched by more than 100 million viewers worldwide, with 90% of those viewers coming from outside of Spain.  The story follows a forbidden romance between two step-siblings Noah (Nicole Wallace) and Nick (Gabriel Guevara) as they navigate clashing personalities, dark secrets from their pasts and intense enemies-to-lovers attraction. The franchise has since been adapted into English with My Fault: London and Your Fault: London and Our Fault: London, which just wrapped.

Ron believes these stories have clicked with younger audiences because of the forbidden romance element and the fact the story doesn’t play to gender stereotypes.  “I was a teenager myself when I was writing these stories and everything was forbidden. When you are young, you want to do everything now and not tomorrow. But also, the characters are really dynamic with a lot of personality. I wanted to change the stereotypes that were made around young women, which is why I made Noah’s character a very stubborn, rebellious girl who races cars.”

She adds: “If you see the Spanish version and the London version, they’re really different but it’s the same story and one that you can keep telling in different ways because it has the ingredients to draw people in.” 

Ron fell in love with reading when she was 13 and first read Twilight, a series of YA books that “changed my life completely.” She started writing her own material at the age of just 14, finished her first novel at 18 and wrote My Fault (Culpa mía), her first book to be published, at the age of 19. The story was inspired by a recent trip she had taken to L.A., where the story is set, as well as Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” music video.

“I loved the idea of a girl getting involved with a mysterious and troubled boy who pulls her into a dangerous world,” she says.

But getting the story into the hands of readers proved to be difficult. Frustrated by the lack of response from publishers, Ron took advice from a friend and uploaded the story to Wattpad. 

“I started uploading a chapter every day, which meant people didn’t have to wait too long to read the book,” she says.

Within a few months, the story gained serious traction, and a year later it had reached one million readers. “It was crazy – I was so happy. I remember waking up every morning and going to read the comments. People were so excited.” A month later she received an email from Penguin Random House making her an offer to publish the book. 

“The Wattpad readers changed my life,” she says. “It was the reason that I got published at the beginning and it was a bridge to make my dream come true. Initially it was supposed to just be one book, but then I decided to write more stories after the fan reaction.” 

In an era where Hollywood is looking for proven fandom to launch new IP, Ron is a clear success story of someone who built that fandom before the studios came calling and it’s a clear illustration of how the relationship between creators, and the traditional entertainment ecosystem has changed. 

“Romance as a genre is doing so well, and I think traditional publishing houses know that a really big fandom can be the best thing you can have,” says Ron. “With Amazon, it was the same. I think maybe at the beginning they thought, ‘OK, what is this?’ But if you have this mass group of young readers on your side…I mean look at what happened with My Fault. It’s crazy. Young readers are the best thing you can have – they are the ones who are going to wait in line to get a book signed and talk about it on BookTok and share it with their mom and friends.” 

Given she’s a Wattpad breakout, it’s perhaps no surprise that Ron is a dynamo on socials. The Culpables trilogy generated 2.7 billion views on TikTok and 327 million views of trailers across multiple social platforms. Much like those early days when she was reading the comments on her work on Wattpad, she’s also very engaged with her fan base on social media.

“It’s a constant relationship and you’re always wondering what they are thinking, and the feedback can be helpful, but you need to be careful and have boundaries and be true to yourself.” 

She admits that when she announced a fourth instalment of Culpables on social media, she was nervous at the reaction given it had been a decade since she wrote the last instalment. “When fans seemed excited about it, I felt I could breathe. I consider this book a gift to them.” 

While Ron loves romance and YA stories, she confesses she would love to do something dystopian one day.  “I’m waiting for a good idea but I’m not there yet. Right now, I’m really focused on learning how to be the best producer I can be. I want to keep working with all the movies and try to make them the best we can and have my readers be proud of what we are doing.” 

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