Martin de Ot 2023 debuta en la actuación. © Atresplayer
La plataforma Atresplayer ha comenzado el rodaje de su nueva serie musical, “Mariliendre”, que cuenta con la producción de Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi.
“Mariliendre” sigue a Meri Román, que era una reina de la noche gay de Madrid, pero de eso han pasado ya más de 10 años. Ahora, a sus 35, es una diva destronada que vive atormentada por su pasado y aburrida en su mediocre presente. Tras la muerte de su padre, Meri reconecta con su séquito de amigos gays, rememorando su pasado y los temazos musicales que marcaron aquella época, mientras intenta definir su caótica vida y su identidad.
Blanca Martínez será Meri Román, la protagonista de la historia. La actriz está acompañada por Martin Urrutia, Omar Ayuso, Carlos González, Yenesi, Álvaro Jurado, Mariona Terés, Mariano Peña y Nina como el elenco principal de la ficción. Completan el reparto Pepón Nieto,...
La plataforma Atresplayer ha comenzado el rodaje de su nueva serie musical, “Mariliendre”, que cuenta con la producción de Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi.
“Mariliendre” sigue a Meri Román, que era una reina de la noche gay de Madrid, pero de eso han pasado ya más de 10 años. Ahora, a sus 35, es una diva destronada que vive atormentada por su pasado y aburrida en su mediocre presente. Tras la muerte de su padre, Meri reconecta con su séquito de amigos gays, rememorando su pasado y los temazos musicales que marcaron aquella época, mientras intenta definir su caótica vida y su identidad.
Blanca Martínez será Meri Román, la protagonista de la historia. La actriz está acompañada por Martin Urrutia, Omar Ayuso, Carlos González, Yenesi, Álvaro Jurado, Mariona Terés, Mariano Peña y Nina como el elenco principal de la ficción. Completan el reparto Pepón Nieto,...
- 5/20/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Spanish writer and director Claudia Costafreda is on a roll. “Cardo” and “Veneno” have both been selected as Variety’s best international TV shows in their respective years and went on to find great success domestically and internationally, the latter landing distribution deals with major streamers such as HBO Max. Costafreda’s latest collaboration with long-term creative partners Los Javis, “La Mesías,” premiered to great acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival last January, and the trio is already working on their next project together, Netflix’s “Superestar.”
A sequel to “Veneno,” “Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2” premiered last year and followed in the footsteps of its predecessor in terms of international success, with Atresmedia TV International Sales closing deals across Europe, Africa and the Americas. Costafreda is a writer and director on the show.
“Dressed in Blue” begins two years after “Veneno,” with Lola Rodríguez’s Valeria returning to Valencia...
A sequel to “Veneno,” “Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2” premiered last year and followed in the footsteps of its predecessor in terms of international success, with Atresmedia TV International Sales closing deals across Europe, Africa and the Americas. Costafreda is a writer and director on the show.
“Dressed in Blue” begins two years after “Veneno,” with Lola Rodríguez’s Valeria returning to Valencia...
- 5/14/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Gabriel Guevara, the breakout star of the huge hit film saga “My Fault” (“Culpa Mía”) on Amazon Prime Video, is now set to lead Atresplayer’s new series, “Mar afuera.” This project marks a significant collaboration between Atresmedia TV and Beta Fiction Spain, taking on the adaptation of the smash Italian series “Mare Fuori,” (“The Sea Beyond”) which added 300,000 new subscribers to Rai Play when Season 3 launched, and sold to over 20 territories.
The eight-episode series follows the life of Álvaro, played by Guevara, a young seventeen year old from an affluent background whose life spirals after an accident finds himself in a juvenile detention center.
Amidst the loss of his privilege and outside passions – such as his beloved piano – he is thrust into a new reality with the diverse clientele of the detention center. A reality hostile to him. Set against the backdrop of a juvenile correctional facility by the sea,...
The eight-episode series follows the life of Álvaro, played by Guevara, a young seventeen year old from an affluent background whose life spirals after an accident finds himself in a juvenile detention center.
Amidst the loss of his privilege and outside passions – such as his beloved piano – he is thrust into a new reality with the diverse clientele of the detention center. A reality hostile to him. Set against the backdrop of a juvenile correctional facility by the sea,...
- 4/19/2024
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
“I’m Nevenka,” a Movistar Plus+ original film and the awaited next feature from Spain’s Iciar Bollaín, has closed its earliest pre-sales, struck by Film Factory Entertainment, including a bellwether deal in France.
The deals come as “I’m Nevenka” has wrapped production, shooting in the Basque city of Bilbao before transferring to rural Zamora, western Spain.
Daniel Chabannes’ Epicentre Films, a classic 30-year-old distributor and producer of non-English language art pics, especially from Europe and Latin America, whose recent acquisitions take in San Sebastian Gold Shell winner “The Rye Horn” and Amos Gitai’s “It’s Not Over,” has acquired French rights.
A distributor of both big Cannes winners – “Triangle of Sadness,” “Rosetta,” “The Child” – and slightly more out-there propositions, such as Pablo Berger’s silent movie “Blancanieves,” Xenix Film Distribution has clinched rights to Switzerland.
Iciar Bollaín: A Broader Audience Auteur
The early pre-sales are hardly surprising. Since her big breakout,...
The deals come as “I’m Nevenka” has wrapped production, shooting in the Basque city of Bilbao before transferring to rural Zamora, western Spain.
Daniel Chabannes’ Epicentre Films, a classic 30-year-old distributor and producer of non-English language art pics, especially from Europe and Latin America, whose recent acquisitions take in San Sebastian Gold Shell winner “The Rye Horn” and Amos Gitai’s “It’s Not Over,” has acquired French rights.
A distributor of both big Cannes winners – “Triangle of Sadness,” “Rosetta,” “The Child” – and slightly more out-there propositions, such as Pablo Berger’s silent movie “Blancanieves,” Xenix Film Distribution has clinched rights to Switzerland.
Iciar Bollaín: A Broader Audience Auteur
The early pre-sales are hardly surprising. Since her big breakout,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Pablo Sandoval and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Having spent three years making buzzy Spanish series La Mesías, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo have admitted to a crisis of confidence before the show was released.
The pair are huge stars in Spain and recognized at home and increasingly abroad. People are politely waiting for selfies when Deadline spoke to them at Series Mania, where they scooped the Best Directing accolade for the latest project, which was an original for Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+.
“When we made the show, we were like, ‘maybe nobody’s watching this.’ We were confident in the beginning, then got really scared,” Calvo said. “We were like, ‘is this too hard, is it too painful for the audience?’”
They needn’t have worried. Movistar does not break out viewing data, but the series created a huge stir in Spain, with buzz building as the episodes dropped in weekly instalments.
La Mesías – The Messiah in...
The pair are huge stars in Spain and recognized at home and increasingly abroad. People are politely waiting for selfies when Deadline spoke to them at Series Mania, where they scooped the Best Directing accolade for the latest project, which was an original for Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+.
“When we made the show, we were like, ‘maybe nobody’s watching this.’ We were confident in the beginning, then got really scared,” Calvo said. “We were like, ‘is this too hard, is it too painful for the audience?’”
They needn’t have worried. Movistar does not break out viewing data, but the series created a huge stir in Spain, with buzz building as the episodes dropped in weekly instalments.
La Mesías – The Messiah in...
- 3/23/2024
- by Stewart Clarke
- Deadline Film + TV
Man vs. machine chess thriller Rematch was awarded the International Competition grand prize at the 2024 Series Mania festival on Friday night (March 22) in Lille, France.
Inspired by the true story of the historic confrontation between chess master Garry Kasparov and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue, the AI-themed story created by Yan England, André Gulluni and Bruno Nahon is produced by Unité, Arte France, Federation Studios and Proton and stars Christian Cooke. Federation Studios handles international sales.
Scroll down for full list of winners
The international competition jury, presided by The Oa creator Zal Batmanglij, also gave awards to the stars...
Inspired by the true story of the historic confrontation between chess master Garry Kasparov and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue, the AI-themed story created by Yan England, André Gulluni and Bruno Nahon is produced by Unité, Arte France, Federation Studios and Proton and stars Christian Cooke. Federation Studios handles international sales.
Scroll down for full list of winners
The international competition jury, presided by The Oa creator Zal Batmanglij, also gave awards to the stars...
- 3/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Series Mania Festival’s top prize for best series went to Rematch, a French-Hungarian drama about the historic match between chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov and Ibm’s Deep Blue computer.
The best actress prize went to Annette Bening for her role in Apples Never Fall, the first major TV role up from the five-time Oscar nominee. Kamel El Basha won best actor for the Australian drama House of Gods, in which he played the charismatic head cleric of a big city mosque.
In the Apples Never Fall adaptation, based on the novel by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, Bening plays Joy Delaney, family matriarch and patient wife to the irascible former tennis pro, Stan (Sam Neill). When Joy disappears, the four adult Delaney children are forced to reassess everything they thought they knew about their parents and their family history. Bening was also a best actress Oscar contender...
The best actress prize went to Annette Bening for her role in Apples Never Fall, the first major TV role up from the five-time Oscar nominee. Kamel El Basha won best actor for the Australian drama House of Gods, in which he played the charismatic head cleric of a big city mosque.
In the Apples Never Fall adaptation, based on the novel by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, Bening plays Joy Delaney, family matriarch and patient wife to the irascible former tennis pro, Stan (Sam Neill). When Joy disappears, the four adult Delaney children are forced to reassess everything they thought they knew about their parents and their family history. Bening was also a best actress Oscar contender...
- 3/22/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It has been a while since “The Queen’s Gambit,” but as proven by “Rematch,” viewers’ love for chess is certainly not diminishing.
The show, dedicated to confrontation between famous chess player Garry Kasparov and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue, was named the winner at Series Mania.
A somewhat lukewarm reception of “Apples Never Fall” didn’t stop Annette Bening from being crowned as best actress. The Peacock offering, also featuring Sam Neill and Alison Brie, is the latest adaptation of “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” scribe Liane Moriarty. Now showing a perfect family who, following its matriarch’s disappearance, needs to face some uncomfortable questions. Including this one: Did their beloved father have something to do with it?
Jury member Berenice Bejo read out a brief message of thanks from Bening who described the series as a “labor of love.”
Kamel El Basha, who plays the more progressive...
The show, dedicated to confrontation between famous chess player Garry Kasparov and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue, was named the winner at Series Mania.
A somewhat lukewarm reception of “Apples Never Fall” didn’t stop Annette Bening from being crowned as best actress. The Peacock offering, also featuring Sam Neill and Alison Brie, is the latest adaptation of “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” scribe Liane Moriarty. Now showing a perfect family who, following its matriarch’s disappearance, needs to face some uncomfortable questions. Including this one: Did their beloved father have something to do with it?
Jury member Berenice Bejo read out a brief message of thanks from Bening who described the series as a “labor of love.”
Kamel El Basha, who plays the more progressive...
- 3/22/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Annette Bening’s first major TV series role has won the five-time Oscar nominee the Best Actress prize at this year’s Series Mania.
Bening was awarded in the past few minutes at the prestigious Lille event for her leading role in Peacock series Apples Never Fall, an adaptation of a novel by Big Little Lies scribe Liane Moriarty.
The coveted grand prize was given to French-Hungarian chess drama Rematch about the historic 1997 chess battle between Garry Kasparov and an Ibm computer. It beat off competition from the likes of Apples Never Fall, MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine and Leonard Cohen show So Long, Marianne.
Apples Never Fall stars Bening as Joy Delaney, a matriarch former tennis coach married to the irritable Stan (Neill), who suddenly goes missing, leaving her four children to piece together everything they thought they knew about their parents.
Speaking to Deadline prior to Series Mania, showrunner...
Bening was awarded in the past few minutes at the prestigious Lille event for her leading role in Peacock series Apples Never Fall, an adaptation of a novel by Big Little Lies scribe Liane Moriarty.
The coveted grand prize was given to French-Hungarian chess drama Rematch about the historic 1997 chess battle between Garry Kasparov and an Ibm computer. It beat off competition from the likes of Apples Never Fall, MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine and Leonard Cohen show So Long, Marianne.
Apples Never Fall stars Bening as Joy Delaney, a matriarch former tennis coach married to the irritable Stan (Neill), who suddenly goes missing, leaving her four children to piece together everything they thought they knew about their parents.
Speaking to Deadline prior to Series Mania, showrunner...
- 3/22/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Martin da un salto a la actuación tras Operación Triunfo 2023 con una serie musical de los Javis. © Prime Video
El sexto finalista del concurso de Prime Video, Ot 2023, Martín Urrutia, formará parte de la próxima serie musical de Atresplayer, bajo la dirección de Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi.
El joven cantante vasco, que quedó sexto en el concurso de Amazon Prime Video, debutará como actor en “Mariliendre”. Una serie, creada por Javier Ferreiro, que cuenta la historia de Meri Román, que hace más de una década era la reina de la noche gay madrileña. Ahora, a sus 35 años, se enfrenta a una vida atormentada por su pasado y aburrida de su mediocre presente. Después de la muerte de su padre, Meri se reencuentra con sus amigos gays, y revive los viejos tiempos y sus grandes éxitos musicales que marcaron su época dorada, mientras trata de definir su complicada vida y...
El sexto finalista del concurso de Prime Video, Ot 2023, Martín Urrutia, formará parte de la próxima serie musical de Atresplayer, bajo la dirección de Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi.
El joven cantante vasco, que quedó sexto en el concurso de Amazon Prime Video, debutará como actor en “Mariliendre”. Una serie, creada por Javier Ferreiro, que cuenta la historia de Meri Román, que hace más de una década era la reina de la noche gay madrileña. Ahora, a sus 35 años, se enfrenta a una vida atormentada por su pasado y aburrida de su mediocre presente. Después de la muerte de su padre, Meri se reencuentra con sus amigos gays, y revive los viejos tiempos y sus grandes éxitos musicales que marcaron su época dorada, mientras trata de definir su complicada vida y...
- 3/22/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
French broadcaster Arte has joined Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s upcoming Movistar Plus+ series The New Years.
Arte and Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ will co-produce the series, which is from Madrid-based Caballo Films — the production company Sorogoyen co-founded.
Production on the series began last year, and Arte has now snapped up French rights. Movistar Plus+ International will shop the title outside of Spain and France.
The series is set on New Year’s Eve every year for a decade, following a couple, played by Iria del Río (Riot Police) and Francesco Carril (Un Amor), who meet aged 30. Each episode follows updates their relationship and the trials they face to stay together, and the final shot is a single 40-minute take. “The narrative device allows you to consider change,” said Movistar Plus+ Director of Fiction and Entertainment Domingo Corral.
Alexandre Piel, Deputy Head of Drama at Arte France, said: “We’re very happy...
Arte and Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ will co-produce the series, which is from Madrid-based Caballo Films — the production company Sorogoyen co-founded.
Production on the series began last year, and Arte has now snapped up French rights. Movistar Plus+ International will shop the title outside of Spain and France.
The series is set on New Year’s Eve every year for a decade, following a couple, played by Iria del Río (Riot Police) and Francesco Carril (Un Amor), who meet aged 30. Each episode follows updates their relationship and the trials they face to stay together, and the final shot is a single 40-minute take. “The narrative device allows you to consider change,” said Movistar Plus+ Director of Fiction and Entertainment Domingo Corral.
Alexandre Piel, Deputy Head of Drama at Arte France, said: “We’re very happy...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated Lille, France — One of Spain’s most awaited drama series of the year, Rodrigo Sorogyen’s ‘The New Years’ will be co-produced by Spain’s Movistar Plus+, its original backer, and new partner Arte France, the upscale French public broadcaster.
Going into production last year on Oct. 2, and shooting in Madrid, Lyon (France) and Berlin (Germany), the series is produced in collaboration with Madrid-based independent production house Caballo Films, co-founded by Sorogoyen.
Movistar Plus+ International will handle distribution outside Spain and France. Arte France’s involvement guarantees the 10-part series’ distribution in all the territories where it operates.
Set on the same day every year for a decade, New Year’s Eve, “The New Years” stars Iria del Río and Francesco Carril. Ana and Óscar, meet at 30 and start a relationship which lasts 10 years.
The period from 30 to 40 is “a crucial decade for all of us,” Sorogoyen commented when the new series was announced.
Going into production last year on Oct. 2, and shooting in Madrid, Lyon (France) and Berlin (Germany), the series is produced in collaboration with Madrid-based independent production house Caballo Films, co-founded by Sorogoyen.
Movistar Plus+ International will handle distribution outside Spain and France. Arte France’s involvement guarantees the 10-part series’ distribution in all the territories where it operates.
Set on the same day every year for a decade, New Year’s Eve, “The New Years” stars Iria del Río and Francesco Carril. Ana and Óscar, meet at 30 and start a relationship which lasts 10 years.
The period from 30 to 40 is “a crucial decade for all of us,” Sorogoyen commented when the new series was announced.
- 3/20/2024
- by John Hopewell and Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Malaga — Antonio Chavarrías’ “Holy Mother,” Celia Rico’s “Little Loves” and Diogo Viegas’s “Alice’s Diary” play at this year’s 3rd Spanish Screenings Content, the Malaga Festival’s part of the Spanish Screenings Xxl, Spain’s biggest international industry platform in its history, featuring over March 4-7 and – when it comes to Málaga – the monumental number of 222 titles.
In production volume, Spain has never had it so good. The market screenings at Malaga’s Rosaleda Multiplex range across over 80 Spanish movie titles, taking in recent past gems such as “The Girls Are All Right, “Something Is About to Happen,” “Jokes & Cigarettes and “The Chapel,” just to mention titles on Monday’s program.
Also on offer are 11 Works in Progress, 62 Film Library titles and 65 shorts.
The Screenings come at a propitious time in many ways for Spanish cinema. Two Spanish movies – J.A. Bayona’s Andean air crash disaster...
In production volume, Spain has never had it so good. The market screenings at Malaga’s Rosaleda Multiplex range across over 80 Spanish movie titles, taking in recent past gems such as “The Girls Are All Right, “Something Is About to Happen,” “Jokes & Cigarettes and “The Chapel,” just to mention titles on Monday’s program.
Also on offer are 11 Works in Progress, 62 Film Library titles and 65 shorts.
The Screenings come at a propitious time in many ways for Spanish cinema. Two Spanish movies – J.A. Bayona’s Andean air crash disaster...
- 3/3/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Series from Atresmedia TV, Rtve, Movistar Plus+, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (“La Mesías”), Zeta Studios (“Elite”) and director Carlota Pereda and Morena Films (behind Sundance hit “Piggy”) will unspool or be unveiled at the Berlinale. They underscore the breadth and depth of Spanish TV output:
“Death to Love,”
Carlota Pereda dazzled at Sundance with first feature, “Piggy.” Now, Pereda’s at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series on Feb. 20 with her debut series, “Death to Love,” in which afemale vampire struggles over centuries to end a toxic relationship with her vampire female lover and culminates in a modern-day climax. “A visceral and romantic proposition,” Pereda says.
“Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2,”
The Sundance world premiere “La Mesías” sealed the standing of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi as most probably the coolest creative duo in Spain. This time around, they produce, with Mikel Rueda, a director on “Veneno,” and Claudia Costafreda and Ian de la Rosa,...
“Death to Love,”
Carlota Pereda dazzled at Sundance with first feature, “Piggy.” Now, Pereda’s at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series on Feb. 20 with her debut series, “Death to Love,” in which afemale vampire struggles over centuries to end a toxic relationship with her vampire female lover and culminates in a modern-day climax. “A visceral and romantic proposition,” Pereda says.
“Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2,”
The Sundance world premiere “La Mesías” sealed the standing of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi as most probably the coolest creative duo in Spain. This time around, they produce, with Mikel Rueda, a director on “Veneno,” and Claudia Costafreda and Ian de la Rosa,...
- 2/19/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Jean Labadie’s Le Pacte and sales agency Film Factory have joined Spanish pay giant Movistar Plus on the next film from Alberto Rodríguez (“Marshland”), which is shaping up fast with as one of the biggest packages from Spain this year at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.
Le Pacte will co-produce the thriller out of France and handle French distribution rights. Film Factory is launching international sales at Berlin. Movistar Plus, co-producing out of Spain with Kowalski Films and Feelgood Media, will bring the deepest pocket of any production powerhouse in Spain, backing what looks like a potentially big-budgeted movie.
Currently in pre-production, Rodríguez’s latest is scheduled for release in Spanish theaters via Buena Vista Intl. in 2025.
The film is also the latest from one of the most prominent Spanish directors of his generation, co-writer-director of both “The Plague,” still one of Movistar Plus+ biggest series, and “Prison 77,...
Le Pacte will co-produce the thriller out of France and handle French distribution rights. Film Factory is launching international sales at Berlin. Movistar Plus, co-producing out of Spain with Kowalski Films and Feelgood Media, will bring the deepest pocket of any production powerhouse in Spain, backing what looks like a potentially big-budgeted movie.
Currently in pre-production, Rodríguez’s latest is scheduled for release in Spanish theaters via Buena Vista Intl. in 2025.
The film is also the latest from one of the most prominent Spanish directors of his generation, co-writer-director of both “The Plague,” still one of Movistar Plus+ biggest series, and “Prison 77,...
- 2/18/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Ja Bayona’s Society Of The Snow was the big winner at Spain’s Goya awards on Saturday night (February 10), scooping 12 prizes including best film and director to become the third-most garlanded film in Goya history.
Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall, was named best European film, and Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams won the prizes for best adapted screenplay and feature animation.
20,000 Species Of Bees, the feature debut of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, received three Goyas for best new director and original screenplay for Solaguren, and best supporting actress for Ane Gabarain. The 15 nominations for Bees were the...
Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall, was named best European film, and Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams won the prizes for best adapted screenplay and feature animation.
20,000 Species Of Bees, the feature debut of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, received three Goyas for best new director and original screenplay for Solaguren, and best supporting actress for Ane Gabarain. The 15 nominations for Bees were the...
- 2/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Netflix Original “The Society of the Snow” won best picture and director for J.A. Bayona at Saturday night’s 38th Spanish Academy Goya Awards.
Those plaudits were two of a total 12 prizes, the third-highest kudos count for any title in the Goyas’ near 40-year history.
The lineup of best picture nominees was, however, a reminder in itself of the high quality and diversity of Spain’s current film production output. These took in Estibaliz’s Urresola Berlin triple winner “20,000 Species of Bees,” David Trueba’s real-life tender love story “Jokes & Cigarettes,” Isabel Coixet’s probing “Un Amor” and Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” an “aching ode to film, time and memory,” Variety wrote in its review.
Even after Bayona took best director there was still genuine suspense whether he would also win best picture, after best adapted screenplay went to “Robot Dreams” and “Jokes & Cigarettes” took best actor for David Verdaguer.
Those plaudits were two of a total 12 prizes, the third-highest kudos count for any title in the Goyas’ near 40-year history.
The lineup of best picture nominees was, however, a reminder in itself of the high quality and diversity of Spain’s current film production output. These took in Estibaliz’s Urresola Berlin triple winner “20,000 Species of Bees,” David Trueba’s real-life tender love story “Jokes & Cigarettes,” Isabel Coixet’s probing “Un Amor” and Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” an “aching ode to film, time and memory,” Variety wrote in its review.
Even after Bayona took best director there was still genuine suspense whether he would also win best picture, after best adapted screenplay went to “Robot Dreams” and “Jokes & Cigarettes” took best actor for David Verdaguer.
- 2/11/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
“Film” may literally be in the title of the Sundance Film Festival, but the event has also premiered a variety of impressive episodic work over the years, and 2024’s lineup was no exception. Festival organizers put together an annual pilot showcase featuring narrative coming-of-age stories both magical and relatable. This year, the Spanish showrunners behind HBO’s Veneno, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, released a wild first episode of La Mesías, which blends low-budget aliens with intergenerational trauma and superb acting for a show that promises to surprise.
But the real gems of Sundance’s 2024 episodic programming were the docuseries reckoning with recent U.S. history, which ranged from the deeply compelling to those bordering on fan art.
But the real gems of Sundance’s 2024 episodic programming were the docuseries reckoning with recent U.S. history, which ranged from the deeply compelling to those bordering on fan art.
- 2/2/2024
- by Cristina Escobar
- Primetimer
Netflix Spain and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – are teaming to produce a modern movie makeover of way before its time Spanish classic “My Dearest Señorita,” nominated for a 1973 Academy Award.
The adaptation was the biggest news at a packed-to-the rafters Next on Netflix showcase which took place in Madre on Thursday, where the U.S. streaming giant also announced a docu-reality series, “The Thyssen Baroness,” and released a first-look pic of “Superestar,” its recently announced six-part series inspired by singer and fleeting pop culture phenom Tamara.
Written and directed by Jaime de Armiñán, who co-wrote the script with José Luis Borau, who went on to become of Spain’s greatest directors of the ‘70s and ‘80s, directing “Poachers, ” the original comedy “My Dearest Señorita” starred top Spanish comedian José Luis López Vázquez, as a frumpy old maid in her ‘40s with an inexplicable talent...
The adaptation was the biggest news at a packed-to-the rafters Next on Netflix showcase which took place in Madre on Thursday, where the U.S. streaming giant also announced a docu-reality series, “The Thyssen Baroness,” and released a first-look pic of “Superestar,” its recently announced six-part series inspired by singer and fleeting pop culture phenom Tamara.
Written and directed by Jaime de Armiñán, who co-wrote the script with José Luis Borau, who went on to become of Spain’s greatest directors of the ‘70s and ‘80s, directing “Poachers, ” the original comedy “My Dearest Señorita” starred top Spanish comedian José Luis López Vázquez, as a frumpy old maid in her ‘40s with an inexplicable talent...
- 2/1/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has ordered another Spanish film, My Dearest Señorita, and unveiled a first look at upcoming dram series Superstar at an event in Madrid.
My Dearest Señorita, produced by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, is an adaptation of the 1972 Oscar-winning film of the same name directed by Jaime de Arimañán, who co-wrote the script with José Luis Borau starring José Luis López Vázquez.
The 1970s film was a romantic drama that explored themes of intersexuality, and was one of very few to tackle sexual orientation in General Franco’s ultra-conservative Spain. It won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 1973 Oscars.
“My Dearest Señorita is an adaptation,” said Calvo and Ambrossi in a statement. “Times have changed, and we believe it is a good time to revisit this story, a story of gender identity and wonderful, mainstream love. The creative challenge is how far we can update it without losing the essence.
My Dearest Señorita, produced by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, is an adaptation of the 1972 Oscar-winning film of the same name directed by Jaime de Arimañán, who co-wrote the script with José Luis Borau starring José Luis López Vázquez.
The 1970s film was a romantic drama that explored themes of intersexuality, and was one of very few to tackle sexual orientation in General Franco’s ultra-conservative Spain. It won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 1973 Oscars.
“My Dearest Señorita is an adaptation,” said Calvo and Ambrossi in a statement. “Times have changed, and we believe it is a good time to revisit this story, a story of gender identity and wonderful, mainstream love. The creative challenge is how far we can update it without losing the essence.
- 2/1/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Yaya (played by Camryn Jones) just wants to walk to school with her boyfriend. Living on the South Side of Chicago in a house overflowing with family members, the only thing that gets the exhausted teen out of bed every morning is knowing Dre (Travis Wolfe Jr.) will be waiting on her stoop. The only issue: her protective brother, Mouse (Victor Musoni), doesn’t approve. He thinks her friends aren’t a good influence — they show up late to school too often, eat too much junk food, and don’t pay enough attention to their surroundings. Mouse, clearly, just wants his little sister to be safe, get good grades, and live a better life, but by intimidating Dre, he’s unwittingly snuffing out her one spark of joy — joy that manifests itself via her favorite hobby: dance.
Yaya loves to dance, and “Me/We” — one of three entries in Sundance’s 2024 Pilot Showcase,...
Yaya loves to dance, and “Me/We” — one of three entries in Sundance’s 2024 Pilot Showcase,...
- 1/23/2024
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
Telefonica’s Movistar Plus+, Spain’s biggest pay TV-svod operator, is set to co-produce new movies from Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Iciar Bollaín, Alberto Rodríguez, Óliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. It’s a move which sees the high-end Spanish TV powerhouse become one of Spain’s most significant movie players.
Titles in the slate are backed by top Spanish producers such as Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García at El Deseo – backing Laxe’s next – and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo at their high-flying new production house Suma Content, producing what will be Rujas’ debut feature as a director.
The acclaimed “La Mesías,” the latest series from Los Javis – as Ambrossi and Calvo are known – will have its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it will the only European series at this year’s event.
In a fillip for Spain’s box office, still 26% down on pre-pandemic levels, Movistar Plus+ will...
Titles in the slate are backed by top Spanish producers such as Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García at El Deseo – backing Laxe’s next – and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo at their high-flying new production house Suma Content, producing what will be Rujas’ debut feature as a director.
The acclaimed “La Mesías,” the latest series from Los Javis – as Ambrossi and Calvo are known – will have its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it will the only European series at this year’s event.
In a fillip for Spain’s box office, still 26% down on pre-pandemic levels, Movistar Plus+ will...
- 1/18/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Drag Race España is gearing up to debut the first ever international All Stars season!
Wow Presents Plus has revealed the upcoming spinoff season of Spain’s version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and they revealed all of the queens from the first three seasons that will be returning for a second chance at the crown.
Supremme de Luxe will be returning as host of the series, with returning judges Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, and Ana Locking.
The first season of Drag Race España All Stars will premiere on Sunday, February 4th, with new episodes weekly on Sundays on Wow Presents Plus in the US and other territories. It will premiere same day on Spain’s ATRESplayer Premium.
Keep reading to find out which queens are competing on Drag Race España All Stars…...
Wow Presents Plus has revealed the upcoming spinoff season of Spain’s version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and they revealed all of the queens from the first three seasons that will be returning for a second chance at the crown.
Supremme de Luxe will be returning as host of the series, with returning judges Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi, and Ana Locking.
The first season of Drag Race España All Stars will premiere on Sunday, February 4th, with new episodes weekly on Sundays on Wow Presents Plus in the US and other territories. It will premiere same day on Spain’s ATRESplayer Premium.
Keep reading to find out which queens are competing on Drag Race España All Stars…...
- 1/15/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Fresh off the selection of “La Mesías” as the only European series at this year’s Sundance Festival, “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – Los Javis – are set to produce Netflix original series “Superestar,” created by Spain’s Nacho Vigalondo, writer-director of 2016’s Anna Hathaway headed “Colossal,” Neon’s first pick-up for the U.S.
The six-episode series is directed by Vigalondo and Claudia Costafreda, co-creator of “Cardo,” an uninhibited portrait of Spain’s young generation eager for a quick fix of sex or drugs for want of a larger sense of direction in life, which was chosen by Variety, as “Veneno,” as one of the best international TV shows of the year.
Set up at Los Javis’ Suma Content, their indie Madrid-based label, “Superestar” is written by Vigalondo, María Bastarós, Paco Bezerra and Costafreda.
Oscar-nominated for his short, “7:35 in the Morning,” Vigalondo is best known for sci-fi comedies and thrillers such as,...
The six-episode series is directed by Vigalondo and Claudia Costafreda, co-creator of “Cardo,” an uninhibited portrait of Spain’s young generation eager for a quick fix of sex or drugs for want of a larger sense of direction in life, which was chosen by Variety, as “Veneno,” as one of the best international TV shows of the year.
Set up at Los Javis’ Suma Content, their indie Madrid-based label, “Superestar” is written by Vigalondo, María Bastarós, Paco Bezerra and Costafreda.
Oscar-nominated for his short, “7:35 in the Morning,” Vigalondo is best known for sci-fi comedies and thrillers such as,...
- 1/11/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The Society Of The Snow has garnered 13 nominations, followed by Close Your Eyes and Jokes & Cigarettes with 11.
Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees leads the nominations for Spain’s prestigious Goya awards, which will be presented on February 10, 2024.
20,000 Species Of Bees premiered in competition at Berlin, going on to win the Silver Bear for best performance for Sofía Otero, playing an eight-year-old girl who spends a summer working in the Basque Country’s beehives while exploring her identity.
The film scored 15 nominations, including best film, best director and four nods in the acting categories.
Ja Bayona’s...
Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees leads the nominations for Spain’s prestigious Goya awards, which will be presented on February 10, 2024.
20,000 Species Of Bees premiered in competition at Berlin, going on to win the Silver Bear for best performance for Sofía Otero, playing an eight-year-old girl who spends a summer working in the Basque Country’s beehives while exploring her identity.
The film scored 15 nominations, including best film, best director and four nods in the acting categories.
Ja Bayona’s...
- 11/30/2023
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Two movies which come in on immigration from vastly different angles – Laura Ferrés’ “The Permanent Picture” and Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak” – won big Saturday night at Spain’s Valladolid Festival, walking off with its main competition Golden Spike and the Spanish event’s best actor (Dave Turner) and Audience Award plaudits respectively.
The prize ceremony also saw Charlotte Rampling, star of closing film “Juniper” from Matthew J. Saville, accept an enthusiastically applauded Honorific Spike for her career achievement.
Though decided upon by independent juries, Valladolid’s prizes say much about the new-fit festival after a first-year reboot by new director José Luis Cienfuegos, previously a Gijón and Seville fest head.
Under directors Fernando Lara (1984-2004), Juan Carlos Frugone (2005-08) and Javier Angulo (2009-2022), Valladolid has consolidated as one of Spain’s biggest festivals, after San Sebastián. and a bastion of auteurist, arthouse independent cinema. Few figures in Europe...
The prize ceremony also saw Charlotte Rampling, star of closing film “Juniper” from Matthew J. Saville, accept an enthusiastically applauded Honorific Spike for her career achievement.
Though decided upon by independent juries, Valladolid’s prizes say much about the new-fit festival after a first-year reboot by new director José Luis Cienfuegos, previously a Gijón and Seville fest head.
Under directors Fernando Lara (1984-2004), Juan Carlos Frugone (2005-08) and Javier Angulo (2009-2022), Valladolid has consolidated as one of Spain’s biggest festivals, after San Sebastián. and a bastion of auteurist, arthouse independent cinema. Few figures in Europe...
- 10/29/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
In a deal unveiled at Mipcom, Movistar Plus+ International, the prominent Spanish pay TV/SVOD platform’s sales division, announced a key sale to HBO Latin America of series “La Mesías,” hailed as the buzziest title at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September.
The series is written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo of Suma Content, best known for their series “Veneno,” an HBO Max U.S. pickup, as well as “Paquita Salas,” sold to Netflix.
“La Mesías” marks the return of this creative duo, three years after their last release as directors and screenwriters, according to Movistar Plus+ Int’l.
Described as the most ambitious and complex project from the creative duo, widely known as Los Javis, “La Mesías” follows a family torn apart by the matriarch’s religious fanaticism.
Across seven gripping episodes, each with a runtime of just over an hour, the story spans various time periods,...
The series is written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo of Suma Content, best known for their series “Veneno,” an HBO Max U.S. pickup, as well as “Paquita Salas,” sold to Netflix.
“La Mesías” marks the return of this creative duo, three years after their last release as directors and screenwriters, according to Movistar Plus+ Int’l.
Described as the most ambitious and complex project from the creative duo, widely known as Los Javis, “La Mesías” follows a family torn apart by the matriarch’s religious fanaticism.
Across seven gripping episodes, each with a runtime of just over an hour, the story spans various time periods,...
- 10/17/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s TV fiction industry is exercising some caution after high-end Spanish-language series lifted off in 2018.
“We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos.
As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.
“We come from a spectacular moment, in terms of both quality and volume,” says Sonia Martínez, series editorial director at Buendía Estudios.
That groundbreaking moment, championed by series like “Money Heist” and “Elite,” propelled Spanish fiction production to historic heights of global popularity.
“There is a virtuous circle that began in 2018 and has been continuously regenerating. Spain’s talent base already interests international audiences,” says María Valenzuela, Movistar Plus Intl.’s general manager.
But the country’s TV production scene is still cycling through the fruits of the boom: the number of...
“We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos.
As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.
“We come from a spectacular moment, in terms of both quality and volume,” says Sonia Martínez, series editorial director at Buendía Estudios.
That groundbreaking moment, championed by series like “Money Heist” and “Elite,” propelled Spanish fiction production to historic heights of global popularity.
“There is a virtuous circle that began in 2018 and has been continuously regenerating. Spain’s talent base already interests international audiences,” says María Valenzuela, Movistar Plus Intl.’s general manager.
But the country’s TV production scene is still cycling through the fruits of the boom: the number of...
- 10/16/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
The Spanish world premiere that made the most waves at this year’s San Sebastian Festival was not a film but a series, “La Mesías,” written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo.
“A masterpiece,” proclaimed Spanish website Cineconñ; national newspaper El Mundo greeted it as the first work of maturity from hugely unconventional auteurs.
Now bound for Mipcom, where the series receives a market screening, “La Mesías” says much about the ambitions of its creators and its backer, Movistar Plus.
In 2017, Telefónica-owned Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival with “The Plague,” then the biggest series ever made in Spain.
“La Mesías” follows Ambrossi and Calvo’s overseas breakout “Veneno,” which was picked up by HBO Max for the U.S. market, and made Ambrossi and Calvo among the most-courted young showrunners in Europe.
“We’ve had to say ‘no’ to a lot of things,...
“A masterpiece,” proclaimed Spanish website Cineconñ; national newspaper El Mundo greeted it as the first work of maturity from hugely unconventional auteurs.
Now bound for Mipcom, where the series receives a market screening, “La Mesías” says much about the ambitions of its creators and its backer, Movistar Plus.
In 2017, Telefónica-owned Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival with “The Plague,” then the biggest series ever made in Spain.
“La Mesías” follows Ambrossi and Calvo’s overseas breakout “Veneno,” which was picked up by HBO Max for the U.S. market, and made Ambrossi and Calvo among the most-courted young showrunners in Europe.
“We’ve had to say ‘no’ to a lot of things,...
- 10/15/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Turning on real-life 1990s trans icon Cristina Ortiz, “Veneno” established Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo as leading LGBTQ directors in Spain.
In “La Mesías,” they bring their hallmark visceral sense of diversity to each and every scene and episode, which lends them their large distinction.
“We’re not very conscious of it, but you can see diversity in how each character reacts differently to trauma, as well as the genre mix and diversity of settings. It’s a bit like how we are; we like a lot of things and modes,” says Calvo.
In the series, protagonist Enric (Roger Casamajor) is eviscerated emotionally by his childhood trauma which involves his fanatically religious mother. In contrast Sister Irene (Macarena García) tries to make a new life. Enric escapes but is triggered into action when he sees his siblings on TV performing as a Christian music group.
Episode 1 blends psychodrama and sci-fi,...
In “La Mesías,” they bring their hallmark visceral sense of diversity to each and every scene and episode, which lends them their large distinction.
“We’re not very conscious of it, but you can see diversity in how each character reacts differently to trauma, as well as the genre mix and diversity of settings. It’s a bit like how we are; we like a lot of things and modes,” says Calvo.
In the series, protagonist Enric (Roger Casamajor) is eviscerated emotionally by his childhood trauma which involves his fanatically religious mother. In contrast Sister Irene (Macarena García) tries to make a new life. Enric escapes but is triggered into action when he sees his siblings on TV performing as a Christian music group.
Episode 1 blends psychodrama and sci-fi,...
- 10/15/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In 2017, Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival, the highest-profile movie event in Spain and Latin America region, with “The Plague,” the biggest series ever made in Spain.
Movistar Plus, owned by Telefónica, looks set to make waves again at this week’s San Sebastian by world premiering another big, bold series: “La Mesías.”
It’s written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – known in Spain as Los Javis – marking their follow-up to overseas breakout “Veneno,” a raunchy but highly grounded bio of Spanish trans icon Cristina Ortiz. “Veneno” was picked up by HBO Max for the U.S. market and made Ambrossi and Calvo among the most courted young showrunners in Europe.
“We’ve had to say ‘no’ to a lot of things, to big offers, a lot of money from and outside Spain, to keep faithful to ourselves, and...
Movistar Plus, owned by Telefónica, looks set to make waves again at this week’s San Sebastian by world premiering another big, bold series: “La Mesías.”
It’s written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – known in Spain as Los Javis – marking their follow-up to overseas breakout “Veneno,” a raunchy but highly grounded bio of Spanish trans icon Cristina Ortiz. “Veneno” was picked up by HBO Max for the U.S. market and made Ambrossi and Calvo among the most courted young showrunners in Europe.
“We’ve had to say ‘no’ to a lot of things, to big offers, a lot of money from and outside Spain, to keep faithful to ourselves, and...
- 9/28/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Aussie filmmaker Kitty Green’s latest pic, The Royal Hotel, starring Julia Garner, and Fingernails, the latest film from Christos Nikou, with Riz Ahmed and Jessie Buckley, have been added to San Sebastian’s competition lineup.
Overall, six films have been announced as late additions to proceedings in San Seb. The other titles are Kalak (Isabella Eklöf), The Successor (Xavier Legrand), Great Absence (Kei Chika-Ura), and the debut from Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang, A Journey in Spring. Additionally, the French pic A Real Job, directed by Thomas Lilti, will play the fest’s special screenings section.
The Royal Hotel is Kitty Green’s first feature since her 2019 breakout, The Assistant. The film tells the tale of two backpackers (Garner and Jessica Henwick) who take a job in a pub in the remote Australian Outback. Neon has acquired North American rights to the film. Following his debut Apples, which played Telluride,...
Overall, six films have been announced as late additions to proceedings in San Seb. The other titles are Kalak (Isabella Eklöf), The Successor (Xavier Legrand), Great Absence (Kei Chika-Ura), and the debut from Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang, A Journey in Spring. Additionally, the French pic A Real Job, directed by Thomas Lilti, will play the fest’s special screenings section.
The Royal Hotel is Kitty Green’s first feature since her 2019 breakout, The Assistant. The film tells the tale of two backpackers (Garner and Jessica Henwick) who take a job in a pub in the remote Australian Outback. Neon has acquired North American rights to the film. Following his debut Apples, which played Telluride,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
14 Spanish productions selected for this year’s festival, which runs September 22-30.
Isabel Coixet’s romantic drama Un amor, Isabel Herguera’s animation Sultana’s Dream and JaioneCamborda’s drama The Rye Horn are among the 14 Spanish productions selected for the 2023 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), running from September 22-30.
Scroll down for full line-up
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s official section with Un Amor, starring Laia Costa and Hovik Keuchkerian. Sold by Film Constellation, Un Amor is based on Sara Mesa’s novel that follows a woman struggling to start afresh in a countryside hamlet.
Isabel Coixet’s romantic drama Un amor, Isabel Herguera’s animation Sultana’s Dream and JaioneCamborda’s drama The Rye Horn are among the 14 Spanish productions selected for the 2023 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), running from September 22-30.
Scroll down for full line-up
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s official section with Un Amor, starring Laia Costa and Hovik Keuchkerian. Sold by Film Constellation, Un Amor is based on Sara Mesa’s novel that follows a woman struggling to start afresh in a countryside hamlet.
- 7/14/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
The San Sebastián Film Festival has revealed the lineup of Spanish titles that will screen as part of the Official Selection of its latest edition, which is due to unfold from September 22 — 30. Scroll down for the full list.
Selected titles include Un Amor from Isabel Coixet, who competes for the festival’s Golden Shell for the first time with the pic based on the book of the same name by Sara Mesa and starring Laia Costa at the head of a cast also featuring Hovik Keuchkerian, Hugo Silva, Luis Bermejo, Ingrid García-Jonsson and Francesco Carril.
Filmmaker Fernando Trueba, of the Oscar-nominated feature Chico & Rita (2012), will present his latest project, They Shot the Piano Player, directed alongside Javier Mariscal in the fest’s Special Screening sidebar. The film, narrated by the voice of Jeff Goldblum, follows the figure of Brazilian musician Tenorio Jr. during the early days of the musical movement known as bossa nova.
Selected titles include Un Amor from Isabel Coixet, who competes for the festival’s Golden Shell for the first time with the pic based on the book of the same name by Sara Mesa and starring Laia Costa at the head of a cast also featuring Hovik Keuchkerian, Hugo Silva, Luis Bermejo, Ingrid García-Jonsson and Francesco Carril.
Filmmaker Fernando Trueba, of the Oscar-nominated feature Chico & Rita (2012), will present his latest project, They Shot the Piano Player, directed alongside Javier Mariscal in the fest’s Special Screening sidebar. The film, narrated by the voice of Jeff Goldblum, follows the figure of Brazilian musician Tenorio Jr. during the early days of the musical movement known as bossa nova.
- 7/14/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar winner Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), “The Secret Life of Words” director Isabel Coixet and “Veneno” writer-director-producers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature among talent behind Spanish titles at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival, the highest profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world.
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s main competition with “Un Amor,” a probing village-set tale of emotional dependence starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian.
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will present as a special screening animated feature “They Shot the Piano Player,” a joyful and finally devastating portrait of the life and fate of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. narrated by Jeff Goldblum.
Ambrossi and Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – will world premiere “La Mesías,” the most awaited Spanish series of the year, a big-scale, period-hopping Movistar Plus+ original, chronicling the devastating effect of a childhood education,...
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s main competition with “Un Amor,” a probing village-set tale of emotional dependence starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian.
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will present as a special screening animated feature “They Shot the Piano Player,” a joyful and finally devastating portrait of the life and fate of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. narrated by Jeff Goldblum.
Ambrossi and Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – will world premiere “La Mesías,” the most awaited Spanish series of the year, a big-scale, period-hopping Movistar Plus+ original, chronicling the devastating effect of a childhood education,...
- 7/14/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Toledo, Spain — The tide has changed. Just one year after Disney+ dazzled with “Santa Evita,” a banner title from its extraordinary swathe of Latin American originals, the 7th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment caught the mood of a larger international market with panelists in its conference strand focusing often on market challenges, when a feeding fever for premium content dominated conversations in recent editions. That said, running June 26-29 in Toledo, in market attendance and insight and shows brought to market, Cf&e fairly rocked.
10 takeaways from this year’s edition:
Conecta Fiction Booms
Despite Toledo’s sweltering in a hot snap, even by Spanish standards, Conecta Fiction’s attendance sky-rocketed to 1,031 accredited professionals, an all-time record and 42% up on figures announced at the end of 2022’s edition. Reasons abound. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, to touch base with production partners, new ideas. It’s really interesting to see...
10 takeaways from this year’s edition:
Conecta Fiction Booms
Despite Toledo’s sweltering in a hot snap, even by Spanish standards, Conecta Fiction’s attendance sky-rocketed to 1,031 accredited professionals, an all-time record and 42% up on figures announced at the end of 2022’s edition. Reasons abound. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, to touch base with production partners, new ideas. It’s really interesting to see...
- 7/3/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
“Veneno” writer-director-creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – have dropped an international trailer for its sequel, “Vestida de Azul” (“Veneno 2: Dressed in Blue”) sharing it in exclusivity with Variety.
Sold to HBO Max for the U.S., where it aired to acclaim, “Veneno” was picked as one of Variety’s best international series in 2020.
This time round, Los Javis produce through Suma Content, the Madrid-based label they launched in 2021, where they also serve as its creative directors. The series is its fourth production after “Una navidad con Samantha Hudson,” a Christmas special, “Cardo,” and “Cardo 2.” An Atresplayer original series, “Vestidas de Azul” is produced for Atresmedia Television in collaboration with Suma Content. Atresmedia TV International Sales handles international distribution.
The trailer begins two years after “Veneno” with Valeria, her figure inspired by the real-life Spanish journalist Valeria Vegas who penned La Veneno’s memoirs, returning...
Sold to HBO Max for the U.S., where it aired to acclaim, “Veneno” was picked as one of Variety’s best international series in 2020.
This time round, Los Javis produce through Suma Content, the Madrid-based label they launched in 2021, where they also serve as its creative directors. The series is its fourth production after “Una navidad con Samantha Hudson,” a Christmas special, “Cardo,” and “Cardo 2.” An Atresplayer original series, “Vestidas de Azul” is produced for Atresmedia Television in collaboration with Suma Content. Atresmedia TV International Sales handles international distribution.
The trailer begins two years after “Veneno” with Valeria, her figure inspired by the real-life Spanish journalist Valeria Vegas who penned La Veneno’s memoirs, returning...
- 6/21/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Movistar’s fledgling distributor has struck its first slew of sales and is moving to the next stage, Gm Maria Valenzuela has revealed, as she discusses the Spanish giant’s attempt to reinvent the thriller genre and how the writers strike is gifting opportunities to spotlight international content.
Valenzuela took charge of Spain’s largest pay-tv/SVoD operator’s distributor Movistar Plus Internacional last year and the former Sony and Huawei exec said it has “been an incredible journey” so far.
The outfit is shopping the likes of Rapa Seasons 1 and 2 and Off World (Apagón), which have sold to Vix+ in the U.S. and LatAm, and is in the process of taking a bunch of new shows to market, which Valenzuela described as the “next step and the big challenge of the coming year” as she chatted to Deadline before a Nem keynote at the Dubrovnik market on Tuesday.
Valenzuela took charge of Spain’s largest pay-tv/SVoD operator’s distributor Movistar Plus Internacional last year and the former Sony and Huawei exec said it has “been an incredible journey” so far.
The outfit is shopping the likes of Rapa Seasons 1 and 2 and Off World (Apagón), which have sold to Vix+ in the U.S. and LatAm, and is in the process of taking a bunch of new shows to market, which Valenzuela described as the “next step and the big challenge of the coming year” as she chatted to Deadline before a Nem keynote at the Dubrovnik market on Tuesday.
- 6/6/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
World premieres of Prime Video’s Rachel Weisz-starrer “Dead Ringers,” Paramount+’s “Fatal Attraction, with Lizzy Caplan, and Joshua Jackson, and Netflix’s awaited French bio “Tapie” pack out a 6th Canneseries which boasts its biggest U.S. presence yet, with titles from nearly all the major global streamers.
They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will also be represented by Korean smash hit “Bargain.”
In all, the main Competition features seven world premieres, Lewi said at a Paris lineup presentation on Tuesday.
Israel and Scandinavia have a prominent presence as ever at Canneseries. The selection also takes in, however, its first South African title in Competition, “Spinners,” admired at the London Screenings.
Adding star wattage, Sarah Michelle Gellar will pick up the Canal+ Icon Award, Joey Soloway, creator of Amazon Studios’ “Transparent” and producer of “Six Foot Under,” receives a Commitment Award. Canneseries’ Rising...
They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will also be represented by Korean smash hit “Bargain.”
In all, the main Competition features seven world premieres, Lewi said at a Paris lineup presentation on Tuesday.
Israel and Scandinavia have a prominent presence as ever at Canneseries. The selection also takes in, however, its first South African title in Competition, “Spinners,” admired at the London Screenings.
Adding star wattage, Sarah Michelle Gellar will pick up the Canal+ Icon Award, Joey Soloway, creator of Amazon Studios’ “Transparent” and producer of “Six Foot Under,” receives a Commitment Award. Canneseries’ Rising...
- 3/28/2023
- by John Hopewell and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
‘Vestidas De Azul,’ Continuing Los Javis’ ‘Veneno,’ Adds Susana Abaitua, Elena Irureta, Further Cast
Spanish SVOD service Atresplayer Premium has announced at the Berlinale Series Market a raft of new cast members joining the continuation of its award-winning trans series “Veneno,” which played on HBO Max in the U.S. to large acclaim.
Joining the cast of the seven-episode series “Vestidas De Azul” are supporting cast members Susana Abaitua (“Crazy about Her”), Elena Irureta (“Patria”), Luis Callejo (“Jefe”), drag artist Estrella Xtravaganza, Mercedes Sampietro and Anabel Alonso (“7 Vidas”), among others.
The announcement was made at a Q&a on Monday focused on the continuation of the series. It forms part of a Next from Spain event focusing on first looks at four new series.
Currently shooting, Atresmedia,Atresolayer Premium parent, says it plans to begin streaming the new series in the fourth quarter of the year.
The original series was based on the life of Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez (La Veneno), a famous trans personality and singer from Spain.
Joining the cast of the seven-episode series “Vestidas De Azul” are supporting cast members Susana Abaitua (“Crazy about Her”), Elena Irureta (“Patria”), Luis Callejo (“Jefe”), drag artist Estrella Xtravaganza, Mercedes Sampietro and Anabel Alonso (“7 Vidas”), among others.
The announcement was made at a Q&a on Monday focused on the continuation of the series. It forms part of a Next from Spain event focusing on first looks at four new series.
Currently shooting, Atresmedia,Atresolayer Premium parent, says it plans to begin streaming the new series in the fourth quarter of the year.
The original series was based on the life of Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez (La Veneno), a famous trans personality and singer from Spain.
- 2/22/2023
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
The latest series from Alex de la Iglesia and “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature at a first-look Next from Spain Showcase which marks a massive step-up in the country’s presence at the Berlinale Series Market.
Running Feb. 20-22, the showcase also unveils “Rapa” Season 2, with its first season proving Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow, and “This Is Not Sweden,” a pioneering Spanish co-production with Scandinavia and Germany.
The Showcase titles are joined by Isaki Lacuesta’s “The Chauffeur’s Son,” a Co-Pro Series project from “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, and “Selftape,” a Filmin Original from Filmax and a Series Market Screening.
Prior to 2023, Spanish titles only screened very occasionally at the market. This year’s splash , however, is entirely logical.
Thanks in part to a captive audience of 580 million Spanish speakers who are largely avid for melodrama-thrillers with a modern edge – think “La Casa de Papel,” “Who Killed Sara?...
Running Feb. 20-22, the showcase also unveils “Rapa” Season 2, with its first season proving Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow, and “This Is Not Sweden,” a pioneering Spanish co-production with Scandinavia and Germany.
The Showcase titles are joined by Isaki Lacuesta’s “The Chauffeur’s Son,” a Co-Pro Series project from “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, and “Selftape,” a Filmin Original from Filmax and a Series Market Screening.
Prior to 2023, Spanish titles only screened very occasionally at the market. This year’s splash , however, is entirely logical.
Thanks in part to a captive audience of 580 million Spanish speakers who are largely avid for melodrama-thrillers with a modern edge – think “La Casa de Papel,” “Who Killed Sara?...
- 2/20/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Berlinale Series Market kicks off Monday as Spanish series “The Snow Girl,” a missing girl suspense thriller produced by Spain’s Atípica Films, has attracted huge heat for Netflix, punching 101.7 million hours watched in its first three weeks. Doing so, it ranked as the streamer’s No. 1 non-English show in the world over Jan. 30 – Feb. 5.
In all, Spain has more shows and movies in Netflix’s all time non-English Top 10s than any other country in the world, seven to France’s two, for example.
Spain, it could be argued, has cracked online. But its drama series industry wants to ring more options.
As scripted commissions look to have dropped from second half 2022 in not only the U.S. but also Europe and Latin America, an energetic posse of Spanish producers and stars are rolling into Berlin to present new productions. These look set to explore an...
In all, Spain has more shows and movies in Netflix’s all time non-English Top 10s than any other country in the world, seven to France’s two, for example.
Spain, it could be argued, has cracked online. But its drama series industry wants to ring more options.
As scripted commissions look to have dropped from second half 2022 in not only the U.S. but also Europe and Latin America, an energetic posse of Spanish producers and stars are rolling into Berlin to present new productions. These look set to explore an...
- 2/19/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
In “La Mesías,” their follow-up as writers-directors to ‘Veneno,’ an HBO Max pickup for the U.S., Spanish showrunners Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi are promising their biggest series yet, a “near apocalyptic family drama,” as Ambrossi puts it, which chronicles the deep scars left for decades by childhood trauma.
In it, Enric, in the modern-day, is heavily impacted watching a viral video of a five-sister Christian pop band. Enric himself is still battling childhood memories marked by religious fanaticism and a mother with delirious messianic ambitions.
A Movistar+ Original, which is sold by Movistar+Internacional,“La Mesías” is produced by Ambrossi and Calvo at Suma Content, the robustly independent and internationally-minded production house launched last year by Los Javis, as they are popularly known in Spain,
Part of that brewing apocalypse was on show in late October in scenes shot at a masia, a traditionally farmsteads reconverted into a family home,...
In it, Enric, in the modern-day, is heavily impacted watching a viral video of a five-sister Christian pop band. Enric himself is still battling childhood memories marked by religious fanaticism and a mother with delirious messianic ambitions.
A Movistar+ Original, which is sold by Movistar+Internacional,“La Mesías” is produced by Ambrossi and Calvo at Suma Content, the robustly independent and internationally-minded production house launched last year by Los Javis, as they are popularly known in Spain,
Part of that brewing apocalypse was on show in late October in scenes shot at a masia, a traditionally farmsteads reconverted into a family home,...
- 11/11/2022
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes — Ester Expósito, one of the most preeminent of breakout actors from “Elite,” is set to star in “La Isla Bonita,” a new series created by Ginesta Guindal, produced by The Immigrant and Sabado Películas with production-distribution superindie Fremantle handling global distribution.
Billed as an irreverent dramedy, “La Isla Bonita” focuses on a group of friends – party, party animal Alfonso, idealist Peter, environmentalist Sol – who share a quaint house on Ibiza, until the owner decides to triple the rent for the summer months, forcing them to find an ingenious solution to keep their lives and home together.
Expósito, who brought increasing nuance and depth to her performance as Carla Rosón Caleruega in “Elite,” plays Roxy, who rents a room in the house to becomes “someone” on social media, attending the island’s best parties.
Packing a six-part first season, “La Isla Bonita” casts Ibiza as an “over-the-top metaphor for the...
Billed as an irreverent dramedy, “La Isla Bonita” focuses on a group of friends – party, party animal Alfonso, idealist Peter, environmentalist Sol – who share a quaint house on Ibiza, until the owner decides to triple the rent for the summer months, forcing them to find an ingenious solution to keep their lives and home together.
Expósito, who brought increasing nuance and depth to her performance as Carla Rosón Caleruega in “Elite,” plays Roxy, who rents a room in the house to becomes “someone” on social media, attending the island’s best parties.
Packing a six-part first season, “La Isla Bonita” casts Ibiza as an “over-the-top metaphor for the...
- 10/18/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
“La Mesías,” from “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, drinks deep from Catholic tradition from its very title — literally, “The Female Messiah” — to iconography and focus on faith.
Another awaited Movistar+ series, “The Left-Handed Son,” created by “The Plague” screenwriter Rafael Cobos, was presented to the press in July against a spectacular backdrop taking in, just across a waterway, Seville’s iconic Torre de Oro and, a little further away, the Giralda bell tower of Seville’s Cathedral.
In line with platform production trends the world over, rather than playing down local elements, Movistar+ is playing them up. For the Telefonica SVOD/pay TV player in Spain, this has been a longterm philosophy, reaching back to its earliest series in 2017.
No big European SVOD player has insisted as much as Movistar+ on capturing the hot button issues, history, culture (“Spanish Shame”), traumas (“The Invisible Line”) and landscapes (“Félix”) of its local market.
Another awaited Movistar+ series, “The Left-Handed Son,” created by “The Plague” screenwriter Rafael Cobos, was presented to the press in July against a spectacular backdrop taking in, just across a waterway, Seville’s iconic Torre de Oro and, a little further away, the Giralda bell tower of Seville’s Cathedral.
In line with platform production trends the world over, rather than playing down local elements, Movistar+ is playing them up. For the Telefonica SVOD/pay TV player in Spain, this has been a longterm philosophy, reaching back to its earliest series in 2017.
No big European SVOD player has insisted as much as Movistar+ on capturing the hot button issues, history, culture (“Spanish Shame”), traumas (“The Invisible Line”) and landscapes (“Félix”) of its local market.
- 10/14/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
FIFA+ & Others License Football Doc ‘Brazil 2002: The Real Story’
World football-focused streamer FIFA+ has acquired 90-minute feature doc Brazil 2002: The Real Story for territories including Asia (excluding Japan), Turkey and New Zealand following a deal with distributor Abacus Media Rights. The doc has also sold to Canal+ Group for Canal+ Foot and myCanal (France); Sky Deutschland; Sky Italia; Dbs Satellite Services (Israel and West Bank); Supersport Africa (for Africa); Nos Portugal (Portugal and PALOPs); Movistar Plus+ (Spain); and Stan (Australia). Sky in the UK, Front Row Filmed Entertainment (Middle East) and Viaplay were unveiled as buyers back in February when the doc was announced. TelevisaUnivision also announced its acquisition of the film for North and South America...
World football-focused streamer FIFA+ has acquired 90-minute feature doc Brazil 2002: The Real Story for territories including Asia (excluding Japan), Turkey and New Zealand following a deal with distributor Abacus Media Rights. The doc has also sold to Canal+ Group for Canal+ Foot and myCanal (France); Sky Deutschland; Sky Italia; Dbs Satellite Services (Israel and West Bank); Supersport Africa (for Africa); Nos Portugal (Portugal and PALOPs); Movistar Plus+ (Spain); and Stan (Australia). Sky in the UK, Front Row Filmed Entertainment (Middle East) and Viaplay were unveiled as buyers back in February when the doc was announced. TelevisaUnivision also announced its acquisition of the film for North and South America...
- 9/13/2022
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Queer representation on the small screen has certainly come a long way over the past two decades, not only in terms of quality but also quantity. Back when I was a baby queer in the early 2000s, “The L Word” was pretty much all I had to see parts of my experience on TV, save for the rare gay subplots of popular teen shows — never forget Marissa’s brief but extremely hot dalliance with Olivia Wilde on “The O.C.” The stereotyped gays of “Sex and the City” and “Will and Grace” were replaced over the years by more fleshed out and nuanced queer characters across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and, finally, we’ve seen some actually well-written trans characters played by trans performers. Its mostly been in the latter half of the 2010s and early 2020s that we’ve really seen a rise in more dynamic and diverse LGBTQ+ storytelling, with...
- 6/16/2022
- by Oliver Whitney
- Indiewire
In an alignment of two of the most powerful forces in Spanish- language fiction, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, creators of “Veneno” and producers of “Cardo,” have joined forces with Movistar Plus, the pay TV/SVOD of Telefonica, to develop and produce a new series, “La Mesías.”
Presented on Tuesday in Madrid, like “Veneno,” the series has been written by Los Javis – as they are popularly known in Spain – and, according to Javier Ambrossi, the scale of the series marks the natural “next step” in the growth of Suma Content.
A Movistar Plus original series, the series will be written, directed and produced by Ambrossi and Calvo and made in collaboration with Suma Content, their new production label launched last year.
Movistar Plus International will handle international distribution of what rates from the get-go as one of the hottest Spanish series which will be brought onto the global market this year.
Presented on Tuesday in Madrid, like “Veneno,” the series has been written by Los Javis – as they are popularly known in Spain – and, according to Javier Ambrossi, the scale of the series marks the natural “next step” in the growth of Suma Content.
A Movistar Plus original series, the series will be written, directed and produced by Ambrossi and Calvo and made in collaboration with Suma Content, their new production label launched last year.
Movistar Plus International will handle international distribution of what rates from the get-go as one of the hottest Spanish series which will be brought onto the global market this year.
- 5/5/2022
- by John Hopewell and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
As other European TV giants such as the Rtl Group, Spain’s Atresmedia, owner of the Ott service Atresplayer Premium, is finding the sweet spot between auteur and broad audience shows.
Launched two years ago, Atresplayer Premium boasts fast growth in terms of subscriptions – reaching 400,000 users in Spain alone – and content production volume, readying some 20 new TV projects for this year.
Promoting original voices, the platform is winning international visibility. Iconic original series “Veneno,” created by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “Los Javis,” successfully launched on HBO Max in the U.S. and Latin America, with a strong impact on the international media, which contributed to strengthening the Atresplayer brand.
Now, “Cardo,” from creators and writers Claudia Costafreda and Ana Rujas, executive produced by Los Javis after becoming one of the hottest indie series of last year for TV critics and audiences, is close to an important international distribution deal.
Launched two years ago, Atresplayer Premium boasts fast growth in terms of subscriptions – reaching 400,000 users in Spain alone – and content production volume, readying some 20 new TV projects for this year.
Promoting original voices, the platform is winning international visibility. Iconic original series “Veneno,” created by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “Los Javis,” successfully launched on HBO Max in the U.S. and Latin America, with a strong impact on the international media, which contributed to strengthening the Atresplayer brand.
Now, “Cardo,” from creators and writers Claudia Costafreda and Ana Rujas, executive produced by Los Javis after becoming one of the hottest indie series of last year for TV critics and audiences, is close to an important international distribution deal.
- 2/15/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish media giant Atresmedia is joining forces with Portocabo, the production outfit behind Movistar Plus hit series “Hierro,” for a remake of Showtime drama “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston.
The Spanish redo is currently at the script stage and initiating casting.
With an undisclosed number of episodes, the project production is scheduled to kick off this year.
The TV series release date is still unknown. But it would be logical for it to launch on platform Atresplayer Premium before airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channel Antena 3 primetime, a windowing strategy usually followed by the group with its new fiction releases since Atresplayer Premium bowed in 2019.
“Your Honor” is based on the Israeli TV drama “Kvodo,” created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach, and aired first on Israel’s paybox Yes TV.
The U.S. version was developed by Peter Moffat for Showtime and stars “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston,...
The Spanish redo is currently at the script stage and initiating casting.
With an undisclosed number of episodes, the project production is scheduled to kick off this year.
The TV series release date is still unknown. But it would be logical for it to launch on platform Atresplayer Premium before airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channel Antena 3 primetime, a windowing strategy usually followed by the group with its new fiction releases since Atresplayer Premium bowed in 2019.
“Your Honor” is based on the Israeli TV drama “Kvodo,” created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach, and aired first on Israel’s paybox Yes TV.
The U.S. version was developed by Peter Moffat for Showtime and stars “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston,...
- 2/14/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
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