The battle for success on the new drama series scene is the battle for talent, led by screenwriters. Following, portraits of Spanish TV scribes or creators, sometimes writing teams, who’ve made an impact, or look set to do so:
Fran Araujo
2022 was Araujo’s year. He co-wrote Berlin Competition’s “One Night, One Day” and “Rapa,” Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow. “Offworld,” a collective series he coordinated, was a Variety’s International TV Show of the Year. An iconoclast – “if I do the same thing, I get bored,” he says – who tears up the rule book.
Aina Clotet
Best known for acting, winning at Malaga for “The Wild Ones,” but a driving force as co-creator, director and star behind “This Is Not Sweden” a €1.5 million grant recipient and groundbreaking Spain-Scandinavia-Germany co-pro, turning on a couple who think they’ve found a model lifestyle. But “there are no guarantees,” says Clotet.
Fran Araujo
2022 was Araujo’s year. He co-wrote Berlin Competition’s “One Night, One Day” and “Rapa,” Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow. “Offworld,” a collective series he coordinated, was a Variety’s International TV Show of the Year. An iconoclast – “if I do the same thing, I get bored,” he says – who tears up the rule book.
Aina Clotet
Best known for acting, winning at Malaga for “The Wild Ones,” but a driving force as co-creator, director and star behind “This Is Not Sweden” a €1.5 million grant recipient and groundbreaking Spain-Scandinavia-Germany co-pro, turning on a couple who think they’ve found a model lifestyle. But “there are no guarantees,” says Clotet.
- 2/20/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Linking two top players on the Spanish TV scene, Barcelona studio Filmax has acquired international sales rights to Spanish comedy “Co-Husbands,” whose backers include Telecinco Cinema, producer of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible.”
Filmax will unveil a trailer to clients at this week’s Berlin European Film Market, before the film’s release in Spain on March 10.
The second feature from Lucia Alemany (“Innocence”), ”Co-Husbands” toplines “House of Flowers” star Paco León. In a gender flip set-up, it turns on Emilio and Tono who both receive phone calls that their wives are in comas after a ski-resort avalanche. At the hospital admissions desk, they make a startling discovery: their wives are, in fact, the same person … Laura. Forced to wait together until Laura regains consciousness, Emilio and Toni engage in a battle to prove who is her one and only true husband.
Ernesto Alterio...
Filmax will unveil a trailer to clients at this week’s Berlin European Film Market, before the film’s release in Spain on March 10.
The second feature from Lucia Alemany (“Innocence”), ”Co-Husbands” toplines “House of Flowers” star Paco León. In a gender flip set-up, it turns on Emilio and Tono who both receive phone calls that their wives are in comas after a ski-resort avalanche. At the hospital admissions desk, they make a startling discovery: their wives are, in fact, the same person … Laura. Forced to wait together until Laura regains consciousness, Emilio and Toni engage in a battle to prove who is her one and only true husband.
Ernesto Alterio...
- 2/16/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Final part of Spanish director’s trilogy to start shooting at the end of the month.
Spanish director Liliana Torres is preparing to shoot Mamífera, the final film in a trilogy of features about relationships and family life that began with her San Sebastian premiere Family Tour and includes Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival competition film What Went Wrong
Mamífera, which is the Spanish word for a female mammal, is scheduled to start shooting at the end of February, and centres on an unwanted pregnancy.
It focuses on Lola, who accidentally gets pregnant at a time when Spanish law required...
Spanish director Liliana Torres is preparing to shoot Mamífera, the final film in a trilogy of features about relationships and family life that began with her San Sebastian premiere Family Tour and includes Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival competition film What Went Wrong
Mamífera, which is the Spanish word for a female mammal, is scheduled to start shooting at the end of February, and centres on an unwanted pregnancy.
It focuses on Lola, who accidentally gets pregnant at a time when Spanish law required...
- 2/13/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Fabula-Fremantle’s “Santa Maria,” Leticia Dolera’s “Puberty” and “Fata Morgana,” a Western thriller executive produced by Béla Tarr, all feature at this year’s vastly expanded Conecta Fiction & Entertainment.
In further news announced Monday, Conecta Fiction will also stage the European premiere of Star Plus’ “Santa Evita,” executive produced by Salma Hayek Pinault and José Tamez, starring Natalia Oreiro, Ernesto Alterio, Darío Grandinetti and one of Disney’s most anticipated titles Spanish-language titles.
“Santa Evita” tells the true events-based and extraordinary story of the odyssey of Argentine First Lady Eva Perón’s embalmed body over three decades, her elevation to near sainthood saying much about Argentina and Latin America at large.
A panel discussion will be lead by the key cast, directors Rodrigo García and Alejandro Maci and the executives who led its production – Mariana Pérez, VP, development and production, Twdc Latin America, and Leonardo Aranguibel, VP, production, Twdc Latin America.
In further news announced Monday, Conecta Fiction will also stage the European premiere of Star Plus’ “Santa Evita,” executive produced by Salma Hayek Pinault and José Tamez, starring Natalia Oreiro, Ernesto Alterio, Darío Grandinetti and one of Disney’s most anticipated titles Spanish-language titles.
“Santa Evita” tells the true events-based and extraordinary story of the odyssey of Argentine First Lady Eva Perón’s embalmed body over three decades, her elevation to near sainthood saying much about Argentina and Latin America at large.
A panel discussion will be lead by the key cast, directors Rodrigo García and Alejandro Maci and the executives who led its production – Mariana Pérez, VP, development and production, Twdc Latin America, and Leonardo Aranguibel, VP, production, Twdc Latin America.
- 6/6/2022
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Leticia Dolera, co-writer, lead director and star of the Movistar Plus-HBO Max produced “Perfect Life,” a 2019 double Canneseries winner, is developing a new series, “Puberty,” which looks sure to be one of the hottest titles at this month’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment.
Now in development, “Puberty” will be presented in Conecta Fiction’s High-End Series section.
Penned by Dolera and writer-producer Almudena Monzú and to be directed by Dolera, “Puberty” (“Pubertat”) turns on an alleged sexual assault among adolescents, which sheds light on the sexual taboos of the adults in charge of them.
“Can a 13-year-old boy be a sexual aggressor? And who’s responsible? The under-age boy, his family or society? Surely all of them,” the synopsis runs.
“‘Puberty’ talks about the weight of taboo and how this is transmitted between generation and generation, at a cultural, emotional and psychological level,” Dolera commented. “One of the big taboos...
Now in development, “Puberty” will be presented in Conecta Fiction’s High-End Series section.
Penned by Dolera and writer-producer Almudena Monzú and to be directed by Dolera, “Puberty” (“Pubertat”) turns on an alleged sexual assault among adolescents, which sheds light on the sexual taboos of the adults in charge of them.
“Can a 13-year-old boy be a sexual aggressor? And who’s responsible? The under-age boy, his family or society? Surely all of them,” the synopsis runs.
“‘Puberty’ talks about the weight of taboo and how this is transmitted between generation and generation, at a cultural, emotional and psychological level,” Dolera commented. “One of the big taboos...
- 6/6/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Jan Motjo’s Beta Group is making a bold bet on Spain, both its content and market, launching Beta Fiction Spain, a TV-movie production house which will also offer production services in Spain and run a theatrical distribution operation.
The new entity will be headed by two of the best-known and reputed film-tv execs in Spain: Mercedes Gamero, the former head of Atresmedia Cine, the film production-acquisition arm of Atresmedia Cine, and one of the most powerful movie producers in Spain; and Pablo Nogueroles, the former SVP at Warner Bros. Pictures International España. Both will head Beta Fiction Spain together with Christian Gockel, responsible for all Beta Group’s Spanish activities.
First projects or buys from Beta Fiction Spain have yet to be announced. The launch comes, however, as Spain is consolidating as an international power in a new platform driven environment – eight of the Top 10 non-English language TV shows...
The new entity will be headed by two of the best-known and reputed film-tv execs in Spain: Mercedes Gamero, the former head of Atresmedia Cine, the film production-acquisition arm of Atresmedia Cine, and one of the most powerful movie producers in Spain; and Pablo Nogueroles, the former SVP at Warner Bros. Pictures International España. Both will head Beta Fiction Spain together with Christian Gockel, responsible for all Beta Group’s Spanish activities.
First projects or buys from Beta Fiction Spain have yet to be announced. The launch comes, however, as Spain is consolidating as an international power in a new platform driven environment – eight of the Top 10 non-English language TV shows...
- 5/3/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Tenerife-based Bendita Film Sales has taken international sales rights to Nely Reguera’s sophomore outing, drama “La voluntaria” (“The Volunteer”), toplining “Broken Embraces,” “Perfect Life” and Piggy” star Carmen Machi, one of the biggest marquee draws in Spain.
World premiering in main competition at this year’s Malaga Festival, “La voluntaria” marks Reguera’s follow-up to her well-received feature 2016 debut, the Bárbara Lennie-starrer “María (And the Others),” which won the best Ibero-American film prize at the Miami Film Festival and earned new director and lead actress nominations at the Spanish Academy Goya Awards.
Barcelona-born Reguera forms part of the new generation of exciting young female Catalan auteurs, alongside Carla Simón (“Alcarràs”), Belén Funes (“The Daughter of the Thief”), Neus Ballús (“The Odd-Job Men”) and Meritxell Colell (“Facing the Wind”).
A Spain-Greece co-production, “La voluntaria” is produced by Adriá Monés at Fasten Films, Bteam Pictures’ Alex Lafuente and Maria Drandaki from Homemade Films.
World premiering in main competition at this year’s Malaga Festival, “La voluntaria” marks Reguera’s follow-up to her well-received feature 2016 debut, the Bárbara Lennie-starrer “María (And the Others),” which won the best Ibero-American film prize at the Miami Film Festival and earned new director and lead actress nominations at the Spanish Academy Goya Awards.
Barcelona-born Reguera forms part of the new generation of exciting young female Catalan auteurs, alongside Carla Simón (“Alcarràs”), Belén Funes (“The Daughter of the Thief”), Neus Ballús (“The Odd-Job Men”) and Meritxell Colell (“Facing the Wind”).
A Spain-Greece co-production, “La voluntaria” is produced by Adriá Monés at Fasten Films, Bteam Pictures’ Alex Lafuente and Maria Drandaki from Homemade Films.
- 3/15/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
In yet another sign of explosive growth on Spain’s drama scene, Amazon Prime Video has unveiled four new Amazon Original series or movies tapping the large talents of some of its most successful comedy directors, producers, novelists and drama series creators.
In a sign of Amazon Studios’ hiked ambitions, the productions were described by Georgia Brown, Amazon’s head of European Originals, as “local stories that resonate with local audiences and have a global impact.” In the past, Amazon has stressed more the need for the former.
Also updating Spanish journalists in Madrid on Wednesday morning on progress on the already announced “Sin Huellas” and “Un asunto privado,” Prime Video’s new slate shows it enrolling some of the biggest stars in Spain, led by “Below Zero’s” Javier Gutiérrez and Carmen Machi.
Alongside Sílvia Abril, the two actors topline family time-travel comedy “Mañana es hoy” which is directed...
In a sign of Amazon Studios’ hiked ambitions, the productions were described by Georgia Brown, Amazon’s head of European Originals, as “local stories that resonate with local audiences and have a global impact.” In the past, Amazon has stressed more the need for the former.
Also updating Spanish journalists in Madrid on Wednesday morning on progress on the already announced “Sin Huellas” and “Un asunto privado,” Prime Video’s new slate shows it enrolling some of the biggest stars in Spain, led by “Below Zero’s” Javier Gutiérrez and Carmen Machi.
Alongside Sílvia Abril, the two actors topline family time-travel comedy “Mañana es hoy” which is directed...
- 1/12/2022
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Wake up, Neo.
It’s December 2021 and to celebrate HBO Max is bringing back a classic sci-fi franchise for one last ride. The list of new releases on HBO Max this month is highlighted by The Matrix Resurrections on Dec. 22. This is the long-awaited return to the reality-bending saga from The Wachowskis. Writer/director Lana Wachowski returns as do stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as Neo and Trinity, respectively. This time around it’s 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions and “Neo lives a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas A. Anderson in San Francisco where his therapist prescribes him blue pills. Neither he nor Trinity recognize each other. However, Morpheus offers him the red pill and reopens his mind to the world of the Matrix.”
While The Matrix Resurrections is the big draw this time around, HBO Max has some other intriguing originals to speak of. The David Thewlis and...
It’s December 2021 and to celebrate HBO Max is bringing back a classic sci-fi franchise for one last ride. The list of new releases on HBO Max this month is highlighted by The Matrix Resurrections on Dec. 22. This is the long-awaited return to the reality-bending saga from The Wachowskis. Writer/director Lana Wachowski returns as do stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as Neo and Trinity, respectively. This time around it’s 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions and “Neo lives a seemingly ordinary life as Thomas A. Anderson in San Francisco where his therapist prescribes him blue pills. Neither he nor Trinity recognize each other. However, Morpheus offers him the red pill and reopens his mind to the world of the Matrix.”
While The Matrix Resurrections is the big draw this time around, HBO Max has some other intriguing originals to speak of. The David Thewlis and...
- 12/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Trailer
HBO Max will launch Season 2 of award-winning Spanish comedy series “Perfect Life” in the U.S. on Dec. 2, two weeks after its Nov. 19 domestic premiere on Movistar Plus in Spain. The streamer also dropped a new international trailer for the upcoming season, which gives a brief taste of the evolving relationships and real-life challenges facing protagonist Maria and those closest to her, including her best friends Cristina and Esther.
Picking up six months after Season 1 left off, María is now a mother, although motherhood isn’t what she expected, Cristina and her partner are discussing opening their relationship and Esther is staring down her fears of commitment as a question about marriage looms.
Season 2 is once again written, directed and stared by rising star Leticia Dolera, joined by co-scribe Manuel Burque on screenwriting duties. Additionally, two of Spain’s most exciting young filmmaking talents in Lucía Alemany (“La Inocencia...
HBO Max will launch Season 2 of award-winning Spanish comedy series “Perfect Life” in the U.S. on Dec. 2, two weeks after its Nov. 19 domestic premiere on Movistar Plus in Spain. The streamer also dropped a new international trailer for the upcoming season, which gives a brief taste of the evolving relationships and real-life challenges facing protagonist Maria and those closest to her, including her best friends Cristina and Esther.
Picking up six months after Season 1 left off, María is now a mother, although motherhood isn’t what she expected, Cristina and her partner are discussing opening their relationship and Esther is staring down her fears of commitment as a question about marriage looms.
Season 2 is once again written, directed and stared by rising star Leticia Dolera, joined by co-scribe Manuel Burque on screenwriting duties. Additionally, two of Spain’s most exciting young filmmaking talents in Lucía Alemany (“La Inocencia...
- 11/18/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix’s Spanish adaptation of its hit original movie “Bird Box” is coming together.
Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”
Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.
Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...
Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”
Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.
Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...
- 10/28/2021
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
WarnerMedia has been rolling out HBO Max around the world over the last few months and has been ramping up the number of international originals that it orders.
The company has now revealed that it is launching its first international original day-and-date in the U.S. and globally and has plans for more.
Danish drama series Kamikaze will be the first show, commissioned and produced out of Europe, that will bow on the service everywhere HBO Max is available at the same time.
It brings the streamer in line with rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple in terms of launching shows in all of its markets at the same time, giving series the opportunity to create a global buzz on social media and replicate the success of breakout local-language hits such as Netflix’s Squid Game.
Kamikaze, which is based on the novel Muleum by Erlend Loe, follows the fierce and charming 18-year-old Julie,...
The company has now revealed that it is launching its first international original day-and-date in the U.S. and globally and has plans for more.
Danish drama series Kamikaze will be the first show, commissioned and produced out of Europe, that will bow on the service everywhere HBO Max is available at the same time.
It brings the streamer in line with rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple in terms of launching shows in all of its markets at the same time, giving series the opportunity to create a global buzz on social media and replicate the success of breakout local-language hits such as Netflix’s Squid Game.
Kamikaze, which is based on the novel Muleum by Erlend Loe, follows the fierce and charming 18-year-old Julie,...
- 10/21/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Season two of Leticia Dolera’s award-winning dramedy series “Perfect Life” (“Vida Perfecta”) will stream on Movistar Plus by November 19, said Movistar exec Susana Herreras who recited a list of European territories where the series would be available.
“Perfect Life” was among the three new series that kicked off the Iberseries Platino Industria showcase in Madrid.
“Our partner HBO Max will be streaming it simultaneously in the U.S. and Latin America,” she said.
The series has also sold to Rtl in Germany, France’s M6 and Poland’s Canal Plus. Further deals will be added shortly.
“Narratively speaking, the series ends here in season two but we’re open to a third season; We’d be delighted if it continued, but it’s not up to us,” she added, turning to creator Dolera and her co-writer Manuel Burque at the press conference.
Produced by Movistar Plus in collaboration with Corte y Confección de Películas,...
“Perfect Life” was among the three new series that kicked off the Iberseries Platino Industria showcase in Madrid.
“Our partner HBO Max will be streaming it simultaneously in the U.S. and Latin America,” she said.
The series has also sold to Rtl in Germany, France’s M6 and Poland’s Canal Plus. Further deals will be added shortly.
“Narratively speaking, the series ends here in season two but we’re open to a third season; We’d be delighted if it continued, but it’s not up to us,” she added, turning to creator Dolera and her co-writer Manuel Burque at the press conference.
Produced by Movistar Plus in collaboration with Corte y Confección de Películas,...
- 9/28/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
A new and ambitious Ibero-American industry event, Iberseries Platino Industria, runs Sept. 27 thru Oct 1 with a slew of activities broken into eight thematic sections: Financing and Business Models; Conversations with Platforms and their Studios; Industry Talks; Creativity; Market Intelligence; Keynotes and Masterclasses; Audiovisual Arts as an Educational Tool; and Synergies between Tourism and Audiovisual Financing.
Some of Spain, Portugal and Latin America’s biggest names in entertainment are set to participate in the Madrid-based event, including director Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others”), Latido Films’ Antonio Saura, Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), Colombian actor-producer Manolo Cardona, Cuban actor-director Jorge Perugorría, Icaa general director Beatriz Navas and actors Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) and Paulina Gaitán (“Narcos”), among many others.
The five-day event precedes the eighth edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) to be held on Oct. 3 in Madrid an in-person ceremony once more after being relegated online last year.
The...
Some of Spain, Portugal and Latin America’s biggest names in entertainment are set to participate in the Madrid-based event, including director Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others”), Latido Films’ Antonio Saura, Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), Colombian actor-producer Manolo Cardona, Cuban actor-director Jorge Perugorría, Icaa general director Beatriz Navas and actors Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) and Paulina Gaitán (“Narcos”), among many others.
The five-day event precedes the eighth edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) to be held on Oct. 3 in Madrid an in-person ceremony once more after being relegated online last year.
The...
- 9/26/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Telco giant Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay TV player, is putting through a major restructuring, aimed at capitalizing on its Spanish market preeminence in an age of full-on global studio streamer dominance.
Key to the Movistar Plus reset is the creation of two new strategic divisions: Alliances and Content Experience.
Alliances will see Movistar Plus seeking to tie down even more strategic partnerships in carriage deals and production with what a company statement on Friday called, “the most relevant partners in the sector,” citing integration on Movistar Plus’ platform of Disney Plus, Netflix, Dazn and Spanish platforms Atresmedia Ott operator Atresplayer and Mediaset España’s Mitele.
With HBO carried by Vodafone, the most obvious candidate for further aggregation would look to be Amazon Prime Video.
Movistar Plus looks likely, moreover, to continue to pursue strategic alliances in international production where, under Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé, the...
Key to the Movistar Plus reset is the creation of two new strategic divisions: Alliances and Content Experience.
Alliances will see Movistar Plus seeking to tie down even more strategic partnerships in carriage deals and production with what a company statement on Friday called, “the most relevant partners in the sector,” citing integration on Movistar Plus’ platform of Disney Plus, Netflix, Dazn and Spanish platforms Atresmedia Ott operator Atresplayer and Mediaset España’s Mitele.
With HBO carried by Vodafone, the most obvious candidate for further aggregation would look to be Amazon Prime Video.
Movistar Plus looks likely, moreover, to continue to pursue strategic alliances in international production where, under Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé, the...
- 6/25/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
MipTV 2021, running April 12-16, with a packed prologue on April 9, including MipDrama, will begin to wind down Wednesday night after its second big keynote, delivered by American star Marc Anthony.
Suffering its second-year running as a virtual event, Reed Midem’s official market remains a diminished affair. This year’s edition also, however, underscored the vibrancy of the international TV industry, galvanized by a huge new demand for higher-end content.
Following are six takeaways from 2021’s event:
David Beckham
No guessing MipTV’s biggest star to date this year: Former Manchester United and England soccer poster boy David Beckham, who delivered a pre-recorded MipTV keynote on Tuesday to talk up his new production company, Studio 99. In a new streaming age, Beckham ticks all the right boxes: He’s a huge global IP and social media phenom with 65.5 million followers on Instagram, soccer being the most popular sport in the world.
Suffering its second-year running as a virtual event, Reed Midem’s official market remains a diminished affair. This year’s edition also, however, underscored the vibrancy of the international TV industry, galvanized by a huge new demand for higher-end content.
Following are six takeaways from 2021’s event:
David Beckham
No guessing MipTV’s biggest star to date this year: Former Manchester United and England soccer poster boy David Beckham, who delivered a pre-recorded MipTV keynote on Tuesday to talk up his new production company, Studio 99. In a new streaming age, Beckham ticks all the right boxes: He’s a huge global IP and social media phenom with 65.5 million followers on Instagram, soccer being the most popular sport in the world.
- 4/14/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Germany’s Beta Film has picked up world sales on two tales of Spanish power women: Movistar Plus’ originals “Supernormal” and “You Shall Not Lie,” the latter created and directed by “The Red Band Society” helmer Pau Freixas.
Written by Olatz Arroyo and Marta Sánchez, head writers on Atresmedia hit “Down There,” “Supernormal” is directed by Emilio Martínez Lazaro, whose credits take in “Spanish Affair,” the highest grossing Spanish film of all time in Spain. A six-part half-hour, it stars Miren Ibarguren as Patricia, a hyper over-achiever who has it all: a top job at an investment bank, a loving husband and three children, a lovely house in a leafy Madrid suburb. But she wants far more, especial when battling rival Mauro for promotion in the man-dominated high finance world.
A six-hour crime drama-thriller, “You Shall Not Lie” (“Todos Mienten”) is produced by Filmax, the Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales studio behind Freixas...
Written by Olatz Arroyo and Marta Sánchez, head writers on Atresmedia hit “Down There,” “Supernormal” is directed by Emilio Martínez Lazaro, whose credits take in “Spanish Affair,” the highest grossing Spanish film of all time in Spain. A six-part half-hour, it stars Miren Ibarguren as Patricia, a hyper over-achiever who has it all: a top job at an investment bank, a loving husband and three children, a lovely house in a leafy Madrid suburb. But she wants far more, especial when battling rival Mauro for promotion in the man-dominated high finance world.
A six-hour crime drama-thriller, “You Shall Not Lie” (“Todos Mienten”) is produced by Filmax, the Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales studio behind Freixas...
- 4/9/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max is going virtual for its third annual “Our Stories to Tell” series at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The three-day event, which celebrates the streamer’s commitment to multicultural storytelling and creators, will take place Jan. 29 through 31.
The mix of invite-only and public online events will spotlight the talent and executives who bring streamer’s award-winning programming to life, featuring conversations with such talent as Holly Walker (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country), Shangela (We’re Here), and Leticia Delora (Perfect Life).
“Since its inception in 2017, these Our Stories To Tell discussions have provided a space for connection ...
The mix of invite-only and public online events will spotlight the talent and executives who bring streamer’s award-winning programming to life, featuring conversations with such talent as Holly Walker (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country), Shangela (We’re Here), and Leticia Delora (Perfect Life).
“Since its inception in 2017, these Our Stories To Tell discussions have provided a space for connection ...
- 1/26/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
HBO Max is going virtual for its third annual “Our Stories to Tell” series at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The three-day event, which celebrates the streamer’s commitment to multicultural storytelling and creators, will take place Jan. 29 through 31.
The mix of invite-only and public online events will spotlight the talent and executives who bring streamer’s award-winning programming to life, featuring conversations with such talent as Holly Walker (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country), Shangela (We’re Here), and Leticia Delora (Perfect Life).
“Since its inception in 2017, these Our Stories To Tell discussions have provided a space for connection ...
The mix of invite-only and public online events will spotlight the talent and executives who bring streamer’s award-winning programming to life, featuring conversations with such talent as Holly Walker (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country), Shangela (We’re Here), and Leticia Delora (Perfect Life).
“Since its inception in 2017, these Our Stories To Tell discussions have provided a space for connection ...
- 1/26/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Few European TV execs have a better sense of the bigger picture than Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé. Variety caught up with him as HBO Max announced it had acquired “Perfect Life” for the U.S. and committed to produce a second season with Movistar Plus, the pay-tv arm of telco giant Telefonica, which has also wrapped the first Spanish shoot on Alejandro Amenábar’s “La Fortuna,” produced with AMC Studios.
Here, Oslé reflects on how Movistar Plus has found its own audience; puts production value before production volume; and how upscale drama series now form part of a larger cultural conversation.
Through to the mid-2000s, national fiction dominated free-to-air and U.S. series and movies largely made the running on pay TV. Movistar’s 2020 results — where its five top shows were all Movistar Plus original series — suggests some kind of paradigm shift. Would you agree?
People are now watching television more than ever,...
Here, Oslé reflects on how Movistar Plus has found its own audience; puts production value before production volume; and how upscale drama series now form part of a larger cultural conversation.
Through to the mid-2000s, national fiction dominated free-to-air and U.S. series and movies largely made the running on pay TV. Movistar’s 2020 results — where its five top shows were all Movistar Plus original series — suggests some kind of paradigm shift. Would you agree?
People are now watching television more than ever,...
- 1/25/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix Spain’s most highly-anticipated series release of 2021, “Sky Rojo,” the new original from “Money Heist” creators Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, will launch worldwide on March 19. To celebrate the premiere announcement, Netflix has shared a new high-octane trailer sure to get viewers’ blood pumping.
Accompanied by a punk rock cover of Rosalia’s global mega-hit “Con Altura,” the trailer demonstrates how Pina and Martínez will shift away from the dark, almost noir aesthetics of “Money Heist” and embrace a drug-fueled, brightly colored, blood-spattered pallet for the new series in a mix of genres the two have dubbed “Latin Pulp.” One thing sure to remain however, is Pina and Martínez’s penchant for humor, evident in the trailer’s scant dialogue, limited to “Meow” and “Good boy.”
“Sky Rojo” is also a departure in format for the showrunners, who trade in the hour-long episodes of “Money Heist” for eight punchy,...
Accompanied by a punk rock cover of Rosalia’s global mega-hit “Con Altura,” the trailer demonstrates how Pina and Martínez will shift away from the dark, almost noir aesthetics of “Money Heist” and embrace a drug-fueled, brightly colored, blood-spattered pallet for the new series in a mix of genres the two have dubbed “Latin Pulp.” One thing sure to remain however, is Pina and Martínez’s penchant for humor, evident in the trailer’s scant dialogue, limited to “Meow” and “Good boy.”
“Sky Rojo” is also a departure in format for the showrunners, who trade in the hour-long episodes of “Money Heist” for eight punchy,...
- 1/20/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings and monthly guide to What’s on Streaming.
With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.
More from TVLineWhat's New on NetflixWhen Will Your Favorite Shows Return? Save These Dates!All American Premiere Recap: What Happens in Vegas?...
With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.
More from TVLineWhat's New on NetflixWhen Will Your Favorite Shows Return? Save These Dates!All American Premiere Recap: What Happens in Vegas?...
- 1/16/2021
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
When grown-ish‘s third season resumes on Thursday, Jan. 21 (Freeform, 8/7c), life at Cal U is going to be “poetic, but also very dark. Like a haiku of mistakes.”
That’s how Luca describes the state of things in the below just-released trailer for Season 3B, which picks up with Zoey crushing her dream job — and crushing on Aaron all over again.
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Additional...
That’s how Luca describes the state of things in the below just-released trailer for Season 3B, which picks up with Zoey crushing her dream job — and crushing on Aaron all over again.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: grown-ish Return Date, Ariana Grande Hits Netflix and MoreTVLine Items: Anne Heche Cops All Rise Arc, Willow Series Casts 3 and MoreMaisie Williams' Two Weeks to Live Comedy to Hit HBO Max in November
Additional...
- 1/11/2021
- by Vlada Gelman
- TVLine.com
Spanish pay TV operator Movistar Plus and HBO Max have joined forces on the upcoming second season of Leticia Dolera’s “Perfect Life,” which recently wrapped shooting under strict Covid-19 restrictions. HBO Max will also pick-up U.S. streaming rights for the first season of the highly rated Spanish series, making it available to U.S. audiences from Jan. 21.
Season 2 of “Perfect Life” is co-produced by Movistar Plus and HBO Max in collaboration with Barcelona’s Corte y Confección de Películas and in partnership with the series’ sales agent, Jan Mojto’s Munich-based Beta Film, a powerful player on the Spanish drama series scene handling, just among recent hits, series such as “Tell Me Who I Am” and “Alive and Kicking” from “Red Band Society” creator Albert Espinosa.
The first season of the series was a hit for Movistar Plus, receiving strong domestic ratings and selling to Germany’s Rtl and France’s M6 Group,...
Season 2 of “Perfect Life” is co-produced by Movistar Plus and HBO Max in collaboration with Barcelona’s Corte y Confección de Películas and in partnership with the series’ sales agent, Jan Mojto’s Munich-based Beta Film, a powerful player on the Spanish drama series scene handling, just among recent hits, series such as “Tell Me Who I Am” and “Alive and Kicking” from “Red Band Society” creator Albert Espinosa.
The first season of the series was a hit for Movistar Plus, receiving strong domestic ratings and selling to Germany’s Rtl and France’s M6 Group,...
- 1/11/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max has acquired Spanish-language original Perfect Life (Vida Perfecta) and has committed to co-producing a second season alongside Telefónica’s local streamer Moviestar+.
The WarnerMedia streamer will debut Perfect Life on January 21, following the lives of Maria, Cristina, and Esther who are in search of their place in the world as they navigate the humiliations and celebrations that come with being a thirty-something millennial.
The series was created by writer, director, and creator Leticia Dolera (who stars as Maria). It was produced by Movistar+ along with Corte y Confeccion de Peliculas in association with Beta Film, which handles international sales. Season 2 has just wrapped in Spain.
Crowned Best Series at the Canneseries Festival, the story centers on Maria, Cristina, and Esther as they realize that the plans they had made for themselves haven’t really gotten them the long-promised happiness they yearned for. Together, they will find unexpected alternatives.
The WarnerMedia streamer will debut Perfect Life on January 21, following the lives of Maria, Cristina, and Esther who are in search of their place in the world as they navigate the humiliations and celebrations that come with being a thirty-something millennial.
The series was created by writer, director, and creator Leticia Dolera (who stars as Maria). It was produced by Movistar+ along with Corte y Confeccion de Peliculas in association with Beta Film, which handles international sales. Season 2 has just wrapped in Spain.
Crowned Best Series at the Canneseries Festival, the story centers on Maria, Cristina, and Esther as they realize that the plans they had made for themselves haven’t really gotten them the long-promised happiness they yearned for. Together, they will find unexpected alternatives.
- 1/11/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
The film development lab, a partnership between Tabakalera, Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola and the San Sebastián International Film Festival, supports promising films in development. The sixth edition of the Ikusmira Berriak film development lab, a partnership between Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture, the San Sebastián International Film Festival and (since 2018) Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, has unveiled this year’s contenders: five promising new projects by emerging filmmakers. Some of this year’s names may be familiar from their previous work. All five finalists will take part in a residential programme, benefiting from eight weeks of workshops and professional mentoring. They are: Elena Martín Gimeno, already an award-winning director thanks to her début feature, Júlia ist, who also appeared in and directed various episodes of the TV series Vida perfecta and En casa; Jaione Camborda, who brought his first feature, Arima to last year’s festival; Gabriel Azorín, founding member of the.
Jessica Sarah Rinland’s “Collective Monologue” and Elena Martin Gimeno’s “Creature” are among the five projects selected this year at Ikusmira Berriak.
The sixth edition of the training program is now in the second segment of its residency at San Sebastian, and a different world awaits its five participants since their first meeting in March.
Rinland, an Argentine-British installation artist and filmmaker, said that it was “a small miracle” any of this year’s cohort had made it back for the San Sebastian Film Festival, where they will present their projects to the industry.
Rinland is one of five filmmakers, selected from 185 submissions, who were granted a fellowship for this year’s program, to develop her second feature, which explores the rise and fall of zoos in society.
“I feel very fortunate to be supported by an institution which backs the development of non-conventional films, especially at this time...
The sixth edition of the training program is now in the second segment of its residency at San Sebastian, and a different world awaits its five participants since their first meeting in March.
Rinland, an Argentine-British installation artist and filmmaker, said that it was “a small miracle” any of this year’s cohort had made it back for the San Sebastian Film Festival, where they will present their projects to the industry.
Rinland is one of five filmmakers, selected from 185 submissions, who were granted a fellowship for this year’s program, to develop her second feature, which explores the rise and fall of zoos in society.
“I feel very fortunate to be supported by an institution which backs the development of non-conventional films, especially at this time...
- 9/21/2020
- by Ann-Marie Corvin
- Variety Film + TV
Leading Spanish sales, production and distribution company Filmax has secured sales rights for first-time director Carol Rodriguez Colas’ “Girlfriends,” currently in post-production. The company has already started sharing a promo reel with distributors.
Filmax has anchored itself as one of the premier sales companies for independent films from new, female filmmakers in Spain such as Lucía Alemany’s San Sebastian New Directors player “Innocence” and Paula Cons’s “Island of Lies,” a main competition player at this year’s Shanghai Festival.
“Girlfriends” is produced by Madrid-based Balance Media and stars four of Spain’s most exciting young film and TV stars in Vicky Luengo (“Barcelona Summer Night”), Elisabet Casanovas (“Merli”), Carolina Yuste (“Carmen & Lola”) and Angela Cervantes (“Perfect Life”).
In the film, young Marta (Luengo) finds herself jobless after losing her dream job as a photographer at a trendy fashion magazine. With few options, she is forced to leave behind her modern,...
Filmax has anchored itself as one of the premier sales companies for independent films from new, female filmmakers in Spain such as Lucía Alemany’s San Sebastian New Directors player “Innocence” and Paula Cons’s “Island of Lies,” a main competition player at this year’s Shanghai Festival.
“Girlfriends” is produced by Madrid-based Balance Media and stars four of Spain’s most exciting young film and TV stars in Vicky Luengo (“Barcelona Summer Night”), Elisabet Casanovas (“Merli”), Carolina Yuste (“Carmen & Lola”) and Angela Cervantes (“Perfect Life”).
In the film, young Marta (Luengo) finds herself jobless after losing her dream job as a photographer at a trendy fashion magazine. With few options, she is forced to leave behind her modern,...
- 9/19/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
After grinding to a halt because of the pandemic, this feature debut produced by Marta Figueras, starring Carolina Yuste, Vicky Luengo, Ángela Cervantes and Elisabet Casanovas, has restarted shooting. The feature-length fiction debut by Carol Rodríguez Colás will wrap its shoot at the end of June, having resumed after the break forced upon it by the coronavirus crisis. Chavalas (lit. “Lasses”), which is being filmed in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Poblenou and in Cornellà, stars Vicky Luengo (The Laws of Thermodynamics and soon to appear in the series Antidisturbios – see the news), Elisabet Casanovas (famous for her role in the series Merlí), Carolina Yuste (winner of the Goya Award for her turn in Carmen & Lola and set to grace screens in Sky High in August) and Ángela Cervantes (Perfect Life). The cast is rounded off by Ana Fernández, José Mota, Cristina Plazas, Mario Zorrilla, Biel Durán, Maite Buenafuente,...
HBO Europe has commissioned five Spanish directors to create stories from their homes for a coronavirus-inspired anthology series titled At Home (En Casa).
Leticia Dolera (Perfect Life), Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Mother), Paula Ortiz (The Bride), Carlos Marqués-Marcet (The Days To Come) and Elena Martín (Julia ist) have been supplied with basic equipment, including a smartphone, to make their episode — but the rest is up to them.
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They will have to use their homes and the people they are isolating with as the environment and protagonists for their 15-minute stories, which examine the situation created by Covid-19. The different stories will contain romantic comedy, drama, and some fantasy elements,...
Leticia Dolera (Perfect Life), Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Mother), Paula Ortiz (The Bride), Carlos Marqués-Marcet (The Days To Come) and Elena Martín (Julia ist) have been supplied with basic equipment, including a smartphone, to make their episode — but the rest is up to them.
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They will have to use their homes and the people they are isolating with as the environment and protagonists for their 15-minute stories, which examine the situation created by Covid-19. The different stories will contain romantic comedy, drama, and some fantasy elements,...
- 4/14/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO Europe has asked five Spanish directors to reflect on coronavirus-induced confinement in a specially commissioned, fast-turnaround short film anthology series entitled “At Home.”
The five individual episodes will be filmed in the homes of the directors, who will collaborate with those they are isolating with. They have been provided with some basic equipment to create their episodes, including a smartphone.
The five Spanish directors working on the project include: Leticia Dolera, who helmed Canneseries TV festival winner and Movistar Plus original “Perfect Life”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose political thriller “The Candidate” screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival; Paula Ortiz, whose film “The Bride” — based on Federico García Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” — played at San Sebastián in 2015; Carlos Marqués-Marcet, whose debut film “10.000km” in 2014 won the best new director award at the Goyas and whose recent credits include “Days to Come” and “Anchor and Hope”; and Elena Martín,...
The five individual episodes will be filmed in the homes of the directors, who will collaborate with those they are isolating with. They have been provided with some basic equipment to create their episodes, including a smartphone.
The five Spanish directors working on the project include: Leticia Dolera, who helmed Canneseries TV festival winner and Movistar Plus original “Perfect Life”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose political thriller “The Candidate” screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival; Paula Ortiz, whose film “The Bride” — based on Federico García Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” — played at San Sebastián in 2015; Carlos Marqués-Marcet, whose debut film “10.000km” in 2014 won the best new director award at the Goyas and whose recent credits include “Days to Come” and “Anchor and Hope”; and Elena Martín,...
- 4/14/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Big Little Lies star Nicole Kidman will be back on HBO with her new limited series The Undoing on Sunday, May 10, as revealed in the above trailer.
The dramatic thriller — adapted by Bll writer/Ep David E. Kelley from Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel You Should Have Known — stars Kidman and Hugh Grant as Grace and Jonathan Fraser, a Manhattan power couple whose idyllic life is rocked by “a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations,” per the official logline. “Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which...
The dramatic thriller — adapted by Bll writer/Ep David E. Kelley from Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel You Should Have Known — stars Kidman and Hugh Grant as Grace and Jonathan Fraser, a Manhattan power couple whose idyllic life is rocked by “a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations,” per the official logline. “Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which...
- 3/9/2020
- TVLine.com
Curb Your Enthusiasm Recap: 'Latte Larry' Goes to War with Ted, Jeff, His Lawyer and, Well, Everyone
Last week’s premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm made it pretty clear: Larry’s going to war.
So, will Latte Larry enact his battle plan against Mocha Joe tonight? Maybe not, but let’s see what shenanigans he gets into anyway.
More from TVLineThe Outsider Recap: El Coco LocoThe Undoing Trailer: Nicole Kidman's Perfect Life Unravels in HBO ThrillerMegyn Kelly to Make First Appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher
Larry meets with his lawyer to discuss the sexual harassment complaint from his assistant. If she gets anything from this lawsuit, Larry’s dead-set on leaving the country. Canada sounds nice,...
So, will Latte Larry enact his battle plan against Mocha Joe tonight? Maybe not, but let’s see what shenanigans he gets into anyway.
More from TVLineThe Outsider Recap: El Coco LocoThe Undoing Trailer: Nicole Kidman's Perfect Life Unravels in HBO ThrillerMegyn Kelly to Make First Appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher
Larry meets with his lawyer to discuss the sexual harassment complaint from his assistant. If she gets anything from this lawsuit, Larry’s dead-set on leaving the country. Canada sounds nice,...
- 1/27/2020
- TVLine.com
Madrid — Movistar Plus, the pay TV/Svod arm of giant European telecom Telefonica, is upping the ante. On New Year’s Eve, it announced a first 2020 release line-up – more titles may be added – that has two big swings, more emphasis on action, and a larger number of comedy and non-fiction plays.
2020’s 14 new series or seasons marks an all-time company record.
That, however, is just Movistar Plus, and does not count any big series in the second half of the year, or any that it might put into development via a new joint production venture, announced in September, with broadcast network Atresmedia.
Also, there may be more feature films, following on the company’s first original movie, Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War,” which earned a gratifying €11.0 million at the Spanish box office this year, and established the pay TV unit as one of the very few companies in Spain...
2020’s 14 new series or seasons marks an all-time company record.
That, however, is just Movistar Plus, and does not count any big series in the second half of the year, or any that it might put into development via a new joint production venture, announced in September, with broadcast network Atresmedia.
Also, there may be more feature films, following on the company’s first original movie, Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War,” which earned a gratifying €11.0 million at the Spanish box office this year, and established the pay TV unit as one of the very few companies in Spain...
- 12/31/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Jan Motjo’s Beta Films has found new broadcast homes for the Movistar Plus original series “Arde Madrid,” which won the Rose d’Or-Award for Best Comedy or Drama this past Sunday in London. The Virginia-based MHz Networks will broadcast the series in the U.S., France Televisions in France, HBO in Brazil and Teleclub in Switzerland.
According to Beta, negotiations are ongoing with broadcast partners in Russia, Eastern Europe, Portugal and Greece.
Co-created and co-written by Anna R. Costa and Paco Léon,who also stars in the show, “Arde Madrid” was an immediate hit in Spain for Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, quickly becoming the service’s most binged series ever after its November 2018 release. Since then it has hauled in a raft of prizes including best comedy at Spain’s Feroz Awards, the country’s Golden Globes, best miniseries or TV-series at the Platino Awards; and Sunday’s Rose d’Or.
According to Beta, negotiations are ongoing with broadcast partners in Russia, Eastern Europe, Portugal and Greece.
Co-created and co-written by Anna R. Costa and Paco Léon,who also stars in the show, “Arde Madrid” was an immediate hit in Spain for Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, quickly becoming the service’s most binged series ever after its November 2018 release. Since then it has hauled in a raft of prizes including best comedy at Spain’s Feroz Awards, the country’s Golden Globes, best miniseries or TV-series at the Platino Awards; and Sunday’s Rose d’Or.
- 12/6/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Barcelona – A Netflix original produced by Spain’s Filmax, “Days of Christmas” marks the new series of Pau Freixas, one of the highest-profile creators on Spain’s vibrant drama series scene. A three-part miniseries, “Days” will be made available worldwide by Netflix on Dec. 6.
The story takes place over three different Christmas days, the first in 1949, the second twenty years later and the last one in current rimes more or less. The plot plumbs the secrets hidden and nurtured over these years by a family living in an isolated house in the mountains. The main characters are four women. Twelve actresses, among the best actors of their generations, play the role of four sisters at different times and stages of their lives. Victoria Abril (Pedro Almodóvar’s “High Heels”), Elena Anaya, (Almodóvar’s “The Skin I Live In”), Nerea Barros (Alberto Rodríguez’ “Marshland”) and Verónica Echegui (Simon Donald’s TV-series “Fortitude”) are some of them.
The story takes place over three different Christmas days, the first in 1949, the second twenty years later and the last one in current rimes more or less. The plot plumbs the secrets hidden and nurtured over these years by a family living in an isolated house in the mountains. The main characters are four women. Twelve actresses, among the best actors of their generations, play the role of four sisters at different times and stages of their lives. Victoria Abril (Pedro Almodóvar’s “High Heels”), Elena Anaya, (Almodóvar’s “The Skin I Live In”), Nerea Barros (Alberto Rodríguez’ “Marshland”) and Verónica Echegui (Simon Donald’s TV-series “Fortitude”) are some of them.
- 12/6/2019
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
In this week’s International TV Newswire, Enders Analysis’ report casts shadow over European soccer rights, Netflix primes its Spanish-language star system, landing Manolo Caro for a new thriller, Denmark prepares a new series TV fest, and Spain’s Movistar Plus primes female voices.
European Soccer Faces ‘Post Boom’ – Report
Pele popularized the phrase “the beautiful game.” He never said that soccer was profitable. For broadcasters, it is often a loss leader, a must have for dominant pay-tv services, or networks looking to retain market share. Over this decade, as the prices TV operators were prepared to pay for soccer rose, soccer clubs never had it so good. Between the 2012/13 and 2017/18 seasons, revenues for the top five European leagues rose 7.7% in compound annual growth rate according to an Enders Analysis report published Friday, driven by broadcasting (up 9.9%), sponsorship (up 8.5%), match day (a 3.3% rise). But that may be as good as it gets.
European Soccer Faces ‘Post Boom’ – Report
Pele popularized the phrase “the beautiful game.” He never said that soccer was profitable. For broadcasters, it is often a loss leader, a must have for dominant pay-tv services, or networks looking to retain market share. Over this decade, as the prices TV operators were prepared to pay for soccer rose, soccer clubs never had it so good. Between the 2012/13 and 2017/18 seasons, revenues for the top five European leagues rose 7.7% in compound annual growth rate according to an Enders Analysis report published Friday, driven by broadcasting (up 9.9%), sponsorship (up 8.5%), match day (a 3.3% rise). But that may be as good as it gets.
- 10/25/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The climax of this year’s Canneseries came, appropriately enough, at its end, Ep. 1 of Russell T. Davies’ “Years & Years,” its final series, which played at its closing gala, concluded. There was a brief silence and then a barrage of applause. The audience knew,if comments from spectators made as they walked out of Cannes Palais des Festivals were anything to go by, that they had just caught the world premiere of the first episode of one of the great series of the year: a searing political analysis, delivered through a down-the-years family drama, of one future for Britain.
There were more of what Canneseries artistic director Albin Lewi calls “Magic moments”: Diana Rigg accepting Variety Icon Award with a mixture of self effacement, good humor and trie emotion; the metamorphosis in the space of 15 minutes at the awards ceremony of Spain’s Leticia Dolera from a budding filmmaker,...
There were more of what Canneseries artistic director Albin Lewi calls “Magic moments”: Diana Rigg accepting Variety Icon Award with a mixture of self effacement, good humor and trie emotion; the metamorphosis in the space of 15 minutes at the awards ceremony of Spain’s Leticia Dolera from a budding filmmaker,...
- 10/22/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The international TV business convened in Cannes this week for Mipcom, the biggest television market of the year and a firm date on the calendar for distributors and acquisitions execs. Although no one title emerged as this year’s standout, there were deals aplenty on the ground.
Here are some of the most eye-catching:
– Pathé has teamed with Vendôme Group to co-produce a miniseries retelling the story of last April’s devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The companies are co-developing the project with U.K.-based Moonriver TV.
– British entertainment channel E4 acquired three U.S. scripted series: NBC’s upcoming musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” from Lionsgate, and CBS shows “Man With a Plan” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”
– PBS Masterpiece has boarded the remake of classic European detective series “Van der Valk”, which is being produced by Company Pictures and Nl Film & TV. All...
Here are some of the most eye-catching:
– Pathé has teamed with Vendôme Group to co-produce a miniseries retelling the story of last April’s devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The companies are co-developing the project with U.K.-based Moonriver TV.
– British entertainment channel E4 acquired three U.S. scripted series: NBC’s upcoming musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” from Lionsgate, and CBS shows “Man With a Plan” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”
– PBS Masterpiece has boarded the remake of classic European detective series “Van der Valk”, which is being produced by Company Pictures and Nl Film & TV. All...
- 10/18/2019
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
No company in the world has more market screenings at Mipcom, the biggest TV event in the world, than Telefonica pay TV unit Movistar Plus. It’s already Spain’s No. 1 content player, investing €841.1 million ($925.2 million) in programming this year, according to Ihs Markit estimates. Now, it looks set to get even bigger.
On Sept. 20, Telefonica and Spanish network Atresmedia announced a framework agreement to create a 50/50 joint venture production-distribution giant to produce both series and feature films, focusing on fiction.
The alliance, negotiated by Atresmedia CEO Silvio Gonzalez and Emilio Gayo, Telefonica España president, comes after the July 19 global launch of the season 3 launch of Atresmedia’s “La Casa de Papel,” which was watched by 35 million Netflix household accounts over its first seven days, a new all-time record for a Netflix non-English-language series.
“The demand for high-quality Spanish-language content has never been higher,” Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé has said.
On Sept. 20, Telefonica and Spanish network Atresmedia announced a framework agreement to create a 50/50 joint venture production-distribution giant to produce both series and feature films, focusing on fiction.
The alliance, negotiated by Atresmedia CEO Silvio Gonzalez and Emilio Gayo, Telefonica España president, comes after the July 19 global launch of the season 3 launch of Atresmedia’s “La Casa de Papel,” which was watched by 35 million Netflix household accounts over its first seven days, a new all-time record for a Netflix non-English-language series.
“The demand for high-quality Spanish-language content has never been higher,” Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé has said.
- 10/14/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
“Money Heist” is the most-watched non-English series in Netflix history. “The Plague” played on the BBC. “Side Games” was a big hit for DirecTV Latin America. Success can take many shapes. Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile figure as the regular top markets for Spanish TV fiction, though now, standout performances have extended across the U.S. market.
“In recent years, Spanish TV fiction has taken an impressive leap in quality, allowing it to expand to the rest of the world,” says Alejandro Rojas, regional director, Latin America at Parrot Analytics.
It’s also started to appear in other non-traditional markets such as Japan, Greece and Turkey. In the U.S., “Elite” Season 2, produced by Zeta Audiovisual for Netflix, multiplied its demand five times compared to 2018’s original; “Money Heist” Part 3 increased viewings 50% versus earlier installments, according to Parrot Analytics.
“Obviously U.S. productions always have an advantage: The audience prefers to consume content without dubbing,...
“In recent years, Spanish TV fiction has taken an impressive leap in quality, allowing it to expand to the rest of the world,” says Alejandro Rojas, regional director, Latin America at Parrot Analytics.
It’s also started to appear in other non-traditional markets such as Japan, Greece and Turkey. In the U.S., “Elite” Season 2, produced by Zeta Audiovisual for Netflix, multiplied its demand five times compared to 2018’s original; “Money Heist” Part 3 increased viewings 50% versus earlier installments, according to Parrot Analytics.
“Obviously U.S. productions always have an advantage: The audience prefers to consume content without dubbing,...
- 10/12/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — France’s M6 Group, the country’s second-biggest broadcast network, has acquired free-to-air TV rights to Leticia Dolera’s Canneseries winner “Perfect Life,” a banner Movistar Plus Original Series sold by Beta Film, where three women friends see their life turned upside down by over-30s crises: Hence the photo. .
The deal marks the second milestone deal with a big European network for the eight-part series after Germany’s Rtl Group swooped on free-to-air rights for Germany.
Talks with Poland are being finalized. There are ongoing negotiations for U.S. distribution, as well as with European and Latin American partners, Beta Film sources said Wednesday.
Unusually for a sale, the M6 deal takes in rights to both the original series, which will screen on female/family focused M6 channel Téva, and format rights, acquired by the M6 Group’s production-distribution company Snd with the idea of creating a France-adapted prime time version.
The deal marks the second milestone deal with a big European network for the eight-part series after Germany’s Rtl Group swooped on free-to-air rights for Germany.
Talks with Poland are being finalized. There are ongoing negotiations for U.S. distribution, as well as with European and Latin American partners, Beta Film sources said Wednesday.
Unusually for a sale, the M6 deal takes in rights to both the original series, which will screen on female/family focused M6 channel Téva, and format rights, acquired by the M6 Group’s production-distribution company Snd with the idea of creating a France-adapted prime time version.
- 10/9/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — Blessed by sun, a steady sustenance of Donostia winning stars and a stream of production announcements, the San Sebastian Film Festival rounded its final bend on Friday after a robust 67th edition. San Sebastian’s status as the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world remains unquestioned. The maelstrom of change – imminent global platforms. markets, Latin American politics -could not but play out over events, forging a festival of sharp contrasts and little granularity about how major pivots in the global business could impact the Spanish-language arthouse business and new directors, its stock in trade. Following seven takeaways from this edition:
1. The Winners: Spanish Svod Platforms
You could hear a proverbial pin drop as HBO España unveiled first footage from its first announced series in Spain: “Patria,” a multi-time-period set chronicle on the human impact of the Basque conflict. It left San Sebastian with the status of a must-see show.
1. The Winners: Spanish Svod Platforms
You could hear a proverbial pin drop as HBO España unveiled first footage from its first announced series in Spain: “Patria,” a multi-time-period set chronicle on the human impact of the Basque conflict. It left San Sebastian with the status of a must-see show.
- 9/27/2019
- by John Hopewell and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Beta Film has added two more high-profile Spanish scripted series from Movistar Plus to its lineup ahead of Mipcom. The Germany-based content outfit has a history of selling Spanish drama globally, and has snagged the rights to action-thriller “La Unidad” and drama series “Tell Me Who I Am.”
The scripted series will be highlights of the Movistar Plus 2020 lineup as the pay-tv and streaming outfit goes deeper into original drama. Beta and Movistar Plus have a co-production and distribution deal in place, with recent successes including Alex Pina’s “The Pier,” Leticia Dolera‘s “Perfect Life” and Paco Leon’s “Arde Madrid.”
Beta Film will bring the two new dramas to market for the first time at Mipcom, the biggest event on the international TV calendar. Both “La Unidad” and “Tell Me Who I Am” are in production, and the focus at Mipcom will be pre-sales.
“La Unidad” re-teams director...
The scripted series will be highlights of the Movistar Plus 2020 lineup as the pay-tv and streaming outfit goes deeper into original drama. Beta and Movistar Plus have a co-production and distribution deal in place, with recent successes including Alex Pina’s “The Pier,” Leticia Dolera‘s “Perfect Life” and Paco Leon’s “Arde Madrid.”
Beta Film will bring the two new dramas to market for the first time at Mipcom, the biggest event on the international TV calendar. Both “La Unidad” and “Tell Me Who I Am” are in production, and the focus at Mipcom will be pre-sales.
“La Unidad” re-teams director...
- 9/27/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — Executives from HBO, Netflix, Amazon and Movistar+ and “Elite” co-creator Darío Madrona took to the stage to field questions on the Global Impact of Spanish Series. Here, briefly, are five takeaways:
1.Spain First
“La Casa de Papel” was watched by 34,355,956 Netflix accounts over its first seven days, after a July 19 global launch. According to a Parrot Analytics study, “Elite” Season 2, released Sept. 6, was more popular in the U.S. than Spain. That said, all operators insisted their Spanish original series are made first and foremost for their home market. Madrona went even further. “The trick is managing to satisfy the most important viewer: Myself.”
2.Talent
Will there be enough market for established and new Svod global streaming platforms? Of course, nobody knows. But the battle for success will be fought over talent. At Netflix, Diego Avalos, director of original content, Spain, confirmed that in upcoming months the streaming...
1.Spain First
“La Casa de Papel” was watched by 34,355,956 Netflix accounts over its first seven days, after a July 19 global launch. According to a Parrot Analytics study, “Elite” Season 2, released Sept. 6, was more popular in the U.S. than Spain. That said, all operators insisted their Spanish original series are made first and foremost for their home market. Madrona went even further. “The trick is managing to satisfy the most important viewer: Myself.”
2.Talent
Will there be enough market for established and new Svod global streaming platforms? Of course, nobody knows. But the battle for success will be fought over talent. At Netflix, Diego Avalos, director of original content, Spain, confirmed that in upcoming months the streaming...
- 9/21/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — “La Casa de Papel” (“Money Heist”) may be the most seen of Spanish series this year. Leticia Dolera’s still-to-bow “Perfect Life,” however, is the most laureled, sweeping at April’s 2nd Canneseries TV festival both best series and best special performance for its female leads, Dolera herself, Celia Freijeiro and Aixa Villagrán, from a jury presided over by “Dark” co-creator Baran bo Odar.
Sold by Beta Film and a Movistar+ Original Series – as women’s voices are heard ever more in its line-up – “Perfect Life’s” full series now world premieres at the San Sebastian’s big screen Velodrome – a sign of its perceived broad audience appeal.
“Winning Canneseries, up against ten other series at a place where Leticia wasn’t well-known, is one of the loveliest things that has happened to me,” says Domingo Corral, Movistar+ head of original fiction.
He adds: “Leticia’s series talks...
Sold by Beta Film and a Movistar+ Original Series – as women’s voices are heard ever more in its line-up – “Perfect Life’s” full series now world premieres at the San Sebastian’s big screen Velodrome – a sign of its perceived broad audience appeal.
“Winning Canneseries, up against ten other series at a place where Leticia wasn’t well-known, is one of the loveliest things that has happened to me,” says Domingo Corral, Movistar+ head of original fiction.
He adds: “Leticia’s series talks...
- 9/20/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Three years ago, Spain’s independent TV production sector was heading toward a crisis with ever lower profit margins. Cut to 2019, and Spain is enjoying a golden age of drama series production, while consolidating as a global production center.
One major factor in the turnaround has been Movistar Plus, the pay TV unit of Telefonica. It has made the biggest push into high-end original production of any telecom in Europe — just as U.S. and European telcos scramble to compete for content with media companies.
The first results, at home and abroad, of Telefonica’s content drive are now in.
One is a turnaround. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Movistar Plus lost 54,000 pay-tv subscribers. After its first three original series had been released, Movistar Plus added 80,700 in Q4 2017. Since July 2017, releasing 22 original or returning series through September, Movistar Plus has posted eight consecutive quarters of steady pay TV household growth,...
One major factor in the turnaround has been Movistar Plus, the pay TV unit of Telefonica. It has made the biggest push into high-end original production of any telecom in Europe — just as U.S. and European telcos scramble to compete for content with media companies.
The first results, at home and abroad, of Telefonica’s content drive are now in.
One is a turnaround. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Movistar Plus lost 54,000 pay-tv subscribers. After its first three original series had been released, Movistar Plus added 80,700 in Q4 2017. Since July 2017, releasing 22 original or returning series through September, Movistar Plus has posted eight consecutive quarters of steady pay TV household growth,...
- 9/13/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Opening on Sept. 20 with Roger Michell’s “Blackbird,” starring Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon, and set at a stunning Basque resort, the San Sebastián Film Festival marks the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world. Here are 10 early takes on 2019’s edition.
A Festival of Discoveries
“Every festival has its own personality. Venice is now mainly a platform for big star-driven U.S. movies, Cannes for very high-quality cinema,” says festival director José Luis Rebordinos. “We search for new talent, and if you want to know what’s going on now in Latin America, come to San Sebastián.”
Five of its main competition movies are first or second features, with some very good word-of-mouth: David Zonana’s pointedly elegant Mexican class-gulf drama “Workforce,” and Belen Funes’ “A Thief’s Daughter,” a vision of low-income youth juggling love, broken families and bills. New Directors is now firmly established as the festival’s major sidebar.
A Festival of Discoveries
“Every festival has its own personality. Venice is now mainly a platform for big star-driven U.S. movies, Cannes for very high-quality cinema,” says festival director José Luis Rebordinos. “We search for new talent, and if you want to know what’s going on now in Latin America, come to San Sebastián.”
Five of its main competition movies are first or second features, with some very good word-of-mouth: David Zonana’s pointedly elegant Mexican class-gulf drama “Workforce,” and Belen Funes’ “A Thief’s Daughter,” a vision of low-income youth juggling love, broken families and bills. New Directors is now firmly established as the festival’s major sidebar.
- 9/13/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Gadea Films is initiating early production on “Sara,” a docu-feature chronicle of the journey of a filmmaker, Spain’s Patricia Franquesa, to encounter Sara Bahai, the first female taxi driver in Afghanistan.
Produced by Laia Zanon and Franquesa at Gadea, who teamed for development with Alice Tillet and Kristian Mosvold at Substans Film, both in Norway, “Sara” won a Norwegian Cultiva Ekspress Artist Fund development award. In December. it also snagged a development award from the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (Icec).
It will now be introduced to the international market from Aug. 9 at Locarno’s Match Me! networking forum.
“Sara” represents Franquesa’s documentary directorial debut and the first lead feature production at Gadea Films, which Zanon and Franquesa launched in late 2016, having worked together producing projects since 2010.
Bahai is gradually achieving public recognition, which she’s been seeking for a long time, said Franquesa. Her biggest challenge,...
Produced by Laia Zanon and Franquesa at Gadea, who teamed for development with Alice Tillet and Kristian Mosvold at Substans Film, both in Norway, “Sara” won a Norwegian Cultiva Ekspress Artist Fund development award. In December. it also snagged a development award from the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (Icec).
It will now be introduced to the international market from Aug. 9 at Locarno’s Match Me! networking forum.
“Sara” represents Franquesa’s documentary directorial debut and the first lead feature production at Gadea Films, which Zanon and Franquesa launched in late 2016, having worked together producing projects since 2010.
Bahai is gradually achieving public recognition, which she’s been seeking for a long time, said Franquesa. Her biggest challenge,...
- 8/9/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Beating out other suitors, Madrid-based sales company Latido Films has closed international sales rights on Belén Funes’ anticipated San Sebastian main competition contender “A Thief’s Daughter” (“La hija de un ladrón”). BTeam Pictures will release the film in Spain.
Already one of the most talked-about titles heading to San Sebastian this year, based on word-of-mouth generated by sneak-peak screenings in Madrid and Barcelona, Funes’ feature debut is sparking buzz for both its direction as well as Greta Fernández’s lead performance.
San Sebastian Festival director José Luis Rebordinos readily admits that he and his selection team had originally thought of the film as a candidate for the festival’s New Directors section. After screening it, however, they wanted it for main competition.
Seen in Isabel Coixet’s “Elisa & Marcela,” Fernández plays Sara, a single mother traumatized by her jailed father’s abandonment who attempts to juggle reuniting...
Already one of the most talked-about titles heading to San Sebastian this year, based on word-of-mouth generated by sneak-peak screenings in Madrid and Barcelona, Funes’ feature debut is sparking buzz for both its direction as well as Greta Fernández’s lead performance.
San Sebastian Festival director José Luis Rebordinos readily admits that he and his selection team had originally thought of the film as a candidate for the festival’s New Directors section. After screening it, however, they wanted it for main competition.
Seen in Isabel Coixet’s “Elisa & Marcela,” Fernández plays Sara, a single mother traumatized by her jailed father’s abandonment who attempts to juggle reuniting...
- 7/25/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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