Starring “3o Coins’” Miguel Angel Silvestre and “The Palace’s” Katia Fellin, “Weiss & Morales” has gone into production in the Canary Islands, boasting the credentials of a textbook procedural appealing to current market appetites.
As co-production ramps up between free-to-air players in Europe, led very often by its state-backed networks, “Weiss & Morales” links two of the continents’ most powerful public broadcasters, Germany’s Zdf and Spain’s Rtve, which produce with Zdf Studios. The latter is also handling worldwide sales outside Spanish-speaking territories.
Also producing are Galicia-based Portocabo, which in the space of 10 years has pioneered co-productions between Spain’s Galicia and Portugal (“Dry Water”) and Spain and France (“Hierro), and Nadcon whose head, Peter Nadermann co-produced iconic Nordic Noir titles “The Killing” and “The Bridge” when at Zdf.
“A series rooted in the most classic elements of the genre and reformulated to meet the current standards of premium television drama,...
As co-production ramps up between free-to-air players in Europe, led very often by its state-backed networks, “Weiss & Morales” links two of the continents’ most powerful public broadcasters, Germany’s Zdf and Spain’s Rtve, which produce with Zdf Studios. The latter is also handling worldwide sales outside Spanish-speaking territories.
Also producing are Galicia-based Portocabo, which in the space of 10 years has pioneered co-productions between Spain’s Galicia and Portugal (“Dry Water”) and Spain and France (“Hierro), and Nadcon whose head, Peter Nadermann co-produced iconic Nordic Noir titles “The Killing” and “The Bridge” when at Zdf.
“A series rooted in the most classic elements of the genre and reformulated to meet the current standards of premium television drama,...
- 4/29/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Paramount+ hasn’t set a streaming date for The Envoys (Los Enviados) season two, but they have just released the first teaser trailer for the new season. According to Paramount+, season one was so popular on the streaming service that it ranks first among Spanish-language scripted series.
The series stars Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: Mexico) as Pedro Salinas and Miguel Ángel Silvestre (Narcos) as Simón Antequera. Assira Abbate, Marta Etura, Manuel Ríos, Susi Sánchez, Charo Zapardiel, Cristina Marcos, and Ricardo de Barreiro also star.
The cast also includes Isabel Naveira, Miquel Insúa, Pepo Suevos, Guillermo Carbajo, Francis Lorenzo, Carlos Olalla, and Luis Iglesia.
Emmy and Oscar winner Juan José Campanella (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) guides the series as showrunner, producer, and director. Martino Zaidelis, Camilo Antolini, and Inma Torrente also direct, with Eduardo Sacheri, Emanuel Diez, and Juan Pablo Domenech joining Campanella as writers. 100 Bares’ Muriel Cabeza and Portaocabo’s Alfonso Blanco executive produce.
The series stars Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: Mexico) as Pedro Salinas and Miguel Ángel Silvestre (Narcos) as Simón Antequera. Assira Abbate, Marta Etura, Manuel Ríos, Susi Sánchez, Charo Zapardiel, Cristina Marcos, and Ricardo de Barreiro also star.
The cast also includes Isabel Naveira, Miquel Insúa, Pepo Suevos, Guillermo Carbajo, Francis Lorenzo, Carlos Olalla, and Luis Iglesia.
Emmy and Oscar winner Juan José Campanella (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) guides the series as showrunner, producer, and director. Martino Zaidelis, Camilo Antolini, and Inma Torrente also direct, with Eduardo Sacheri, Emanuel Diez, and Juan Pablo Domenech joining Campanella as writers. 100 Bares’ Muriel Cabeza and Portaocabo’s Alfonso Blanco executive produce.
- 10/31/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Showrun and directed by Academy Award winner Juan Jose Campanella (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), burgeoning hit Paramount+ franchise “The Envoys” has gone into production on Season 2 in Galicia, North-West Spain.
Miguel Angel Silvestre (“En el corredor de la muerte”) and Luis Gerardo Méndez (“Club de Cuervos”) are reprising their roles as Vatican dispatched miracle corroborators, playing alongside Assira Abbate (“Empire of Lies”), who also starred in Season 1.
Described as a gripping thriller, Season 2 is again produced by Vis, Paramount’s international studio, in collaboration with 100 Bares, Campanella’s Buenos Aires production label and, this time round, Galicia’s A Coruña-based Portocabo. A producer on Movistar Plus+ hits “Hierro” and “Rapa,” Portocabo has also been behind pioneering premium TV co-productions with Portugal (“Dry Water”).
Released on Paramount+ on Dec. 12, Season 1 saw priests Pedro Salinas, a doctor with a scientific bent, and Simon Antequera, a looser cannon, dispatched to the...
Miguel Angel Silvestre (“En el corredor de la muerte”) and Luis Gerardo Méndez (“Club de Cuervos”) are reprising their roles as Vatican dispatched miracle corroborators, playing alongside Assira Abbate (“Empire of Lies”), who also starred in Season 1.
Described as a gripping thriller, Season 2 is again produced by Vis, Paramount’s international studio, in collaboration with 100 Bares, Campanella’s Buenos Aires production label and, this time round, Galicia’s A Coruña-based Portocabo. A producer on Movistar Plus+ hits “Hierro” and “Rapa,” Portocabo has also been behind pioneering premium TV co-productions with Portugal (“Dry Water”).
Released on Paramount+ on Dec. 12, Season 1 saw priests Pedro Salinas, a doctor with a scientific bent, and Simon Antequera, a looser cannon, dispatched to the...
- 10/4/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
An eerily quaint and picturesque Galician town sets the scene for a chilling high-profile murder in “Rapa,” the highly anticipated follow-up to Spain’s Movistar Plus hit “Hierro.”
After coming to the aid of bloodied Mayor Amparo Seoane (Mabel Rivera), lone witness and stymied professor Tomás becomes obsessed with her murder case and forms an unlikely bond with unyielding Civil Guard Sargent, Maite. As word of the crime shakes the town, a community’s secrets rise to the surface.
Produced by Movistar Plus in conjunction with Portocabo, led by Alfonso Blanco, and expertly directed by Jorge Coira, the six-part series offers up complex and riveting plot twists as questions arise regarding the salient nature between victim and perpetrator.
The drama, distributed by Beta Film, reunites creators Pepe Coira and Fran Araújo. Stunning and vast local landscapes take a front seat and intimate shots are used to elicit high-emotion, the cast delivering exceptional performances,...
After coming to the aid of bloodied Mayor Amparo Seoane (Mabel Rivera), lone witness and stymied professor Tomás becomes obsessed with her murder case and forms an unlikely bond with unyielding Civil Guard Sargent, Maite. As word of the crime shakes the town, a community’s secrets rise to the surface.
Produced by Movistar Plus in conjunction with Portocabo, led by Alfonso Blanco, and expertly directed by Jorge Coira, the six-part series offers up complex and riveting plot twists as questions arise regarding the salient nature between victim and perpetrator.
The drama, distributed by Beta Film, reunites creators Pepe Coira and Fran Araújo. Stunning and vast local landscapes take a front seat and intimate shots are used to elicit high-emotion, the cast delivering exceptional performances,...
- 4/3/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Germany’s Beta Film has picked up international distribution rights to two anticipated Movistar Plus originals, Canneseries-bound “El Inmortal – Gangs of Madrid” and Galician crime drama “Rapa.”
Sneak peeked at Series Mania, “Rapa” screens at the Malaga Festival on March 22.
The acquisitions form part of an ongoing multi-year distribution-production alliance unveiled in 2019, giving Beta exclusive international distribution rights to about six Movistar Plus series a year.
A Movistar Plus co-production with Telemundo Streaming Studios in collaboration with Banijay’s Dlo Producciones, “El Inmortal” inspired by true events, marks a deep dive into a figure and gang which reshaped Madrid’s 1990s criminal underworld.
There, José Antonio, played by Álex Garcia, rises up the ranks to drug lord, through a combination of burning ambition, innocence, and merciless elimination of rivals. But what he cherishes most may just cause his downfall, the synopsis runs.
Created by Dlo head José Manuel Lorenzo, eight-episode...
Sneak peeked at Series Mania, “Rapa” screens at the Malaga Festival on March 22.
The acquisitions form part of an ongoing multi-year distribution-production alliance unveiled in 2019, giving Beta exclusive international distribution rights to about six Movistar Plus series a year.
A Movistar Plus co-production with Telemundo Streaming Studios in collaboration with Banijay’s Dlo Producciones, “El Inmortal” inspired by true events, marks a deep dive into a figure and gang which reshaped Madrid’s 1990s criminal underworld.
There, José Antonio, played by Álex Garcia, rises up the ranks to drug lord, through a combination of burning ambition, innocence, and merciless elimination of rivals. But what he cherishes most may just cause his downfall, the synopsis runs.
Created by Dlo head José Manuel Lorenzo, eight-episode...
- 3/16/2022
- 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
Onza Distribution has taken worldwide sales rights outside Spain and Portugal to “Motel Valkirias,” a thriller series co-production led by Galician company CTV.
Producer of Netflix’s 2018 Galician-language pioneering TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas” (“Bitter Daisies”), CTV is teaming on “Motel Valkirias” with Spi, the Portuguese co-producer of HBO’s series “Auga Seca,” plus pubcasters Tvg in Galicia and Rtp in Portugal.
Created by “El Sabor das Margaridas” writer-producer Ghaleb Jaber Martínez and directed by Álex Sampaio (“Schimbare”) and Jorge Queiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”), “Motel Valkirias” is co-written by Jaber Martínez alongside actor-scribe Manuel Gancedo (“Gigantes”).
A police noir thriller with doses of black comedy that boards issues such as female empowerment and self-improvement, the eight episode 50 minute series is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal.
There, the lives of three women of different origins and ages, with significant financial and personal problems, converge by...
Producer of Netflix’s 2018 Galician-language pioneering TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas” (“Bitter Daisies”), CTV is teaming on “Motel Valkirias” with Spi, the Portuguese co-producer of HBO’s series “Auga Seca,” plus pubcasters Tvg in Galicia and Rtp in Portugal.
Created by “El Sabor das Margaridas” writer-producer Ghaleb Jaber Martínez and directed by Álex Sampaio (“Schimbare”) and Jorge Queiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”), “Motel Valkirias” is co-written by Jaber Martínez alongside actor-scribe Manuel Gancedo (“Gigantes”).
A police noir thriller with doses of black comedy that boards issues such as female empowerment and self-improvement, the eight episode 50 minute series is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal.
There, the lives of three women of different origins and ages, with significant financial and personal problems, converge by...
- 10/10/2021
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Movistar Plus, the Spanish TV and streaming label of telco giant Telefonica, has announced “Rapa,” a new Latin Noir thriller original series starring one of the country’s most decorated film and TV actors, Javier Cámara.
La Rapa is supposed to be a day of celebration and festival in the Galician town of A Capelada. However, when the village’s mayor is murdered the local community goes into panic mode. In a careful-what-you-wish-for moment, frustrated professor Tomás (Cámara) becomes the center of attention and the resulting investigation as the only witness to the crime. He will join forces with local Civil Guard inspector Maite, a woman most in her element when on a manhunt, to uncover what happened on that day.
“Rapa” sees Movistar team once again with leading Galician production company Portocabo, producers of one of the broadcaster’s biggest hit original hits “Hierro” – it’s Movistar...
La Rapa is supposed to be a day of celebration and festival in the Galician town of A Capelada. However, when the village’s mayor is murdered the local community goes into panic mode. In a careful-what-you-wish-for moment, frustrated professor Tomás (Cámara) becomes the center of attention and the resulting investigation as the only witness to the crime. He will join forces with local Civil Guard inspector Maite, a woman most in her element when on a manhunt, to uncover what happened on that day.
“Rapa” sees Movistar team once again with leading Galician production company Portocabo, producers of one of the broadcaster’s biggest hit original hits “Hierro” – it’s Movistar...
- 7/14/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
London-based Dcd Rights is launching a brand-new eight-hour second season of Spanish-Portuguese crime thriller “Dry Water.”
A slice of Galician and Portuguese Noir, “Dry Water” marks part of a pioneering push by Spain’s Portocabo, producer of Movistar Plus smash hit “Hierro,” to take classic free-to-air scripted in its native Galicia, north-west Spain, into a premium TV age.
The MipTV launch comes as HBO has boarded “Dry Water” season two, now set up as a co-production between Spain’s Portocabo and Portugal’s SPi with the participation of Portuguese public broadcaster Rtp, HBO Spain & Portugal and Tvg Galicia, the state TV in Galicia.
In a pre-MipTV deal made via Dcd Rights, the first series of “Dry Water,” launched at 2019’s Mipcom, has just been acquired by Ivi for its feed of 15 countries across Russia, Cis and the Baltic states. The first series of the thriller was previously picked up in Spain,...
A slice of Galician and Portuguese Noir, “Dry Water” marks part of a pioneering push by Spain’s Portocabo, producer of Movistar Plus smash hit “Hierro,” to take classic free-to-air scripted in its native Galicia, north-west Spain, into a premium TV age.
The MipTV launch comes as HBO has boarded “Dry Water” season two, now set up as a co-production between Spain’s Portocabo and Portugal’s SPi with the participation of Portuguese public broadcaster Rtp, HBO Spain & Portugal and Tvg Galicia, the state TV in Galicia.
In a pre-MipTV deal made via Dcd Rights, the first series of “Dry Water,” launched at 2019’s Mipcom, has just been acquired by Ivi for its feed of 15 countries across Russia, Cis and the Baltic states. The first series of the thriller was previously picked up in Spain,...
- 4/9/2021
- by Martin Dale and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Filmax, the Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales studio, has acquired international sales rights for two comedies, “When Brooklyn Met Seville” and “Brothers in Law.”
Both make passing social comment on Spain’s plight in their portrait of normal folk in desperate fixes, facing eviction or huge debt, and reacting with harebrained scams, which reflect their lack of schooling in real crime.
Mainly, however, the movies target audiences in Spain and around the world in need of light escapist fare, while packing potential for sales of both the original and format.
“When Brooklyn Met Seville” turns on Ana, a young girl in Seville, desperate to leave her hardscrabble neighborhood, whose mother, facing eviction, decides to take in a foreign student, Ariel Brooklyn, an African Americans student from a rich family. Ariel has never known such poverty; but he’s never met a girl like Ana either.
Produced by Madrid’s Capitán Araña (“El Plan...
Both make passing social comment on Spain’s plight in their portrait of normal folk in desperate fixes, facing eviction or huge debt, and reacting with harebrained scams, which reflect their lack of schooling in real crime.
Mainly, however, the movies target audiences in Spain and around the world in need of light escapist fare, while packing potential for sales of both the original and format.
“When Brooklyn Met Seville” turns on Ana, a young girl in Seville, desperate to leave her hardscrabble neighborhood, whose mother, facing eviction, decides to take in a foreign student, Ariel Brooklyn, an African Americans student from a rich family. Ariel has never known such poverty; but he’s never met a girl like Ana either.
Produced by Madrid’s Capitán Araña (“El Plan...
- 11/11/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The explosion of global streaming services has prompted a golden age of Spanish drama series.
Led by new seasons of Netflix phenomena “La casa de papel” (“Money Heist”) and “Elite,” global demand for the top 20 Spanish-produced TV fiction titles grew 30.2% this year compared to 2018, according to Parrot Analytics.
“The quality of Spanish production is powering stories across borders in an unstoppable way,” says Ana Bustamante, managing director at Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group.
“Since audiences are used to watching global content, it’s now much easier to sell Spanish series,” says Portocabo founder Alfonso Blanco, producer of “Hierro.”
“Spanish TV fiction is being discovered worldwide. Gradually there will be an adjustment to demand, prompting price hikes. This will allow us to continue growing and make more ambitious productions,” says Javier Méndez, the Mediapro Studio content director.
At home, global players are rapidly positioning themselves.
Netflix now operates its first European Production...
Led by new seasons of Netflix phenomena “La casa de papel” (“Money Heist”) and “Elite,” global demand for the top 20 Spanish-produced TV fiction titles grew 30.2% this year compared to 2018, according to Parrot Analytics.
“The quality of Spanish production is powering stories across borders in an unstoppable way,” says Ana Bustamante, managing director at Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group.
“Since audiences are used to watching global content, it’s now much easier to sell Spanish series,” says Portocabo founder Alfonso Blanco, producer of “Hierro.”
“Spanish TV fiction is being discovered worldwide. Gradually there will be an adjustment to demand, prompting price hikes. This will allow us to continue growing and make more ambitious productions,” says Javier Méndez, the Mediapro Studio content director.
At home, global players are rapidly positioning themselves.
Netflix now operates its first European Production...
- 10/12/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — “Dry Water” starts with a steadily advancing aerial shot of Lisbon, then its iconic squares, next cuts to stables used to fence firearms, then to Teresa, as she mounts her motorbike to pick up younger brother Paulo, whom she dotes on, at Lisbon’s extraordinarily modern central railway station.
After they meet their mother, cut to another aerial shot, of Spain’s Vigo, part of Galicia and another port city, in brilliant sunshine, its Atlantic ocean a deep blue.
Paulo returns to Vigo, where he works for his godfather, Mauro, in his shipping business down at the port. The next day he’s found dead with a shot to the head. Neither the investigating police officer, the soon to retire Viñas, nor Teresa, think it’s suicide.
Mostly unspooling in Vigo, in geographic terms, “Dry Water” lies off the beaten track, a virtue Spanish producer Portocabo, based in Galicia’s A Coruña,...
After they meet their mother, cut to another aerial shot, of Spain’s Vigo, part of Galicia and another port city, in brilliant sunshine, its Atlantic ocean a deep blue.
Paulo returns to Vigo, where he works for his godfather, Mauro, in his shipping business down at the port. The next day he’s found dead with a shot to the head. Neither the investigating police officer, the soon to retire Viñas, nor Teresa, think it’s suicide.
Mostly unspooling in Vigo, in geographic terms, “Dry Water” lies off the beaten track, a virtue Spanish producer Portocabo, based in Galicia’s A Coruña,...
- 10/10/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In this week’s International TV Newswire, “Hierro” breaks records in Spain, Sky readies fora diabolic Mipcom, Nent realigns, reflecting new market realities, Buena Vista drills down on gender crime, Drg, All3Media and EndemolShine strike production or sales deals.
Renewed, “Hierro” Triumphs in Spain
Movistar+, the pay TV unit of Telefonica, Europe’s third biggest telecom, has a hit on its hands. It says much, moreover, about Europe’s still building drama series scene.
This week, “Hierro,” a crime drama first seen at Seriesmania, was renewed for Season 2, and confirmed by Spain’s Movistar as its most-viewed of its first Original Series releases to date, judged over its first 80 days.
The result is a triumph for the series’ creators, Portocabo producer Alfonso Blanco and screenwriter Pepe Coira, plus director Jorge Coira. It also vindicates Movistar+ entry into international co-production, here with upscale French network Arte, Galicia-based Portocabo and the Lagardère Group’s Atlantique Productions,...
Renewed, “Hierro” Triumphs in Spain
Movistar+, the pay TV unit of Telefonica, Europe’s third biggest telecom, has a hit on its hands. It says much, moreover, about Europe’s still building drama series scene.
This week, “Hierro,” a crime drama first seen at Seriesmania, was renewed for Season 2, and confirmed by Spain’s Movistar as its most-viewed of its first Original Series releases to date, judged over its first 80 days.
The result is a triumph for the series’ creators, Portocabo producer Alfonso Blanco and screenwriter Pepe Coira, plus director Jorge Coira. It also vindicates Movistar+ entry into international co-production, here with upscale French network Arte, Galicia-based Portocabo and the Lagardère Group’s Atlantique Productions,...
- 9/6/2019
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Until recently, when a Spanish TV operator put up 100% finance, it retained nearly 100% of rights. Now, no one size fits all. Variety analyzes two projects that break the mold in Spain.
“La Sala”
Police TV thriller “La Sala” (The Room) shows three production companies greenlighting a TV project without TV network support — unthinkable until recently. Madrid-based Isla Audiovisual, creator of the CW’s “Star Crossed,” and Canary Islands’ CanCan and Funwood Media teamed to develop the series with their own creative and executive resources.
Producers pitched the script to TF1’s Newen, who put up financing against the series’ future international distribution. They pre-sold Spanish Svod to HBO España, and free-to-air TV rights to the regional pubcasters association Forta.
Directed by César Arriero and Manuel Sanabria, “La Sala” shot entirely in Gran Canaria, tapping into Canary Islands’ 45% tax credits for private investment in Spanish productions.
That helped cut the episodes...
“La Sala”
Police TV thriller “La Sala” (The Room) shows three production companies greenlighting a TV project without TV network support — unthinkable until recently. Madrid-based Isla Audiovisual, creator of the CW’s “Star Crossed,” and Canary Islands’ CanCan and Funwood Media teamed to develop the series with their own creative and executive resources.
Producers pitched the script to TF1’s Newen, who put up financing against the series’ future international distribution. They pre-sold Spanish Svod to HBO España, and free-to-air TV rights to the regional pubcasters association Forta.
Directed by César Arriero and Manuel Sanabria, “La Sala” shot entirely in Gran Canaria, tapping into Canary Islands’ 45% tax credits for private investment in Spanish productions.
That helped cut the episodes...
- 4/9/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Never has Spanish TV drama production been so vibrant.
Over the past 12 months, “La Casa de Papel” (“Money Heist”) and “Elite” became global sensations via Netflix, building on the success of previous series that demonstrated a never-seen-before appetite for Spanish originals.
Netflix is opening the doors of its first European production hub in Madrid in early April and preparing five new Spanish Originals; Movistar + aims to produce 15 series a year; HBO and Amazon are increasing production.
Meanwhile, top free-to-air TV broadcasters Mediaset España and Atresmedia are re-inventing themselves as studios, producing content for third-party operators, and taking advantage of their production expertise.
The boom is opening up more ambitious and flexible business production models, such as co-production.
“Many of our projects, from inception, have co-production partners,” says Telefonica’s Movistar + president, Sergio Oslé. “It keeps us international from the get-go and helps us distribute, and also reach some scale and share know-how.
Over the past 12 months, “La Casa de Papel” (“Money Heist”) and “Elite” became global sensations via Netflix, building on the success of previous series that demonstrated a never-seen-before appetite for Spanish originals.
Netflix is opening the doors of its first European production hub in Madrid in early April and preparing five new Spanish Originals; Movistar + aims to produce 15 series a year; HBO and Amazon are increasing production.
Meanwhile, top free-to-air TV broadcasters Mediaset España and Atresmedia are re-inventing themselves as studios, producing content for third-party operators, and taking advantage of their production expertise.
The boom is opening up more ambitious and flexible business production models, such as co-production.
“Many of our projects, from inception, have co-production partners,” says Telefonica’s Movistar + president, Sergio Oslé. “It keeps us international from the get-go and helps us distribute, and also reach some scale and share know-how.
- 4/9/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
U.K.’s Fearless Minds is joining forces with Spain’s “Hierro” producer Portocabo and Vaca TV to co-produce high-end historical mini-series project “Garbo, el espía que engañó a Hitler”.
Inspired by the life of the one-off Juan Pujol, alias Garbo, a Spanish double agent who helped change the course of World War II, the six-episode TV drama project is being penned by James Wood, creator of BBC series “Quacks” and “Rev.”
The move marks an early U.K.-Spain TV co-production alliance for TV drama, with international TV giant the Banijay Group also entering as a partner.
“Garbo” was first unveiled as a project in June 2017 at TV drama co-production meeting Conecta Fiction, in Galicia’s Santiago de Compostela, by series executive producers, Portocabo’s Alfonso Blanco and Vaca TV’s Borja Pena.
British producer Jolyon Symonds, who launched Fearless Minds in 2017 as the fruit of a joint venture with Banijay,...
Inspired by the life of the one-off Juan Pujol, alias Garbo, a Spanish double agent who helped change the course of World War II, the six-episode TV drama project is being penned by James Wood, creator of BBC series “Quacks” and “Rev.”
The move marks an early U.K.-Spain TV co-production alliance for TV drama, with international TV giant the Banijay Group also entering as a partner.
“Garbo” was first unveiled as a project in June 2017 at TV drama co-production meeting Conecta Fiction, in Galicia’s Santiago de Compostela, by series executive producers, Portocabo’s Alfonso Blanco and Vaca TV’s Borja Pena.
British producer Jolyon Symonds, who launched Fearless Minds in 2017 as the fruit of a joint venture with Banijay,...
- 4/7/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Lille, France — Banijay Rights-sold “Hierro” begins with sea, land, air and fire: Shots of the stunning volcanic isle of El Hierro, the most westerly point of Spain’s Canary Islands, with its black basalt rock, brown iron-rich gravel, white waves pummeling the coast, trees trunks twisted by wind and lava, a juniper bent double by wind.
But as much as it features extraordinary nature, and starts with a murder victim in a kind of southern isle Noir, “Hierro” turns, above all, on human nature, how it clings to and is forged by custom, and the complex, contradictory, comparable and contrasting characters of Candela, an intolerably upright Spanish judge, exiled for her rectitude to El Hierro, and Diaz, a arrogant narco kingpin who’s done time for homicide. The main suspect in the murder case of the man who was about to marry his daughter, Díaz is released by Candela,...
But as much as it features extraordinary nature, and starts with a murder victim in a kind of southern isle Noir, “Hierro” turns, above all, on human nature, how it clings to and is forged by custom, and the complex, contradictory, comparable and contrasting characters of Candela, an intolerably upright Spanish judge, exiled for her rectitude to El Hierro, and Diaz, a arrogant narco kingpin who’s done time for homicide. The main suspect in the murder case of the man who was about to marry his daughter, Díaz is released by Candela,...
- 3/25/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Portocabo TV, Ficción Producciones and Zenit TV figure among the five companies receiving Galician government moneys to develop audiovisual projects aimed at promoting the cultural values of St. James Way.
Ideas pitched by Agallas Films and Diez Caminos have also made the cut.
The five proposals, four TV series and a feature film, will share a total €75,000 to help finance their respective pre-production.
Set in the north-west of Spain, the region of Galicia channelling the support through the Galician Agency of Cultural Industries (Agadic), looking for a high-quality production with strong international distribution potential to celebrate Xacobeo 2021, a St. James’ Holy Year.
The companies have four months to develop their proposals. The awarded project will tap $1.64 million in the case of a TV series and $1.16 million if the prize goes to a feature film.
Alfonso Blanco’s Portocabo TV, producer of Movistar + original series “Hierro,” has presented “El Camino,” a...
Ideas pitched by Agallas Films and Diez Caminos have also made the cut.
The five proposals, four TV series and a feature film, will share a total €75,000 to help finance their respective pre-production.
Set in the north-west of Spain, the region of Galicia channelling the support through the Galician Agency of Cultural Industries (Agadic), looking for a high-quality production with strong international distribution potential to celebrate Xacobeo 2021, a St. James’ Holy Year.
The companies have four months to develop their proposals. The awarded project will tap $1.64 million in the case of a TV series and $1.16 million if the prize goes to a feature film.
Alfonso Blanco’s Portocabo TV, producer of Movistar + original series “Hierro,” has presented “El Camino,” a...
- 10/15/2018
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish drama is going through a renaissance in recent years, helped by a multi-million dollar drive by pay-tv operator Movistar+. Banijay Rights is now getting in on the action, picking up the rights to crime thriller Hierro.
The distributor will sell the eight-part drama internationally, marking the company’s first Spanish-language drama acquisition. It takes all rights outside of Spain, France and Latin America.
The series is produced by Portocabo and Atlantique Productions for Movistar+ and Arte France. Created by Pepe Coira and directed by Jorge Coira, it takes place on a secluded island in the Canary Islands archipelago and stars Spanish actress Candela Peña (Princesas) and Argentinean actor Darío Grandinetti (Wild Tales). Hierro will launch in the first half of 2019.
Caroline Torrance, Head of Scripted, Banijay Rights, said, “From the first time we saw Hierro, we immediately knew we wanted to be a part of it. With electric storytelling and premium production values,...
The distributor will sell the eight-part drama internationally, marking the company’s first Spanish-language drama acquisition. It takes all rights outside of Spain, France and Latin America.
The series is produced by Portocabo and Atlantique Productions for Movistar+ and Arte France. Created by Pepe Coira and directed by Jorge Coira, it takes place on a secluded island in the Canary Islands archipelago and stars Spanish actress Candela Peña (Princesas) and Argentinean actor Darío Grandinetti (Wild Tales). Hierro will launch in the first half of 2019.
Caroline Torrance, Head of Scripted, Banijay Rights, said, “From the first time we saw Hierro, we immediately knew we wanted to be a part of it. With electric storytelling and premium production values,...
- 8/30/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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