News

Spain’s The Mediapro Studio brought out the big guns at this year’s Mipcom to promote its first-ever English-language slate, which includes projects featuring John Turturro, Melissa Leo, “24” showrunner Evan Katz and Oscar winner Juan José Campanella, among others.

Though the ambitious pipeline was The Mediapro Studio’s big Mipcom head-turner, the company also closed noteworthy deals for a handful of its highest-profile shows of the last several years.

Disney+ Spain has acquired The Mediapro Studio and 3Cat’s thriller series “Quiet” (“El mal invisible”), which recently screened at Catalonia’s prestigious genre-focused Sitges International Film Festival. The show will debut on Catalan public television channel TV3 and the 3Cat platform soon, although a specific date hasn’t been announced.

Set in lock-down era Barcelona, “Quite” follows a police investigation to track down a serial killer who targets the homeless. David Verdaguer (“Saben Aquell”), Ángela Cervantes (“La Maternal”), and...

Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish SVOD/pay TV operator, has revealed four new scripted series for 2025, including a special on Pedro Almodóvar and struggling mother dramatic comedy “Yo siempre a veces” produced by “Veneno” and “La Mesías” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo at their busy Madrid-based shingle Suma Content.

Also in the mix is “Los sin nombre,” from Pau Freixas and Filmax, a series spin-off from the movie, “La Canción,” a new title from “Hierro” co-writers and “Rapa” co-creators Pepe Coira and Fran Araujo, and espionage thriller “El Centro.”

News of new series comes as Movistar Plus+ scored in September both at Venice and San Sebastián, screening Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” at Venice’s series selection, alongside Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ Series “Disclaimer,” Joe Wright’s “M. Son Of The Century” and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours.”

Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s “Querer” was hailed...

The thrill of the chase meets an offbeat character study in Diego San Jose’s latest series “Celeste,” a six-part episodic set to bow at San Sebastian’s Velodrome on Sept. 22.

Produced by Movistar Plus+ and The Mediapro Studio’s 100 Balas, with The Mediapro Studio Distribution handling international sales, the slyly enthralling first season follows Sara, an uninspiring tax investigator inching through life. On the cusp of early retirement, she’s lured into staying on the job for one last case – running down Latin pop star Celeste, who’s rumored to be taking advantage of her status to evade paying dues.

Setting out to make a thriller he likens to “Zodiac” or “Seven” but with a twist, San José manages an act of rebellion certain to shake monotonous algorithms and pull a curious, rapt audience. While not a masochist, he admits to craving change – and as he crafted this wily,...

San Sebastian — From when it began to incorporate Spanish TV series in its Official Selection – think 2017’s “The Plague” or 2020’s double whammy of “Patria” and “Riot Police” – San Sebastián has used its first Saturday to debate TV issues.

This time round, a panel highlighted crime series, featuring Movistar Plus+’s Susana Herreras, Laura Sarmiento, showrunner of Netflix hit “Intimacy” and lead writer on “Burning Body,” and Elías León Siminiani, co-creator of the 2017 docuseries “El caso Asunta (Operación Nenúfar)” which inspired the 2024 Netflix fiction series, “El Caso Asunta.”

Six takes on the panel discussion:

Spanish Crime Series Boom

The panel was entitled in Spanish “The Spanish Crime Series Boom.” That seems an understatement. According to Variety research, through Sept. 13 this year, seven Spanish titles hit No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Non-English TV series charts, occupying the top-charting position for a total 15 of the period’s total 35 weeks. That’s a...

New films by Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Jonas Trueba and Oliver Laxe join a brace of smart thrillers in a rich Cannes lineup from Spain.

“8,” (Julio Medem)

Medem returns towhat he does best: a love story transcending time and space and a poetic critique of recent history, according to sales agent Latido Films. “Fariña’s” Javier Rey and “La Mesías” Ana Rujus star as the lovers. Morena Films produces.

Sales: Latido

“As Neves,” (Sonia Méndez)

After a magic mushroom-fueled party, teens in a snowbound Galician village discover one of them is missing. The film was well-received at the Malaga festival.

Sales: Begin Again Films

“Barren Land,” (Albert Pintó)

From a director on “Money Heist” and “Berlin,” this suspense thriller captures how the drug trade devastates friendships and lives in Andalusía’s Cádiz. Film sports a great cast: Luis Zahera (“The Beasts”), Karra Elejalde (“While at War...

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,...

Spain’s film & TV giant The Mediapro Studio is joining forces with Catalan pubcaster 3Cat and its online platform to co-produce “El Mal” (“Quiet”), a thriller series based on a true story, on a serial killer prowling the streets of locked-down Barcelona in March-April 2020.

Presented April 8 at MipTV, the eight-part series will topline two Goya Awards-winning actor David Verdaguer and double Goya nominee actress Ángela Cervantes.

The series is set to premiere initially on 3Cat while The Mediapro Studio Distribution owns the worldwide commercial rights.

Created and lead written by Lluís Alcarazo – creator of Oriol Paulo’s crime thriller “Night and Day” and doc feature “Special Case “Quiet” – tells the story of an investigation to uncover the identity of a serial killer who chooses their victims from among the most vulnerable members of the society: the homeless.

The plot unfolds at the end of April 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Movistar’s fledgling distributor has struck its first slew of sales and is moving to the next stage, Gm Maria Valenzuela has revealed, as she discusses the Spanish giant’s attempt to reinvent the thriller genre and how the writers strike is gifting opportunities to spotlight international content.

Valenzuela took charge of Spain’s largest pay-tv/SVoD operator’s distributor Movistar Plus Internacional last year and the former Sony and Huawei exec said it has “been an incredible journey” so far.

The outfit is shopping the likes of Rapa Seasons 1 and 2 and Off World (Apagón), which have sold to Vix+ in the U.S. and LatAm, and is in the process of taking a bunch of new shows to market, which Valenzuela described as the “next step and the big challenge of the coming year” as she chatted to Deadline before a Nem keynote at the Dubrovnik market on Tuesday.

Amazon’s Prime Video has announced a 2023 Spanish production slate which takes in movies and series from directors, writers and above all producers who have set Spain’s box office and global streamer rankings on fire over the last decade.

Talent attached to the three new movies and three series unveiled Tuesday in Madrid at a Prime Video Presents Spain event include “Hildegart,” from the producers of 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” “Un hipster en la España vacía,” produced by Lazona Films, which made ”Spanish Affair,” the highest grossing Spanish film ever in Spain; and “Apocalipsis Z: El principio del fin,” backed by Nostromo Pictures, behind “Through My Window,” the sixth-most watched non-English movie ever on Netflix.

Another title, docuseries “El Circo de los Muchachos” is co-written by Pepe Coira, co-scribe of “Hierro” and “Rapa,” two of the most popular series to date on Telefonica’s Movistar+.

The news slate...

Spanish titles at MipTV:

“The Argonauts and the Golden Coin,” (Rtve)

A live action kids adventure, targeting 8-12s, from national public broadcaster Rtve and Galician powerhouse Portocabo as Rtve drives into regional co-production. Set over a summer in Galicia and inspired by the spirit of “The Famous Five” and “The Goonies,” translated to the 21st century.

“The Caravan,” (Cabal Films)

Selected for the inaugural MipDoc International Buyer Screenings, a first-person account of an eight-month pregnant woman in a caravan of Central American immigrants heading to the U.S.

“Dating in Barcelona,” (Filmax)

The latest from Filmax, behind “The Red Band Society” and “They All Lie,” following different romantic encounters of people who have met online.

“Dover: Die for Rock & Roll,” (Begin Again Films)

Doc feature on the Seattle/Jean Jett-inspired Spanish band, behind “Devil Came to Me,” and icon of late ‘90s Spanish alternative pop rock.

“Greenpeace,” (Zona Mixta...

Coming Next from Spain, a showcase of five series, unspooled at Series Mania on March 21 just after a Spanish series, “Wrong Side of the Tracks” from Mediaset España and Alea Media, had scored 149.6 million watching hours in three weeks on Netflix for Seasons 1 and 2.

That platform connection and power of Spanish series threaded most of the series and much of the commentary at Tuesday’s Next from Spain, supported by Audiiovisual from Spain.

At least in terms of titles now ready to hit the market, there’s little sign as yet of platform pullback in Spain. Rather, it remains a ground zero in the streamer wars.

2023 will see the release of 70 new Spanish scripted series and 27 returning seasons of titles such as “Elite” “Rapa” “30 Coins” and “Veneno,” presenter Irene Jiménez, at Audiovisual 451, told a Next From Spain audience.

Of these new titles, 36% will be produced by linear TV broadcasters,...

Exclusive: Non-English language drama streamer Walter Presents has acquired a package of five drama titles from Beta for release on its services in Australia and New Zealand.

The titles include Italian YA drama The Sea Beyond, Spanish investigative drama Rapa and German WWII miniseries The Turncoat.

The Sea Beyond, revolving around young inmates in a Naples prison, has enjoyed strong ratings in Italy on Rai, RaiPlay and Netflix since its launch in late 2020. The third season is currently enjoying linear success on Rai2.

Rapa, which was the most watched show on Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ in 2022, follows a high school teacher and local police officer in the Spanish port city of Ferrol, who form an unlikely team in solving a murder case.

Two-part, event mini-series The Turncoat is about a young German soldier in 1944, who is posted to a small unit in the Polish woods, where he connects with local...

Lille, France — Zdf Studios is bringing onto the market at Series Mania, “Dear Vivi,” the biggest series hit to date on ZDFmediathek, the VOD service of German public broadcaster.

Described by Zdf Studios as an “emotional family drama and thriller combo,” “Dear Vivi,” now renewed for a second season, also joins a new wave of more successful crime drama thrillers.

Though packing multiple suspense-drivers to their very end, these are more why than whodunnits, the motives for crime more important than the identity of the killer, known in the drama’s early going. One such series, Spain’s “Rapa,” showcased at the Berlinale Series Market, proved Movistar+’s biggest series bow of 2022.

In Germany, “Dear Vivi” (“Gestern waren wir noch Kinder”) has set new online records, its seven episodes, which launched on ZDFmedaithek on Dec. 30, punching online almost 21 million views, or three million views per episode.

This makes the program...

The latest series from Alex de la Iglesia and “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature at a first-look Next from Spain Showcase which marks a massive step-up in the country’s presence at the Berlinale Series Market.

Running Feb. 20-22, the showcase also unveils “Rapa” Season 2, with its first season proving Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow, and “This Is Not Sweden,” a pioneering Spanish co-production with Scandinavia and Germany.

The Showcase titles are joined by Isaki Lacuesta’s “The Chauffeur’s Son,” a Co-Pro Series project from “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, and “Selftape,” a Filmin Original from Filmax and a Series Market Screening.

Prior to 2023, Spanish titles only screened very occasionally at the market. This year’s splash , however, is entirely logical.

Thanks in part to a captive audience of 580 million Spanish speakers who are largely avid for melodrama-thrillers with a modern edge – think “La Casa de Papel,” “Who Killed Sara?...

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.

This year’s Berlinale Series Market kicks off Monday as Spanish series “The Snow Girl,” a missing girl suspense thriller produced by Spain’s Atípica Films, has attracted huge heat for Netflix, punching 101.7 million hours watched in its first three weeks. Doing so, it ranked as the streamer’s No. 1 non-English show in the world over Jan. 30 – Feb. 5.

In all, Spain has more shows and movies in Netflix’s all time non-English Top 10s than any other country in the world, seven to France’s two, for example.

Spain, it could be argued, has cracked online. But its drama series industry wants to ring more options.

As scripted commissions look to have dropped from second half 2022 in not only the U.S. but also Europe and Latin America, an energetic posse of Spanish producers and stars are rolling into Berlin to present new productions. These look set to explore an...

Powerhouse Banijay Iberia is joining forces with Spain’s top soccer federation Laliga to launch new sports-related content production, Laliga Studios.

The strategic deal sees Banijay tapping into its production expertise and Laliga, its soccer knowledge and reputation, in a drive to establish Laliga Studios as a global benchmark in the creation of content related to sport and its universal values.

Through this partnership, Laliga Studios will produce audiovisual content for Laliga, clubs, sponsors, and broadcasters. It will also work with international platforms and brands in the development, production, and distribution of entertainment, documentary, fiction, and animation content.

Chalo Bonifacino Cooke has been appointed managing director and executive producer of Laliga Studios and will oversee its international growth, which will be boosted thanks to the presence of both companies in multiple markets.

Laliga is “a great generator of narratives around sport and its values. We are eager to use our...

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...