News

The Society Of The Snow has garnered 13 nominations, followed by Close Your Eyes and Jokes & Cigarettes with 11.

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees leads the nominations for Spain’s prestigious Goya awards, which will be presented on February 10, 2024.

20,000 Species Of Bees premiered in competition at Berlin, going on to win the Silver Bear for best performance for Sofía Otero, playing an eight-year-old girl who spends a summer working in the Basque Country’s beehives while exploring her identity.

The film scored 15 nominations, including best film, best director and four nods in the acting categories.

Ja Bayona’s...

Film Factory Ent. – a sales agent on “Wild Tales,” “The Clan,” “Close Your Eyes” and “The Kings of the World” – has boarded “Jokes & Cigarettes” (“Saben Aquell”), the latest movie from Spain’s David Trueba which is fast-emerging as one of Spain’s late year Goya Award contenders after a San Sebastian sneak-peek and the bow of a trailer.

“Jokes & Cigarettes” joins a Film Factory sales lineup which has included, of titles at this week’s Mia Spanish Screenings on Tour, Javier Macipe’s breakout “The Blue Star,” a hit at San Sebastian where it won the TCM Youth Award and Spanish Co-operation Award.

Trueba, also a novelist, journalist and documentarian, has directed four fiction films and four documentaries since “Living is Easy With Eyes Closed,” which swept seven Goyas in 2014 including picture, director, original screenplay, actor (Fernando Cámara and actress (Natalia de Molina).

Released in Spain on Nov.

Filmax series “The Red Band Society,” one of the TV fiction formats with most international adaptations in recent years, is now getting a French-language Canadian version.

Multi-award-winning Quebec producer Encore Television, the company led by François Rozon, Vincent Gagné and Louis Bolduc, will produce in collaboration with Quebecor Content. The series is due to be released on Canadian broadcaster Tva in winter, 2022.

The new remake was negotiated by the Barcelona-based mini-major Filmax’s international sales arm, headed by Iván Díaz, and French distributor Ace Entertainment.

A first Canadian season will be 10 hours long and directed by actor-director Yan England. The script, which will largely stick to the original, will be penned by “Félix, Maude et la fin du monde” writers Michel Brouillette and Stephanie Perreault.

The series also boasts a very strong cast of actors such as Noah Parker (“La déesse des mouches à feu”), Anthony Therrien (“Les faux tatouages...

Spanish broadcaster and streaming platform Movistar Plus has made major headway in the world of high-end original production by teaming with big-name creative talent to produce some of the most polished series to ever come from the Iberian Peninsula.

One such example can be seen in the upcoming drama thriller “They All Lie,” produced by Filmax. It recently premiered at Vitoria FesTVal and will feature in this year’s Beta Film Mipcom lineup as a market screening before airing in Spain in December.

“They All Lie” (“Todos Mienten”) marks the latest offering from creator Pau Freixas, one of Spanish TV’s most prolific creators now working as a showrunner.

The series is set in Belmonte, a posh town on the Catalan coast, the series unspools within a tight-knit community of friends and colleagues, where everyone knows too much of everyone else’s business. Things gets especially heated when a video...

Feature comedies “El Cover,” the directorial debut of actor Secun de la Rosa, and Ana Murugarren’s “García y García,” will respectively open and close Spain’s 24th Malaga Film Festival, the country’s biggest event dedicated exclusively to films and TV in Spain and Latin America.

Running June 3-13, the festival focus will fall on its usefulness for the region’s film and TV industries, prioritizing cinema exhibition over social events.

The main competition, a faithful reflection of the most recent cinema produced both in Spain and Latin America, combines highly experienced filmmakers with up-and-coming talents. In total, it will highlight 23 features, 15 Spanish and eight Latin American.

Sold by Latido Films, Benidorm-set musical comedy “El Cover” is produced by Kiko Martínez at Madrid’s Nadie Es Perfecto (“Perfectos desconocidos”) in collaboration with Amazon Prime Video and Gts Entertainment.

Toplining Spanish comedians Pepe Viyuela and José Mota (“Padre no hay...

This year’s Berlinale Series has announced the section’s lineup of six titles.

The TV arm of the festival, which is being held online this year due to the pandemic, said the shows reflect “unconventional and surprising topics, narratives and visual style [that] comprise a mirror of our time.”

Latin American content is represented for the first time with the Argentinian HBO production “Entre hombres” (Amongst Men) and “Os últimos dias de Gilda” (The Last Days of Gilda) from Brazil. “Philly D.A.,” a U.S. production by Oscar-nominated duo Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, is the first documentary series to be invited into the program.

Separately, the Berlinale Series Market and Conference, the industry platform which is part of the European Film Market, has announced a newly created special label called “Berlinale Series Market Selects” that highlights series with high commercial potential within the “Berlinale Series Market” screenings.

Berlinale...

The Walt Disney Company Germany has picked up a pair of Beta Films series for its Fox pay TV network for German-speaking territories: Spanish YA drama “Alive and Kicking” and Russian thriller “Dead Mountain – The Dyatlov Pass Incident.” Both series were presented to buyers at Mipcom in October and several more deals for each are in advanced negotiations, and expected to be announced shortly.

A Movistar Plus original series from Spain, “Alive and Kicking” will participate in the official program of this year’s Brlinale, screening at its newly-designed section, Berlinale Series Market Selects, alongside fellow Beta Film YA series “Echos,” produced by Neuesuper for ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery’s Joyn.

Co-produced by Movistar Plus and Dynamo Audiovisual, “Alive and Kicking” marks the latest series from Spanish screenwriter Albert Espinosa, creator of Spain’s most successful ever drama format “Polseres vermelles,” adapted more than a dozen times around the world including an English-language version,...

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,...

Spanish formats are having a moment in Europe and further abroad, headlined by successes such as “Dangerous Moms,” “Gran Hotel” and, perhaps most successful of all, Albert Espinosa’s “The Red Band Society” — the format was sold globally, including to the U.S.

Espinosa, after a decade remaking his highly autobiographical Catalan original “Polseres vermelles” (“Red Band Society”), is back with “Alive and Kicking,” a new coming-of-age series that Beta Film is shopping at Mipcom.

Produced by Movistar Plus and Dynamo Audiovisual — the Madrid-based branch of Colombian indie powerhouse Dynamo, producers of Netflix’s “The Great Heist” and Colombia’s 2019 Oscar submission “Monos” — “Alive and Kicking” marks something of a sea change for Spain’s most successful fiction format creator.

A decade ago, when “Red Band Society” was created and its format sold globally, Netflix wasn’t a player in Europe and wouldn’t even arrive in Spain for another five years.

Underscoring a larger perceived global market potential for Spanish movies, Warner Bros. Pictures Intl. España is upping its bet on Spanish film production, in volume, budgets and talent.

Once largely acquiring, and then releasing in Spain, around six national films annually, the Hollywood studio now plans to invest in, or officially produce, eight-10 features a year, with Spanish star-studded casts and top directorial talent.

Disclosed to Variety as Warner Bros. Spain unveiled its 2020-21 slate at Spain’s San Sebastian Festival, the bigger push into Spanish production will also see the Hollywood studio continuing to partner on a joint development fund with Atresmedia Cine – a title-by-title non-exclusive alliance which is emerging as a key production axis on the Spanish movie scene.

At San Sebastian, Warner Bros. España updated Spanish media on five Spanish titles on its 2020-21 release slate, all produced by Atresmedia Cine, in association with Buendía Estudios. It...

Beta Film’s drama “The Turncoat,” which was just honored as best TV movie at the Seoul Intl. Drama Awards, has scored a series of territory deals, including the U.S.

The German miniseries, based on the bestseller by Siegfried Lenz and directed by Florian Gallenberger, winner of the Oscar for best live-action short, was sold around the world. Among others buyers include MHz Networks (U.S.), AMC Networks (Latin America), 1Hdtv and Mts (Russia), Npo (Netherlands), Rtp (Portugal), and Filmin (Spain).

Viasat World acquired “The Turncoat” for Epic Drama across Central and Eastern Europe. It is also going to be broadcast on Nrk (Norway), Yle (Finland), Dr (Denmark) and Svt (Sweden).

“The Turncoat” tells the story of the young German soldier Walter, who is posted to a unit in the Polish woods in 1944, surrounded by partisans. He is soon torn between a sense of duty, guilt and his conscience,...

From its fans’ opposition to Francisco Franco’s arcane dictatorship to Johan Cruyff’s total football and Pep Guardiola’s pass-and-run, Barcelona F.C., one of the world’s greatest soccer clubs, has always prided itself about being ahead of the game.

Now, in the latest pioneering move, announced Wednesday, Barcelona F.C. has launched Barça TV Plus, with 3,000 videos and 1,000 hours of content including live and delayed broadcast matches and on-demand content.

Together with a Culers Premium Membership loyalty program, Barça TV Plus forms part of a new digital strategy at the club, reflecting Barça’s drive into a direct-to-consumer business model.

Two further moves may prove crucial to that. Once held in exclusivity by Nike, Barcelona F.C. now has enlarged e-commerce rights to its merchandising. It is also ramping up its original productions.

Barça Studios, the club’s original production arm, also unveiled on Wednesday a clutch of new original productions,...

Barça Studios and Sony Music Latin Iberia are teaming to produce “Talent Explorers,” an animated series which marks the third title from Barça Studios, the burgeoning film-tv content arm of F.C. Barcelona, one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs.

The series – which sees Max, a 15 year-old boy, Roc, big bear with a heart of gold, and Lynds, a tech-savvy pink kitten, travel the world, scouting for the next generation of soccer stars, – marks the third title at Barça Studios, after first team player doc series “Matchday,” just released by Netflix in Latin America.

A second title, “La Masia,” represents Barça Studios’ first scripted series, set at the soccer club’s youth academy, and written by Albert Espinosa, creator of the Filmax-produced “The Red Band Society,” one of the most re-versioned Spanish series in its TV History, including a U.S. makeover adapted for Fox by Steven Spielberg...

Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. and El Estudio, a major new independent production player in the Spanish-speaking world, are teaming to produce a Mexican version of breakout Cuban feature “Juan of the Dead,” with Emilio Portés directing.

Chronicling a U.S. zombie invasion of Mexico, the remake marks one in a strong first slate of titles from El Estudio, launched at the Berlin Festival by three of the most connected producers in the Spanish-speaking world: Ex-Canana producer-partner Pablo Cruz, “The Impossible” producer Enrique López Lavigne and former Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. head Diego Suárez Chialvo.

Based out of Mexico, Los Angeles and Madrid, El Estudio has 63 projects in development or production. El Estudio is represented by CAA. Partners on early titles include Sony Pictures Intl. Prods., Netflix, HBO, Lionsgate, Viacom Intl. Pictures, Movistar Plus and Beta Film, El Estudio told Variety, announcing some of its 2020-21 projects:

“Verguenza” stars Mexico’s...

Season 2 of “Les Bracelets Rouges,” the French adaptation of Filmax’s children’s hospital drama “The Red Band Society,” has become a big audience hit for broadcaster TF1.

This confirms “The Red Band’s” status as one of the biggest Spanish TV formats of all time.

Aired from March 11 to April 1 on TF1 over Monday’s primetime, the eight episodes of “Les Bracelets’” S2 averaged powerful figures: 23% audience share and 5.1 million eyeballs. Every week, TF1 broadcast back-to-back two segments of the Vema-produced TV remake.

Results build on series Season 1, which already marked a huge success in France off its premiere on February 2018, averaging 6.4 million viewers and a 25% share. Each episode added one million views on TF1’s catch-up service.

“TF1 is trying new things. Four years ago, they used to rely on big American scripted series. Now, there’s more investment in adaptation,” said Avril Blondelot, head of content insight at Eurodata TV.

Did you know Red Band Society is an autobiography? We're more than honored to introduce you to Albert Espinosa, the real-life inspiration for Fox's new drama, one of our favorite freshman series of the season, that also happens to be one of TV's most uplifting and hopeful shows. In the exclusive video below, Espinosa details his decade-long battle with cancer and explains why the "humor" of Red Band Society is so important. And we dare you not to get chills when Espinosa shows off his original red band, which he was wearing when he lost his leg. (Our chills have chills.) Espinosa battled cancer from the age of 14 to 24, and drew on his experiences in the hospital to create the Catalan...

As the summer has wound down things got even hotter over at Urban Film Festival, which kicks off Sept 17-21st with this year seeing its strongest presence of Latino content to fill the void the New York International Latino Film Festival behind two years ago. So we decided to show the short filmmakers that feature Latino talent in their films some love in a new edition of ‘LatinoBuzz: Shipwrecked’ to see what they cannot live without! They are given a choice of a Film, Book, Companion from a film and an Album to be stranded with (we’ll deal with logistics another time).

Janine Salinas Schoenberg – "Jenny & Lalo"

Film: ‘Amelie’ - Because it's all I ever want to see when I'm having a bad day.

Book: ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ because few books have ever made me both laugh out loud and sob hysterically.

Album: A mix of my husband Adam Schoenberg's music because it both moves and inspires me. Perfect for island solitude!

Companion: Maria Elena from ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ because she would be fun, spontaneous, and crazy enough to help us survive!

Adel L. Morales – "Missing Grandma"

Album: ‘Paid In Full’ by Eric B. & Rakim. I remember running to Moody’s Record Shop on White Plains Road in the Boogie Down the day after I heard Marly Marl drop it on Wbls for the first time. I picked up the 12-inch single of “Eric B. Is President” (the album didn’t drop right away) and was immediately blown away by the art on the label: a giant brown hand coming down from the skies to drop off pyramids on a nearly deserted earth. I knew from the jump that Rakim was bringing a higher level of thought to the hip-hop game. His conversion to the Nations of God’s and Earths gave him a preacher-like authority, as he stood for my positive energy than anyone before him. The man was a pioneer and a lyrical genius. He was using internal rhymes in his songs while cats were still struggling with end rhymes. Eric B’s beats were dope & got insanely better on their follow-up album, “Follow the Leader.” After I ran home and played that track a bunch, I flipped it over to listen to the B-side, which was “My Melody” and I damn near had a heart attack. I couldn’t believe my ears! Did this Mc and DJ, with the hottest track in the streets, put an even hotter track on the B-side? It was like finding a gold nugget in a riverbed. The greatest rap duo ever in my book.

Book: ‘Random Family’ by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is a fascinating true story of two couples set in the Bronx during the mid-1980’s to late-1990’s. Despite the accurate portrayal of the lives and the cycle of poor choices made by uneducated people, there is a tiny glimmer of hope for the next generation. It makes me hope that someone’s child will eventually figure a way out of the messes created by inner city issues, like the high school drop out rate, teen pregnancy, and drug dealing. It describes in great exactness the time period in which I grew up in the Bronx and allows me to appreciate the courses I travelled to navigate those dangerous waters.

Companion : Sancho Panza from ‘Don Quixote.’ He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty literally or figuratively. He is often the voice of truth when his partner would rather hear anything but. But, it is the ability to keep his master safe from enemies, as well as from himself that seals the deal for me.

Film: ‘Adrift in Tokyo’ by Satoshi Miki is one of my favorite films of all time. I would chose this one to take with me if I was stranded on an island because it encompasses some of the things that I find essential to enjoying life on this planet. Miki is able to do this in both dramatic and comedic ways. It is about making connections with the world around us and with the people in it. Spending time getting to know someone often feels like a lost art in today’s faster-paced world. Characters learn to express emotion and not hide behind “manliness.” They atone for sins they’ve committed and attempt to right the wrongs of their past. This film reminds me that happiness can be found in the tiniest moments of pleasure and this film delivers tons of them as the laughs are frequent and come from the silliest places at the weirdest times.

Jess Dela Merced – "Hypebeasts"

Album: ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ had a lot of influence on me growing up and even more so today. I fall into many daydreams listening to it, imagining scenes to match or pretending some of the songs were soundtracks to my life. All her lyrics are starting to ring true as I grow older and the messages are always getting clearer with each listen. It's one of those albums that you can only fully comprehend once you're old and wrinkly.

Book: ‘Catcher in the Rye’ will always be my favorite book. I identify with Holden so much, not sure if that's a good thing, but if I could make any movie in the world, it would be an adaptation of that book. One day I will find the loophole to get to the rights!

Film: ‘Coming to America’ because I need to stay happy on that island and would probably reenact it word for word to keep myself entertained. Also so I can listen to Sexual Chocolate and Soul Glo repeatedly.

Companion: Any character Robin Williams has played. I guess Genie for obvious reasons.

Daniel Pfeffer – "Milk & Honey"

Album: If I was stranded, I'd bring Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme’ for it's timeless effect, so whenever I was losing hope of rescue, I'd put that on to calm my nerves, and let me know it all doesn't matter in the end, because the beauty is within and all around you.

Book: My book would have to be ‘Drown’ by Junot Diaz, because it would let me remember where I'm from, the metro area, and what it feels like to have immigrant parents.

Film: I love so many films, but I think one that is just poetry in motion for me would be Spike Lee's ‘He Got Game’. Whenever I was feeling homesick I'd just watch that. Plus the soundtrack is so good on it from the classical to the hip hop, I could be forever entertained!

Companion: No matter where I am in the world, I'd have to ask Shailene Woodley to come along so we could plan a film together, in case we were ever rescued and brought back to civilization.

Cristina Kotz Cornejo – "Hermanas"

Film: I think it would need to be a good comedy, either "Dr. Strangelove," The Pink Panther" or maybe "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam - something absurd to keep me laughing – oh wait, I guess if I have to choose one then it’s The Pink Panther can’t get enough of Peter Sellers!

Book: 1984 by George Orwell to remind me of what the world I left behind is becoming and to make me appreciate the absence of “big brother,” the internet and all the noise of everyday life.

Album: It’s not easy to choose an album but if I had to choose one it would be one of my favorites from childhood, That’s the Way of the World by Earth Wind and Fire. It will keep me busy dancing and singing the nights away in paradise.

Companion: Ellen Ripley from Alien because with her there I would be sure to eventually get off the island although 1984 will make me want to stay put, oh the dichotomy of life!

Javier Melero De Luca – "Silencio Chino"

Ok, the question puts me in survival mode, not in a curatorial one. I am going to need entertainment to cope with solitude on an island!!

Film: ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ So many IMDb people could not be wrong. It would remind me that a lot of men dream of being on an island anyway. ("The Lives of Others" if the previous was not available).

Companion: Someone hot and resourceful like Lara Croft, I could try and hit on her, maybe even have an offspring.

Book: No doubt, The Lord of the Flies. Deep, insightful, metaphorical and well written. Useful on the island too.

Album: Tough call but I would go for Gently Disturbed by Avishai Cohen. They’re Venezuelan folk music meets Israeli jazz. Just mind-bending. P.S. Can't i just grab mi iPad before crashing on the island???

Geoffrey Guerrero – "J-1"

Album: If I was stranded on a deserted island I would need to have the Buenavista Social club album because their rich Latin rhythms and passionate songs of romance and love would make life more enjoyable and welcoming. And, being stranded in said island, anything with some latin beats and conga drums goes a long way in making life a little easier.

Companion: If I had to choose a companion from the movies it would have to be two companions: Eva Mendez and Gina Rodriguez. After a long day of cutting wood and preparing dinner, there's no other people I would rather have at my side than these 2 gorgeous young ladies. Who knows, maybe I'll get a back massage if I'm lucky.

Book: The one book I must have on this island is Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," because if I'm gonna be stuck on an island I need to know there's a chance I'll survive. Some people say life is all about survival of the fittest and this book is a powerful story of a man stranded on an island for many years and by some miracle he survives and escapes the island in one piece. Which I think we'd all agree would be the ideal situation if stranded on such an island.

Film: "Amores Perros" or "Rabia."

Dennis Shinners – "Barrio Boy"

Film: "Stand By Me", "Titanic", "The Empire Strikes Back" (original release) or the "Alien" box set, just keeping the first two films. They are all about friendship and survival.

Album: I'd love to cram a ton of music onto an iPod, but if not allowed, it would be Prince's "Purple Rain". Why? Well, it's Prince's "Purple Rain"! Probably my favorite album of all time, though it's really tough to narrow down a favorite, let alone a fave Prince record. I'd try to sneak The Cure's "Disintegration", U2's "The Joshua Tree", Biggie's "Ready to Die" and a Jobim record (for sunset listening) by customs too.

Book: I've got way more music than books so I might trade this for a Nirvana, Velvet Underground, Peter Gabriel or Smashing Pumpkins album, but at the risk of sounding cliche or obvious, "The Catcher In the Rye". This way I'll always have a piece of New York City with me.

Companion: Samwise Gamgee from "Lord of the Rings". He's beyond loyal and cooks too, which will come in handy.

Albert Espinosa – "Pitahaya"

Album: ‘Great Escape’ by Blur because each song is incredible.

Film: ‘Good Will Hunting’. The Death of Robin Williams deeply affected me profoundly.

Book: ‘Tuesdays with Morrie.’ This book changed my life.

Companion : Leo of the series ‘Red Band Society’. Red band society, Fox's series is like my life as a child. It’s my autobiography. I am very happy for the coincidence between the release of the series and the festival.

Laila Petrone Peynado – "Your Love"

Album: Anita Baker – ‘Giving You the Best that I Got.’ I love her voice and each song on this album has accompanied me through different stages of my life. If I had been a singer, I would have been honored to have had her voice and career.

Book - Paulo Coelho – ‘Eleven Minutes.’ You're right there with the protagonist. The storyline, the way it is written, compels you to imagine it visually.

Film : ‘Mo' Better Blues.’ It's a movie I can watch over and over again, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and the soundtrack by the amazing Branford Marsalis Quartet and Terence Blanchard is just wonderful.

Companion : Marcello Mastroianni. Marcello was one-of-a-kind actor and I could spend hours talking to him about his experiences working with some of the most influential directors and movies of our time.

Wu Tsang - "You're Dead to Me"

Album : I'm not into albums much, but I'd have several of my favorite underground DJ's, like DJ Total Freedom, Nguzunguzu and Juliana Huxtable create an original mix for me. My island soundtrack would feature lots of traditional Banda music, which I love. I've shot several of my films in Mexico, and Banda always brings me back, like a snapshot of a moment in time. Maybe I could have my mix delivered to the island by drone.

Book: A written retrospective on Rainer Werner Fassbinder would be ideal. I figure if I can't watch movies at least I can read about them and visualize them in my mind, on a loop. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is my favorite. It's considered to be Fassbinder's masterpiece, but I'm always drawn to characters who let their hearts rule their heads. It's that blend of realism and romanticism, loneliness and love that would inspire and buoy me with no other constant but the waves lashing the shore.

Companion: My favorite character is always changing. But this week it's Sarah Linden from ‘The Killing.’ I guess I can relate to her troubled lonely existence. She's super flawed but also so powerful and talented, and deep down has a lot of heart and passion buried under that tough facade. I think we'd enjoy coping with our existentialism and creating our own mythology together on that island.

Jonathon Dillon – "Celluloid Dreams"

Album: Without a doubt, Louis Armstrong "The Definite Collection". I can say without a doubt Louis Armstrong is one of my favorite musicians of all time. When I hear that deep raspy voice I can't help but let all my worries fade away and transport to what life must have been like in the '30s.

Film: People laugh when I say this, but the film I define as one of the most perfectly executed pieces of cinema created is "Back to the Future." Head to tails, frame by frame, everything has purpose and continually pushes the story. Although Zemeckis has gone on to do other projects that he has received more acclaim for (i.e. "Forrest Gump"), I feel like I always watch "Back to the Future" and see something else he did that I didn't catch before that makes me stop and marvel at the film as a whole.

Book: Would graphic novels count? I grew up looking at comic books before I could even read, the visual imagery said it all, and the artwork would be just spell binding. I actually wanted to be a comic book artist as a kid, but then realized I couldn't sketch to save my life. I would lean towards Frank Miller's "Wolverine" or even Alan Moore's "Watchmen." If it had to be a book I'd probably want something on "How to Survive on an Island"....

Character: This is tough, and maybe I'm cheating, but the first feature I did the lead female protagonist was Katherine Parker (played by Rebecca Welsh). She was strong, independent, and above all, a survivor. I've always loved films with strong female characters, hence probably why I fell in love with this one from the moment of reading her on the page. And as they say, you are only as strong as the woman next to you. Honorable mention would obviously go to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark"), and just about any of James Cameron's heroines.

Check out these filmmakers and many others at www.urbanworld.org

Written by Juan Caceres , LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...

Fox has released the pilot episode for a new series that's scheduled to debut this fall, during its 2014/2015 TV season, co-starring Octavia Spencer, which is a remake of a lauded Spanish drama titled "Pulseras Rojas" (known in English as "Red Band Society"). The Catalan television show that first aired in 2011, was created by Albert Espinosa, and draws on his childhood experiences as a hospital patient. It tells the story of a group of Catalan children and teenagers who meet as patients in the children's wing of a hospital. Told through the eyes of a group of teenagers who meet as patients in a hospital pediatric ward, the drama stars, in...

Here's your first look at a series Fox ordered for its 2014/2015 TV season, starring Octavia Spencer, which is a remake of a lauded Spanish drama titled Pulseras Rojas (known in English as Red Band Society). The Catalan television show that first aired in 2011, was created by Albert Espinosa and draws on his childhood experiences as a hospital patient. It tells the story of a group of Catalan children and teenagers who meet as patients in the children's wing of a hospital. Oscar winner Spencer stars, plays Nurse Jackson, described as a tough, intuitive nurse who's very good at her job. But despite her hard exterior, she is very sympathetic to the kids on her...

Sick kids in a pediatric ward are almost guaranteed to be charming, heartwarming and occasionally break your heart with very little effort, and that seems to be the goal of the Steven Spielberg-produced "Red Band Society," which will debut on Fox this fall. Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer stars as a cranky nurse who probably has a marshmallow center we haven't seen yet, or at least haven't seen in this trailer for the show. This seems to be "The Breakfast Club" with a generous sprinkling of cancer, comas and heat problems. With Spencer on board, the bar is set high from an acting perspective, and the trailer suggests these kids won't let the saccharine level get too high. At least the series has a model from which to draw material. "Polseres Vermelles" is the Catalan television show on which "Red Band Society" is based, and it was inspired by real life...

It's that time of the year again - pilot casting announcement season. I've already posted a few in the last week, and have more in my inbox coming, as I catch up. How many of these will actually make it to series, remains to be seen. On the heels of Meagan Good's taking a lead role in NBC's Babylon Fields comes news that Octavia Spencer has landed the starring role in the Fox TV network's remake of the lauded Spanish series Red Band Society. Pulseras Rojas (known in English as The Red Band Society) is a Catalan television show that first aired in 2011. The show was created by Albert Espinosa and draws on his childhood experiences as a hospital patient. It tells the story of a group of...

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer is set as a lead in Fox’s drama project Red Band Society, from Amblin Television and ABC Studios. Based on the acclaimed Spanish series Polseres Vermelles by Albert Espinosa, Red Band Society is a coming-of-age drama that explores with dark humor the daily lives of a group of teenagers living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. Spencer will play Nurse Jackson, who works in the pediatrics ward. She’s an excellent, intuitive nurse and a tough customer who doesn’t put up with any crap from anyone. Red Band Society, written by Margaret Nagle, has a “series prototype” order under Fox’s new development model, which involves a pilot and backup scripts. his marks the first series regular role for Spencer, who won an Oscar for The Help. Earlier this season, she was attached to a Murder, She Wrote reboot at NBC and received...

Katja Herbers (De storm) has been cast in Wgn America‘s 13-episode scripted series Manhattan, from writer Sam Shaw and director Thomas Schlamme, Skydance TV, Tribune Studios and Lionsgate TV. Set during the clandestine mission to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, Nm, Manhattan follows the brilliant but flawed scientists and their families. Herbers, repped by All Star Agency and Lasher Group, will play Helen Price, a member of Frank Winter’s team and one of the few female physicists assigned to the Manhattan Project.She joins previously cast John Benjamin Hickey, Daniel Stern, Rachel Brosnahan, Ashley Zukerman, and Harry Lloyd. Herbers is. Griffin Gluck (Back In The Game) has signed as a series regular in Fox’s drama Red Band Society from Amblin Television and ABC Studios. Based on the acclaimed Spanish series Polseres Vermelles by Albert Espinosa, Red Band Society is a coming-of-age drama,...

Exclusive: Fox chairman Kevin Reilly quickly is putting his money where his mouth is, making his first move since announcing Monday that the network is abandoning the traditional pilot season for a new development approach that focuses on series. That involves making fewer pilots at different times during the year, all geared towards series, or going straight to series on some concepts that had been fully developed with multiple scripts and a bible. Related: Fox’s Abolishment Of Pilot Season: Practical Guide To How Will It Work Drama Red Band Society, From Amblin Television and ABC Studios, is getting a firm go on a “series prototype”, a pilot-type production order, plus additional backup scripts. Another drama, Runner (working title), from Sander/Moses Prods., Peter Horton and 20th TV, has received what Fox calls “an off-cycle commitment for further investment towards series production” this summer. That means backup scripts, hiring writers...

Amblin TV and ABC Studios are taking another stab at adapting the acclaimed Spanish hospital series Polseres Vermelles (Red Band Society), this time for Fox. The network has put in development the project, which will be written by Side Order Of Life creator Margaret Nagle. Red Band Society is a coming-of-age drama with humor set at a big-city hospital. Unlike most hospital series, it doesn’t center on the doctors but on the patients. It explores with dark humor the daily life of a group of teenage kids living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. The depth of these unexpected friendships allow them to survive the challenges of growing up under such intense circumstances. Red Band Society is based on the Filmax-produced 2011 series Polseres Vermelles for Catalonia’s TV3 network, which was created by Albert Espinosa. (you can watch the opening sequence with English subtitles below) Amblin TV (then...

Albert Espinosa's initially beguiling account of his 10-year battle with cancer is spoilt by self-help hokum

"Humorous Spanish books about cancer" is probably a small section at your library. "Humorous Spanish books about cancer that mention Gary Lineker" is probably an even smaller sub-genre. In fact, it likely includes only this strange self‑help memoir.

Aged 14, Albert Espinosa was a typical football-obsessed schoolboy from Barcelona. Then doctors found a malignant bone tumour in his left leg. His parents were told he had a 3% chance of survival and maybe a month to live. Just as they reached the airport to jet off for one last holiday together, the Espinosa family decided to turn back and fight. Albert spent the next decade in hospital, losing a leg, a lung and part of his liver. He learned to walk four times and endured gruelling amounts of chemotherapy – 83 sessions, to be precise.

By...

We have the full list of the Sitges International Film Festival of Catalonia 2008 award winners. Among those taking home prizes was "Surveillance," a film by Jennfier Chambers Lynch which captured the Best Motion Picture award. Lynch writes alongside Kent Harper, the crime drama/thriller which stars Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James and Ryan Simpkins. Also taking significant awards was Brian Cox for his work on "Red," Fernando Meilelles' "Blindness" drama starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo and "Let the Right One In." What is Sitges? The number one fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world. As announced, here are the winners announced by Sitges: Surveillance, by Jennifer Lynch, Best...

MADRID -- Madrid-based production boutique Alquimia Cinema has added two Spanish-language films to its 2007 production slate, Alquimia president and founder Francisco Ramos said Monday.

The first is the €2.2 million ($2.93 million) comedy "Big, Fat Lies", directed by Alfonso Albacete and David Menkes, with a script from Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde. Set to shoot in Spain in May, the film depicts a typical weekend for youngsters in Spain.

The next up is "4 Dances", to be directed by Maria Ripoll. The drama reteams Ripoll with scriptwriter Albert Espinosa ("Tu Vida en 65 Minutos") and will cost €2 million ($2.67 million). The film turns on a boy who grew up too fast, his brother and a special girl and is told in the span of four nights at a dance school.

Alquimia has decided cast for Manuel Toledano's "Monday can Wait" about gay nightlife. The €1.2 million ($1.6 million) musical comedy was written by Toledano ("Shampoo Horns") and stars Hugo Silva, Asier Etxeandia, Alex Gonzalez and Daniele Liotti.

The producer of films like "El Metodo" and "Condom Express" has slowed its rhythm of production over the past few years, while maintaining a festival and boxoffice friendly slate.