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Last year, actress Penélope Cruz set up a joint production venture, Moonlyon, with Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio at the urging of its CEO, Laura Fernández Espeso, a rising star in Spain’s fast-expanding media sector.

“It’s been an amazing connection from the first,” Cruz says, about her working relationship with Fernández Espeso, Variety’s International Media Woman of the Year.

It was no surprise to anyone that Cruz chose Fernández Espeso as her partner: Lifting up female talent in Western Europe and beyond has been a huge part of Fernández Espeso’s mission since she took the reins of the busy production studio five years ago. At her direction, the company, which has 30 production houses, has capitalized on the growing demand for TV series that can travel across the world. Fernández Espeso has steered the effort for the company to make its productions more saleable by lensing in English.

Seismic shifts in the world’s entertainment industry have thrown a global spotlight on Spain’s film and TV industry as never before.

Foreign productions are flocking to Spain, spending €263 million (266 million) in 2021, double the 2016-19 average, according to a ProFilm study. International inward investment in national productions has also grown on an unprecedented scale.

All the big streamers have beached in Spain. Reed Hastings cut the tape on Netflix’s first European Production Hub, in Madrid’s Tres Cantos, in 2019. Viacom Intl. Studios (Vis) Emea and Asia and AMC Networks Intl. Southern Europe have set up production operations in Spain. Other players — Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max and Starzplay — run offices in the country.

Capitalizing on such a massive presence, in March 2021 the federal government announced an Avs Hub plan aimed at sinking 1.6 billion into the entertainment industry. It is designed to turn Spain into one of the...

Starzplay, Starz’s premium international streaming service, and The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s biggest indie film-tv producers, are joining forces again to produce the second season of “Express,” the first Starzplay’s original series made in Spain.

Spanish thesps Alejo Sauras (“Estoy vivo”) and “Paradise’s” Laura Laprida are joining the cast of the new season, which is scheduled for a 11-week shoot on location in and around the city of Madrid.

Heading the cast of the series for a second season is actress Maggie Civantos, who reprises her character, Bárbara, a criminal psychologist who, after becoming the victim of an express kidnapping, works as a negotiator in similar cases to hers at the private company, Zentral Risk.

“Express” Season 2 will premiere on Starzplay in Spain and Latin America. It marks the first local production from Starzplay to be renewed.

The streamer is creating international originals through co-production...

Traditionally, Spanish broadcasters retained all rights, paying producers a percentage of the budget of their series, which prevented them from building catalogs of their own rights. Although at first, the arrival of SVOD platforms didn’t change their business relationship, the increasing demand for TV fiction and financial needs have forced an increased use of the co-production model.

“There is a lot of creativity and versatility in co-productions from Spain,” says Caroline Servy, managing director at The Wit.

Dipping its toe into the co-production arena in 2016 with “The Young Pope,” The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s super-indies, is expanding across Asia, Latin America and the U.S. markets, teaming with key broadcasters and platforms.

“Co-production has been the perfect model to hike the international reach of our productions. This way of working has become common among production companies, platforms and networks in recent years, and is in fact the...

One of four Starzplay productions for the Spanish-speaking market, “Express” was commissioned by the platform in Spain and U.S.-based Spanish-language premium streamer Pantaya, marking the arrival in Spain of both international production companies which have fully embraced the not-so-hidden talent in the Spanish and Latin American markets and foresee their potential development.

Written by “Locked Up” co-creator Iván Escobar and co-produced by Spanish giant The Mediapro Studio, responsible for some of Spain’s biggest international TV titles (“The Head”), the show embodies the meeting of Spanish writing talent and international high production values. The result is a high octane thriller that spins the police procedural genre and devotes its attention to the emotional consequences that hit its characters with the violence of shrapnel.

The series’ thrilling pace is held together by the strong presence of its female lead Barbara, played by a versatile Maggie Civantos (“Locked Up”), a...

As it forges ahead with expansion into Europe, Starzplay is on the hunt for “edgy” returning scripted series of between six and ten episodes and promises all its partners a decent cut of the IP, according to the platform’s strategy head Peter Tortorici.

In his on-demand keynote at Conecta Fiction Friday, the former head of CBS and Telemundo laid out Starzplay’s content requirements as it makes its migration from cable channel to international streaming platform.

The niche player, which has now expanded into 56 countries, is focusing on “adult edgy dramas” as part of its originals commissioning strategy, Tortorici said.

The streamer’s first local language production has already wrapped in Spain – a territory that Tortorici remarked had a “high but not exhaustive level of talent” that enabled the platform to execute its “brand promise.”

Productions in this territory includes “Express” from showrunner Iván Escobar (“Locked Up”) – a co-production...

Produced with U.S. streamer Pantaya and top European production house The Mediapro Studio, “Express,” Starzplay’s first Spanish-language original, is rounding the final bend of production, shooting last week at the Casa Huarte in a leafy luxury suburb of northern Madrid.

Reuniting “Locked Up” creator Ivan Escobar with its star, Maggie Civantos, “Express” refers to the phenomenon of short-lived abductions, lasting a few hours, where the victim or relatives are forced by assailants to max out their credit cards or rapidly pay off assailants. Abductions sometimes end in murder.

Created by Escobar, the series’ showrunner and writer, “Express” is shaping up as one of the banner Spanish-language productions of 2021. It also points an alternative – and often complementary – way forward for top producers which do not want to work just as producers for hire for the world’s biggest studio streamers. Seven takes on the eight-part series:

Grasping the Holy...

As many studio-streamers morph ever more into global general entertainment services, some SVOD players still stand out very much from the pack.

Two of the most expansive, both with a premium vocation, are Starzplay, Starz’s upscale international streaming platform which has quickly expanded into 56 countries, and Pantaya, the premium U.S. Spanish-language streaming service acquired last month from Lionsgate by the Hemisphere Media Group.

Starzplay and Pantaya and The Mediapro Studio are close to wrapping production in Madrid on “Express,” from “Locked Up” creator Iván Escobar, their first co-production and one of the most anticipated Spanish-language productions of the year. Pantaya launched in August 2017, Starzplay in May 2018, The Mediapro Studio in March 2019: These are three companies now helping to shape the new face of international and U.S. production.

Superna Kalle, Starzplay executive VP of International Digital Networks, Mario Almeida, Pantaya head of content, and Tms CEO Laura Fernandez Espeso,...

Starzplay has unveiled plot details, casting and a first-look image for “Express,” an original co-produced with Spanish production giant The Mediapro Studio and U.S. streaming platform Pantaya. “Express” is Starzplay’s first local language Spanish production, but one of several announced in August of last year. Each will be available on the Starzplay platform in Spain and Latin America as well as Spanish-language focused streamer Pantaya – a co-venture between Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media Group – in the U.S.

Heading the cast of “Express” is “Locked Up” and “Cable Girls” star Maggie Civantos, joined by Spanish Academy Goya Award nominee Kiti Mánver, Vicente Romero (“Cell 211”), Loreto Mauleón (“Patria”), Esteban Meloni (“Los Internacionales”), Alba Planas (the Spanish version of “Skam”), Ana Marzoa (“Locked Up”), Omar Banana (“Veneno”), Bernardo Flores (“Women in Charge”) and newcomer Carmen Daza and Manuela Rojas.

In “Express,” criminal psychologist Bárbara (Civantos) becomes the victim of an express kidnapping,...

Spanish TV drama producers are thinking bigger than ever, scaling up in a globalized SVOD market.

They are also allying with powerful U.S. partners, responding to a global feeding-frenzy for Spanish-language premium series.

Spanish TV dramas at Mipcom Online Plus underscore this trend. One, “Inés of My Soul,” marks the first move into big-budget international co-production by public broadcaster Rtve, teaming with Boomerang TV, Chile’s Turner-owned Chilevisión and Amazon Prime Video Spain.

Beta Film is presenting “Tell Me Who I Am,” based on Julia Navarro’s global bestseller, co-produced with Telemundo Intl. Studios in partnership with Dlo.

In ongoing productions, Movistar, Telefonica’s SVOD/pay TV arm, alongside AMC Studios and Fernando Bovaira’s Mod Pictures, is producing “La Fortuna,” an adventure series created by Academy Award winner Alejandro Amenábar.

Also, Spain’s Paco Cabezas (“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”) is leading creative development on “The Gipsy Bride,...

Spanish media conglom The Mediapro Studio has added to its stable of high-end content producers with the hiring of seasoned Colombian producer-showrunner Juliana Barrera as its head of content in Colombia.

Barrera’s credits include hit reality show “La Voz Colombia,” “Always a Witch,” the first original Netflix series in Colombia; “The Secret Law,” the true story of an all-female special police unit; “The White Slave,” a mega-series about slavery in Colombia that sold to some 150 countries; “Perfect Lies,” the Colombian version of U.S. series “Nip/Tuck,” and “Lynch,” penned by her.

With Barrera on board, Mediapro taps an insider’s depth of experience and knowledge of the inner workings of Colombian TV production, sharpened by two decades in the biz. Since 2011, she held various positions as a producer, head of content and creative director at Colombia’s top broadcaster, Caracol TV.

“The Mediapro Studio has become a benchmark in...

Fox Network Groups in Spain and Globomedia, the Barcelona-based parent company of production house The Mediapro Studio, have announced a spinoff to Mediapro’s flagship Catalan series “Vis a Vis” (“Locked Up”).

Set to air on Fox networks in 2020, “Vis a Vis: El Oasis” will close the circle on narratives from the original series, bringing back familiar fan-favorites in the process, led by characters Macarena “Maca” Ferreiro, played by Maggie Civantos, and Zulema, played by five-time Spanish Academy Goya nominated actress Najwa Nimri.

Fans of the hit series have been clamoring on social media platforms for more, and will be thrilled to know that eight new episodes will release next year. The producers promised that the series’ narrative will wrap in a clean and concise way.

Javier Pons, head of TV at The Mediapro Studio described the spin-off as a “final showdown,” praising the work series creator Iván Escobar has done in shaping the series.

Madrid-based production hub The Mediapro Studio has announced finalized details of an arrangement with Madrid’s Complutense University (Ucm) and the National Film and Television School of London (Nfts) on a new Master’s program designed to develop new screenwriting talent.

Mediapro general director Juan Ruiz de Gauna, Ucm dean of information sciences Jorge Clemente and Irene Ortega, who will fill the role of director for the new program, made the announcement at Madrid’s Matadero, an early 20th century slaughterhouse now converted into an arts center, where the course will be taught.

Ran Tellem, Daniel Burman, Maikol Sánchez Romero (“The Intermediate”), Fernando León de Aranoa (“A Perfect Day”), Iván Escobar (“Locked Up”), Fernando González Molina (“Palm Trees in the Snow”), Diego San José (“Vota Juan”) and Marc Cistaré (“Victim Number 8”), among others, will tutor or lecture in the program’s first year.

Classes will prepare the students – as many...

Madrid — Mediapro, one of Europe’s biggest independent film-tv groups, has tapped Spanish writer-showrunner Diego San José, co-scribe of the smash-hit “Spanish Affair” movie franchise, to develop exclusive new TV fiction contents.

San José has previously been involved in two Mediapro projects, as co-writer and co-creator of political comedy “Vota Juan,” a co-production with Turner España aired on TNT, and co-writer of Borja Cobeaga’s “Fe de Etarras,” Netflix’s second original Spanish film, released in 2017.

He joins an already large list of content creatives tapped by Mediapro in recent years with the aim of strengthening its growing role as a key TV fiction powerhouse in Spain and the international market. That team takes in Emmy-winning Ran Tellem (“Homeland”), Iván Escobar (“Vis a vis”), Javier Olivares (“The Department of Time”), Marc Vigil (“Red Eagle”), Fernando González Molina (“The Boat”) and Daniel Burman (“Edha”), among dozens of other screenwriters and directors.