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European TV giant Banijay Entertainment — whose more-than 60 labels have produced recent shows such as “Rogue Heroes,” “Ripley” and “The Rig” — has expanded the roles of two execs as it rejigs its global scripted division.

As part of a new combined leadership structure, Steve Matthews has been named head of scripted, creative and Johannes Jensen head of scripted, business. The two will work in unison and report to chief business officer, Frédéric Balmary, who will continue to lead overall strategic direction.

HBO alumni Matthews joined Banijay as contents partnership executive in early 2023, reporting to Christian Wikander who served as global head of scripted until his departure in Feb. 2024. Since joining he has introduced various initiatives to encourage collaboration across the company’s labels worldwide, alongside setting up the he Banijay Bootcamp to connecting in-house development executives with emerging writers.

Jensen new role extends his current remit as head of scripted for Banijay Nordic,...

¿Hasta dónde llegarías para encontrar la verdad? © Netflix

Netflix ha publicado el primer tráiler de La chica de nieve 2: El juego del alma, la segunda adaptación de la saga de novelas de Javier Castillo, dirigida de nuevo por David Ulloa (La caza. Monteperdido) y Laura Alvea (Ánimas) y escrita por Jesús Mesas y Javier Andrés Roig (Estoy vivo).

Tras cerrar el caso de Amaya, Miren Rojo pensaba que lo peor había pasado, hasta que un sobre inesperado en una firma de libros lo cambia todo: «¿Quieres jugar?». Dentro, una polaroid con un nombre que resurge del pasado: Laura Valdivia, una joven desaparecida años atrás. Al mismo tiempo, el brutal asesinato de Allison Hernández en inquietantes circunstancias apunta a un exclusivo colegio, envuelto en secretos y en un macabro juego. Con Jaime como nuevo compañero, Miren se sumergirá en una peligrosa investigación que pondrá en riesgo no sólo su vida,...

Un reencuentro que revive viejas heridas. © Vanity Fair

Comienza en Cáceres, Extremadura, el rodaje de “Día de Caza”, la nueva película de Pedro Aguilera, que adapta libremente el clásico del cine español “La Caza”, de Carlos Saura.

“Día de Caza” sigue a Blanca, Rosa y Carmen, tres amigas de mediana edad que tras mucho tiempo sin coincidir todas juntas, quedan junto con Diana, la joven y taciturna sobrina de Rosa, para ir a cazar conejos a un coto de caza que Blanca heredó de su tío José. Entre risas comparten los complicados momentos por los que están pasando en sus vidas. El calor, insoportable, asfixiante, y las conversaciones sobre temas del pasado van subiendo de tono hasta acabar enfrentando a las mujeres. Imposible no recordar que casi 60 años atrás, otro día de caza, en aquella misma finca, acabó en tragedia.

La película está protagonizada por Carmen Machi (“Aída”), Rossy de Palma...

After a teen reports being sexually assaulted, she faces judgment from her entire school and her life is thrown into turmoil. Based on the novel Ni Una Másby Miguel Sáez Carral, the drama Raising Voices explores the strength and resiliency of a girl making her voice heard — no matter the consequences. Starring Nicole Wallace, Clara Galle, and Aïcha Villaverde, the series was created by José Manuel Lorenzo (La Caza: Monteperdido) and Carral. It was directed by Eduard Cortés (Hold Up!), David Ulloa (The Snow Girl), and Marta Font (The Vault).

Stream it now.

Seventeen-year-old Alma (Wallace) is about to finish high school, along with her best friends Greta (Galle) and Nata (Villaverde). The trio has known each other since they were small, and now spend their time partying and dishing to one another about their parents and relationships. But after Alma reports a sexual assault to the police, it...

Ester Expósito was born on January 26, 2000, in Madrid, Spain. From a young age, she displayed a keen interest in the artistic world and knew that acting was her true calling. At the age of 16, after completing her studies, Expósito decided to pursue her dream and enrolled in acting courses.

Expósito’s talent and dedication quickly caught the attention of industry insiders. In 2013 and 2015, she received recognition for her acting skills, winning the Best Actress award at the Madrid Theater Awards. These early accolades set the stage for what was to come in her career.

One of Expósito’s most significant breakthroughs came with her role in the Netflix teen drama series, Élite. She portrayed the character of Carla Rosón Caleruega, a complex and intriguing character that captured the attention of audiences worldwide. Expósito’s portrayal of Carla showcased her ability to bring depth and authenticity to her performances, solidifying her...

The cast of the Asacha Media-backed Spanish-Serbian thriller series Scar (Cicatriz) has taken shape.

Cameras are rolling today in Spain on the European co-production from Plano a Plano, Dopamine and Adrenalin. Milena Radulovic, Juanlu González, Luis Fernández will lead the scripted series, with Stefan Kapicic, Mladen Sovilj, Goran Susljik and Julen Serrano also attached.

Radulovic is known for Serbian-British drama series Besa and Russian thriller Superdeep, while González starred in Netflix’s Valeria and the popular Spanish TV crime series La Caza, La Otra Mirada and features including Operación Camarón.

Fernández is known for roles in Antena 3 fantasy series Los Protegidos, and other shows such as A Tres Metros Sobre el Cielo, Desaparecidos and Servir y Proteger.

Scar is billed as follows: “An enigmatic woman with a mysterious scar across her face, Irina (Radulovic) has lived with the emotional scars of tragedy since she was a young child and ever since,...

Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse.

The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” took a couple of years to materialize and will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels. These include the in-house outfits Banijay Studio France and Shine Fiction; as well as Fiction’Air (“Les Disparus de la Forêt Noire”); Terence Films (“Rivière-Perdue”); Montmartre; Screen Line (“Trash”); and Marathon, which has three series in development.

Founded in 2011 by Aline Panel, Authentic Media’s production output spans drama, film, and documentary. With 15 projects in development, the company has developed seven seasons of “Sam,” based on the Nordic series hit “Rita” which was created by Christian Torpe for...

Chile’s Bf Distribution, among the leading distributors in Latin America, has picked up Latin American and Spanish distribution rights to “El Silencio de Marcos Tremmer” with Bf Distribution partners Carlos Hansen and Matias Cardone of Invercine Chile boarding the pic as executive producers.

Shot in the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Madrid, it was helmed by Spanish director Miguel García de la Calera and is currently in post.

The film stars Benjamín Vicuña, Adriana Ugarte (Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta”), Daniel Hendler (a Berlin best actor winner for “Lost Embrace”) and Felix Gomez (“La caza”).

“Given its A-list cast of Latin American and Spanish talent, we plan to release it next year in Chile, Argentina and Spain to start,” said Cardone.

Vicuña plays Marcos Tremmer, a prosperous Uruguayan ad executive residing in Madrid, who is madly in love with his wife, Lucía (Ugarte). However, one day, Marcos uncovers a grim truth...

La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...

The first screening of the uncensored version of ’Andrei Rublev’ by Andrei Tarkovsky has also been programmed.

Venice Classics will include a screening of ‘The Exorcist’ and tributes to late filmmakers Ruggero Deodato and Carlos Saura as part of its line-up of restored features for the 2023 edition.

The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, returns in a restored version, to mark the 100th anniversary of its distributor, Warner Bros.

Italian genre master Deodato passed away last year. One of his most extreme films, Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, has been programmed in tribute. This edition also pays homage to Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January,...

Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.

The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.

“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.

“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...

Spanish public broadcaster Rtve has struck a VOD deal with Walter Presents to bring noir thriller series “Sequía” (“The Drought”) to the U.S, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada.

The suspense series is co-produced by Spanish and Portuguese public broadcasters Rtve and Rtp, in collaboration with Atlantia Media and Coral Europa.

“The Drought” is set in a small submerged village on the Spanish-Portuguese border that re-emerges from a huge dam built in the 1990s after a severe drought. Two skeletons are also unearthed, revealing evidence of a bloody crime.

The action switches between the 1990s and the present day, against the backdrop of climate crisis and corporate skullduggery.

Actors Elena Rivera (“Inés del Alma Mía”), Rodolfo Sancho (“The Department of Time”), Marco D’Almeida (“Fatima”) and Miguel Ángel Muñoz (“Presunto culpable”) take the leading roles in the series.

Walter Presents, the video-on-demand service dedicated to hand-picking prestigious foreign-language dramas from around the world,...

The Spanish literary world was rocked on Friday night by the revelation that one of the country’s most celebrated female novelists, Carmen Mola, was in fact a work of fiction. Her books are the work of three male screenwriters: Jorge Díaz, Agustín Martínez and Antonio Mercero.

Until Friday, Mola was believed to be a professor in her 40s who wrote violent crime thrillers between classes. Hanska Literary and Film Agency, which represents Mola, features a photograph of a woman facing away from the camera on her author profile page.

The ruse was revealed on Friday night during a prize-giving ceremony for the country’s most prestigious literary award, the Premio Planeta de Novela, where Mola was announced as the winner of the 2021 prize. Gasps were heard across the auditorium as the mysterious Mola’s name was called to accept the award, which comes with a €1 million ($1.16 million) cash prize.

In July 2020, Netflix canceled production on Turkish series “If Only” after Turkish authorities refused to grant it a shoot permit on the eve of it going into production.

The bone of contention, the original series’ creator and screenwriter Ece Yörenç told the Financial Times, was the presence in the screenplay of a character who was gay. Rather than capitulate to the sensed demand of Turkish authorities to excise this character, Netflix and Yörenç took the joint decision to cancel the shoot.

On Thursday, nine months after the cancelation, Netflix Spain announced a Spanish adaptation of “If Only,” “Si lo hubiera sabido,” written by Spain’s Irma Correa, who has already helped adapt Yörenç’s “Fatmagul” as Spanish TV series “Alba,” produced by Boomerang for Atresmedia.

Correa will serve as the Spanish adaptation’s showrunner, Yorenç as a consultant.

Once more produced by Boomerang, the Spanish adaptation of Yörenç’s original...

Partners on “The Red Band Society,” “I Know Who You Are” and “Welcome to the Family,” Barcelona-based studio Filmax and writer-director Pau Freixas are set to re-team on “The New Thirties,” a sci-fi laced comedy set on the idyllic Mediterranean island of Formentera.

Penned by Eric Navarro and Natalia Durán, the writing duo behind recent Netflix hit romcom “Crazy for Her,” “The New Thirties” will be showrun by Navarro, supervised by Freixas.

An eight-part half hour, it will be directed by Paco Caballero, who helmed episodes of dysfunctional family saga “Welcome to the Family” on which Navarro served as head writer as Filmax seeks to bring on key members of its creative team to help Freixas lead in creative terms its energetic expansion as a drama series producer.

Billed by Filmax as a comedy about the passing of time and the fear of commitment, “The New Thirties” begins with Alberto,...

After years working in film and theater, celebrated Spanish author, screenwriter and filmmaker Roberto Santiago (“The Longest Penalty Shot In The World”) has returned to TV to adapt his bestselling novel “Ana” for the small screen, starring Spanish star Maribel Verdú.

Angela Armero (“Velvet”) co-wrote the series adaptation with Santiago, and award-winning film and TV vets Gracia Querejeta (“Cuando vuelvas a mi lado”) and Salvador García Ruiz (“The Hunt. Monteperdido”) direct. The six-hour series is produced by Spanish broadcaster Rtve in co-production with Tornasol and DeAPlaneta in association with German production-sales company Zdf Enterprises, part of public broadcaster Zdf.

“Ana. all in” turns on Ana, a small-time lawyer thrust into the underground world of illegal gambling when her brother is accused of killing the manager of the Gran Castilla Casino. After assembling a small but energetic team, this Spanish Erin Brockovich goes head-to-head with the Goliath that is one of...