News

As Spanish TV production stands strong, largely resisting the cut-back in commissions suffered in most of the world, few higher profile new series will be brought to market at Mipcom than Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” (“Los años nuevos”).

A Movistar Plus+ Original, produced with Caballo Films, the fast-rising Sorogoyen co-founded Madrid production label, in association with Arte France, “The New Years” follows on Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which established him as one of Europe’s youngest top-tier filmmakers.

Few other directors will have won a Best Foreign Film César, as “The Beasts” did in 2023, beating four Cannes Festival 2022-23 competition winners: “Triangle of Sadness,” “Eo,” “Close” and “Boy from Heaven.” Not that many will have grossed $2.5 million in France with a Spanish-language film as well as an extraordinary €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, despite its artistic ambition.

Sold outside Spain and France by Movistar Plus+ International, “The New Years...

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...

Rodrigo Sorogoyen, director of ‘The Beasts,’ the Best Foreign Film winner at France’s 2023 Cesar Awards, has gone into production on a new series, “The New Year’s Eves.”

Following on Sorogoyen’s acclaimed “Riot Police,” and his episode in “Offworld,” chosen by Variety as one the best international series of 2022, “The Beasts” is produced by Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish pay TV/Ott operator, in collaboration with Madrid-based independent production house Caballo Films, co-founded by Sorogoyen.

Movistar Plus+ International will handle distribution outside Spain. Going into production on Oct. 2, the series will shoot in over the next few weeks in Madrid, Lyon (France) and Berlin (Germany).

“The New Year’s Eves” is created by Sara Cano (“Debts”), Paula Fabra, a writer on hit Prime Video series “A Private Affair,” the most-watched non-English-language series on Prime Video between July 2022 and June 2023 and Sorogoyen himself. Sorogoyen will executive produce, and direct four of the series’ 10 episodes.

Toledo, Spain — The tide has changed. Just one year after Disney+ dazzled with “Santa Evita,” a banner title from its extraordinary swathe of Latin American originals, the 7th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment caught the mood of a larger international market with panelists in its conference strand focusing often on market challenges, when a feeding fever for premium content dominated conversations in recent editions. That said, running June 26-29 in Toledo, in market attendance and insight and shows brought to market, Cf&e fairly rocked.

10 takeaways from this year’s edition:

Conecta Fiction Booms

Despite Toledo’s sweltering in a hot snap, even by Spanish standards, Conecta Fiction’s attendance sky-rocketed to 1,031 accredited professionals, an all-time record and 42% up on figures announced at the end of 2022’s edition. Reasons abound. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas, to touch base with production partners, new ideas. It’s really interesting to see...

Prime Video has revealed its top traveling non-English local originals in the history of the service, with Spanish YA romance “My Fault” and French crime thriller “Medellín” topping the list.

Both are feature films that launched in the last two weeks across Prime Video’s footprint in 240 countries around the world. Interestingly, both titles have more than 75% of their viewership coming from outside their country of origin, though Prime Video hasn’t disclosed any further metrics related to ratings or impressions. Of the list (available in full below), 60% are movies and 40% are TV series.

While it makes sense for local originals like Prime Video’s unscripted format “Lol” to perform well in their home countries — “Big local stars and very local comedy — those don’t really travel beyond their borders,” explains James Farrell, VP of international originals for Amazon Studios — the reason the streamer is highlighting this crop of non-English...

Amblin Partners has secured the film rights to “Confessions in B-Flat,” with Academy Award-winning actor and producer Octavia Spencer, four-time Oscar-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger and Aimee Carpenter set to produce.

The 2020 novel, from Essence bestselling author Donna Hill, tells an emotional love story set amid the Civil Rights Movement, following two young people, Anita and Jason, who meet and fall in love despite their clashing political beliefs.

Maya Dunbar is adapting the book for the screen.

Spencer is producing the adaptation via her Orit Entertainment production company, with Carpenter producing under her Marcy Place Productions banner. Executive producers are Brian Clisham and Tara Taylor, with Liz Pelletier serving as co-producer. Jeb Brody, Amblin Partners’ president of production, and Mia Maniscalco, SVP of creative affairs, will oversee the project for the studio.

Hill is an American author of romance, mystery and women’s fiction, who has over 90 titles in print...

Spain has proved ever more successful in luring some of the biggest movies and series, and although 2020 saw a large rise in tax breaks, the big hike came in December. New record tax advantages raised relief for international productions to up to €20 million (21.4 million) per movie and 10.7 million for any single series episode.

In the Canary Islands — operating a special tax regime — the film tax break ceiling is now an extraordinary 38.6 million, one of the highest in Europe.

Effective Jan. 1, deduction rates for foreign productions are set at 30 for the first 1.1 million of deductible expenses and 25 for the rest in the Peninsula, and 50- 45 in the Canaries.

“The hike has solved a problem that prevented the capture of big productions,” says Carlos Rosado, president of the Spain Film Commission, a network of 41 film commissions and offices.

“The measures will undoubtedly serve to attract larger-scale projects,” adds Fernando Victoria de Lecea,...

Prime Video and Amazon Freevee are gearing up for a strong month of streamable TV with plenty of originals and old favorites. Among the highlights are the sci-fi series The Peripheral starring Chloe Grace Moretz and the drama The Devil’s Hour featuring Peter Capaldi and Nikesh Patel. Other new titles include Catherine Called Birdy, Hush Hush, and A Private Affair among others. Below, see the full listing of what’s coming to Prime Video and Amazon Freevee. Available for Streaming on Prime Video: October 1 12 Dates of Christmas 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi 7 Days to Vegas A Christmas in Vermont A Christmas Solo A.I. Artificial Intelligence Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Ace the Case: Manhattan Mystery Advantageous Another Time Audrey Rose Baby Boom Babymoon Beat Street Big House Bloodrunners Bridesmaids Bridge and Tunnel A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Credit: Everett Collection) Buddymoon Burnt Offerings Christmas Crime Story Colewell Colors...

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French media and telecommunications conglomerate Vivendi reported higher first-half revenue and earnings on Thursday, driven by gains at advertising giant Havas, but also pay TV unit Canal+ Group.

Revenue for the first six months of 2022 reached €4.87 billion (4.94 billion), up 10.9 percent, or 5.4 percent on an organic basis, which focuses on constant currencies and current assets, compared to the year-ago period. Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (Ebita) jumped 31.5 percent to €412 million (418 million), “thanks notably to the contribution of Canal+ Group, the growth of Havas Group and the integration of (French magazine publisher) Prisma Media.”

Vivendi also broke out revenue for the second quarter, which rose 8.6 percent to €2.50 billion, “mainly due to Havas Group’s very good momentum.” Focusing on constant currency and assets, quarterly revenue grew by 3.1 percent, led by Havas, while Canal+ recorded a 1.3 decline on that basis.

“As reflected in the 31.5 percent increase in Ebita,...

Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Ángeles Hernández’s supernatural horror film “El faro” (“The Lighthouse”), set up at Mr. Miyagi Films, co-producer of Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s multi-awarded Netflix smash hit “The Platform.”

“The Lighthouse” ended shooting in May; FilmSharks is showing first footage to buyers at Cannes.

Film toplines Spanish film and TV star Hugo Silva plus Irene Montalà (“Un asunto privado”), Zoe Arnao and Sergio Castellanos.

Produced by Hernández and David Matamoros at Barcelona-based Mr. Miyagi, “The Lighthouse” turns on Lidia and her father, Pablo, returning to the family lighthouse after her mother’s death.

Pablo, aware of Lidia’s fragile emotional balance, worries about a possible relapse after her suicide attempt. Lidia, annoyed by her father’s lack of trust, discovers that something’s not right at the lighthouse, and that dire danger awaits them if they do not find out the truth.

Series

“Nanny McPhee” director Kirk Jones is set to take on Donald Trump in his first television series, “You’ve Been Trumped.”

The drama, based on Anthony Baxter’s 2011 documentary, tells the story of a small Scottish village who took on the then-reality TV star when he tried to build a golf course in a nature reserve. Jones, who has previously written and directed “Waking Ned” and “Everybody’s Fine,” is also writing the project while Baxter will serve as a creative consultant.

“There was a reason why the world’s media was drawn to this story in 2006 and why there was such a determined effort to prevent Anthony Baxter’s excellent documentary of the same name, being released in 2011,” said Jones. “A special site of scientific interest was stripped of its status and a community of decent people faced an unwanted aggressor. This is a story that needs to be...

MGM’s five-part limited series “Last Light” will make its world premiere at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, kicking off the festival’s 61st edition as the opening screening.

Adapted from Alex Scarrow’s popular novel, this high-throttle drama set during an international oil crisis boasts a cast toplined by Matthew Fox (“Lost”), Joanne Froggat (“Downton Abbey”), and Tom Wlaschiha (“Game of Thrones”), who are all expected to attend.

“We want to start a conversation,” said Rola Bauer, president of MGM International TV Productions. “[The series] brings to light our dependence on oil, reminds us that we must shift away with the utmost urgency…. And it turns around the quote, ‘we don’t inherit the world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.’”

Running from June 17 – 21, this year’s edition will play host to the world premieres of Bambú Producciones’ Jean Reno-led “A Private Affair,” Ziegler Film’s “Martha Liebermann,” and...

In yet another sign of explosive growth on Spain’s drama scene, Amazon Prime Video has unveiled four new Amazon Original series or movies tapping the large talents of some of its most successful comedy directors, producers, novelists and drama series creators.

In a sign of Amazon Studios’ hiked ambitions, the productions were described by Georgia Brown, Amazon’s head of European Originals, as “local stories that resonate with local audiences and have a global impact.” In the past, Amazon has stressed more the need for the former.

Also updating Spanish journalists in Madrid on Wednesday morning on progress on the already announced “Sin Huellas” and “Un asunto privado,” Prime Video’s new slate shows it enrolling some of the biggest stars in Spain, led by “Below Zero’s” Javier Gutiérrez and Carmen Machi.

Alongside Sílvia Abril, the two actors topline family time-travel comedy “Mañana es hoy” which is directed...

The first three editions of Conecta Fiction were a delight: an intimate, boutique Latin America-Europe co-production and networking event for drama series in which top executives from either side of the Atlantic spent quality time together, as they put through a revolution in content creation.

Last year’s 4th Conecta Fiction on-site event was decimated by Covid-19. This year, as attendance builds once more, the meet is making a virtue out of necessity, taking a new direction. This and six other takes on Conecta Fiction as it turns five.

Europe Calling

Over its first three editions, Conecta Fiction carved out a reputation for its influx of top Latin American TV execs, producers and showrunners, suddenly accessible in person in exquisite locations, latterly Pamplona in Navarre. For its fifth outing, the event has turned to Europe. This is partly for logistical reasons, says Conecta Fiction director Géraldine Gonard. Most Latin Americans majorly cannot travel to Pamplona.