Spain’s film and TV industries are in their second wave as standout content providers for global streamers. Some of the country’s most intriguing titles will take the international stage this weekend at MipTV in Cannes.
Built on a foundation of hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Locked Up,” a new era of internationally renowned content creation in Spain kicked off in 2018 with Alex Pina’s blockbuster series “Money Heist,” picked up by Netflix.
Since then, Spain has enjoyed a place among the steadiest content suppliers for major players worldwide, taking advantage of its often character-driven dramas, high-quality creators and producers, and a language spoken by more than 600 million people around the globe.
Although the market is continuously evolving, local industry has adapted to different new business models, entering bigger and more ambitious productions, often via co-production. Spanish fiction’s global popularity continues to grow to accommodate audience appetites.
Built on a foundation of hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Locked Up,” a new era of internationally renowned content creation in Spain kicked off in 2018 with Alex Pina’s blockbuster series “Money Heist,” picked up by Netflix.
Since then, Spain has enjoyed a place among the steadiest content suppliers for major players worldwide, taking advantage of its often character-driven dramas, high-quality creators and producers, and a language spoken by more than 600 million people around the globe.
Although the market is continuously evolving, local industry has adapted to different new business models, entering bigger and more ambitious productions, often via co-production. Spanish fiction’s global popularity continues to grow to accommodate audience appetites.
- 4/5/2024
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
La serie española se ha convertido en un fenómeno global, alcanzando los primeros puestos en el ranking de Prime Video en más de 120 países. © Prime Video
Prime Video ha anunciado que habrá una segunda temporada de “Reina Roja” gracias a su gran éxito tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. La serie, protagonizada por Victoria Luengo y Hovik Keuchkerian, ha estado en el top 10 de los títulos más vistos en países como Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Alemania, India, México y Australia desde su lanzamiento.
María José Rodríguez, Head of Spanish Originals de Prime Video, expresó su entusiasmo: «Estamos encantados de ver que “Reina Roja” ha cautivado al público español y se ha convertido en un éxito rotundo. Antonia y Jon han cautivado a la audiencia mundial de Prime Video con su química y habilidad para resolver crímenes». James Farrell, VP International Originals de Prime Video, también celebró el éxito de la serie: «Reina Roja nos demuestra,...
Prime Video ha anunciado que habrá una segunda temporada de “Reina Roja” gracias a su gran éxito tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. La serie, protagonizada por Victoria Luengo y Hovik Keuchkerian, ha estado en el top 10 de los títulos más vistos en países como Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Alemania, India, México y Australia desde su lanzamiento.
María José Rodríguez, Head of Spanish Originals de Prime Video, expresó su entusiasmo: «Estamos encantados de ver que “Reina Roja” ha cautivado al público español y se ha convertido en un éxito rotundo. Antonia y Jon han cautivado a la audiencia mundial de Prime Video con su química y habilidad para resolver crímenes». James Farrell, VP International Originals de Prime Video, también celebró el éxito de la serie: «Reina Roja nos demuestra,...
- 3/22/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Lille — Creating a major and ambitious new player on the Spanish-language film-tv scene, Amaya Muruzábal – showrunner, screenwriter, and executive producer on Amazon MGM Studios’ just-out big hit “Red Queen” and creator and executive producer on milestone production “Hernán” – is launching her own film-tv production house, M Content.
M Content is founded with Argentinean Mariano Chihade – the independent producer behind Juan Pablo Kolojdziej’s Netflix Fito Paez bioseries “Love After Music,” working out of Buenos Aires’ Mandarina Contenidos.
The new venture will produce series and films, some large-scale – “for better or for worse, I’ve specialized in big productions,” Muruzábal tells Variety – as well as what she describes as smaller “event” auteur titles.
A first slate will be unveiled in upcoming months. One “priority area” are several feature films: “I need to breathe and handle slightly briefer time periods,” Muruzábal said. Kolojdziej and Muruzábal are collaborating on a series and on a feature.
M Content is founded with Argentinean Mariano Chihade – the independent producer behind Juan Pablo Kolojdziej’s Netflix Fito Paez bioseries “Love After Music,” working out of Buenos Aires’ Mandarina Contenidos.
The new venture will produce series and films, some large-scale – “for better or for worse, I’ve specialized in big productions,” Muruzábal tells Variety – as well as what she describes as smaller “event” auteur titles.
A first slate will be unveiled in upcoming months. One “priority area” are several feature films: “I need to breathe and handle slightly briefer time periods,” Muruzábal said. Kolojdziej and Muruzábal are collaborating on a series and on a feature.
- 3/19/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon Prime Video has a brand-new hit series called Red Queen, featuring a thrilling cast of actors playing exciting characters.
Known in Spanish as Reina Roja, Red Queen centers on an intellectually gifted woman who runs a secret experimental police project in Europe before having everything backfire and put her in serious trouble.
This woman's organization deals with other cases involving kidnapping and brutal murder in Spain and across the rest of the continent.
Read full article on The Direct.
Known in Spanish as Reina Roja, Red Queen centers on an intellectually gifted woman who runs a secret experimental police project in Europe before having everything backfire and put her in serious trouble.
This woman's organization deals with other cases involving kidnapping and brutal murder in Spain and across the rest of the continent.
Read full article on The Direct.
- 3/4/2024
- by Richard Nebens
- The Direct
In the previous episode, Antonia and Gutierrez were determined to locate where Ezequiel had hidden Carla Ortiz. Their investigation led them to uncover the true identity of Ezequiel, who turned out to be Sandra, Fajardo’s daughter. Sandra, the real mastermind behind the murders and abductions, sought revenge and aimed to emotionally break Antonia by also kidnapping her son, Jorge. Now, the pressing question remains: Will Antonia be able to save her son, rescue Carla, and bring Sandra and Fajardo to justice? The answers lie in the final episode of the Amazon Prime series Red Queen.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Laura Help Antonia?
Ezequiel, aka Sandra, has given Antonia a deadline of 30 hours to find her son Jorge before she makes good on her threat to kill both Jorge and Carla. Faced with this ticking clock, Antonia is desperate to evade the police’s attention and take Gutierrez’s help,...
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Laura Help Antonia?
Ezequiel, aka Sandra, has given Antonia a deadline of 30 hours to find her son Jorge before she makes good on her threat to kill both Jorge and Carla. Faced with this ticking clock, Antonia is desperate to evade the police’s attention and take Gutierrez’s help,...
- 2/29/2024
- by Sutanuka Banerjee
- Film Fugitives
Red Queen is an Amazon Prime TV series based on a popular Spanish-language book by Juan Gómez-Jurado. The story centers around Antonia Scott, a remarkably intelligent girl with an Iq of 242. She’s recruited to be part of a secret police project in an organization called Red Queen. Police officer Jon Gutiérrez asked to be her squire, and they’re tasked with solving two interconnected crimes. The first case involves the gruesome murder of the son of a powerful banker named Laura Trueba in her mansion. Simultaneously, the daughter of the wealthiest man in Madrid named Ramon Ortiz is kidnapped. Antonia and Jon suspect these crimes are linked, orchestrated by the same perpetrator to send a chilling message. As they dive into the investigation, they encounter numerous challenges. Will they be able to decipher the clues and catch the culprit before it’s too late? Or will they fall victim...
- 2/29/2024
- by Sutanuka Banerjee
- Film Fugitives
A sign of Spain’s rising profile as a top market for Prime Video, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and James Farrell, the L.A.-based VP of international originals at Prime Video, flew to Madrid this week, with the world premiere of “Red Queen” (“Reina Roja”), the series adaption of the first book in Juan Gómez-Jurado’s hit trilogy, taking place on Monday night.
The streamer is rolling off the record-breaking finale of its first weekly live entertainment show “Operación Triunfo,” and has revealed that the top three of the the ten most-watched Spanish Originals of 2023 – “My Fault,” “Awareness” and “Los Farad” – have received on average 80% of streams outside of Spain, reaching a milestone for the international reach of Prime Video’s non-English language content.
“The last 12 months has been a truly remarkable time for Spanish-language content,” said Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios at Prime Video.
The streamer is rolling off the record-breaking finale of its first weekly live entertainment show “Operación Triunfo,” and has revealed that the top three of the the ten most-watched Spanish Originals of 2023 – “My Fault,” “Awareness” and “Los Farad” – have received on average 80% of streams outside of Spain, reaching a milestone for the international reach of Prime Video’s non-English language content.
“The last 12 months has been a truly remarkable time for Spanish-language content,” said Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios at Prime Video.
- 2/28/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
What’s new on Amazon’s Prime Video in February 2024?
In light of Valentine’s Day, Prime Video nailed it. This February, the platform is bringing a variety of new shows and movies for you and yours. There is something for everyone — from the latest releases to classic romantic comedies to thrillers and more.
Rom-com “Upgraded,” starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, hits the streamer on Friday, while a series adaptation of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s steamy spy thriller “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” is already taking the world by storm since its Feb. 2 debut with stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The platform will also debut 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” with Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson, last year’s animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the well-liked 2014 indie “St.Vincent” with Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts and Chris O’Dowd.
And don’t forget about...
In light of Valentine’s Day, Prime Video nailed it. This February, the platform is bringing a variety of new shows and movies for you and yours. There is something for everyone — from the latest releases to classic romantic comedies to thrillers and more.
Rom-com “Upgraded,” starring Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, hits the streamer on Friday, while a series adaptation of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s steamy spy thriller “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” is already taking the world by storm since its Feb. 2 debut with stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The platform will also debut 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” with Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson, last year’s animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the well-liked 2014 indie “St.Vincent” with Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts and Chris O’Dowd.
And don’t forget about...
- 2/5/2024
- by Francie Ebert
- The Wrap
Fabula-Fremantle’s “Hot Sur,” The Mediapro Studio’s “El Mal” and “Two Nights in Lisbon,” from Portugal’s Hop Films and the U.K’s Heroes Films, look like potential standouts at next week’s Content Americas Copro Pitch 2024, one of its industry centerpieces.
These series projects will be joined by crime mystery thriller “Delito,” from Barcelona’s Grup Focus TV & Films, behind banner Amazon Original “Reina Roja,” “Iron Woman,” a tumultuous political saga from Brazil-based Jarsom Wayans, two high concept doc series – Argentina’s “Climate Migrants” and Brazil’s “Mystery of the Megafauna” – and bio doc feature “Farraquito, a Flamenco Story,” profiling the famed flamenco bailaor.
Shaping up as one of the biggest new titles to be brought onto the market at Content Americas, “Hot Sur” marks the latest from a fruitful 2019 multi-year first-look deal between Fremantle and Fabula, headed by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, which has already yielded “La Jauría,...
These series projects will be joined by crime mystery thriller “Delito,” from Barcelona’s Grup Focus TV & Films, behind banner Amazon Original “Reina Roja,” “Iron Woman,” a tumultuous political saga from Brazil-based Jarsom Wayans, two high concept doc series – Argentina’s “Climate Migrants” and Brazil’s “Mystery of the Megafauna” – and bio doc feature “Farraquito, a Flamenco Story,” profiling the famed flamenco bailaor.
Shaping up as one of the biggest new titles to be brought onto the market at Content Americas, “Hot Sur” marks the latest from a fruitful 2019 multi-year first-look deal between Fremantle and Fabula, headed by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín, which has already yielded “La Jauría,...
- 1/19/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s TV fiction industry is exercising some caution after high-end Spanish-language series lifted off in 2018.
“We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos.
As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.
“We come from a spectacular moment, in terms of both quality and volume,” says Sonia Martínez, series editorial director at Buendía Estudios.
That groundbreaking moment, championed by series like “Money Heist” and “Elite,” propelled Spanish fiction production to historic heights of global popularity.
“There is a virtuous circle that began in 2018 and has been continuously regenerating. Spain’s talent base already interests international audiences,” says María Valenzuela, Movistar Plus Intl.’s general manager.
But the country’s TV production scene is still cycling through the fruits of the boom: the number of...
“We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos.
As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.
“We come from a spectacular moment, in terms of both quality and volume,” says Sonia Martínez, series editorial director at Buendía Estudios.
That groundbreaking moment, championed by series like “Money Heist” and “Elite,” propelled Spanish fiction production to historic heights of global popularity.
“There is a virtuous circle that began in 2018 and has been continuously regenerating. Spain’s talent base already interests international audiences,” says María Valenzuela, Movistar Plus Intl.’s general manager.
But the country’s TV production scene is still cycling through the fruits of the boom: the number of...
- 10/16/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 4/25/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Exec says streamer is not cutting back on number of shows being commissioned.
James Farrell, head of intenational originals at Amazon Studios, said the streamer is not cutting back on the number of shows it makes but instead is being “responsible” about budgets at a time of wider economic challenges.
In a keynote interview at Series Mania, Farrell was asked about the challenges facing streamers at a time of growing competition and a greater emphasis by many on turning a profit rather than high spending to secure subscribers.
Farrell said: “It’s not impacting the number of shows or films...
James Farrell, head of intenational originals at Amazon Studios, said the streamer is not cutting back on the number of shows it makes but instead is being “responsible” about budgets at a time of wider economic challenges.
In a keynote interview at Series Mania, Farrell was asked about the challenges facing streamers at a time of growing competition and a greater emphasis by many on turning a profit rather than high spending to secure subscribers.
Farrell said: “It’s not impacting the number of shows or films...
- 3/23/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 9/6/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
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