The Disney-backed “How to Be a Carioca,” from “Ice Age” creator Carlos Saldanha, and “Allende, the Thousand Days,” an adventurous Chilean-Spanish pick-up from Spanish pubcaster Rtve, will both world premiere at Iberscreenings, catching new evolution on the Spain-Portugal-Latin America TV scene.
A comedy, showrun by Saldanha, consolidating his exploration of live action after Netflix’s 2021 “Invisible City,” “Carioca,” whose first episode will be screened at I&pi, is produced by the Star Original Productions label, bowing soon on Star+ in Latin America and on the Walt Disney Company’s streaming services globally, such as Disney+ Spain.
An international co-production, “Allende, the Thousand Days” was originated by Chile’s Parox (“Invisible Heroes”), partnered by Spain’s Mediterráneo Media Entertainment and Argentina’s Aleph, Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina. A character focused chronicle of Allende’s three years in government before Pinochet’s 1973 military coup, the series has been acquired for broadcast by Chile’s Tvn,...
A comedy, showrun by Saldanha, consolidating his exploration of live action after Netflix’s 2021 “Invisible City,” “Carioca,” whose first episode will be screened at I&pi, is produced by the Star Original Productions label, bowing soon on Star+ in Latin America and on the Walt Disney Company’s streaming services globally, such as Disney+ Spain.
An international co-production, “Allende, the Thousand Days” was originated by Chile’s Parox (“Invisible Heroes”), partnered by Spain’s Mediterráneo Media Entertainment and Argentina’s Aleph, Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina. A character focused chronicle of Allende’s three years in government before Pinochet’s 1973 military coup, the series has been acquired for broadcast by Chile’s Tvn,...
- 10/2/2023
- by John Hopewell and Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Onza Distribution, with offices in Madrid and Miami, has seized international rights to mini-series “Allende, the Thousand Days,” released this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Chile’s first socialist president, Salvador Allende, and sadly, the military coup that kickstarted general Augusto Pinochet’s brutal regime.
Lead produced by Chile’s Parox, in collaboration with Mediterraneo Media Entertainment, Aleph Media, 1010 Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina, the mini-series premiered Sept. 7 on Chile’s Tvn, which reported stellar audience ratings.
The four one-hour episode series is the first fictional series attempt to explore the period of time when Allende’s Popular Unity party was in power and the challenges it faced. It is told from the point of view of a fictitious Spanish political science student who eventually becomes Allende’s closest advisor.
Allende, played by an unrecognizable Alfredo Castro (“El Conde”), is front and center...
Lead produced by Chile’s Parox, in collaboration with Mediterraneo Media Entertainment, Aleph Media, 1010 Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina, the mini-series premiered Sept. 7 on Chile’s Tvn, which reported stellar audience ratings.
The four one-hour episode series is the first fictional series attempt to explore the period of time when Allende’s Popular Unity party was in power and the challenges it faced. It is told from the point of view of a fictitious Spanish political science student who eventually becomes Allende’s closest advisor.
Allende, played by an unrecognizable Alfredo Castro (“El Conde”), is front and center...
- 9/25/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Toledo, Spain — At this month’s Annecy, France’s Canal+, France Télévisions and even Gulli delighted the business by unveiling new production slates which boasted some of the boldest projects being brought to market at the French festival.
At one and the same time, major European broadcasters, the BBC and France Télévisions again, were talking up their streaming services at Annecy.
These used to be treated as a complement to their linear offering. Now it’s increasingly the other way round.
Annecy, of course, is animation. But could the same market forces be at work in live action TV and in Spain?
More than a hint of a step-by-step revolution at work at Rtve, Spain’s public broadcaster, was sensed at an upbeat showcase on Wednesday.
Moderated by José Pastor, Rtve’s director of film and fiction, the show-case, Rtve Co-Productions on Board, featured three shows, “Allende, the Thousand Days,...
At one and the same time, major European broadcasters, the BBC and France Télévisions again, were talking up their streaming services at Annecy.
These used to be treated as a complement to their linear offering. Now it’s increasingly the other way round.
Annecy, of course, is animation. But could the same market forces be at work in live action TV and in Spain?
More than a hint of a step-by-step revolution at work at Rtve, Spain’s public broadcaster, was sensed at an upbeat showcase on Wednesday.
Moderated by José Pastor, Rtve’s director of film and fiction, the show-case, Rtve Co-Productions on Board, featured three shows, “Allende, the Thousand Days,...
- 6/28/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Top Chilean fiction house Parox, producer of “Invisible Heroes,” has kick-started principal photography on international co-production “Los mil días de Allende”, a historical drama mini-series about the last three years in the life of Chilean President Salvador Allende.
Alfredo Castro – one of Latin America’s most respected actors and a Pablo Larraín regular, star of films such as “Karnawal” and “El Club” – leads the mini-series cast as Allende; Benjamín Vicuña plays Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
The four-episode, 55-minute fiction drama shoot is taking place entirely in Chile, lensing from May 15 for two months, under “Besieged” and “Inés of My Soul” director Nicolás Acuña.
Leonora González and Sergio Gándara, Parox co-founders, are respectively the mini-series’ showrunner and producer.
A Chile-Spain-Argentina co-production, “Allende, the Thousand Days” teams Spain’s Mediterráneo Media Entertainment and Argentine companies Aleph, Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina.
Chilean public broadcaster Tvn, Spanish nationwide group Rtve and Argentina’s...
Alfredo Castro – one of Latin America’s most respected actors and a Pablo Larraín regular, star of films such as “Karnawal” and “El Club” – leads the mini-series cast as Allende; Benjamín Vicuña plays Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
The four-episode, 55-minute fiction drama shoot is taking place entirely in Chile, lensing from May 15 for two months, under “Besieged” and “Inés of My Soul” director Nicolás Acuña.
Leonora González and Sergio Gándara, Parox co-founders, are respectively the mini-series’ showrunner and producer.
A Chile-Spain-Argentina co-production, “Allende, the Thousand Days” teams Spain’s Mediterráneo Media Entertainment and Argentine companies Aleph, Mente Colectiva and HD Argentina.
Chilean public broadcaster Tvn, Spanish nationwide group Rtve and Argentina’s...
- 5/17/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Top Chilean production outfit Parox, producer for Movistar Play of “Los Prisioneros,” the series which closed this week’s Santiago Industria, has tapped crucial backing from Chile’s National TV Council for its flagship international series, “Silver Bridge” and “La Pergola de las Flores.”
Billed by Parox as a narco feminist action romance inspired by true facts, costume thriller “Silver Bridge” is also a Latin American drug trade origins saga. Set in 1952, it unspools its central lesbian love story against the background of the extraordinary true-life rise of a Chilean family of Lebanese descent, which came to be ruled by matriarch Amanda Huassaf, into the principal importer of cocaine into New York by the early 1960s.
Earlier this year, Chilean director Katherina Harder, Amanda Huassaf’s great grand-niece, was announced by Parox as attached to direct.
Executive produced by Parox founders Sergio Gándara and Leonora González as well as by Harder,...
Billed by Parox as a narco feminist action romance inspired by true facts, costume thriller “Silver Bridge” is also a Latin American drug trade origins saga. Set in 1952, it unspools its central lesbian love story against the background of the extraordinary true-life rise of a Chilean family of Lebanese descent, which came to be ruled by matriarch Amanda Huassaf, into the principal importer of cocaine into New York by the early 1960s.
Earlier this year, Chilean director Katherina Harder, Amanda Huassaf’s great grand-niece, was announced by Parox as attached to direct.
Executive produced by Parox founders Sergio Gándara and Leonora González as well as by Harder,...
- 11/5/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Chilean bio-musical series “Los Prisioneros” had its European debut at Madrid’s inaugural Iberseries Platino Industria on Sept. 28 where it screened in the event’s Chapter One sidebar.
Taking place in the mid ‘80s, the eight-episode show kicks off with the titular iconic band Los Prisioneros playing their sardonic protest songs to a rowdy, unappreciative crowd. It’s only when they perform at Chile’s then biggest entertainment show, “Sabado Gigante,” hosted by the equally iconic Don Francisco, that their career takes flight.
Episode one shows the key moments of their debut on the show and the start of their career, which later led to their persecution by the military regime and censorship on Chilean radio and television. To this day, their songs are anthems at protest rallies in the region, most recently in Chile and Colombia.
“Their songs have become ever more relevant, they still resonate to this day,...
Taking place in the mid ‘80s, the eight-episode show kicks off with the titular iconic band Los Prisioneros playing their sardonic protest songs to a rowdy, unappreciative crowd. It’s only when they perform at Chile’s then biggest entertainment show, “Sabado Gigante,” hosted by the equally iconic Don Francisco, that their career takes flight.
Episode one shows the key moments of their debut on the show and the start of their career, which later led to their persecution by the military regime and censorship on Chilean radio and television. To this day, their songs are anthems at protest rallies in the region, most recently in Chile and Colombia.
“Their songs have become ever more relevant, they still resonate to this day,...
- 9/29/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
A new and ambitious Ibero-American industry event, Iberseries Platino Industria, runs Sept. 27 thru Oct 1 with a slew of activities broken into eight thematic sections: Financing and Business Models; Conversations with Platforms and their Studios; Industry Talks; Creativity; Market Intelligence; Keynotes and Masterclasses; Audiovisual Arts as an Educational Tool; and Synergies between Tourism and Audiovisual Financing.
Some of Spain, Portugal and Latin America’s biggest names in entertainment are set to participate in the Madrid-based event, including director Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others”), Latido Films’ Antonio Saura, Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), Colombian actor-producer Manolo Cardona, Cuban actor-director Jorge Perugorría, Icaa general director Beatriz Navas and actors Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) and Paulina Gaitán (“Narcos”), among many others.
The five-day event precedes the eighth edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) to be held on Oct. 3 in Madrid an in-person ceremony once more after being relegated online last year.
The...
Some of Spain, Portugal and Latin America’s biggest names in entertainment are set to participate in the Madrid-based event, including director Alejandro Amenábar (“The Others”), Latido Films’ Antonio Saura, Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), Colombian actor-producer Manolo Cardona, Cuban actor-director Jorge Perugorría, Icaa general director Beatriz Navas and actors Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) and Paulina Gaitán (“Narcos”), among many others.
The five-day event precedes the eighth edition of the Ibero-American Platino Awards (Premios Platinos) to be held on Oct. 3 in Madrid an in-person ceremony once more after being relegated online last year.
The...
- 9/26/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Sanfic Industria, the biz component of Chile’s prominent Santiago Int’l Film Festival, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a slew of activities over 10 days (Oct. 27 – Nov. 5), marking the second edition of the event this year.
Given the slightly improved pandemic situation in Chile, Sanfic Industria will be a hybrid event, with some in-person activities, particularly for its expanded Sanfic Series and Morbido festival events.
“This year is an anomaly as we held last year’s cancelled Sanfic Industria event in March and we’re now holding the 2021 edition in October,” said its director Gabriela Sandoval, who expects next year’s edition to be a regular in-person event in August.
Cinemas and other cultural venues have already opened up in Chile, albeit at reduced capacity, but they’re banking on 100% capacity openings before or by next year, if the Covid-19 pandemic is completely relegated to a frightful memory by then.
Given the slightly improved pandemic situation in Chile, Sanfic Industria will be a hybrid event, with some in-person activities, particularly for its expanded Sanfic Series and Morbido festival events.
“This year is an anomaly as we held last year’s cancelled Sanfic Industria event in March and we’re now holding the 2021 edition in October,” said its director Gabriela Sandoval, who expects next year’s edition to be a regular in-person event in August.
Cinemas and other cultural venues have already opened up in Chile, albeit at reduced capacity, but they’re banking on 100% capacity openings before or by next year, if the Covid-19 pandemic is completely relegated to a frightful memory by then.
- 7/30/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Ecuador’s Cineática Films has boarded “Slay the Dragon” (“Matar el Dragon”) the third directorial outing by Chilean helmer-producer Roberto Doveris of Niña Niño Films, whose producing credits include Venice 2019 Queer Lion winner, “The Prince.”
“Slay the Dragon” is among the 17 feature films in development that have participated at Sanfic Industria’s Santiago Lab: Fiction.
Doveris and Cineatica’s Gabriela Calvache met way back at the 2013 Cartagena Film Festival and reconnected at the 2019 Sanfic, which led to this alliance, said Doveris. Chile’s Peso Pluma (“Vida de Familia,” 2017) also co-produces.
“There are two things that prompted me to co-produce ‘Slay the Dragon’: The first is its director, Roberto Doveris, whom I admire as an artist and also love as a human being. The second reason is the story and the genre of the script,” said Calvache, who wrote, directed and produced her first feature “La Mala Noche,” Ecuador’s...
“Slay the Dragon” is among the 17 feature films in development that have participated at Sanfic Industria’s Santiago Lab: Fiction.
Doveris and Cineatica’s Gabriela Calvache met way back at the 2013 Cartagena Film Festival and reconnected at the 2019 Sanfic, which led to this alliance, said Doveris. Chile’s Peso Pluma (“Vida de Familia,” 2017) also co-produces.
“There are two things that prompted me to co-produce ‘Slay the Dragon’: The first is its director, Roberto Doveris, whom I admire as an artist and also love as a human being. The second reason is the story and the genre of the script,” said Calvache, who wrote, directed and produced her first feature “La Mala Noche,” Ecuador’s...
- 3/26/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Brazil’s “The Life That’s Left,” Costa Rica’s “Crono-Capsulas” and Chilean drama series “Silver Bridge” and “La Vida de Nosotros” ran out as four of the big winners at a vibrant and packed online 2021 Sanfic Industria that also underscored the depth of new talent in Latin America.
Running March 18-25, Sanfic Industria, the constantly expanding industry arm climaxed a day later with the announcement of a huge haul in industry prizes, the largest from Mexico’s genre powerhouse Mórbido, plus the lineup for Sanfic Goes to Cannes, a new Cannes Film Market project event, and notification that the two biggest winners at Santiago Series Lab, another new initiative, had scored pitching berths at Series Mania and Conecta Fiction.
Gearing up for its 17th edition this August, Sanfic is still expanding, bidding to become the biggest film festival in industry terms in Latin America. It is also well placed,...
Running March 18-25, Sanfic Industria, the constantly expanding industry arm climaxed a day later with the announcement of a huge haul in industry prizes, the largest from Mexico’s genre powerhouse Mórbido, plus the lineup for Sanfic Goes to Cannes, a new Cannes Film Market project event, and notification that the two biggest winners at Santiago Series Lab, another new initiative, had scored pitching berths at Series Mania and Conecta Fiction.
Gearing up for its 17th edition this August, Sanfic is still expanding, bidding to become the biggest film festival in industry terms in Latin America. It is also well placed,...
- 3/26/2021
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Pushed back from last August and now held online as Covid-19 still rages in Chile, Sanfic Industria, the high-energy industry part of Santiago de Chile’s Sanfic festival, runs March 18-26. Given its context, it bids to play an even more crucial role in Latin America’s industry re-set after experiencing a more punishing pandemic impact than any other part of the world.
Sanfic Industria: More Growth, Despite Covid-19
Over the last 12 months, film and TV events, whether virtual or on-site, have almost all slimmed. Sanfic Industria, in contrast, is expanding, adding a much-awaited Series Lab showcase. Santiago Lab has already evolved massively over the last two-to-three years, blossoming from a tight-knit niche launchpad for promising titles to a can’t-miss event for many of the region’s most ambitious projects.
Further growth, and a move into drama series, looked inevitable. Over the last five years, high-end drama series production...
Sanfic Industria: More Growth, Despite Covid-19
Over the last 12 months, film and TV events, whether virtual or on-site, have almost all slimmed. Sanfic Industria, in contrast, is expanding, adding a much-awaited Series Lab showcase. Santiago Lab has already evolved massively over the last two-to-three years, blossoming from a tight-knit niche launchpad for promising titles to a can’t-miss event for many of the region’s most ambitious projects.
Further growth, and a move into drama series, looked inevitable. Over the last five years, high-end drama series production...
- 3/18/2021
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
In a drive for authenticity, Chile’s Parox, producer of “Invisible Heroes,” has attached Katherina Harder to direct “Silver Bridge” (Puente de Plata), a Latin American drug trade origins saga billed by Parox and Harder as a feminist romantic melodrama.
Produced by Alvaro Cabello and Parox founders Sergio Gándara and Leonora González, “Silver Bridge” weighs in as a standout title at Sanfic Industria’s new Sanfic Lab showcase, which unspools March 24. Originally written by Enrique Videla, whose credits include Joyn series “Dignidad” and Amazon and HBO Max series “La Jauría,” “Silver Bridge” now has a bible and pilot both written as well as a teaser-trailer.
Based out of Chile and Barcelona, Harder helmed the live action short “Memorias del viento” (Guiding Sights) which played at 35 film festivals, winning best short at Chile’s Valdivia fest, plus doc-reality “4to Medio,” produced by Parox for Chilean network Tvn. Her debut feature project,...
Produced by Alvaro Cabello and Parox founders Sergio Gándara and Leonora González, “Silver Bridge” weighs in as a standout title at Sanfic Industria’s new Sanfic Lab showcase, which unspools March 24. Originally written by Enrique Videla, whose credits include Joyn series “Dignidad” and Amazon and HBO Max series “La Jauría,” “Silver Bridge” now has a bible and pilot both written as well as a teaser-trailer.
Based out of Chile and Barcelona, Harder helmed the live action short “Memorias del viento” (Guiding Sights) which played at 35 film festivals, winning best short at Chile’s Valdivia fest, plus doc-reality “4to Medio,” produced by Parox for Chilean network Tvn. Her debut feature project,...
- 3/17/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Chile’s Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic), which is preparing for its rescheduled, entirely digital industry section which will run March 18-25, ahead of its traditional in-person festival, scheduled for August, has revealed the projects’ lineup for its Santiago Lab Fiction, Documentary and Series sections.
Sanfic’s brand new Series Lab, headed by Agustina Lumi and Alejandra Marano, has selected six Chilean productions or co-productions representative of the region’s impressive push into original TV production with the legs to travel to international broadcasters and platforms – see Fabula’s Amazon Prime Video pickup “La Jauria” or Germany-Chile co-production “Dignity” for German platform Joyn.
Santiago Series Lab is highlighted by Kathy Harder’s “Silver Bridges,” from “Invisible Heroes” producers Parox. The series was first announced at MipCancun 2018 and dramatizes the origins of Chile’s cocaine trade. Another standout can be found in International Emmy winner Hernán Caffiero’s “Anonymous Voices,” produced by Btf Media.
Sanfic’s brand new Series Lab, headed by Agustina Lumi and Alejandra Marano, has selected six Chilean productions or co-productions representative of the region’s impressive push into original TV production with the legs to travel to international broadcasters and platforms – see Fabula’s Amazon Prime Video pickup “La Jauria” or Germany-Chile co-production “Dignity” for German platform Joyn.
Santiago Series Lab is highlighted by Kathy Harder’s “Silver Bridges,” from “Invisible Heroes” producers Parox. The series was first announced at MipCancun 2018 and dramatizes the origins of Chile’s cocaine trade. Another standout can be found in International Emmy winner Hernán Caffiero’s “Anonymous Voices,” produced by Btf Media.
- 3/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Movistar initiated production in Chile on Jan. 4 on its most ambitious original series to date – about seminal Chilean band Los Prisioneros which hit its heights under one of the bloodiest dictatorships in modern Latin American history, giving voice to unheard youth across the region.
Shown by Movistar exec Joanna Lombardi and produced by Movistar and Parox – the Chilean TV production house behind 2019 MipTV hit “Invisible Heroes,” produced with Finland’s Yle – “Los Prisioneros” will hit Latin American pay TV service Movistar TV and Ott platform Movistar Play during the second semester of 2021.
The punk band saga examines the life of its three members during key moments of their careers. As they become an iconic band whose lyrics defined the sentiments of a Latin American generation, and still today resonate with audiences as the political landscape of today’s uncertain present echoes the era of Los Prisioneros.
Los Prisioneros band members – main lyricist,...
Shown by Movistar exec Joanna Lombardi and produced by Movistar and Parox – the Chilean TV production house behind 2019 MipTV hit “Invisible Heroes,” produced with Finland’s Yle – “Los Prisioneros” will hit Latin American pay TV service Movistar TV and Ott platform Movistar Play during the second semester of 2021.
The punk band saga examines the life of its three members during key moments of their careers. As they become an iconic band whose lyrics defined the sentiments of a Latin American generation, and still today resonate with audiences as the political landscape of today’s uncertain present echoes the era of Los Prisioneros.
Los Prisioneros band members – main lyricist,...
- 1/11/2021
- by Emiliano Granada
- Variety Film + TV
Latin America’s Movistar, the brand of giant Madrid-based telecom Telefonica, has dropped a first teaser for “Los Prisioneros,” a portrait of the legendary Chilean punk band as it creates its greatest hits under Augusto Pinochet’s oppressive military dictatorship.
Set to go into production in January, and showrun by Joanna Lombardi, Movistar Latin America’s head of fiction, “Los Prisioneros” marks the first Movistar Original in Chile. It is made in a powerful production alliance with one of the country’s premier premium scripted producers, Parox, producers of “Invisible Heroes” and headed by Leonora González and Sergio Gándara.
Now in pre-production, and scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, the series will be made available in exclusivity and free of charge to the 85 million clients of Movistar Play, the company’s Latin America cell-phone service.
“At Movistar, we are focused on giving contents that stand apart as well as great connectivity,...
Set to go into production in January, and showrun by Joanna Lombardi, Movistar Latin America’s head of fiction, “Los Prisioneros” marks the first Movistar Original in Chile. It is made in a powerful production alliance with one of the country’s premier premium scripted producers, Parox, producers of “Invisible Heroes” and headed by Leonora González and Sergio Gándara.
Now in pre-production, and scheduled for release in the second half of 2021, the series will be made available in exclusivity and free of charge to the 85 million clients of Movistar Play, the company’s Latin America cell-phone service.
“At Movistar, we are focused on giving contents that stand apart as well as great connectivity,...
- 10/9/2020
- by John Hopewell and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Marking further expansion on the Spanish-language TV scene, Btf Media, producer of smash hit series “Hasta que the conocí” and “El secreto de Selena,” has teamed with Hernán Caffiero, creator of Intl. Emmy Award winning “The Suspended Mourning,” to open a new production office in Chile.
The new Chilean production house forms part of the growth of Btf Media, which already has offices in the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Spain.
Announced via a written statement by Btf Media’s founding-partners Francisco Cordero and Ricardo Coeto, the new venture will see Caffiero heading up the office with Cordero and Cueto.
Caffiero broke out to global attention with “The Suspended Mourning” (“Una historia necesaria”).
Crafted a gutting, the 2018 Intl. Emmy short series winner delivered brief vignettes of desaparecidos under Pinochet: the impact on loss on loved ones, what happened to them, if known from recent Dina agent confessions.
Last October, Caffiero...
The new Chilean production house forms part of the growth of Btf Media, which already has offices in the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Spain.
Announced via a written statement by Btf Media’s founding-partners Francisco Cordero and Ricardo Coeto, the new venture will see Caffiero heading up the office with Cordero and Cueto.
Caffiero broke out to global attention with “The Suspended Mourning” (“Una historia necesaria”).
Crafted a gutting, the 2018 Intl. Emmy short series winner delivered brief vignettes of desaparecidos under Pinochet: the impact on loss on loved ones, what happened to them, if known from recent Dina agent confessions.
Last October, Caffiero...
- 4/30/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The BBC is leading nominations for the 2020 Rockie Awards, a juried competition organized by Canada’s Banff World Media Festival to celebrate achievement in television and digital media from around the world.
The BBC was nominated for 27 Rockie Awards, followed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with 13 noms, Sky with eight noms, National Geographic with six noms, HBO with five noms, as well as Arte France and Finland’s Yle with four nominations each. U.K. and U.S. shows are leading the pack with 44 and 43 nominations, respectively.
The comedy series lineup includes BBC’s “Fleabag,” “Motherland,” “This Time With Alan Partridge,” as well as A24’s Ramy and Channel Four’s “This Way Up.” The non-English language comedy shows in the running include Finland’s “Almost True,” Tva’s “Boomerang” and Radio-Canada’s “Freefall,” Arte France’s “Mytho,” and Deutschland’s “Other Parents.”
Drama series nominated include Corus Entertainment’s “Departure,...
The BBC was nominated for 27 Rockie Awards, followed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with 13 noms, Sky with eight noms, National Geographic with six noms, HBO with five noms, as well as Arte France and Finland’s Yle with four nominations each. U.K. and U.S. shows are leading the pack with 44 and 43 nominations, respectively.
The comedy series lineup includes BBC’s “Fleabag,” “Motherland,” “This Time With Alan Partridge,” as well as A24’s Ramy and Channel Four’s “This Way Up.” The non-English language comedy shows in the running include Finland’s “Almost True,” Tva’s “Boomerang” and Radio-Canada’s “Freefall,” Arte France’s “Mytho,” and Deutschland’s “Other Parents.”
Drama series nominated include Corus Entertainment’s “Departure,...
- 4/23/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Wild Bunch TV-sold “Albatros,” Turner Latin America’s banner title “Amarres” and REInvent Studios’ globe-trotting “Peacemaker” will feature at a 54 series-strong Buyers Showcase, which launches today March 25 as a backbone of Series Mania’s online Digital Forum, Europe’s first big festival experiment in a virtual marketplace.
Also featuring a powerful Co-Pro Pitching lineup, packed by pedigree producers and creatives, the Digital Forum’s industry audience, such as the number of accredited distributors, still has to be confirmed.
Some high-profile titles are missing: Opener “The Luminaries,” for example, from Fremantle and Working Title, and HBO closer “Run.” That said, the Buyer’s Showcase looks set to include five of Series Mania’s original 10 main competition entries and 13 of its 15 International Panorama titles, the festival’s two main sections.
Looking to the long-haul, as it also address urgent financial fall-out from Covid-19, the industry needs festival selection more than ever.
“Series...
Also featuring a powerful Co-Pro Pitching lineup, packed by pedigree producers and creatives, the Digital Forum’s industry audience, such as the number of accredited distributors, still has to be confirmed.
Some high-profile titles are missing: Opener “The Luminaries,” for example, from Fremantle and Working Title, and HBO closer “Run.” That said, the Buyer’s Showcase looks set to include five of Series Mania’s original 10 main competition entries and 13 of its 15 International Panorama titles, the festival’s two main sections.
Looking to the long-haul, as it also address urgent financial fall-out from Covid-19, the industry needs festival selection more than ever.
“Series...
- 3/25/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin — Stockholm-based global distributor Eccho Rights has boarded international financial thriller series “Polaris” (formerly known as “Bankster”) from fast-rising Icelandic production outfit Grassriver. The eight-part series, now in development and commissioned by Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV, will be co-produced and distributed by the Lumiere Group in Benelux.
Creators/co-writers of the high-concept series are crime writer/screenwriter and former financial crime investigator Jón Óttar Ólafsson, and Glassriver CEO Hordur Rúnarsson. The company’s co-founders –writer/director Baldvin Z and Andri Óttarsson are script supervisors.
“Polaris” is based on the compelling true story of one of the largest bank robberies in history, when Icelandic ‘banksters’ emptied British saving accounts of £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) to reimburse Russian oligarchs and shabby businessmen whose assets were frozen when the financial crisis hit Iceland in 2008.
After stealing from ordinary U.K. citizens, the banksters fled to Libya to hide the cash. In the series Alex, an...
Creators/co-writers of the high-concept series are crime writer/screenwriter and former financial crime investigator Jón Óttar Ólafsson, and Glassriver CEO Hordur Rúnarsson. The company’s co-founders –writer/director Baldvin Z and Andri Óttarsson are script supervisors.
“Polaris” is based on the compelling true story of one of the largest bank robberies in history, when Icelandic ‘banksters’ emptied British saving accounts of £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) to reimburse Russian oligarchs and shabby businessmen whose assets were frozen when the financial crisis hit Iceland in 2008.
After stealing from ordinary U.K. citizens, the banksters fled to Libya to hide the cash. In the series Alex, an...
- 2/25/2020
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Chilean producers to track, who will be forming part of the Berlinale’s 2020 Country in Focus dedicated to Chile. Five are well-known, another five on the rise :
Up-and-coming
María José Díaz
Dos Be Producciones
An executive producer and investigative journalist for TV series and doc-features, Diaz is an executive producer at Dos Be Prods. and founder of Galgo Storytelling, a transmedia content producer. Projects in development: Doc “Haganse la Luz,” Ignacia Merino and Isabel Reyes’ debuts, and docu series “Nepen” about Chile’s indigenous Mapuches.
Yeniffer Fasciani
Niebla Producciones
A 2015 Berlinale Talents participant, Fasciani is a partner/co-founder of Niebla Prods. In 2016 she produced TV series “Martin, Man and Legend” for La Santé Films and was executive director of Dci, a Chilean film distributor. Upcoming projects: Carola Quezada’s “Perros sin Cola,” Chilean-Japanese co-production “Green Grass” by Ignacio Ruiz, and pregnant boxer drama “A La Deriva.”
Cynthia García
Cyan Prods
Founder of Cyan Prods.
Up-and-coming
María José Díaz
Dos Be Producciones
An executive producer and investigative journalist for TV series and doc-features, Diaz is an executive producer at Dos Be Prods. and founder of Galgo Storytelling, a transmedia content producer. Projects in development: Doc “Haganse la Luz,” Ignacia Merino and Isabel Reyes’ debuts, and docu series “Nepen” about Chile’s indigenous Mapuches.
Yeniffer Fasciani
Niebla Producciones
A 2015 Berlinale Talents participant, Fasciani is a partner/co-founder of Niebla Prods. In 2016 she produced TV series “Martin, Man and Legend” for La Santé Films and was executive director of Dci, a Chilean film distributor. Upcoming projects: Carola Quezada’s “Perros sin Cola,” Chilean-Japanese co-production “Green Grass” by Ignacio Ruiz, and pregnant boxer drama “A La Deriva.”
Cynthia García
Cyan Prods
Founder of Cyan Prods.
- 2/20/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
For 25 years, from 1992’s “La Frontera” through 2017’s ”A Fantastic Woman,” a subsequent Oscar winner, the Berlinale has prized a rich trove of Chilean movies.
Now, in sync with industry change, Berlin will celebrate the country’s TV with a Chilean Series on the Rise showcase, part of its Country Focus.
“When I started at CinemaChile, one mandate was to achieve the same sense of a phenomenon for Chilean series that had happened in film,” says Constanza Arena, executive director.
Berlin lifts the curtain on early success. “TV is the future of content,” says Matías Cardone, producer of “Dignity,” as the showcase comes in as a Country Focus’ centerpiece.
The five series presented have won big prizes, struck high-profile deals and helped bow original series investment and marked a major strategic departure at some of the world’s most energetic drama series players.
Haunting vignettes of desaparecidos under Pinochet and...
Now, in sync with industry change, Berlin will celebrate the country’s TV with a Chilean Series on the Rise showcase, part of its Country Focus.
“When I started at CinemaChile, one mandate was to achieve the same sense of a phenomenon for Chilean series that had happened in film,” says Constanza Arena, executive director.
Berlin lifts the curtain on early success. “TV is the future of content,” says Matías Cardone, producer of “Dignity,” as the showcase comes in as a Country Focus’ centerpiece.
The five series presented have won big prizes, struck high-profile deals and helped bow original series investment and marked a major strategic departure at some of the world’s most energetic drama series players.
Haunting vignettes of desaparecidos under Pinochet and...
- 2/20/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Following on 2019 MipTV hit “Invisible Heroes,” set in 1973 Chile, “The Paradise” marks the second time in under 12 months that Finnish public broadcaster Yle has reached out to set – and co-produce – a primetime drama in the Spanish-speaking world.
Neither are commonplace dramas. Produced by Finland’s Mrp Matila Röhr Productions, behind “All the Sins,” winner of the 2019 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, “The Paradise” begins with a softly-sung song, ·”Viento, viento de la montaña” and aerial shots of a caravan wending its way through low-wooded sierra to Fuengirola, an enclave on Spain’s sun-kissed Costa del Sol. “I’m so happy,” a young wife says in Finnish to her husband wo drives the caravan as they embrace, surveying Fuengirola below them.
Yet, in its first two episodes at least, “The Paradise” marks two other people’s story of renewal: Hilkka Mäntymäki, a crime detective in sub-Arctic city of Oulu,...
Neither are commonplace dramas. Produced by Finland’s Mrp Matila Röhr Productions, behind “All the Sins,” winner of the 2019 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, “The Paradise” begins with a softly-sung song, ·”Viento, viento de la montaña” and aerial shots of a caravan wending its way through low-wooded sierra to Fuengirola, an enclave on Spain’s sun-kissed Costa del Sol. “I’m so happy,” a young wife says in Finnish to her husband wo drives the caravan as they embrace, surveying Fuengirola below them.
Yet, in its first two episodes at least, “The Paradise” marks two other people’s story of renewal: Hilkka Mäntymäki, a crime detective in sub-Arctic city of Oulu,...
- 1/17/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Adding a new dimension to strong women action series, London-based global drama producer-distributor Fremantle is teaming with Fabula, headed by director Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”) and producer Juan de Dios Larraín (“Gloria Bell”), to produce “Talitha Kum.”
Directed by Marialy Rivas, the high octane Mexico-set action series promises to deliver a original genre twist to the scenario of valiant women pushing back against toxic masculinity with its bad ass young ninja nuns battling mano a mano with lethal sex traffickers.
“Talitha Kum” marks the second collaboration between Fabula and Fremantle as part of a multi-year first look deal between the partners, following on buzzed-up sexual abuse psychological thriller “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), showrun by Lucía Puenzo (“The German Doctor”), whose Ep. 1 premiered at September’s Zurich Festival to acclaim. As on “La Jauría,” Fremantle is co-producing “Talitha Kum” with Fabula and will handle international sales.
Fabula and Fremantle will introduce...
Directed by Marialy Rivas, the high octane Mexico-set action series promises to deliver a original genre twist to the scenario of valiant women pushing back against toxic masculinity with its bad ass young ninja nuns battling mano a mano with lethal sex traffickers.
“Talitha Kum” marks the second collaboration between Fabula and Fremantle as part of a multi-year first look deal between the partners, following on buzzed-up sexual abuse psychological thriller “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), showrun by Lucía Puenzo (“The German Doctor”), whose Ep. 1 premiered at September’s Zurich Festival to acclaim. As on “La Jauría,” Fremantle is co-producing “Talitha Kum” with Fabula and will handle international sales.
Fabula and Fremantle will introduce...
- 1/17/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Otis is back at school, and the teenagers (and teachers!) have some issues they need to talk about.
Netflix has officially dropped the first trailer for Sex Education Season 2, and it teases a lot of drama for the characters.
Sex Education follows Otis Milburn, a socially awkward high school student who lives with his sex therapist mother, Jean.
In Season 1, Otis and his friend Maeve Wiley set-up a sex clinic at school to capitalise on his intuitive talent for sex advice.
In season 2, as a late bloomer Otis must master his newly discovered sexual urges in order to progress with his girlfriend Ola whilst also dealing with his now strained relationship with Maeve.
Meanwhile, Moordale Secondary is in the throes of a chlamydia outbreak, highlighting the need for better sex education at the school and new kids come to town who will challenge the status quo.
The better sex education...
Netflix has officially dropped the first trailer for Sex Education Season 2, and it teases a lot of drama for the characters.
Sex Education follows Otis Milburn, a socially awkward high school student who lives with his sex therapist mother, Jean.
In Season 1, Otis and his friend Maeve Wiley set-up a sex clinic at school to capitalise on his intuitive talent for sex advice.
In season 2, as a late bloomer Otis must master his newly discovered sexual urges in order to progress with his girlfriend Ola whilst also dealing with his now strained relationship with Maeve.
Meanwhile, Moordale Secondary is in the throes of a chlamydia outbreak, highlighting the need for better sex education at the school and new kids come to town who will challenge the status quo.
The better sex education...
- 1/7/2020
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
Cannes — If Germany’s ProSiebenSat1 and Discovery had launched Joyn, their new streaming service, 10 years ago, they might have chosen as their first production a big action series, set in Germany, but with U.S. stars.
This September, in a sign of new times, the partners announced that their first original drama series commission is “Dignity,” set in Chile, half spoken in Spanish.
In other ways too, “Dignity,” described as a major political thriller, is a change-maker. Produced by Chile’s Invercine & Wood and Germany’s Storyhouse Productions, it is also one of a first brace of international co-productions at Chile’s top network Mega, as it moves not upscale premium series.
Distributed by Red Arrow International, and created by Maria Elena Wood and Patricio Pereira, eight-part “Dignity,” also a wrenching family drama, is inspired by chilling true events.
It tells the story of two brothers who were separated by former Nazi Paul Schaefer,...
This September, in a sign of new times, the partners announced that their first original drama series commission is “Dignity,” set in Chile, half spoken in Spanish.
In other ways too, “Dignity,” described as a major political thriller, is a change-maker. Produced by Chile’s Invercine & Wood and Germany’s Storyhouse Productions, it is also one of a first brace of international co-productions at Chile’s top network Mega, as it moves not upscale premium series.
Distributed by Red Arrow International, and created by Maria Elena Wood and Patricio Pereira, eight-part “Dignity,” also a wrenching family drama, is inspired by chilling true events.
It tells the story of two brothers who were separated by former Nazi Paul Schaefer,...
- 10/13/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
As Mipcom kicks off, Variety looks back at just a few very recent stories you – and Variety – may have missed in the buildup to the world’s biggest TV market. The BBC picks up a trio of Nordic series, Netflix backs its first Original in Iceland, exciting startup Toon2Tango announces its first IP, African animation makes a impact at MipJunior; and Eccho Rights sells “Invisible Heroes” in Spain.
BBC3 Acquires its First Non-English-Language Series in Nrk’s “Nudes”
Wild Bunch has closed a raft of sales deals for Nrk’s Norwegian Ya series “Nudes” including the BBC’s youth network BBC Three in the U.K. – the first non-English-language series for the network, AMC in Spain and Portugal, Sbs in Australia and Yandex in Russia. The series turns on three stories of teens in the midst of personal crisis stemming from leaked nude photos. Each must find their own...
BBC3 Acquires its First Non-English-Language Series in Nrk’s “Nudes”
Wild Bunch has closed a raft of sales deals for Nrk’s Norwegian Ya series “Nudes” including the BBC’s youth network BBC Three in the U.K. – the first non-English-language series for the network, AMC in Spain and Portugal, Sbs in Australia and Yandex in Russia. The series turns on three stories of teens in the midst of personal crisis stemming from leaked nude photos. Each must find their own...
- 10/13/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Navarre shall be the wonder of the world. Again. The 2020 4th Conecta Fiction, a Europe-Latin American co-production forum which is Spain’s biggest TV industry event, will take place for the second year running in Pamplona, capital of the northern region of Navarre.
Next year’s event will run at the slightly later date of June 22-25.
The return to Navarre comes after an agreement between Inside Content, which is responsible for the design and the production of the event, and on one hand the Navarre government via Nicdo, Navarre’s Infrastructures, Culture, Sports and Leisure institution and Sodena, its business development entity, and on the other the Sgae Foundation.
The accord has been made with the collaboration of the Navarra Audiovisual Cluster (Clavna) and the Navarre Association of Producers and Audiovisual Professionals (Napar).
Conecta Fiction will take place once more at Navarre’s Baluarte Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarra,...
Next year’s event will run at the slightly later date of June 22-25.
The return to Navarre comes after an agreement between Inside Content, which is responsible for the design and the production of the event, and on one hand the Navarre government via Nicdo, Navarre’s Infrastructures, Culture, Sports and Leisure institution and Sodena, its business development entity, and on the other the Sgae Foundation.
The accord has been made with the collaboration of the Navarra Audiovisual Cluster (Clavna) and the Navarre Association of Producers and Audiovisual Professionals (Napar).
Conecta Fiction will take place once more at Navarre’s Baluarte Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarra,...
- 10/8/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Friday night saw Sanfic Industria close out a week of co-production meetings, screenings and tutoring with an awards ceremony where a handful of the 34 projects and six works in progress at this year’s 6th edition were recognized.
In addition to the awards ceremony, Friday night’s festivities included a 10th anniversary party for the partnership between CinemaChile and Sanfic.
“To me this partnership is vital because the two complement one another,” said Parox founder-producer Sergio Gándara, whose latest TV series “Invisible Heroes” opened this year’s inaugural Sanfic Series focus.
Next to a giant cake covered in sparklers, he went on, “The partnership fosters an international community. Just as CinemaChile brings Chile to the world, Sanfic provides a place for the world to come to Chile.”
Martín Emiliano Díaz’s “Inhabited” scored big in the Wip section, notching both the Mafiz Málaga and Yagán Films awards. It turns on...
In addition to the awards ceremony, Friday night’s festivities included a 10th anniversary party for the partnership between CinemaChile and Sanfic.
“To me this partnership is vital because the two complement one another,” said Parox founder-producer Sergio Gándara, whose latest TV series “Invisible Heroes” opened this year’s inaugural Sanfic Series focus.
Next to a giant cake covered in sparklers, he went on, “The partnership fosters an international community. Just as CinemaChile brings Chile to the world, Sanfic provides a place for the world to come to Chile.”
Martín Emiliano Díaz’s “Inhabited” scored big in the Wip section, notching both the Mafiz Málaga and Yagán Films awards. It turns on...
- 8/24/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Santiago, Chile – Globalization was the key word in a TV panel held during Sanfic where Mega TV’s International Content chief Juan Ignacio Vicente, Cntv development head Ignacio Villalabeitia and DirecTV programming director Rossy Hernandez debated the myriad challenges Chile’s television industry faces today.
Like its counterparts worldwide, Chilean TV is dealing with the spectre of streaming television that has radically changed viewing habits and increased demand for costly premium content. “Making television content for Chile’s paltry 16 million inhabitants will not suffice,” Mega’s Vicente pointed out. “They compare ours with the series that are on Netflix, with Amazon Prime, etc.; viewers today demand more from us in terms of original ideas, the script, the narrative conclusion and obviously the quality of production,” said Vicente. “And this is a serious problem for us as we don’t have the resources to produce at that level,” he stressed, adding that Mega TV,...
Like its counterparts worldwide, Chilean TV is dealing with the spectre of streaming television that has radically changed viewing habits and increased demand for costly premium content. “Making television content for Chile’s paltry 16 million inhabitants will not suffice,” Mega’s Vicente pointed out. “They compare ours with the series that are on Netflix, with Amazon Prime, etc.; viewers today demand more from us in terms of original ideas, the script, the narrative conclusion and obviously the quality of production,” said Vicente. “And this is a serious problem for us as we don’t have the resources to produce at that level,” he stressed, adding that Mega TV,...
- 8/23/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Set to open Aug. 18 with two of Latin America’s biggest stars, Gael Garcia Bernal and Wagner Moura (“Narcos”), the 15th edition of Chile’s Santiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic) promises a focus on women directors and producers as it hosts a Women’s Encounter and Chile’s audiovisual guilds ink a pact to safeguard against sexual harassment in the work place.
The fest will kick off with Moura’s controversial directorial debut, “Marighella,” after bestowing career recognition awards on Garcia Bernal and Argentine thesp Graciela Borges.
On day two, Moura will participate in an Actor’s Studio interview open to the public, said Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez and industry head Gabriela Sandoval, partners at Storyboard Media who jointly run the festival.
Three competitive sections – international, Chilean and shorts – will include cash prizes. The international, jury – Borges, Uruguayan producer Sandino Saravia (“Roma”) and Chilean director/editor Valeria Sarmiento,...
The fest will kick off with Moura’s controversial directorial debut, “Marighella,” after bestowing career recognition awards on Garcia Bernal and Argentine thesp Graciela Borges.
On day two, Moura will participate in an Actor’s Studio interview open to the public, said Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez and industry head Gabriela Sandoval, partners at Storyboard Media who jointly run the festival.
Three competitive sections – international, Chilean and shorts – will include cash prizes. The international, jury – Borges, Uruguayan producer Sandino Saravia (“Roma”) and Chilean director/editor Valeria Sarmiento,...
- 8/9/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Finland’s Liselott Forsman, a former executive producer of international drama at Finnish public broadcaster Yle , has been appointed new CEO of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the dynamic Nordic region film and TV financier.
Forsman will take up her position on Oct. 7, succeeding Petri Kemppinen who is relocating to Finland after a near six-year mandate to spend more time with his family.
Established in 1990, and handling a Nok 97.75 million ($11.4 million) budget for 2019, the Nftvf is backed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the five Nordic film institutes and 12 Nordic television channels.
Nftvf’s primary brief is to boost high-quality film and TV productions in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden by putting up top-up financing for feature films, TV-fiction, series and creative documentaries.
To this task Forsman, also chair of the Ebu Fiction Expert Group, can bring a large passion for the importance of screenwriting – she co-founded Helsinki...
Forsman will take up her position on Oct. 7, succeeding Petri Kemppinen who is relocating to Finland after a near six-year mandate to spend more time with his family.
Established in 1990, and handling a Nok 97.75 million ($11.4 million) budget for 2019, the Nftvf is backed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the five Nordic film institutes and 12 Nordic television channels.
Nftvf’s primary brief is to boost high-quality film and TV productions in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden by putting up top-up financing for feature films, TV-fiction, series and creative documentaries.
To this task Forsman, also chair of the Ebu Fiction Expert Group, can bring a large passion for the importance of screenwriting – she co-founded Helsinki...
- 8/9/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Adding to the momentum of Chile’s energetic push into upscale TV production, the Santiago Intl. Film Festival (Sanfic) is adding a TV strand, Sanfic Series.
Focusing on drama series and part of the Sanfic Industry forum – after Ventana Sur now one of the biggest of any festival in South America – the section will bow at this August’s festival with the South American premiere of the first two episodes of “Invisible Heroes,” a MipTV and Conecta Fiction hit and flagship title in Chile’s drive into international co-production.
A Yle Original Series produced by Finland’s Kahio Republic and Chile’s Parox, one of Chile’s most established TV production houses, and backed by Finland’s Yle and Chile’s Chilevision, “Invisible Heroes” is a prime example of a series with a highly specific setting, the eve and mostly aftermath of Augusto Pinochet’s bloody 1973 coup in Chile, rendered...
Focusing on drama series and part of the Sanfic Industry forum – after Ventana Sur now one of the biggest of any festival in South America – the section will bow at this August’s festival with the South American premiere of the first two episodes of “Invisible Heroes,” a MipTV and Conecta Fiction hit and flagship title in Chile’s drive into international co-production.
A Yle Original Series produced by Finland’s Kahio Republic and Chile’s Parox, one of Chile’s most established TV production houses, and backed by Finland’s Yle and Chile’s Chilevision, “Invisible Heroes” is a prime example of a series with a highly specific setting, the eve and mostly aftermath of Augusto Pinochet’s bloody 1973 coup in Chile, rendered...
- 7/23/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Eccho Rights, a leading sales company in Sweden, is set to ramp up its executive team with the hiring of Lisa Widén, a former head of production at Film Capital Stockholm whose co-production credits include “Before We Die” and “Jordskott.”
At Eccho Rights, Widén will be handling sales and acquisitions for Scandinavia. She will continue to work on the development of Scandinavian drama series, which have become key to Eccho Rights’ offering. Within the last two years, Eccho Rights has sold high-profile series such as “Honour,” “Conspiracy of Silence” and “Invisible Heroes.”
Eccho Rights’ track record also includes the sale of four Turkish drama series to Swedish public broadcaster Svt.
“Lisa has the perfect background to take our work in the Scandinavian market to the next level,” said Nicola Soderlund, the managing partner at Eccho Rights. “While we continue to look for new and developing markets worldwide, we believe that...
At Eccho Rights, Widén will be handling sales and acquisitions for Scandinavia. She will continue to work on the development of Scandinavian drama series, which have become key to Eccho Rights’ offering. Within the last two years, Eccho Rights has sold high-profile series such as “Honour,” “Conspiracy of Silence” and “Invisible Heroes.”
Eccho Rights’ track record also includes the sale of four Turkish drama series to Swedish public broadcaster Svt.
“Lisa has the perfect background to take our work in the Scandinavian market to the next level,” said Nicola Soderlund, the managing partner at Eccho Rights. “While we continue to look for new and developing markets worldwide, we believe that...
- 6/28/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Pamplona, Spain — In an early and memorable dramatic beat in “Invisible Heroes,” a Original Series of Finnish broadcaster Yle, in partnership with Chilean network Chilevision, the former head of international trade under Chile’s Salvador Allende clambers over the garden wall of the chalet of a Finnish diplomat to seek asylum after Augusto Pinochet’s bloody 1973 military coup.
Suitcase in hand, he looses his footing,, and falls straight into Tapani Brotherus’ swimming pool.
Much admired at MipTV by those who caught it, “Invisible Heroes” opened to warm applause on Monday night at Conecta Fiction, the world’s foremost Europe-Latin America TV co-production forum, which runs June.17-20 in Pamplona, Northern Spain.
Chile is one of Conecta Fiction’s two 2019 countries in focus. If the quality on paper of some of its projects is born out by their pitches, in public events or one-to-one meetings, it will also be one of its stars.
Suitcase in hand, he looses his footing,, and falls straight into Tapani Brotherus’ swimming pool.
Much admired at MipTV by those who caught it, “Invisible Heroes” opened to warm applause on Monday night at Conecta Fiction, the world’s foremost Europe-Latin America TV co-production forum, which runs June.17-20 in Pamplona, Northern Spain.
Chile is one of Conecta Fiction’s two 2019 countries in focus. If the quality on paper of some of its projects is born out by their pitches, in public events or one-to-one meetings, it will also be one of its stars.
- 6/18/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Eleonora Andreatta, director of Rai Fiction and one of the most influential TV executives in Italy, will head the Italian delegation at this month’s Conecta Fiction 3, the Europe-America TV series co-production and networking event which takes place this year in Pamplona.
This year, Conecta Fiction has selected as its European Focus Country, an initiative which will see the event analyzing the Italian drama series industry, its particularities and potential as a TV co-producer partner, and the talent of local creators.
Italy joins Chile, already announced by Conecta as its American Focus Country.
Running June 17-20, Conecta Fiction 3 will kick-off with an inaugural gala at Pamplona’s Teatro Gayarre, with the screening of Finnish-Chilean series “Invisible Heroes,” a co-production between Finland’s Kaiho Republic and Chile’s Parox that was pitched two years ago as a project at Conecta’s Pitch Copro Series.
The political drama-thriller, set during Chile’s 1973 military coup,...
This year, Conecta Fiction has selected as its European Focus Country, an initiative which will see the event analyzing the Italian drama series industry, its particularities and potential as a TV co-producer partner, and the talent of local creators.
Italy joins Chile, already announced by Conecta as its American Focus Country.
Running June 17-20, Conecta Fiction 3 will kick-off with an inaugural gala at Pamplona’s Teatro Gayarre, with the screening of Finnish-Chilean series “Invisible Heroes,” a co-production between Finland’s Kaiho Republic and Chile’s Parox that was pitched two years ago as a project at Conecta’s Pitch Copro Series.
The political drama-thriller, set during Chile’s 1973 military coup,...
- 6/3/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Eurodata TV Worldwide’s Frédéric Vaulpré and Avril Blondelot presented the agency’s One Television Year in the World report at MipTV earlier this week, a generally positive take on the state of broadcast TV thanks to new broadcasting methods and dynamic creations.
In a study of 94 countries, Eurodata estimated that average daily TV viewing time in 2018 was down only one minute from the previous year, although that number varied significantly from territory to territory – in the U.S. it decreased nine minutes, whereas in parts of Asia the number grew.
According to Eurodata Worldwide vice president Vaulpré, “If we put this into perspective by looking at how these figures change over the long term, in the most recent years, viewing times around the world are down slightly, but are still at a comparable level to the early 2000s. The American continent and Europe have broadly exceeded the global average...
In a study of 94 countries, Eurodata estimated that average daily TV viewing time in 2018 was down only one minute from the previous year, although that number varied significantly from territory to territory – in the U.S. it decreased nine minutes, whereas in parts of Asia the number grew.
According to Eurodata Worldwide vice president Vaulpré, “If we put this into perspective by looking at how these figures change over the long term, in the most recent years, viewing times around the world are down slightly, but are still at a comparable level to the early 2000s. The American continent and Europe have broadly exceeded the global average...
- 4/11/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Finland’s Kaiho Republic and Chile’s Parox unique trans-Atlantic co-production “Invisible Heroes” will screen at Cannes’ MipTV, with Eccho Rights handling international sales in the event’s market.
“Invisible Heroes” tracks the remarkable work done by fresh off the boat Finnish diplomat Tapani Brotherus who risked his career, his freedom and his life to covertly help secure asylum in Europe for more than 2,000 Chilean citizens whose lives were under threat during the brutal 1973 coup headed by general and future dictator Augusto Pinochet. The series was penned by the playwrights Tarja Kylmä from Finland and Manuela Infante Guell from Chile.
The series features stunning recreations of sites which no longer exist from a time that most Chileans can no longer remember, but all still feel the consequences of.
In addition to astonishing VFX scenes at the national stadium, Santiago airports and of era-appropriate bombers flying overhead, the production was the...
“Invisible Heroes” tracks the remarkable work done by fresh off the boat Finnish diplomat Tapani Brotherus who risked his career, his freedom and his life to covertly help secure asylum in Europe for more than 2,000 Chilean citizens whose lives were under threat during the brutal 1973 coup headed by general and future dictator Augusto Pinochet. The series was penned by the playwrights Tarja Kylmä from Finland and Manuela Infante Guell from Chile.
The series features stunning recreations of sites which no longer exist from a time that most Chileans can no longer remember, but all still feel the consequences of.
In addition to astonishing VFX scenes at the national stadium, Santiago airports and of era-appropriate bombers flying overhead, the production was the...
- 4/9/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Joseph Baxter Jan 16, 2020
The Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield-headlined teen comedy series Sex Education returns for a second season on Netflix.
Sex Education is matriculating for another semester of awkwardly idiosyncratic hormonal hijinks, thanks to a second season on Netflix.
It only took the streaming giant a few weeks to give a passing grade and greenlight Sex Education Season 2, yielding another 8-episode run, with the series getting a renewal in early February 2019 following its premiere on January 11. (Check out our review of Sex Education.)
The series, a British export from Eleven, is the creation of Laurie Nunn, for whom it served as a major coming out party after having only fielded some short films. The story centers on awkward high school teen Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) whose knowledge of human sexuality from his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson) is utilized to take on the role of a secret...
The Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield-headlined teen comedy series Sex Education returns for a second season on Netflix.
Sex Education is matriculating for another semester of awkwardly idiosyncratic hormonal hijinks, thanks to a second season on Netflix.
It only took the streaming giant a few weeks to give a passing grade and greenlight Sex Education Season 2, yielding another 8-episode run, with the series getting a renewal in early February 2019 following its premiere on January 11. (Check out our review of Sex Education.)
The series, a British export from Eleven, is the creation of Laurie Nunn, for whom it served as a major coming out party after having only fielded some short films. The story centers on awkward high school teen Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) whose knowledge of human sexuality from his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson) is utilized to take on the role of a secret...
- 2/1/2019
- Den of Geek
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