Noticias

ITV Studios has taken a majority stake in leading Spanish scripted production company Plano a Plano, founded by seasoned producer César Benítez.

One of the very few big Spanish TV companies not to have been acquired by foreign interests, Plano a Plano has produced series such as “Valeria,” based on the novels by Elisabet Benavent, ranked in Netflix’s Top 5 most-viewed international dramas globally; “El Príncipe,” a thriller series produced for Mediaset España sold to more than 60 territories, and “Servir y proteger,” a daily soap for Spanish public broadcaster Rtve.

Benítez, CEO Emilio Amaré and executive producer Álvaro Benítez will continue to lead the label, reporting to London-based Lisa Perrin, ITV Studios managing director, international production.

Launched in 2011, with headquarters in Madrid and Bilbao, Plano a Plano will sit alongside ITV Studios Iberia in Spain, the joint venture launched in 2023 by ITV Studios and scripted label Cattleya Producciones, both led by Nathalie García.

ITV Studios (Itvs) has bought another European scripted producer.

The production and sales arm of UK network ITV has paid an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in Spain’s Plano a Plano, known for the likes of Netflix’s Valeria, Mediaset’s El Principe and recently launches Disney+ series Suspicious Minds.

Plano a Plano is also behind the upcoming Netflix series All the Truth Behind My Lies (Toda la Verdad de Mis Mentiras), a miniseries based on the Elísabet Benavent novel, and is working on a debut feature film, La Tregua, for Spanish pubcaster Rtve and Netflix.

Company was founded in 2011 by César Benitez, who runs the business with CEO CEO Emilio Amaré and Executive Producer Álvaro Benítez. They will continue to run Plano a Plano out of Madrid and Bilbao, reporting to Itvs’s London-based Lisa Perrin, who is Managing Director, International Production.

“After admiring César, Emilio and...

It’s a star-studded Marbella of the 1980s, and the glam Andalusian backdrop frames an opulent narrative that fuses suspense, betrayal and slow-simmering vengeance in the Atresmedia original series “Eva & Nicole,” teased by its producers – Spain’s Atresmedia TV (“Veneno”) alongside Good Mood (“Cristo y Rey”) – at the MipDrama showcase on April 7, a precursor to the broader MipTV international series market in Cannes, running April 8-10.

Handling global distribution, Atresmedia TV International Sales will attend MipTV.

One of only 10 international series selected by the MipDrama jury, the eight-episode affair is directed by David Molina, Antonio Hernández and Álvaro Vicario and structured around a fast-paced script written by Daniel Écija, Patricia Trueba, Andrés Martín Soto, Iñaki San Román, Paula López Cuervo and César Mendizábal.

The series opens with gusto at Nicole’s, the social club named after its owner who is framed from the back as she fiercely pulls open...

Toledo, Spain — Adding to its bullish line-up of primetime dramas, Spain’s Atresmedia TV is set to adapt “Angela Black,” its second ITV drama makeover from “The Missing” creators, Harry and Jack Williams, after the Spanish commercial broadcaster’s reversion of “Liar.”

Currently casting and set to go into production this fall in Bizkaia’s Bilbao, “Angela,” as the Spanish redo is known, is produced by Buendía Estudios Vizcaya with the participation of Atresmedia TV.

An original idea of the Williams’ Two Brothers Pictures, “Angela Black’s” international distribution is handled by All3Media International.

Buendía Estudios is behind “Veneno,” “Cardo” and “The Cook of Castamar.” “Angela” is directed by Norberto López Amado, who has helmed episodes on some of the biggest hits on Spanish TV in the last 10 years, such as “The Time in Between” and “El Príncipe” as well as two episodes of “Liar.”

In now well-established windowing, “Angela...

Leading Spanish indie Plano a Plano has snagged TV adaptation rights to “Lejos de Luisiana” by Luz Gabás, last year’s winner of Spain’s prestigious Planeta Award.

Plano a Plano acquired the rights from Book & Film Rights, the Editorial Planeta division which oversees local and international audiovisual adaptation deals as well as translation rights in international markets.

Since 1952, Planeta has bestowed an annual reward to outstanding unpublished Spanish-language works with the largest endowment worldwide, one million Euros.

Gabás’ acclaimed debut novel “Palm Trees in the Snow” (“Palmeras en la nieve”) was successfully adapted to the screen in 2015, winning two Goya, translated to multiple languages and grossing $18.3 million in Spain.

“Lejos de Luisiana” (translated to “Far from Louisiana”) follows a love story between a Native American and a French Creole Woman in Mississippi at the end of the 18th century. It takes place over four decades during the time when...

Missing persons cop drama series “Desaparecidos, la serie” (“Disappeared”), produced in collaboration with César Benítez’s Plano a Plano, marks Mediterráneo’s return to MipTV Drama Buyers Summit, albeit in a virtual format.

Mediterráneo, Mediaset España’s sales and distribution arm, brought to the 2019 edition dark comedy series “Señoras del (h)Ampa” (“Dangerous Moms”), which won the Coup de Coeur Prize.

With a 13-episode first season completed, filmed in 4k, “Disappeared” was created by seasoned Spanish writer-producer Curro Royo.

“From the beginning, alongside Plano a Plano, we bet on a classic procedural series in its structure and so it is in each chapter,” said Arantxa Écija, Mediaset España head of Fiction.

“As a differential feature, in the series the police work unites with the collaboration of a supporting and disseminating information organization. In addition, in the biography of the protagonists everyone has a disappearance behind them that makes them get involved...

Exclusive: Outfest has unveiled their lineup for the 17th annual Outfest Fusion — or the more official title: Outfest 2020: Culture. Film. Music. Story. The fest will run March 6-10 and include screenings, performances, panels, galas, workshops, and world premieres in Los Angeles.

Outfest Fusion brings together one of the largest, inclusive and diverse cross-sections of the Lgbtq+ community and its allies. The fest is a space the next generation of storytellers and cultural ambassadors are discovered. This year, Outfest Fusion 2020 will feature more than 60 films, including 11 World Premieres, 4 North American Premieres, 12 West Coast Premieres, 13 Los Angeles Premieres and 1 International Premiere.

Films featured this year include El Principe (The Prince) directed by Sebastián Muñoz’s El Principe (The Prince) which won the Queer Lion at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. The fest will also feature the L.A. premiere of Andrew Ahn’s Driveways which stars Hong Chau and Golden...

ABC pickup to series “The Baker and the Beauty,” BBC One’s “Bloodlands,” Beta Film-sold “The Sea Beyond” and “Nasdrovia,” from Spanish powerhouses Movistar Plus and The Mediapro Studio, are all set for the 2020 MipTV Drama Buyers Summit.

Screening 15-minute excerpts from series – some complete, some works in progress – the 5th Summit, whose details were announced Thursday, will take place on March 29.

Based on the Israeli original, the highest-rated scripted series ever in Israeli, the re-versioned hourlong romantic comedy “The Baker and the Beauty” is now set in Miami, shownrun by “The Brave” creator Dean Georgaris and produced by Universal Television and ABC Studios, in association with Keshet Studios.

A first commission for “Bodyguard” creator Jed Mercurio’s Hat Trick Mercurio Television, with international distribution handled by Hat Trick Intl., Northern Ireland-set “Bloodlands” stars James Nesbitt as a detective hunting a legendary killer.

Otherwise, the lineup at this year’s...

San Sebastian — Amid large expectation, HBO Europe has revealed first footage giving a first sense of tone and pace of its Spanish original series “Patria.”

A packed-to-overflowing press conference on Saturday morning at the San Sebastian Festival can be read as one sign of the potential popularity of the eight-part series.

The panel sneak-peek was attended by “Patria” creator and writer Aitor Gabilondo (“El Príncipe”), actresses Elena Irureta and Ane Gabarain, who play the leads, the series HBO producers Miguel Salvat and Steve Matthews, head of development HBO Europe.

“Patria” weighs in as HBO’s signature Spanish series. It was HBO’s first series announced out of Spain, two years ago on the eve of 2017’s San Sebastian Festival, when it was still in development.

That development proved characteristically lengthy.

“Steve worked with Aitor on the development of the scripts from a distance,” Salvat said in San Sebastian. “He hadn...

Plano a Plano, one of the few top 100% independent production houses on the vibrant Spanish TV landscape, is exploring new market opportunities, dipping its toe into co-production, and preparing its first original series for Netflix.

Since 2014, Plano a Plano has produced some of the most successful series for Spain’s free-to-air TV market, such as thriller drama “El Príncipe” for Mediaset España; and culture-clash romcom “Down Below,” now in its fifth and final season at Atresmedia.

Headed by seasoned Spanish film and TV producer César Benítez, Plano a Plano is now eyeing diversification, testing new, at least for Spain, production models.

In one move, it has sealed a strategic alliance with Mexico’s Dopamine Studios to develop a still-untitled TV drama about Morelia’s care for Spanish children.

The project will tell the story of two of the 456 children who arrived in Mexico on June 7, 1937 from all over Spain, decimated...

Winter is coming to Portugal. In a bid to further expand its footprint in Europe, Time Warner has launched its premium content streaming service HBO in Portugal. Acclaimed HBO original shows led by “Game of Thrones,” “Big Little Lies,” “Westworld” and “True Detective” will be available in Portugal starting Feb. 11.

HBO Portugal went live Monday as a Svod platform providing premium content directly to consumers via their smartphones, tablets and other devices including PC, PlayStation 4, Android TV, Chromecast and Apple TV.

In addition, Vodafone Portugal serves as the exclusive operator partner for local distribution, allowing Vodafone Portugal customers access to the streaming service via TV Vodafone or on their smartphones, computers and other devices.

HBO Europe’s programming offer encompasses five services covering twenty-one countries, including Spain as well as Scandinavian, Baltic, and Central European territories.

HBO Portugal offers more than 4,500 episodes of HBO original content, including every season of...

Sebastián Muñoz’s drama “El Principe” has closed key major territory deals before its European Film Market premiere, licensing North America (Artsploitation Films) and Germany/Austria (Salzgeber).

Sold by Patra Spanou, “El Princípe,” which proved a standout at works-in-progress strands of Chile’s Sanfic and Spain’s San Sebastián festival, has also sold to Poland (Tongariro Releasing). Chilean production house Jirafa, which runs a highly select distribution operation, will release “El Príncipe” in its native Chile.

Starring Gastón Pauls (“Nine Queens”) and Alfredo Castro, “El Principe” is set in 1970 Chile as Jaime enters prison, having murdered his best friend, and establishes a bond with “El Potro,” one of the jail’s most powerful inmates.

“El Principe” turns on two universal concepts, Muñoz told Variety: “Desire” and “human beings’ need to love and be loved.” The film is set in prison because “locked-up men only have each other and seek affection...

Mediaset España, Spain’s top-rated broadcaster, is reinforcing its content strategy with the launch of new brand Mediterráneo to integrate its affiliate production companies, as it unveils a strong TV drama slate for the 2018-19 TV season.

With a €40 million-€50 million ($45.30-$56.60 million) annual investment, Me represents a key pillar for the Spanish TV fiction sector. Currently it has 12 series projects underway, totaling 150 hours of TV drama production.

Newest TV fiction projects takes in Aitor Gabilondo’s “Madres,” Verónica Fernández’s “Caronte,” and Curro Royo and Miguel Angel Fernández’s “Desaparecidos.”

Me’s ambitious TV drama pipeline announcement comes amidst a Spanish TV fiction boom, with a spectacular increase of local series production -from 6 to 14 for the period 2014-17 – and new players such as Movistar + and Netflix aiming respectively around 14 and 12 original series for next year.

The move also comes after Atresmedia, Me’s main rival at the Spanish free-to-air TV market,...

HBO Europe has greenlit “Patria,” its first original series out of Spain, to be written and produced by Aitor Gabilondo (“El Príncipe”) and directed by award-winning helmers Pablo Trapero and Félix Viscarret (“Under the Stars”).

The eight-part series adapts author Fernando Aramburu’s 2016 novel of the same name, one of the most acclaimed of recent Spanish bestsellers. Variety reported on the development of the project last year.

Trapero, a leading light of New Argentine Cinema who won a best director plaudit in Venice for “The Clan” in 2016, will serve as lead director. Trapero has made movies that deal with weighty social and political issues but appeal far beyond art-house audiences, such as Cannes competition contender “Lion’s Den” and Ricardo Darin-starrer “Carancho.” Viscarret, a Goya award winner who helmed the Caribbean noir series “Four Seasons in Havana” for Tornasol, will direct some of “Patria’s” episodes.

The 646-page novel looks...