Actualités

Prehistoric Powerhouse

BBC Factual‘s landmark dinosaur series “Walking With Dinosaurs” roars back to life in a new reimagining, 25 years after its original stomp across television screens. The upcoming six-part series, slated for BBC One and iPlayer, promises to revolutionize natural history storytelling through cutting-edge visual effects and forensic science.

Series producer BBC Studios, alongside co-producers PBS, Zdf, and France Télévisions, will transport viewers into the prehistoric world by following individual dinosaurs whose remains are actively being discovered by leading paleontologists. Each episode, running 50 minutes, weaves paleontological discoveries with cinematic storytelling, bringing to life creatures like the feathered Albertosaurus, a deadly T. rex relative, and the distinctive Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai, sporting its characteristic “unicorn” horn.

The series is executive produced by Andrew Cohen and Helen Thomas, with Kirsty Wilson serving as showrunner. Jack Bootle, head of commissioning for specialist factual, greenlit the project for the BBC, with Bill Gardner consulting for PBS.

Warner Bros Discovery just handed the scripted original reins at Max in Spain to Jose Maria Caro.

He will lead on scripted originals coming from the streamer, overseeing development and production. This comes after Max completed its European rollout in June 2024 and at a time when Wbd says it is “strengthening its local language offering in Spain.”

Caro has been with Wbd in April 2024, but has now taken on the post after Alberto Carullo, VP of Productions for Italy and Iberia at Max, left Wbd to join Mediaset.

On Caro’s slate will be originals such as When Nobody Sees Us and Rage, both of which premiere later this year. His team has an “expanding” Spanish-language slate with “multiple projects currently in development,” according to Wbd.

Caro will report directly to Laura Carafoli, Warner Bros. Discovery’s SVP Content Networks & Streaming, Local Productions for Italy & Iberia. Spanish-language Discovery TV networks...

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...

Spain’s Onza Entertainment, producer of “The Department of Time,” “Little Coincidences” and “Parot,” is joining forces with outfit Intrépidus to develop and co-produce TV fiction and films for the Spanish and the international markets.

With the deal, Onza continues putting creative talent at its core and strengthening its creators network.

Recently launched by Fernando J. Múñez, writer and creator of Atresmedia and Netflix period TV series “La Cocinera de Castamar,” actor Rodolfo Sancho and executive producer Esteban Zabala, Intrépidus specializes in screenplay creation and audiovisual contents’ development and production.

Early TV series projects developed under the alliance take in period family drama “Antes se secará la tierra,” based on a novel penned by Múñez, scheduled to be published by powerhouse Editorial Planeta in February, and “Canalla,” based on a still to be published book by writer Pilar Pascual Echalecu.

Onza and Intrépidus are also developing supernatural thriller “Umbrales,” co-created by Múñez and Pascual Echalecu,...

Boosting its profile as a Spanish reference point, not only for TV drama but also for documentary production, Atresplayer Premium, the pay TV platform of media conglom Atresmedia Group, is preparing docuseries “Érase una vez en Marbella” (Once Upon a Time in Marbella).

Produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Seville-based Happy Ending (“Pongamos que hablo de…”), the four episode 50 minutes series will dive into real-life stories of deep impact that had the city of Marbella, in Spain’s southern Andalusia coast, as a common element.

The documentary will explain how Marbella went in a few years, since the 1950s, from being a fishing village in Málaga province to becoming one of the most ostentatious leisure centers for the worldwide jet set.

“Once Upon a Time in Marbella” will describe different events and characters that, in one way or another, were related to the Costa del Sol’s city and its universe.

Cannes — An Atresplayer Premium Original, “The Route,” begins as the lead characters’ time together ends, in 1993.

A star DJ on Valencia’s Ruta de Bakalao, Marc’s heart isn’t in it anymore. He visits his family home and sits in his bedroom, still plastered with teenage memorabilia, trying to connect with a younger self who felt music with passion. For Sento, clubbing is now a business. Toni wonders if it’s time to go home.

“The Route” (“La Ruta”) then goes back in time, one episode at a time to end to when the friends first met, in 1981, and enjoyed some kind of innocence. Even a flashback to 1981 in the first episode feature a sequence which is narrated backwards, though many viewers may not cotton on.

As around all the world, global streamers demand for original series from Spain may in many cases now be slowing down. The creativity...

In what is expected to be a surefire hit, Buendia Estudios revealed an upcoming TV series adaptation of Antonio Gala’s erotic novel, “La Pasion Turca.” The popular novel was last adapted into a hit feature film in 1994 with the late Vicente Aranda directing and Andres Vicente Gomez of Lolafilms producing. It starred singer-actress Ana Belen in what is considered her most successful film.

Buendia Estudios’ director general Ignacio Corrales and editorial director Sonia Martínez jointly announced the new project at the 2nd edition of the Iberseries & Platino Industria television event in Madrid.

The new six-episode series set to air on Spanish free-to-air channel Antena 3 and streamer AtresPlayer Premium will start shooting by the end of October in Turkey for seven weeks before moving to Madrid. The cast will be made up of Spanish, Turkish and Italian talent.

Story revolves around Olivia, a Spanish Fine Arts teacher who wakes...

Beta Film has partnered with Morena Films and Disney + Spain, picking up international distribution rights to the young-adult mystery drama “The Invisible Girl,” based on the best-selling book trilogy of the same name by Blue Jeans, a leading figure in YA literature.

The eight-hour series is being shot in Carmona, Southern Spain, and in various locations across the province of Seville, among them El Viso del Alcor and Gerena.

The thriller series, produced by Morena Films, stars Daniel Grao and Zoe Stein, playing father and daughter involved in the investigation of a murder of a teenage girl in the picturesque fictional town of Cárdena, set in Andalusia. The two are forced to put their differences aside in order to solve the murder case rocking a supposedly peaceful town, where all inhabitants are suspects.

“The Invisible Girl” is directed by Tito López Amado and Aritz Moreno (“Advantages of Travelling by Train...

Premium U.S. Spanish-language streaming service Pantaya and Elefantec Global, co-founded by ex -Televisa top exec Pepe Bastón, have gone into production near Mexico City on six-part series “La rebelión,” which turns on one of the most powerful of recent drama series narratives: Women fighting back.

Described by Pantaya and Elefantec as a “melodramatic thriller,” the six-part series will premiere on Pantaya in the U.S. and Puerto Rico in the third quarter of 2022.

Typifying the kind of series that Elefantec aims to bring to Pantaya, “La Rebellion” boasts an impactful ensemble key cast of Aracely Arámbula, star of “La Doña,” Chile’s Daniela Vega, lead in the Academy Award-winning “A Fantastic Woman,” Ana Serradilla (“El hubiera sí existe”) and Adriana Paz (“Locked Up”).

First fruit of Pantaya-Elefantec production alliance, “La Rebelion” is directed by Spain’s Iñaki Peñafiel after his helming gigs on high-profile Spanish series “Express,” produced by Starzplay,...

Marking a new phase of expansion, Barcelona-based Scenic Rights, the biggest literary rights broker for Spanish-language film and TV series, is set to enter Central and Eastern Europe opening offices in Prague in January 2022.

Further new international offices will be announced shortly, Scenic Rights has announced.

Scenic Rights Cee marks a collaboration with the creative heads of Dramedy Productions, an independent Prague-based film-tv production house that created retro family drama “Wonderful Times” (“Vyprávěj”), a Golden Nymph winner at the Monte Carlo TV Festival. Dramedy also co-produced Italian crime drama “Maltese” with Palomar and Zdf Enterprises, which was written by “Gomorrah” scribes Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli.

Dramedy will manage operations in Central and Eastern Europe, led by its CEO, seasoned showrunner-producer Filip Bobiňski. Martin Porges and Teresa Lacinová, Dramedy International head of production, will also join the team.

Scenic Rights’ Cee branch reflects a broader market perception that Central and...

Eight of the 10 most-viewed streaming television shows in Nielsen’s latest viewership report hailed from Netflix, a dominant showing for the company that is continuing to attract significant audiences thanks to its massive subscriber base and popular titles like “Virgin River.”

“Virgin River,” a romantic drama that premiered its third season July 9, was viewed for 1,270 million minutes from July 19 to July 25, according to Nielsen’s latest streaming ratings report. The show was the most popular title of that period by a considerable margin: Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever,” which premiered its sophomore season on July 15, came in second with with 567 million minutes viewed. Netflix’s “Atypical,” which premiered its fourth season on July 9, came in third with 422 million minutes viewed.

Netflix’s string of strong July premieres helped the streaming service lead Nielsen’s latest report, but several of the platform’s older titles also appeared on the list.

By the power of Grayskull, Netflix’s list of new releases for July 2021 is here!

As you may have been able to tell by that clever opening, July is the month that Masters of the Universe: Revelation arrives on Netflix. This animated series from Kevin Smith continues the classic stories of He-Man and his buff friends. If nostalgia not be what ye seek, Netflix has plenty other original series this month as well. The amazingly hilarious sketch series I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson returns for season 2 on July 6. Also returning for a second season are Beastars, Never Have I Ever (both on July 15), and Outer Banks (July 30).

Netflix’s movie offerings are pretty thick this month since July marks the real beginning of the summer blockbuster season. The streamer is bringing not one, but three Fear Street films based on R.L. Stine’s classic book series. They...

Adriana Ugarte, star of hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” will play the lead role in Atresmedia original series “Madre.”

A remake of successful Turkish TV drama “Anne,” in turn an adaptation of Japanese series “Mother,” “Madre” continues Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia’s bet on re-versioning recent standout Turkish scripted series. This strategy kicked-off with “Alba,” the Elena Rivera-starring redo of female empowerment skein “Fatmagul,” a modern Turkish classic.

A 13-hour series, “Madre” is produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Buendía Estudios, the joint-venture launched last year by Atresmedia and Telefonica-owned pay TV operator Movistar Plus.

Scheduled to premiere this year on Atresmedia’s SVOD service Atresplayer Premium and then launch on the group’s core channel Antena 3 in Spanish TV primetime, “Madre” will follow the same release windowing as “Alba,” which bowed in March on Atresplayer and now awaits a free-to-air TV debut.