News

Colombia’s Caracol Televisión and Madrid-based Dlo Productions have started shooting a much-anticipated bio series on Spain’s iconic singer Raphael, with Netflix poised to stream it exclusively in Spain and Latin America.

Titled “Aquel,” which roughly translates to “That” or “That One,” the bio series dovetails with Caracol’s international expansion strategy, as it seeks to expand its footprint. Raphael is widely known as El Monstruo de la Canción or The Giant of Song for his electrifying stage presence.

Spain’s José Manuel Lorenzo of Dlo Prods., the creative force behind such TV hits as “Dime Quién Soy,” “El Inmortal” and “El Jardinero” serves as the showrunner.

“For me, discovering and immersing myself in Raphael’s life has been an extraordinary and unexpected journey—one I’ve undertaken with the same passion I bring to my most ambitious projects. I’m truly fascinated by him: his unique gift, his voice,...

The 2025 edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment concluded with a lively awards gala on Tuesday evening at the Teatro Auditorio José Luis Perales in Cuenca, Spain, where 21 prizes were handed out across five pitching categories.

Now in its ninth year, the international forum celebrated standout projects and talent in scripted series, direct-to-streaming films, docudramas, musical series and interactive formats, along with selected projects from Fundación Sgae’s television series lab.

Spain-Colombia co-production “Tourette” was among Conecta’s big winners this year, taking home three honors. A teen romance drama, the title turns on a young man who pretends to have Tourette’s syndrome after being fired for an outburst at a feminist colleague. During a psychiatric visit, he meets Lucía, changing his course forever.

“Password,” produced by CTV, FilmBrigade and Comarex, was another three-time winner from this year’s field. A social fiction for teens, the series tracks six stories where...

Spanish hit crime thriller series La Caza (The Hunt), created by Agustín Martínez, and its fourth season — starring Megan Montaner (30 Coins), Félix Gómez (High Seas) and Silvia Alonso — set to premiere on Movistar Plus+ later this year, took center stage at Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Cuenca, Spain, on Wednesday evening.

Martínez, Alonso and Gómez were joined on stage by executive producer José Manuel Lorenzo (The Gardener) in a session just before the latter received a Conecta honorary award in the evening. Lorenzo is president and founder of Dlo Producciones, part of production giant Banijay’s Banijay Iberia.

The show’s Spanish setting changes every season. Its first season was set in the Pyrenees, the second on the island of Mallorca and the third in a sleepy Andalusian village near the Portuguese border. Season 4 takes place in the Irati Forest in Spain’s Navarre region.

La Caza was also adapted with...

Comedies about a guy pretending to have Tourette Syndrome and a disabled man from a rough neighborhood who becomes a nanny for rich kids, a dramedy about a trans boy and an unexpected pregnancy, as well as Dancing Till the Stars, a format where celebrities will have to dance while floating in mid-air, are among the 2025 prize winners of the pitching sessions of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Cuenca, Spain.

Noise, a coming-of-age dramedy about young people facing various issues and struggles, and a child abuse docu-drama were also among the prize winners.

The TV industry event hands out a broad range of awards, with several projects winning more than one. Among those was Password, which tells six stories of passwords posing dilemmas for their protagonists.

The winners found out about their prizes as Spanish TV producer José Manuel Lorenzo (The Gardener, The Hunt), a former top executive at Spanish TV companies Rtve,...

Historical drama “The Patricios,” created by Amaya Muruzábal of M Content – known for Prime Video’s “Hernán” and “Red Queen” – joins the social dystopia “La vida artificial” from Mónica Lozano’s Alebrije, and “Rosa,” a biographical romance by Studio TF1’s Kubik, headed by the Sánchez-Cabezudo brothers (“La Zona”), as standout entries at this year’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment forum.

Now in its ninth edition, the Europe-Latin America television and networking event takes place June 16–19 in Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, just an hour east of Madrid by train.

These titles are among 30 international projects selected by Cf&e editorial committees to participate in five pitch sessions, held at the Teatro Auditorio José Luis Perales and the Hospedería del Seminario. The committees reviewed 438 submissions, up 38% from the previous year, fueled in part by the enthusiastic response to the newly launched Pitch Direct to Streaming Movies category, which alone attracted 188 proposals, surpassing the...

José Manuel Lorenzo, producer of Netflix global non-English chart-toppers “The Gardener” and “Raising Voices,” is set to receive this year’s Conecta Fiction Honorary Award.

It will be presented to him at this year’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, which runs June 16-19, relocated to Cuenca, a one hour train ride East of Madrid.

“The award recognizes his exceptional career in the audiovisual sector, where Lorenzo has been a key figure in the evolution of modern Spanish television and the elevation of scripted content as a cultural and export engine,” Conecta Fiction announced.

“According to the Conecta Awards Committee, José Manuel Lorenzo embodies like few others the passion and transformation driving the industry forward in Spain,” it added”

Now President and founder of the Dlo Producciones, a Banijay company, Lorenzo is indeed one of Spain’s few still jobbing industry figures whose career practically straddles the entirety of modern Spanish TV,...

TV producer José Manuel Lorenzo (The Gardener, The Hunt), a former top executive at Spanish TV companies Rtve, Publiespaña, Antena3, Sogecable and Canal+, will receive an honorary award at the 9th edition of the industry market and networking event Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, which takes place in Cuenca, Spain June 16-19.

The award recognizes “his exceptional career in the audiovisual sector, where Lorenzo has been a key figure in the evolution of modern Spanish television and the elevation of scripted content as a cultural and export engine,” organizers said.

The Conecta awards committee also highlighted that “Lorenzo embodies like few others the passion and transformation driving the industry forward in Spain.”

Previous recipients of the honor include such industry heavyweights as José Velasco (Spain) and Michele Benzeno (France).

“For over three decades, José Manuel Lorenzo has remained at the forefront of the ever-changing audiovisual market, consistently championing innovation, high-quality content and international reach,...

After a teen reports being sexually assaulted, she faces judgment from her entire school and her life is thrown into turmoil. Based on the novel Ni Una Másby Miguel Sáez Carral, the drama Raising Voices explores the strength and resiliency of a girl making her voice heard — no matter the consequences. Starring Nicole Wallace, Clara Galle, and Aïcha Villaverde, the series was created by José Manuel Lorenzo (La Caza: Monteperdido) and Carral. It was directed by Eduard Cortés (Hold Up!), David Ulloa (The Snow Girl), and Marta Font (The Vault).

Stream it now.

Seventeen-year-old Alma (Wallace) is about to finish high school, along with her best friends Greta (Galle) and Nata (Villaverde). The trio has known each other since they were small, and now spend their time partying and dishing to one another about their parents and relationships. But after Alma reports a sexual assault to the police, it...

Spanish public broadcaster Rtve held its fifth annual Rtve Showcase late last week in Madrid. Eight of the network’s top shows were profiled for international buyers, and several panels debated the current state of affairs in Spain’s TV production industry.

Professionals from around the world tuned into this year’s Showcase, which had the overriding theme of international co-production. Guest speakers from across Europe attended and shared details about their recent experiences working with Rtve and what future collaborations are in the works.

According to Rodolfo Domínguez, Rtve commercial director, more than 200 attendees tuned in to this year’s Showcase, including 70 international buyers from more than 30 territories. Of them, 50% were from Europe, 30% from the Americas, and the other 20% from Asia and the Middle East.

Below, we reflect on two of this year’s most internationally relevant panels and briefly break down Rtve’s original programming lineup featured during the Showcase.

World premiering in the main Canneseries competition, “El Inmortal – Gangs of Madrid” marks the latest original series from Movistar Plus, the Spanish pay TV/SVOD arm of Telefonica, made with Banijay’s Dlo Producciones and Telemundo Streaming Studios. Beta Film handles international distribution.

It shows. A Movistar Plus hallmark, “El Inmortal” reflects a real-life Spanish reality, the rise and fall – or here, fall and rise, then maybe fall and rebound – of the founding leader of Los Miami, a gang which controlled Madrid’s insatiable ‘90s drug business. José Antonio’s real-life counterpart survived four attempts on his life, becoming a legend and gaining his epic sobriquet.

But it also nails other facets of high-end scripted fiction.

“El Inmortal” begins as quiet-spoken ‘90s Madrid drug lord José insists on living his life, driving his infant daughter to her posh primary school.

Just after dropping her off, a motorbike passes spraying bullets,...

Germany’s Beta Film has picked up international distribution rights to two anticipated Movistar Plus originals, Canneseries-bound “El Inmortal – Gangs of Madrid” and Galician crime drama “Rapa.”

Sneak peeked at Series Mania, “Rapa” screens at the Malaga Festival on March 22.

The acquisitions form part of an ongoing multi-year distribution-production alliance unveiled in 2019, giving Beta exclusive international distribution rights to about six Movistar Plus series a year.

A Movistar Plus co-production with Telemundo Streaming Studios in collaboration with Banijay’s Dlo Producciones, “El Inmortal” inspired by true events, marks a deep dive into a figure and gang which reshaped Madrid’s 1990s criminal underworld.

There, José Antonio, played by Álex Garcia, rises up the ranks to drug lord, through a combination of burning ambition, innocence, and merciless elimination of rivals. But what he cherishes most may just cause his downfall, the synopsis runs.

Created by Dlo head José Manuel Lorenzo, eight-episode...

Peacock has launched international drama series Dime Quién Soy: Mistress of War, based on Julia Navarro’s bestselling novel. The streamer released all nine episodes today, March 8, in celebration of International Women’s Day. The series is streaming in both English and Spanish.

Created by José Manuel Lorenzo and written by Piti Español, Dime Quién Soy: Mistress of War tells the story of Amelia Garayoa, a Spanish socialite who is suddenly plunged into the world of international espionage. Set in 1934 amid a turbulent Europe, Amelia leaves behind her family to join the fight for freedom. When Amelia is enlisted as an international spy, intrigue, war, love and espionage quickly become the center of her life placing her in the middle of the most important events in the history of 20th century Europe.

The series stars Irene Escolar, Pablo Derqui, Oriol Plá, Will Keen, Pierre Kiwitt, and Maria Pia Calzone.

Dime...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Entertainment One picks up the rights to Australian drama “The Newsreader,” Banijay reorganizes in Iberia, “Downton Abbey” lands on BritBox, Sony Pictures Television hires Jo Porter and Warner Bros. International will distribute Hungry Bear Media’s new game show.

Series

Entertainment One (eOne) has acquired international distribution rights to “The Newsreader,” a new drama series coming to ABC TV in Australia, produced by Werner Film Productions.

Set in the 1980s, the series unspools in a high energy newsroom, turning on the relationship between a young TV reporter and the show’s star female anchor. The cast features several high-profile actors including Anna Torv (“Mindhunter”), Sam Reid (“Lambs of God”), Robert Taylor (“Longmire”), Stephen Peacocke (“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”), Chai Hansen (“The New Legends of Monkey”) and Marg Downey (“Fast Forward”).

“The Newsreader” is backed by major investments from Screen Australia and the ABC and financed with support from Film Victoria.

Having closed Latin America with HBO earlier this year, Beta Film has clinched first-phase sales in Europe on “Tell Me Who I Am,” an epic tale of a woman’s emancipation, and its cost, which celebrates its international premiere today at Mipcom Online Plus.

First fruit of a three-year, three series co-production alliance between Spain’s Movistar Plus and Telemundo Intl. Studios (Tis) in the U.S., “Tell Me Who I Am” has closed Nordic territories, selling to Norway’s Nrk, Denmark’s Dr and Yle in Finland, the public broadcasters in all three countries.

Further deals on the historical drama, which spans the Spanish Civil War, WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall, take in Portugal (Rtp) and Greece and Cyprus (Forthnet Group). Tis is handling distribution in the U.S.; Movistar Plus plans an event release release in Spain.

Further deals are in final negotiations, Beta Film announced Tuesday.

Movistar Plus, the pay TV division of giant European telco Telefonica, in 2016 started producing and releasing its own original series. In a second phase, it linked to prestige European production partners, first with Arte France on “Hierro” and now, with “Tell Me Who I Am,” a woman’s emancipation epic made with Telemundo Intl. Studios, and Alejandro Amenábar’s upcoming “La Fortuna,” an adventure thriller made with AMC Studios, Movistar Plus is quickly building its U.S. connection.

The Beta Film-sold “Tell Me Who I Am” is one of the biggest series Movistar Plus has ever made. It charts a woman’s battle for freedom from traditional gender roles and totalitarianism. It spans 60 years, from heroine Amelia’s conservative upper-class Madrid youth in 1934 through Stalin’s 1938 Moscow elite purges, to Mussolini’s Italy, the decline of Nazi forces’ grip on Athens and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It...

One of Spanish pay TV Movistar Plus’ most ambitious pushes into original, international TV yet, the 20th Century-spanning period drama “Tell Me Who I Am,” will headline Monday evening’s Movistar Gala at the San Sebastian Film Festival, screening episodes out of competition.

Director Eduard Cortés will be joined on the red carpet by lead actors Irene Escolar and Oriel Pla, screenwriter and author of book on which the series is based Julia Navarro, producer José Luis Escolar, executive producer José Manuel Lorenzo and Movistar Plus head of original programming Domingo Corral.

Following its protagonist, a Spanish upper-class socialite turned reluctant spy after falling for a Russian agent, “Tell Me Who I Am” shot for eight months in more than 300 locations across Europe, employing more than 3,000 actors and extras and choreographing action scenes on a level rarely seen in Spanish TV, if ever. A benchmark series for the Telefonica pay TV’s international ambitions,...

Movistar Plus’ first U.S. co-production, “Tell Me Who I Am,” produced with Telemundo, has been sold by Germany’s Beta Film to HBO Latin America, a deal announced today during the sales company’s pioneering live virtual pitching event – Beta Summer Insights.

In addition to the Latin American deal, Telemundo’s boarding production at last year’s Natpe ensured U.S. distribution for the series as well.

One of Movistar Plus’ biggest gambles since moving into original production, deals for U.S. and Latin American distribution look like promising early payback, and that payout is likely.

Based on the popular Spanish novel “Dime Quien Soy” from writer Julia Navarro, the series takes place across multiple decades of the 20th century, kicking off when 30-something internet journalist Javier is tasked by his aunt to investigate the life of his great-grandmother, Amelia Garayoa, who left her husband and son behind her...

In this week’s packed International TV Newswire, as newsflow quickens, Movistar Plus’ first U.S. co-production, with Telemundo, gets release details and a first teaser, Finnish drama “Shadow Lines” sells in the U.S., U.K. and other key territories, Fremantle announces its first steps into kids programming with partner 720 Creative, Red Arrow sells “Vienna Blood” in Europe and Asia, Moonbug brings cartoon “Mia’s Magic Playground” to the Sky in the U.K., and Blue Ant Media launches Smithsonian Channel in South Korea.

Movistar, Telemundo’s “Tell Me Who I Am” Gets First Trailer, Broadcast Details

Movistar Plus, the pay TV and production arm of Spanish telco giant Telefonica, has released the first trailer for its ambitious new series “Tell Me Who I Am,” the company’s first-ever U.S. co-production, following a strategic deal struck with Telemundo at last year’s Natpe, which also guaranteed U.S.

Madrid — Movistar Plus’ upcoming original series “Tell Me Who I Am,” based on Julia Navarro’s popular Spanish novel “Dime Quien Soy,” has finished shooting and will head to post-production for delivery later this year.

Set across multiple decades of the 20th century, the story kicks off with 30-something internet journalist Javier, tasked by his aunt to investigate the life of his great-grandmother, Amelia Garayoa, who left her husband and son behind her as she fled Spain as a result of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

Amelia becomes embroiled in some of the most important historical events of the century, from Franco’s ascent in Spain, the uprising and liberation of Berlin, the rise of Stalin’s communist U.S.S.R., the barbarity of Warsaw’s ghettos, Rome in the final years of Mussolini and the decline of Nazi Germany in occupied Athens. With a foot in both the past and future,...

Three years ago, Spain’s independent TV production sector was heading toward a crisis with ever lower profit margins. Cut to 2019, and Spain is enjoying a golden age of drama series production, while consolidating as a global production center.

One major factor in the turnaround has been Movistar Plus, the pay TV unit of Telefonica. It has made the biggest push into high-end original production of any telecom in Europe — just as U.S. and European telcos scramble to compete for content with media companies.

The first results, at home and abroad, of Telefonica’s content drive are now in.

One is a turnaround. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Movistar Plus lost 54,000 pay-tv subscribers. After its first three original series had been released, Movistar Plus added 80,700 in Q4 2017. Since July 2017, releasing 22 original or returning series through September, Movistar Plus has posted eight consecutive quarters of steady pay TV household growth,...

Madrid — To face up to global platforms, high-end series from Europe have to be different. That’s almost a truism these days. One way is for shows to drink deep at the well of their national culture.

So the question of what makes a show “Spanish” threaded many of the panel reflections and presentations this week at an upbeat Rtve Showcase, a enterprising launch pad for new shows and seasons from the public broadcaster which ran May 26-28 at the Hotel Puerta de América in Madrid.

At a centerpiece panel, “Creating Fiction for a Global Audience,” answers were supplied by some of the finest minds and creators in Spain’s business: Showrunners Ramón Campos and Daniel Ecija, producers José Manuel Lorenzo at Banijay’s Dlo/Magnolia and Tedy Villaba at Boomerang and screenwriter Joaquín Oristrell (“Cuéntame cómo pasó”).

The panel was moderated by Fernando Lopez Puig, Tve content & fiction production director,...

Spanish production house Dlo/Magnolia, owned by the giant Banijay Group, has revealed an ambitious TV drama slate, led by psychological thriller series “La Caza. Monteperdido,” a TV adaptation of Agustín Martínez’s best-selling novel “Monteperdido.”

Filming in the Aragonese Pyrenees, the eight-episode, 70-minute high-concept TV drama is scheduled to premiere on Rtve’s flagship channel La 1 in first quarter of 2019.

Under managing director José Manuel Lorenzo, Dlo/Magnolia is upping the ante on TV fiction, underscoring the Banijay Group’s aim of building its scripted offering in Spain, as the superindie continues acquiring production assets to increase its TV drama footprint worldwide.

“After many years focused on TV entertainment, Banijay is betting very seriously on TV fiction. As a traveling companion, I could not find a better one, they help you get the projects moving forward,” Lorenzo said.

“Monteperdido” marks the first step in this new era at Dlo/Magnolia,...