News

Whenever a film begins with a disclaimer asserting that the story you’re about to see is fictional — and furthermore, that what shall unfold on-screen “should not be considered a reflection of a reality” — it’s hard not to go in assuming the exact opposite. Why protest so much if there’s no factual basis there? In the case of “Undercover,” our skepticism is precisely the filmmakers’ intent: That introductory, legally obligatory text could hardly make its irony any clearer with actual scare quotes. Names have been changed, but anyone familiar with the headlines can tell that Thierry de Peretti’s no-frills, teeth-gritted procedural thriller has been drawn from the real-life case of former French anti-narcotics chief Francois Thierry, charged in 2017 with complicity in large-scale drug smuggling using police resources. It’s a sensational affair that de Peretti treats with sober practicality, emulating the patient investigative techniques of the journalist...

Starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” will receive its European premiere at late September’s San Sebastian Festival.

The biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world will open with the anticipated “One Second” from China’s Zhang Yimou, which was dramatically pulled from competition at the 69th Berlin Film Festival.

Both titles play in competition, vying for San Sebastian’s top film plaudit, its Golden Shell, where they are joined by French filmmaker Thierry de Peretti’s “Undercover.”

Recounting the rise, fall and redemption of Tammy Faye, the indomitable wife of televangelist Jim Bakker, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” weighs in as the only U.S. movie in San Sebastian main competition. It catches Chastain on a high as she will receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, coinciding with the premiere at Toronto of the film.

The three new films mark the final titles to...

2007

• Raul Berdonés founds the Secuoya Group on Dec. 11.

2008

• First outsourcing services deal is with broadcaster Antena 3.

2009

• Launches TV content production as part of early diversification.

2011

• Debuts on Spain’s Mab Alternative Stock Market on July 28. Strategic expansion plan envisages the development of Ciudad de la Tele, then Secuoya Studios, the embryo of Madrid Content City.

2013

• Produces “Vive Cantando” for Antena 3 on Sept. 3.

2014

• Secuoya Content Distribution inks a deal Jan. 28 to provide documentaries to Universal Views.

• International expansion kicks-off with deals and alliances with companies in Perú,

México, Colombia, Chile

and Portugal.

• First effective move into Latin America: Acquires Peruvian production house Imizu on Aug. 25.

• Enters the U.S. Oct. 13 with offices in Miami.

2015

• Miniseries “Victor Ros” airs on Tve’s La 1 primetime Jan. 12.

2016

• Distribution-production alliance signed Oct. 19 with Turkey’s Inter Medya.

2017

• Berdonés lays the first brick of Madrid Content City in Tres Cantos. Phase 1 construction begins July 12.

2018

• Drama series “Apaches” airs Jan.

The Secuoya Group became Netflix’s exclusive production services partner in 2018, a recent milestone for one of the most diversified and growing media companies in Spain.

Launched by Raúl Berdonés 10 years earlier, as Spain plunged toward a recession, Secuoya found its market niche in production services and business process outsourcing, sectors in which it still plays a leading role today.

“Secuoya’s philosophy has been steady growth, maintaining from the first day a 20% Ebitda [operating profit] margin,” says Jesús Muela, deputy director at Gvc Gaesco Valores. “In eight years, it’s multiplied sales 3.5 times over.”

Scripted production highlights include “Apaches” and “Vive Cantando” for network Atresmedia, and “Victor Ros” for pubcaster Rtve.

In 2019, content arm Secuoya Contenidos produced more than 1,500 hours of entertainment and factual programming. Other clients include A Punt, Etb, Telemadrid, Canal Sur and Aragon TV, Movistar Plus, Rakuten, Netflix, Amazon and Disney Plus.

Secuoya’s growth story comes in...

Farewell to the Night (L’Adieu a la nuit)

French auteur André Téchiné reunites with Catherine Deneuve for the eighth time with Farewell to the Night (L’Adieu a la nuit), which is also being called Les enemies (Enemies). This follows Hotel America; Scene of the Crime; My Favorite Season; Thieves; Changing Times; The Girl on the Train; In the Name of My Daughter. Produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films and co-produced by Arte France Cinema, Techine also reunites with his Being 17 (2016) star Kacey Mottet-Klein with a supporting cast including Oulaya Amamra (Divines) and Kamel Labroudi (Apaches).…...

Madrid — Two of the biggest, and most ambitious players in the Latino TV world, Brazil’s Globo and Spain’s Atresmedia Internacional, have struck a strategic agreement for Atresmedia’s overseas pay TV channel Atreseries to become the first pay TV window for Globo telenovelas, series and mini-series in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.

Announced Thursday at the Hispanic TV Summit in New York, the partnership paves the way for the partners to explore further forms of collaboration, both partners suggested.

“The possibilities which come from working together are enormous,” said Javier Nuche, Atresmedia Internacional director general.

Globo “can establish partnerships to co-create original shows from Brazil and even from outside Brazil for the international market,” said Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo executive director of international business. “There is a lot of excitement about the possibilities of what we can create for the future.”

Kicking in this month,...