El Estudio: Last News

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buoyed by the success of last year’s one-to-one networking sessions, Madrid’s 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria market is launching a new TV forum aimed at fostering co-production and financing pacts between selected producers and potential partners or investors. “We are functioning as an accelerator in a way as the selected projects have at least 40% of their financing in place and just need that final push to see the light,” said Iberseries director Samuel Castro, who adds that these series have budgets ranging from €5 million-€30 million ($ million-$30 million) . The 10 companies, selected out of some 25 submissions, include some heavy hitters led by Spain’s Zebra Prods (Grupo Izen), Gato Grande-MGM, Argentina’s Storylab and El Estudio, founded by former Canana producing partner Pablo Cruz, producer Enrique López Lavigne and former Sony Pictures Intl. Prods. head, Diego Suárez Chialvo. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Buoyed with Paco Plaza’s “Sister Death” riding high in Netflix non-English film global rankings for a second week running, Miami, Mexico City and Madrid-based El Estudio has named seasoned Spanish showrunner Tirso Calero, creator and script co-ordinator on “Servir y Proteger,” “Bandolera” and “L’Alqueria Blanca,” as TV contents director in Spain. He is based out of Madrid.

Marta Balaga The Sitges–International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia has revealed the opening film for its 56th edition at Cannes’ Fantastic Pavilion: “Hermana Muerte” by Paco Plaza. Produced by El Estudio for Netflix, it was written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría. Shot almost entirely in the Valencian monastery of San Jerónimo de Cotalba, Plaza’s seventh feature is “a horror tale with a feminine touch,” it was stated, which will take its viewers all the way back to post-Civil War Spain, when a convent is shaken up by the arrival of Narcisa, a young novice with supernatural powers.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent El Estudio and Morbido are launching The Latin House of Horror, a hugely ambitious feature film slate channelling the voices of a powerful new generation of genre directors – and indeed writers – emerging in Spain and, most especially, Latin America.  The slate is designed to supercharge genre production in Latin America, in ambition, profile and exports, just as Filmax’s Fantastic Factory did a generation ago in Spain, El Estudio producer Enrique López Lavigne told Variety.  Mexico’s Sula Films, headed by Mexican producer Alejandro Sugich (“Los Hermanos Salvador”), will also produce the series. Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Entertainment is handling world sales. 

Pink Parrot, for example, unveiled a bevy of pre-sales on comedy romp “4 Days Before Christmas,” led by deals with Germany’s Splendid and Kaleidoscope in the U.K. FilmSharks has closed Latin America with The Walt Disney Co./Star Distribution on “Dalia and the Red Book,” as well as Germany, Russia/CIS and Taiwan with the U.S., France, Japan, Spain and Italy in discussions. Open-market international sales for theatrical distribution have sagged terribly in the past two decades on all but standout titles. One exception, which can still deliver seven figure returns, is animation.  Despite a slowing sales cycle, Mafiz and the Spanish Screenings still saw a dizzying slew of announcements. Following, a selection: 

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a bid to give more opportunities to women directors and boost the romcom genre, Sony Pictures International has teamed up with Maria Ripoll’s Cahuenga Filmmakers and transatlantic production shingle El Estudio to launch The Love Collection, a series of romantic comedy features to be written and helmed by women. Ripoll, best known for her romcom “Ahora o nunca,” the highest-grossing femme-directed film in Spain, will serve as executive producer on all the titles, and will direct the first in the collection, “Yo no soy esa,” (roughly translated to “I’m Not That One” or “I’m Not Her”) starring Verónica Echegui (“Trust,” “You’re Killing Me, Susana”). El Estudio’s Enrique López Lavigne will serve as producer on all the titles.

EXCLUSIVE: Diego Boneta (Luis Miguel: La Serie), Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: México), and Belinda (Bienvenidos a Edén) are set to lead a new Mexico Amazon Original miniseries inspired by true events surrounding the last day of Paco Stanley’s life.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Stephen Kronish and Jon Cassar, showrunner and director-producer respectively of “24,” the ratings and critical hit which ran on Fox network for nine seasons, have boarded upcoming thriller series “Barcelona.” The news was jointly announced by transatlantic production company El Estudio, Jeff Berg’s Northside Services, Todd Slater’s Convoke Media (“King of Killers”) and Karen and Howard Baldwin (“Ray”) of Kemb Prods. who have teamed up to produce the ambitious project. “Barcelona” is one of 10 series being presented at the inaugural Co-Production and Financing Forum at Madrid’s 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria TV event.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Karla Souza and Dani Rovira, two of the foremost Hispanic actors with comedic chops, have joined the upcoming musical comedy, “Voy a pasarmelo bien” (“I’m Going to Have a Good Time”), produced by Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP), El Estudio and Spanish pop-rock band, Hombres G.Mexico City-born Souza has starred in three of Mexico’s top-grossing pics: “Nosotros Los Nobles,” “Instructions Not Included” and “Que Culpa Tiene el Niño.” Her TV credits include ABC comedy series “Home Economics” and “How to Get Away with Murder.”Spanish actor-comic Rovira made his big screen debut with Spanish blockbuster comedy “Spanish Affair” and has starred in the 2018 SPIP romcom “Miamor Perdido,” among others. The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band Hombres G, which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music. Based in Madrid, Hombres G have published 12 studio albums to date and sold more than 20 million records internationally.

Ed Meza @edmezavarViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has boarded Rob Schneider’s “Love is Love,” a new Paramount Plus Original film which marks the multihyphenate’s Spanish-language directorial debut.Schneider also stars in the movie, which VIS is producing in association with transatlantic film and TV production companies El Estudio and Infinity Hill. “Love is Love” will shoot in Mexico and is set to premiere on the streaming platform in 2022.Set in the 1990s, the romantic comedy tells the story of Enrique, a Mexican telenovela star who is about to sign a contract with a major TV network when the president of the company, Julian (Schneider), reveals pictures of Enrique and his partner Marcelo.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Tapping a widely successful genre, Sony Pictures Int’l Productions (SPIP) is producing the musical romantic comedy “Voy a pasarmelo bien” (“I’m Going to Have A Good Time”) in association with transatlantic production powerhouse, El Estudio and Spanish pop rock band Hombres G.The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music.Based in Madrid, Hombres G is formed by David Summers, Dani Mezquita, Rafa Gutiérrez and Javi Molina who have published 12 studio albums to date and sold more than 20 million records internationally.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn a flagship deal for the Spanish-speaking world’s ever more global industry, Gonzalo Maza, co-writer of Sebastián Lelio’s Academy Award-winning “A Fantastic Woman,” has been tapped by production powerhouse El Estudio to adapt “Macario,” a novella written by the legendary B. Traven.Traven’s 1927 novel, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” was given a big screen makeover by John Huston in the 1948 film of the same name, starring Humphrey Bogart, which won three Academy Awards and is often described as Huston and Bogart’s finest work.The announcement of the new film project was made by El Estudio on the eve of Mexico’s Day of the Dead.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a move aimed at further building its roster of original content, LA-based Spanish-language streaming platform Pantaya and Latino Hollywood studio Pantelion have signed multi-year first look deals with Latin American companies El Estudio, The Lift and Traziende Films.Under the terms of the pact, each company will produce direct-to-platform Spanish-language pics to stream exclusively on Pantaya in the U.S.Pantelion will serve as the studio on the projects, tapping its long-established relationships with some of the leading producers in Mexico and beyond.Paul Presburger, CEO of Pantaya and Pantelion said: “In the 10-plus year history of Pantelion, we have had the pleasure to work multiple times with Diego Suarez,

Jamie Lang Transatlantic production label El Estudio has acquired the rights to author Fernando Gamboa’s hit novel “The Last Crypt,” and will work with powerhouse Spanish showrunner and “The Ministry of Time” creator Javier Olivares to develop the book into a high-end TV series, executive produced by Eulogio Romero (“Mitos y leyendas”).“The Last Crypt,” the first in a three-book series, kicks off when diver Ulises Vidal discovers a small bronze bell buried in a coral reef near the Honduran island of Utila.

Jamie Lang U.S. Spanish-Language streaming platform Pantaya and Spanish-language production powerhouse El Estudio have wrapped shooting on their cringey comedy co-production “Pena Ajena,” based on the Spanish Movistar Plus hit original series “Vergüenza.” The Mexican adaptation co-stars film and TV standouts Adrián Uribe (“Overboard,” Suave Patria”) and Mónica Huarte (“Tired of Kissing Frogs”).Santiago Fábregas (“Taco Chronicles”) and Diego Graue (“El Candidato Rayo”) both co-wrote and co-directed the series’ 10 half-hour episodes, joined in the writers’ room by co-scribes Francisco González Payó (“Saving Private Pérez”) and Dariela Pérez Hernández (“The House of Flowers”).

By John Hopewell

By John Hopewell

MADRID — Paco Plaza, co-director of [“REC”] and Netflix hit “Veronica” – is attached to write and direct “Roman Ritual,” inspired by the cult graphic novella from Spain’s El Torres,  and created together with producer Enrique López Lavigne (“28 Weeks Later,” “The Impossible”).

MADRID — Argentina’s Pablo Trapero, one of the driving forces behind the renaissance of Latin American cinema, is teaming with El Estudio on two ambitious TV series: an English-language U.S. remake of his 2010 hit movie “Carancho” and true-facts inspired bioseries “Galimberti.”