Sonia Martínez: Last News

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentThe biggest product in Spain of the M&A boom which looks set to power much future entertainment growth in Europe, Buendía Estudios, a joint venture of Telefonica’s Movistar Plus and Atresmedia, is fast driving into second-phase expansion in Latin America.In one move last November, Buendía tapped former Telemundo Global Studios exec Ana Paula Valdovinos as director of production and development for Latin America and U.S. Hispanic.Valdovinos will be based out of Mexico, Latin America’s “nerve and talent center,” she said, as the country also accounts for approximately 70% of the 70 million Latinx population in the U.S.In another development, Buendía has confirmed to Variety further details on its first Latin America project, “Swift as Desire,” Billed as a fantasy romantic drama, the series “Swift as Desire” is structured as a six-part, 50-minute adaptation of a hallmark novel by Mexico’s Laura Esquivel, published in 2001.Head writers are Esquivel herself and Marcela Fuentes Beraín (“El diario de Daniela”).Buendía Estudios’ editorial director of series Sonia Martínez – an executive producer on “Money Heist,” “Veneno” and now “Cardo” – also serves as executive producer on “Swift as Desire.”Narrated in two timelines, the series tells the life of Júbilo, born  with a special gift of communication.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s TV fiction industry is exercising some caution after high-end Spanish-language series lifted off in 2018. “We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos. As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time for larger re-calculation.

Netflix is expanding the universe of its popular Spanish drama series Money Heist, otherwise known as La Casa De Papel.

Anna Marie de la Fuente 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.

Emiliano Granada Taking off from one of Spain’s most successful series during the century’s first decade, “The Boarding School: Black Lagoon,” the new second season of its reboot, “The Boarding School: Las Cumbres,” has dropped in its entirety on Prime Video, confirming the new series’ own identity and voice. It’s a reboot that has taken on a life of its own.Born out of the collaboration between Prime Video, The Mediapro Studio and Buendía Estudios – whose co-founder, broadcast network group Atresmedia, owned the original IP – the second season answers many of the questions left by the first while opening new mysteries that could lead to a potential third.It follows a group of students who start investigating their own school after a series of gruesome murders. Slowly, a densely layered lore starts to unfold to both students and audience, a mythology that is deepened in this season by creators Asier Andueza and Laura Belloso.