Chilean Producers Descend on 6th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Toledo, Spain

who shared a photo on social media with the caption “RIP Grandad.”Outside of his work in Nazareth, Charlton will be remembered for his work with Guns ‘N Roses. In the mid-’80s GNR frontman Axl Rose famously asked that Charlton produce the band’s debut album, ‘Appetite For Destruction‘.Charlton produced 25 tracks at Sound City in LA but a scheduling conflict ultimately called time on his work, and Mike Clink produced the album.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorProduction companies ConradFilm and Bavaria Fiction are following their German ratings and international sales hit “Dark Woods” with new high-octane police drama franchise “Sonderlage,” which has been ordered by German broadcaster RTL.Crime drama “Dark Woods” was the most-watched program on German broadcaster ARD’s streaming service in 2020, and was sold last year to numerous territories, including North America, the U.K., France, Spain, the Nordic region, Japan and India.Filming of the first two 90-minute “Sonderlage” films has just begun in Hamburg and Berlin. Inspired by true events, “Sonderlage” (a working title whose literal translation is “special situation”) focuses on police work in exceptional situations such as terrorist attacks, hostage taking and high-scale extortion.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorManny Charlton, founding guitarist of the hard rock band Nazareth and producer of Guns N’ Roses early demos, has died, according to a post from his grandson. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.He was Nazareth’s guitarist, producer and songwriter from the band’s formation until 1990, performing on the band’s most successful albums, notably 1973’s “Razamanaz” and 1975’s “Hair of the Dog,” which went platinum and featured the group’s biggest hit, a dramatic cover of “Love Hurts,” originally made famous by the Everly Brothers, that reaced the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.In 1986, Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose reportedly wanted “the guy who produced Nazareth’s ‘Hair of the Dog’” to produce the band’s debut full-length.

The mum-of-four and her husband partied on the Spanish island with friends after an eventful and dramatic year. Coleen has been embroiled in the bitter "Wagatha Christie" legal battle, and is now awaiting the verdict after lawyers issued their closing statements on May 19. The power couple were pictured alongside their footballer pals on the Spanish island.

Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, its first major TV event, returned to much of the winning formula of its early pre-pandemic editions: A spectacular setting in Spain, here the august historical city of Toledo; TV project pitches; an intense conference strand; marvellous networking opportunities, most especially the possibility of spending quality time with mover and shaker industry figures from Spain and Latin America.“I love to be here and it’s healthy, mainly for networking. I’m learning a lot, it’s like going to school,” Fremantle’s Manuel Marti enthused at Toledo. Most attendees would agree with him.But, compared to 2019, the industry has moved on and is now buffeted by larger turbulence.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMoving waves on Spain’s film-TV scene when it launched in early May, Beta Fiction Spain has unveiled its first project as a producer, “Dolores,” a portrait of Spain’s Dolores Ibarruri, a worldwide icon of the workers’ movement and struggle against fascism.The feature film is inspired by “Pasionaria. La vida inesperada de Dolores Ibárruri,” a question-posing non-fiction book by Spanish historian Diego Díaz Alonso published in 2020.Underscoring Beta Fiction Spain’s ability to attach best-of-class Spanish talent, the screenplay for “Pasionaria” is being penned by two of Spain’s foremost film-TV scribes, Alejandro Hernández, co-writer of Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and Mariano Barroso’s “What the Future Holds,” and Michel Gaztambide, a writer on Julio Medem’s milestone 1992 debut “Cows,” Enrique Urbizu’s best picture Goya winner “No Rest for the Wicked” and Freddy Highmore heist thriller  “The Vault,” the second highest-grossing Spanish movie of 2021.

Emiliano De Pablos Starzplay, Starz’s premium international streaming service, and The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s biggest indie film-TV producers, are joining forces again to produce the second season of “Express,” the first Starzplay’s original series made in Spain.Spanish thesps Alejo Sauras (“Estoy vivo”) and “Paradise’s” Laura Laprida are joining the cast of the new season, which is scheduled for a 11-week shoot on location in and around the city of Madrid.Heading the cast of the series for a second season is actress Maggie Civantos (“Vis a Vis,” “Malaka”), who reprises her character, Bárbara, a criminal psychologist who, after becoming the victim of an express kidnapping, works as a negotiator in similar cases to hers at the private company, Zentral Risk. “Express” Season 2 will premiere on Starzplay in Spain and Latin America.

Anna Marie de la Fuente After 13 years on the road with Spain’s iconic singer-songwriter-poet Joaquin Sabina, “The Good Boss” director Fernando León de Aranoa has finally wrapped his documentary, “Sintiendolo Mucho” (roughly translated to “Deeply Felt”).“This film is a rare privilege that, as a filmmaker, I would like to share with the public: to spend some time alone with Joaquín when he is not Sabina,” said León de Aranoa. “13 years ago, I began to shoot with him, to accompany him on his day-to-day activities, on rehearsals, tours, immersed in his own environment… to portray the artist, his best and worst moments, and his personality, so linked to his work, his creativity,” he remarked, adding: “Most importantly, it has been a lot of fun.” León de Aranoa, who also produced the doc, established a deep rapport with Sabina through the years.The Reposado, BTF Media and Sony Music Spain co-production is the first of its kind on Sabina, who is known to be a very private person.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentPortugal’s “The Last Wolf,” Lebanon’s “Status Quo” and Uruguay’s “The Invisible Ink” proved big winners at the 6th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, which will wrap Friday in Toledo, Spain.A potential part of a burgeoning production axis between Spain and Portugal, “The Last Wolf” won the largest prize of the night, a development deal at Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, worth an estimated €50,000 ($52,500) and a virtual invitation to set the project up as a co-production with Spain.The prize is a sign of the times. Battling financial straights, RTVE is turning to co-production or license deals – with its peers in Europe (Germany’s ZDF Studios on Simon West Magellan epic “Boundless”) or go-ahead and more flexible U.S.

Coleen Rooney put on a stunning summery display as she headed out for dinner with her husband Wayne Rooney during their sun-soaked holiday in Ibiza. The couple looked dressed for a night out on the town as they departed their hotel room on the Spanish island. The 36 year old mum-of-four showed off her glowing tan as she contrasted the bronzed look with a white lacy cu-out playsuit, which featured a plunge neckline and knot at the centre.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Ask Jose Velasco, 60, what he thinks about the Conecta Fiction Honorary award he’s receiving on Thursday June 23 and his first response is, “Why?”The self-effacing founder and president of powerhouse content producer iZen Group says he is grateful to those who decided to give it to him, “rightly or not.” “I guess it’s because I’ve been in this business for 35 years and have done everything from fiction to reality to game shows,” he muses, adding: “But if they think this will make me retire, they’re mistaken.”“I guess I am of the generation of people in Spain who were trying the shape the country’s television landscape,” he notes. Indeed, Velasco founded and ran one of the pioneering entertainment giants of Spain, Globomedia.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBTF Media, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s fastest-growing production houses, has unveiled a BTF Acceleration prize initiative worth up to a collective $500,000 for five projects at this week’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, the Europe-America TV co-production forum. BTF Acceleration seeks to promote emerging talent, opening up opportunities within the audiovisual industry, incubating creators and accelerating projects, BTF Media announced via the organisation of Conecta Fiction on Wednesday. The initiative forms part of BTF Corporate Venture Capital, a private capital investment fund promoted by the company. BTF Media will become a strategic ally accompanying the projects’ realization, it added, saying that the maximum endowment provided for this fund is $500,000.

Coleen Rooney has been showing off her impressive tan in a lingerie-style bikini aboard a lavish yacht with her husband Wayne in Ibiza. The 36 year old mother of four also showed off her gym-honed figure in the skimpy two-piece, which featured black lace detailing over a cream under-layer.

Spanish media outlet AS are reporting that Real Madrid are already eyeing up a move for Erling Haaland, just days after his arrival at the Etihad Stadium was officially confirmed.

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to the Blumhouse-produced feature documentary, The Youth Governor, slating it for release on August 26.

Emilio Mayorga Autour de Minuit, a co-producer of Annecy contender “Unicorn Wars,” has acquired international rights to another Annecy entry, the dialogue-free “Two Little Birds” (“Dos pajaritos”), a 20-episode series by Argentine animators Alfredo Soderguit and Alejo Schettini (2013 Bafici Audience Award winner “Anina”). The deal excludes co-production territories Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.Produced by Luciana Roude at Argentina’s Can Can Club (“Teclópolis”), Soderguit at Uruguay’s Palermo Estudio (“Anina”) and pubcaster Señal Colombia, the ornithological slapstick comedy follows the hilarious situations lived by two little birds sharing the same tree.

EXCLUSIVE: Big Beach has announced that it will produce the upcoming feature Tropical Gothic from Lingua Franca‘s Isabel Sandoval.