Conecta Fiction: ’The Last Wolf,’ ‘Status Quo,’ ‘The Invisible Ink’ Win Big at TV Co-Pro Forum

Naman Ramachandran Rodrigo Reyes’ “Sansón and Me” (Mexico/U.S.) has won best film at the Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 23-28) international competition. Supported by BBC Studios Documentary Unit, the award is Academy Award accredited.Special mentions were given to “One Day in Ukraine” by Volodymyr Tykhyy (Ukraine-Poland) and “After the End of the World” by Nadim Mishlawi (Lebanon)The best first feature award was won by Rosa Ruth Boesten’s “Master of Light” (U.S.-Netherlands). A special mention was given to “Julie on Line” by Mia Ma (France).Best short film was awarded to “Fawley” by Chu-Li Shewring and Adam Gutch (U.K.).

Budget supermarket Aldi has revealed a wish list of new store locations across the UK - including three parts of Greater Manchester. And what's more is that the retailer is offering shoppers a finder’s fee if they can help find suitable sites.

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.

Joe Swash is gearing up to marry long time love Stacey Solomon in a highly anticipated event next month. And in true fashion, the actor, 40, took to Ibiza with a group of lad pals to celebrate his last few moments as a bachelor including former EastEnders actor Dean Gaffney, comedian Rob Becket and ex-TOWIE star Ricky Rayment.

Bolton Wanderers will take on Championship side Watford as the club announced its latest pre-season friendly.

Serena Williams is back on the court! The tennis champion has officially returned to the game since she pulled out of 2021's Wimbledon after injuring her right leg during her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.On Tuesday, the 40-year-old earned a win alongside Ons Jabeur in the Eastbourne International doubles tournament. The duo defeated Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo and Czech player Marie Bouzková in three sets.After the match, Williams told the BBC she had feared for her career while recovering from the 2021 injury.The mother of one admitted that she had experienced doubts about whether she would be able to return during the past year, saying, «I would be dishonest if I said it wasn't.

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.

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EXCLUSIVE: Armani Jackson (Honor Society, Chad), Bella Shepard (iCarly, The Wilds), Chloe Rose Robertson (Wildflower) and Tyler Lawrence Gray (Our Town, Macbeth) are set as the young leads in Paramount+ series Wolf Pack. The series hails from Jeff Davis, developer and executive producer of the 2011 MTV series Teen Wolf, and MTV Entertainment Studios where Davis is under a deal.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentChile’s entertainment industry, despite its reduced size, has grown from strength to strength as the growing number of deep-pocketed streaming platforms and content studios have sought international productions that reflect the diversity of their global audiences.“We are developing projects for different countries, in alliances with large partners and with multicultural teams, where we empower ourselves and grow our stories, so that they are more attractive when seeking financing, and analyzing different business models in each country,” said producer Macarena Cardone of Invercine.She added: “In Latin America, we have a lot of talent that tells good stories which travel universally on platforms and on television networks around the world.” Some Chilean actors, led by the ubiquitous Alfredo Castro, have mastered neutral Spanish to expand their repertoire across the region.The country’s wealth of talent, stories, locations and skilled crew has contributed, in no small part, to the explosion of content, which everyone agrees has been tremendous.Across the region, more strategic alliances are being formed to carry out projects and integrate talent from everywhere. Among the country’s top producers are Fabula, run by the Larrain brothers Juan de Dios and Pablo (“Spencer”), who are taking fiction thriller series “Santa Maria” to Conecta.

Hollyoaks stars Luke Jerdy and Daisy Wood-Davis have headed to Spain with their families and friends ahead of their wedding day. Luke, 32, who portrays Jesse Donovan in the hit Channel 4 soap, and Daisy, 31, who previously starred in Hollyoaks as Kim Butterfield but left the show in 2018, flew out to Spain earlier this week to get prepared for their big day, which is taking place on 18 June.

A frantic search is underway to trace a heavily pregnant woman who vanished from a Scots hotel.