Nonfiction Series Fuel Local Boom in Spain

Former First Lady Michelle Obama joined Bruce Springsteen during his April 28 concert in Barcelona, belting out “Glory Days” while banging a tambourine.

The Obamas are enjoying another afternoon of sightseeing while on vacation.

Anna Marie de la Fuente L.A.-based Janek Ambros, founder of production and film financing company Assembly Line Entertainment, will receive the Auteur Filmmaker Award at Spain’s Roots of Europe (Raíces de Europa) festival, landing him in the company of such noteworthy cinematic auteurs as Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi alongside Spain’s Aitor López de Aberásturi and Juanma Bajo Ulloa, among others. The festival, which runs May 2 – 12, will also be showcasing a number of Ambros’ films during the event, in recognition for his work in experimental, narrative, and documentary films primarily shot in Europe. It was just three years ago when Ambros presented Zanussi with the coveted award where he conveyed a written message from Scorsese.

Naman Ramachandran Internationally sourced programming and stories placed alongside local content could be a solution to bring audiences back to Indian cinemas, a high-powered panel debated. The panel was part of Indiantelevision.com’s annual industry event, The Content Hub, that recently concluded in Mumbai. Mayank Shroff, head of film distribution at Cinepolis, the Indian division of Latin American exhibition giant Cinepolis, said that while footfalls were back to 85% of pre-pandemic days, an innovative approach is required to bring the rest of the audiences back. Shroff pointed to the success of Makoto Shinkai’s anime film “Suzume,” which accounted for 20% of the Cinepolis box office over the past weekend and “Evil Dead Rise,” which also pulled in decent numbers, both in the face of stiff competition from Eid holiday release “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan,” starring superstar Salman Khan. Shroff also said that there was demand for Korean films and K-pop concerts, notably by BTS, streamed into cinemas live or as recordings. He added that that the international content was working in their original languages in the metropolises and can be customized into local languages for release in tier 2 and 3 centers.

Prime Video is reviving classic Spanish talent gala format Operación Triunfo and has unveiled its latest slate of scripted shows, films and doc series from the nation along with a local version of Takeshi’s Castle.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The Kardashians are heading back to E! — sort of. The NBCUniversal-backed cabler has acquired two-part series “The Kardashians: A Billion Dollar Dynasty,” which will air on E! in the U.S. on May 1. The show marks the family’s return to E!, which was the home of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” for more than 20 seasons. After the reality behemoth concluded in 2021, the clan struck a deal with streamer Hulu for “The Kardashians,” which launched in 2022 and was recently renewed for Season 3. The Optomen-produced two-part “specialty” series, which is being sold internationally by All3Media International, details how the family became one of the world’s most recognized brands, and changed the face of social media while achieving extreme wealth.

Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing has revealed he has chosen 14 groomsmen for when he ties the knot to wife Sophie Habboo in Seville, Spain. After Spencer Matthews said he and his wife Vogue Williams "weren't invited" to Jamie and Sophie's London ceremony, Jamie, 34, shared on GK Barry's podcast Saving Grace that he picked out 14 groomsmen, two best men and one best woman for his upcoming wedding in Seville.

Jamie Redknapp has given fans a glimpse inside his sun-soaked holiday after swapping the drizzly UK weather for a family holiday in Spain. The 49 year old football legend, who enjoyed a luxury holiday to the Maldives earlier on in the year, took to Instagram to share a series of heartwarming snaps from his holiday with his 1.4 million followers. In the photos, Jamie revealed that he was joined by his wife Frida, who he married in October 2021, their one year old son Raphael as well Jamie’s 14 year old son Beau, who he shares with ex-wife Louise Redknapp.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The best received of Spanish series at last month’s Málaga Festival, “Nights in Tefía” (“Las Noches de Tefía”) hit the festival with already strong buzz. The latest from Spain’s Buendía Estudios and SVOD service Atresplayer Premium whose titles also include “Veneno” and “Cardo,” “Nights in Tefía” proved a critics’ favourite. Written and directed by Miguel del Arco, a distinguished Spanish playwright and theater director, it turns on Airam Betancor who, living in Tenerife in 2004, recognises an old man shuffling down the street: Robles.  He’s the same man who, 42 years before, as a prison guard at the euphemistically named Tefía Penitentiary Agricultural Colony on Fuerteventura, another Canary Island, had beaten and tortured Airam as a teen inmate of the Francoist labor camp designed as a dumping ground for undesirables, from political dissidents to the socially unruly and homosexuals. 

Ed Meza @edmezavar ZDF Boots Factual Entertainment ZDF Studios is boosting factual entertainment with the establishment of new company Content Laden. Founded with managing director Tom Gamlich and creative director Jan Fritzowsky, the Munich-based subsidiary will focus on the development and production of innovative and high-quality formats. Gamlich and Fritzowsky most recently served as the long-standing management team at South&Browse, where they oversaw development and production of successful factual entertainment formats for broadcasters and streamers. ZDF Studios President and CEO Markus Schäfer said the foundation of Content Laden was “an investment in creativity and innovation. We want to create outstanding formats and in doing so, achieve long-term, sustainable growth.”

Frank Doelger’s The Swarm has sold to the UK and Spain, while a U.S. partner is in the final stages of talks.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent As free-to-air operators’ ratings tumbled last decade, Alex Pina seized the chance to make two YA-targeted shows at Spain’s Atresmedia, firing up their ambitions: “Locked Up” and “Money Heist.” Now Marc Cistaré – a main writer on early Pina shows “Paco’s Men”and “The Boat” over 2005-13 and a scribe on “Locked Up” – has seized another industry opportunity, the strategic co-production alliance between TelevisaUnivision’s ViX streaming service and The Mediapro Studio.  Rolling off the hiked ambitions of Spain’s TV scene after streamer success, he has created“Las Pelotaris, 1926,” which The Mediapro Studio Distribution is bringing onto the market at this week’s MipTV. 

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s fast-growing production house Mediacrest Entertainment is launching high-concept eco-reality contest format “El pueblo” (“The Village”), which will have its international market premiere at this week’s MipTV trade fair. Designed as a primetime reality show, “El pueblo” has been structured as a social experiment, charting five families’ attempt to settle in an abandoned village, guided by the principles of sustainability and globally connected self-sufficiency.  The families’ will create their own rules, events and traditions, will initiate agriculture and livestock initiatives and start trading with nearby towns, sand later with the world. The twist: Only one winning family finally gets to stay in the village.

Furious passengers say they have been left 'traumatised' after a last-minute flight cancellation left them stranded in Spain with no food, accommodation, or return flight - and claim they were given no assistance by Easyjet.

Emiliano De Pablos Spanish super-indie production-sales companies are stepping back in time with vigor, building on opportunities opened up by streamers’ growing market flexibility to retain IP and sell territory-by-territory. Prioritizing bottom lines over market share, global platforms are ever more splitting rights and investing less in single titles. As budgets reduce, projects’ producers are forced to court ever more partners. That often means partnering on productions. “We accustomed customers to enjoying high-quality series with large budgets. In the new context, it is increasingly difficult to continue in this vein if you don’t partner,” says Onza’s Carlos Garde.

Emiliano Granada Barcelona-based production-distribution-sales studio Filmax, producer of the original “The Red Band Society,” has taken on international sales on its own production “Dating in Barcelona,” which is backed by Amazon Prime Video and Catalan public network TV3.  An exclusive promo of the six-episode series will be unveiled at MipTV, underscoring how Filmax has consolidated in a matter of years on Spain’s independent production of scene whose ecosystem has solidified during the so called Golden Age of the streamers. Filmax now intends to keep up its momentum despite more general slowdown.   Minimalistic in concept, the series does what its title promises, delivering in 50-minute episodes a deep exploration of modern day dating using a multifaceted Barcelona as its background, capturing not only its plush architecture but nooks and crannies. 

A mum-of-three has spoken of her heartbreak after losing her father months after her mother's own devastating cancer diagnosis.

Emiliano De Pablos Spanish public broadcaster RTVE has struck a VOD deal with Walter Presents to bring noir thriller series “Sequía” (“The Drought”) to the U.S, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. The suspense series is co-produced by Spanish and Portuguese public broadcasters RTVE and RTP, in collaboration with Atlantia Media and Coral Europa.  “The Drought” is set in a small submerged village on the Spanish-Portuguese border that re-emerges from a huge dam built in the 1990s after a severe drought. Two skeletons are also unearthed, revealing evidence of a bloody crime. 

Jet2 has warned passengers travelling to certain airports in Spain that they could face “delays” due to air traffic control strikes. The airline has issued the update for Alicante, Lanzarote (Arrecife), Fuerteventura and Ibiza airports.