‘Official Competition’ Directors Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat Tease Upcoming Star+ Series ‘El Encargado’

Omonia Nicosia goalkeeper Francis Uzoho described Manchester United shot-stopper David de Gea as a 'legend' after the Spaniard made his 500th appearance for the Reds against Newcastle United on Sunday.

Emiliano De Pablos Globoplay, the streaming platform of Latin American TV giant Globo, has picked up Brazilian rights to police noir thriller series “Motel Valkirias,” a Spain-Portugal co-production handled by Onza Distribution.  Created by Ghaleb Jaber Martínez, writer-producer of Netflix’s Galician TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas,” the series is directed by Álex Sampaio (Schibare”) and Jorge Quiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”). In post-production, the eight episode 50-minute “Motel Valkirias” is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal, following three women with financial and personal problems who get in serious danger after joining forces to get their hands on some valuable merchandise from a guest in the motel.

The Critics Choice Association revealed the list of honorees for its 2nd annual Celebration of Latino Cinema & Television taking place on November 13.

Emiliano De Pablos Three years ago, platforms were asking Spanish producers for full rights to their TV fiction projects for all territories.  Times have changed. As platforms’ revenues taper off or slow in growth, originals are less habitual. Co-production is increasingly becoming the name of the game. A first-phase boom was triggered by Netflix titles “Money Heist” and “Elite.” Now, Spain is maintaining its momentum, remaining a priority region for Netflix, HBO Max and Prime Video. Newcomers Disney+, Paramount+ and Lionsgate+ have unveiled their first original productions.

Tennis pro Rafael Nadal, 36, has reportedly become a dad for the first time after his wife Mery Perello was said to have given birth to a healthy baby boy with the tennis player at a hospital in Palma on Saturday morning, 8 October.The reports first emerged in the Spanish press on Saturday, as they reported that the 21-time Grand Slam champion’s wife Mery, 34, gave birth in a private clinic in the Majorcan capital this weekend.The couple themselves have yet to make any official comment. News of Mery’s pregnancy was only shared in June after weeks of speculation had dogged the couple after she was seen wearing more loosely fitted clothes in public, and later spotted donning a face mask at the Champions League final.

Michelle Keegan manages to keep her jaw-dropping figure despite tucking into takeaways and currys. The actress, 35, keeps to a strict gym routine to keep herself in shape but always allows herself cheat meals on the weekends. Speaking to The Sun, Mark, 35, said: 'She loves a Chinese takeaway and a curry.

Focusing on his health. Coldplay will be hitting pause on their upcoming shows while Chris Martin deals with a lung infection.

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin came down with a "serious lung infection" while on tour, forcing the band to cancel a slate of concerts scheduled in Brazil. "With deep regret, we've been forced to postpone our upcoming shows in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo until early 2023," the band shared on Twitter. "Due to a serious lung infection, Chris has been put under strict doctor's orders to rest for the next three weeks.

Manori Ravindran International Editor The London Film Festival has revealed its jury line-up for this year’s awards. The Official Competition jury is led by “Power of the Dog” and “Cold War” producer Tanya Seghatchian (pictured), while the First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) jury will be headed up by director and actor Nana Mensah whose directorial debut “Queen of Glory” won the Best New Narrative Director prize at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Elsewhere, Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini will lead the jury selecting the winner of the Grierson Award for Best Documentary after winning the award in 2018 for his film “What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire.”

Anya Taylor-Joy. The talented actress will not be starring in the highly anticipated ‘Nosferatu’ movie, as she was forced to drop out of the project after having scheduling conflicts.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Walt Disney Company Latin America team took to the stage at the 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria event in Madrid to unveil trailers or clips of their upcoming Star+ slate that includes “Nada,” with Robert de Niro playing a key role, “Ringo, el Campeon del Pueblo,” “Pancho Villa, El Centauro del Norte” and “How to Be a Carioca,” directed by “Rio” and “Ferdinand the Bull” director Carlos Saldanha. These were just a few of the upcoming original programs destined for the company’s fledgling Latin American streaming platform Star+, which features live sports, general and adult entertainment, particularly locally-produced content.  

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chile’s hottest writer Julio Rojas (“The Life of Fish”) and Spain’s Goya-winning Belen Cuesta, who stars in “The Endless Trench” and the “Balenciaga” series, are attached to “La Torca del Diablo,” a sci-fi thriller from Chile’s Canal 13 and Spanish producer Miguel Asensio of Tiki Group. A client of former CinemaChile head Constanza Arena’s new talent agency and project incubator, Agencia La Luz, Rojas created and wrote “Case 63,” Spotify’s leading scripted original podcast in Latin America, with an English-language version in development, starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac. He also co-wrote Pablo Fendrik’s Latino sci-fi series “The Shelter,” among other notable credits.  

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.

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.