John Hopewell Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In news that is sure to move waves in Spain, Portugal and beyond, former Netflix exec Juan Mayne, a name inextricably linked to the build of Spain as a global film-TV power, has been appointed as SkyShowtime regional content director for Iberia, encompassing Spain and Portugal. The move creates an effective new streaming door to knock on for Spanish producers as some other – though not all – platforms are curbing commissions or orders in the two countries.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Any new show by producer Frank Doelger – whose credits include “Game of Thrones,” “The Swarm,” “John Adams” and “Rome” – must rate as an event. That event takes place Oct. 17 at Cannes Mipcom trade fair, with the world premiere of “Concordia,” on which Doelger serves as executive producer and showrunner.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Turning on real-life 1990s trans icon Cristina Ortiz, “Veneno” established Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo as leading LGBTQ directors in Spain. In “La Mesías,” they bring their hallmark visceral sense of diversity to each and every scene and episode, which lends them their large distinction. “We’re not very conscious of it, but you can see diversity in how each character reacts differently to trauma, as well as the genre mix and diversity of settings.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The Spanish world premiere that made the most waves at this year’s San Sebastian Festival was not a film but a series, “La Mesías,” written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo. “A masterpiece,” proclaimed Spanish website Cineconñ; national newspaper El Mundo greeted it as the first work of maturity from hugely unconventional auteurs.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent CANNES — Germany’s Story House Pictures, producer of the Beta Film/RTL mega-hit “Sisi,” sold to 120 territories, has optioned what looks like one of the biggest and most ambitious projects coming onto the market at this year’s Mipcom: “The Book of Longing,” a six-part English-language series with an international cast based on the international bestseller of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd. The novel has been translated in 17 languages and will be the third adaption of one of Kidd’s bestselling works. Her 2001-novel “The Secret Life of Bees” sold 8 million copies and was turned into a major award-winning motion picture starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, and Jennifer Hudson.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ROME — Film Factory Ent. – a sales agent on “Wild Tales,” “The Clan,” “Close Your Eyes” and “The Kings of the World” – has boarded “Jokes & Cigarettes” (“Saben Aquell”), the latest movie from Spain’s David Trueba which is fast-emerging as one of Spain’s late year Goya Award contenders after a San Sebastian sneak-peek and the bow of a trailer.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent With the writers’ strike over, a new studio brand and new management in part of international, Paramount Global execs are attending Madrid’s Iberseries & Platino Industria, Rome’s MIA market and Mipcom as they talk up their competitive assets and priorities to the international market. In one move, five months after it the launch of Paramount Television International Studios in May, Paramount Global’s Darío Turovelzky delivered a keynote on Thursday at Iberseries & Platino Industria.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Yanet, lateish twenties, opens her eyes, looks in the mirror, takes in air, straightens two braids of hair, hold her head in her hands, purses her lips, is called for her stage test. She begins to sing. “People say I have to change, but I don’t care at all.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a significant declaration of large intentions and strategy at Studiocanal, owned by Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, Françoise Guyonnet has been appointed Studiocanal CEO Copyrights Group and EVP Kids’ Brands as the European production-distribution giant looks to drive powerfully into children’s IP. Studiocanal described the appointment in a written statement on Thursday as “a confident move for the studio which wishes to accelerate growth in children’s IP.” Copyrights Group is an international intellectual property management agency (brands, licences, derivative products), it added.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Mónica Lozano, producer of Alejandro González Iñarritu’s “Amores Perros” and Eugenio Derbéz’s “Instructions Not Included,” has boarded “Cepeda,” an envelope-pushing Mexico-set procedural, turning on a Mexican cop who’s an Indigenous woman and great at her job. Development over the last two years has been financed by Acuña’s Chile-based Promocine.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “The Head,” The Mediapro Studio’s biggest hit, will have a third season, Ran Tellem, TMS head of international content development, confirmed Tuesday at Iberseries & Industria Platino. “‘The Head’ started out something like four years ago as a limited series only for six episodes and now it’s going into third season, so you might say we never lived up to our promises,” Tellem joked on stage at an early Iberseries panel, entitled Creative Content Strategies, where he shared the stage with former Netflix international head Erik Barmack, now at L.A.-based Wild Sheep Content. The Mediapro Studio will produce ‘The Head,’ Season 3 out of Spain.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Telefónica has been leading by innovation,” says Omdia’s María Rua Aguete of Movistar Plus’ parent, one of Europe’s biggest telecoms. In June, Telefónica launched the Experience Design Lab, a Madrid-based innovation center that includes a gaming room with the latest AR and VR technology and games. Its LaCabina, a permanent exhibition, allows visitors to experience first hand latest advances in 5G, IoT, big data, cloud, edge, AI and cyber security.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In 2017, Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest SVOD-pay TV player, rocked the San Sebastian Festival, the highest-profile movie event in Spain and Latin America region, with “The Plague,” the biggest series ever made in Spain. Movistar Plus, owned by Telefónica, looks set to make waves again at this week’s San Sebastian by world premiering another big, bold series: “La Mesías.” It’s written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – known in Spain as Los Javis – marking their follow-up to overseas breakout “Veneno,” a raunchy but highly grounded bio of Spanish trans icon Cristina Ortiz.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Modestly speaking, we’ve tried to create a culture at Movistar Plus+ which attracts talent. We have a lot of respect for what creators want to tell and believe in them,” Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus+ director of fiction and entertainment, has said. One case in point is Berto Romero, whose latest series, “The Other Side” (“El otro lado”), world premieres at Spain’s San Sebastian Festival on Sunday.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent SAN SEBASTIAN — In a first big deal to be announced during this year’s San Sebastian Festival, Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s biggest independent and international creation-production-distribution powerhouses, has acquired Cimarrón, the Uruguay, Argentina and Mexico-based production house and services company. Of “highly significant value,” TMS said Friday, the deal looks set to consolidate TMS’ presence in Latin America and beyond.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s 71st San Sebastian Film Festival is tracking to welcome an even larger industry presence than 2022, currently up 10% in attendance on 2022’s already bullish figures, its status as the biggest movie event in the Spanish-speaking world remaining undiminished. Here are 10 key takes on potential highlights and trends which look likely to shape this year’s edition, running Sept.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent SAN SEBASTIAN — Paris-based Luxbox has clinched major territory pre-sales on anticipated San Sebastian competition title “Puan,” an original attempt by its writer-directors, María Alche (“A Family Submerged”) and Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo”) to deliver a state of the nation take on Argentina – and any country in thrall of European ideas – but in a notably lighter tone than most Latin American arthouse fare. Key first major territory buyers take in Condor for France, whose release lineup has featured major auteurs such as Kelly Reichardt, Casey Affleck, Agnieszka Holland, Paul Schrader, Denis Villeneuve, Michel Franco and Ira Sachs.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Katina Medina Mora, director of Netflix hits ‘Emily in Paris’ and ‘Firefly Lane’ and Apple TV+ standout “Swagger,” is teaming with Chile’s Julio Rojas, creator of podcast phenom “Caso 63,” to direct and co-write with Rojas “Freeland.” Medina Mora, Rojas and “Freeland” producer Nestor Hernández, a former Sony and HBO development exec for Latin America, will attend the San Sebastian Film Festival, which kicks off on Sept. 22, to present the project.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent QuarXX’s “This Thing Inside of Me,” Caye Casas’ “Malamuerte” and maybe the biggest buzz title in the whole selection, Sean Wainsteim’s “Idaho Winter,” a multi-media mashup, feature in a robust, variegated lineup at Sitges FanPitch, which is quickly establishing itself as a key early fall global genre project platform drawing on titles from not only Spain but Europe, Latin and North America and Asia. Unspooling Oct.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “The Eternal Memory,” Chilean documentarian Maite Alberdi’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated “The Mole Agent,” is smashing box office records in Chile. Bowing Thursday Aug. 24 in 70 theaters and shooting straight to No.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Alicia Moncholí, winner of the New Directors of Asturias Award for her latest short, “Campolivar,” is developing her first feature film, the coming-of-age drama “Weekends,” just announced as one of the five titles in development set to be presented at the Second Spanish Screenings on Tour. They unspool at Rome’s MIA forum, which takes place Oct.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “On the Go,” a spirited, freewheeling road movie capturing the first lead performance in a movie of ‘Elite’ star Omar Ayuso, has clinched its first major sales, selling to Salzgeber for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and to Cineplex for Taiwan. Paris-based MPM Premium picked up world sales rights to “On the Go” in the run-up to the Locarno Festival where it world premiered in its Filmmakers of the Present section.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Javier Bardem, winner of a San Sebastian 2023 Donostia Award for career achievement, is putting back his on-stage acceptance of the distinction until the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival. The postponement is due to the “limits imposed under the strike called by the U.S. Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA),” the San Sebastian Festival announced Friday.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Los Cabos Intl. Film Festival, one of the country’s very top pre-pandemic movie events, has cancelled its 2023 12th edition, citing “the lack of the economic support which was vital in prior editions to carry out this important film event.” In a written statement, the festival organisers thanked “those people, companies and institutions who had confirmed their support and participation in the 2023.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland, Goodfellas’ Vincent Maraval and Cinetic Media’s John Sloss look set to attend the San Sebastian Festival’s second Creative Investors’ Conference, co-organised once again with CAA Media Finance. Bringing to San Sebastian the biggest bevy of high-powered U.S. execs and industry movers-and-shakers to attend the Spanish Festival, further CIC attendees include Netflix’s Teresa Moneo, Amblin Partners’ Jeb Brody and Anonymous Content’s David Davoli as well as K&S’s Matías Mosteirín and Infinity Hill’s Axel Kuschevatzky, as the Conference opens up to Latin America.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Teresa Sánchez, winner of a 2022 Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for acting in Juan Pablo González’s “Dos Estaciones,” is set to star in the follow-up, his sophomore outing “Warm Water.” Co-directed with Ana Isabel Fernández, co-writer of “Dos Estaciones,” “Warm Water” will also star Rafaela Fuentes, who played opposite Sánchez in “Dos Estaciones.” Set up at Mexico’s Sin Sitio Cine, whose partners are González, Ilana Coleman, Makena Buchanan and Jamie Gonçalves, “Warm Water,” produced by Bruna Haddad (“La Hija de Todas Las Rabias,” “Dos Estaciones”) and Gonçalves, will be brought onto the market at the San Sebastian Europe-Latin American Co-Production Forum, where it ranks as one of its highest-profile projects. In development and scheduled to shoot in fall 2024, “Warm Water” turns on Ana María, a renowned actress who, after a devastating break-up, reluctantly travels to the rural countryside in Mexico to lead an acting workshop.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Headlined respectively by “Sound of Metal” lead Riz Ahmed and “Matrix” stars Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving, Christos Nikou’s “Fingernails” and Kitty Green’s “The Royal Hotel” figure among seven newly unveiled films which will play in main competition at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival. Also in the running are buzz titles “A Journey in Spring,” from Taiwan’s Peng Tzu-Hui, Wang Ping-Wen, and “Kalak,” directed by Denmark’s Isabella Eklöf.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent FIPCA, Ibero America’s huge producers’ federation, is looking to power up the region’s knowledge economy and co-production as two longterm answers to huge volatility in its member states film-TV sectors. That drive cuts several ways, FIPCA president Ignacio Rey told Variety in the run-up to Sanfic Industria, one of South America’s biggest industry events. High-end Netflix, Amazon and other streamer originals, imply new ways of producing: “We’re lacking sufficient labor force capacity for a certain scale of productions,” Rey argued.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Victor Erice, one of the greatest of Spanish filmmakers, will receive a prestigious Donostia Award, given for career achievement, granted by the San Sebastian Film Festival. The award will coincide with screening of Erice’s latest film, “Close Your Eyes” (Cerrar los Ojos), which world premiered at the Cannes Festival this May.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Dance First,” a portrait of Irish writer Samuel Beckett starring Gabriel Byrne and directed by Oscar winner James Marsh, will close this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, playing out of competition. Byrne, a memorable lead in “The Usual Suspects” and “Miller’s Crossing” who also won a Golden Globe for his performance in “In Treatment,” plays Samuel Beckett, driving into his deep contradictions and inner torment of a writer who was a Parisian bon vivant, a WWII Resistance fighter and then Nobel Prize-winning playwright who, however, became a recluse, living the last years of his life in a single room in a nursing home, ashamed of past actions and convinced that for much of his life he had been a failure.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s El Relicario, whose “El rostro cubierto de besos” screened at Cannes Critics’ Week in its 2023 Morelia showcase, has boarded Ximena Valdivia’s Malaga Festival winner “4Eber,” a movie melding the modern teen dance scene in Cusco and ancient and contemporary fantasy and mythology. Written by Valdivia and Costa Rica’s Luisa Mora Fernández, a co-scribe on Mexican Kim Torres’ Cannes Festival-selected short “Luz Nocturna,” “4Eber” is now produced by Valdivia’s and El Relicario’s Mariano Rentería and Jorge Diez, in the first international feature co-production outing for the Morelia-based outfit.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Alfredo Castro, an absolute lead or co-star in seven Pablo Larraín films and one of the highest-regarded of actors in Latin America, is set to head the choral cast of “Three Dark Nights” (“Tres noches negras”), the third feature from Spanish-Chilean Theo Court. “Three Dark Nights” follows up Court’s “White on White,” also starring Castro, an actor described by Variety as “reliably superb,” which won a best director and Fipresci Prize at 2019’s Venice Horizons.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Argentina’s Tarea Fina, a producer on Cannes Camera d’Or winner “Las Acacias,” International Oscar entry “The Sleepwalkers” and Ventana Sur hit “Sublime,” has boarded “A Loose End,” the third feature as a director from Uruguay’s Daniel Hendler, a Berlin Silver Bear winner for Best Actor in Daniel Burman’s 2004 international breakout “The Lost Embrace.” Set up at Montevideo’s Cordon Films, founded in 2007 by producer-TV director Micaela Solé and Hendler, “A Loose End” (“Un cabo suelto”) is one of the highest-profile projects announced on Monday by the San Sebastián Festival as part of its Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, its industry centerpiece. Written by Hendler, his third directorial outing returns to a central theme in his first two features as a writer-director: Identity.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LOCARNO — Brazil’s Pandora Filmes, one of the country’s premier independent distributors, has secured Brazilian distribution rights to “Tomorrow’s Rain”(“Amanhã Já Não Chove”), a Portuguese portrait of bourgeois malaise which was brought onto the market last weekend at the Locarno Festival’s Match Me! Pandora Filmes’ distribution slate takes in “Parasite,” “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” and “R.M.N.” Set up at Lisbon’s Omaja and Brazil’s Capuri, which cut the deal with Pandora, “Tomorrow Rain” marks the fiction feature debut of Portuguese director-producer Bernardo Lopes at Omaja, a 2021 Portuguese Film Academy Sophia Award winner for his short “Moço.” Produced by Lopes and Eduardo Rezende, “Tomorrow’s Rain”will star José Pimentão, who played Ramiro in Netflix’s “1899,” and João Nunes Monteiro, a Portuguese Film Academy Sophia Award winner best actor award winner for “Mosquito” in 2021 and best supporting actor winner last year for “The Tsugua Diaries.” Written by Lopes and Francisco Mira Godinho, who together co-wrote and co-directed TV mini-series “Lugar 54,” an Omaja production for Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, “Tomorrow’s Rain” depicts one summer day in the life of a crumbling family at the peak of the Portuguese financial crisis of 2012. “‘Tomorrow’s Rain’ is a feature fiction family drama that makes an urgent portrayal of a marginalized southern Portuguese region during the 2012 financial crisis, from the POV of a decadent bourgeois family that suffers from a tumor in the form of a secret, consuming them until the day of their inevitable end,” Lopes told Variety.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LOCARNO — Two movie projects which capture best the brewing revolution in Latin American filmmaking walked off with the biggest plaudits at this year’s Locarno Open Doors prize ceremony on Tuesday. Both underscore the mindset reset among cineasts – their questioning of received wisdom accompanied by the explosion in invention being brought to low-budget filmmaking in the region.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LOCARNO — Spain’s Vertigo Films has boarded “All the World Drops Dead,” committing to co-produce the next scarefest from Austrian Kevin Kopacka, director of 2021’s noteworthy “Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes.” Set up at Germany’s Manderley Films, which oversaw VFX on “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “All the World Drops Dead” has been brought to market at Locarno’s Match Me! Forum by producer and co-writer Lili Villlányi. Also produced by Manderley Films’ founder Rebekka Garrido, “All the World Drops Dead” ranks as one of the biggest genre plays on offer at this year’s Swiss festival – not an idle boast as distributors worldwide turn to genre, as well as family animation, as a reaction to plunging cinema theater audiences for arthouse cinema through and after the pandemic.