Spain Amps Up Animation With ‘Mummies,’ ‘Arcane’

With landmarks including Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, it’s no wonder that millions of people visit the UK capital each year. Known for its red phone boxes and double decker buses, London is a popular destination for jet setters across the globe - and it makes for the perfect staycation, too.

Love Island season has finally arrived, bringing with it a new cast, an iconic host and a stunning Majorcan villa.The popular dating show kicks off on ITV2 on Monday, June 5, where a new crop of sizzling contestants will couple up with a partner who’s definitely ‘their type on paper’. Maya Jama will also be jetting off to the Spanish island to front the show, after taking over from Laura Whitmore for the 2023 Winter Love Island series.

Emiliano De Pablos U.S. distribution company Dark Star Pictures, Mexico’s Mantícora Distribution and Spain’s La Dalia Films announced at Cannes a strategic deal to launch genre label Antídoto Horror Factory.  The venture, unveiled at the Marché du Film’s new genre-focused Fantastic Pavilion, will develop, produce, distribute and sell a minimum of four genre feature films in the next four years, starting pre-production in 2023. Dark Star will take North American rights; Mantícora, Latin American territory, and La Dalia, Spanish rights. “For the rest of the world, the partners will mutually agree to the most suitable sales representation,” said Antídoto Horror Factory partners in a statement.

Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps returns on Thursday night for episode three of the new series and it is set to be a tough episode as the couple head for their 12-week scan.Tonight's episode will show both Tommy Mallet, 30, and Georgia Kousoulou, 31, heading for the scan for their second baby but they are sadly told that they have miscarried. Following the heartbreaking news, the pair turn towards their friends and family for much needed support during such a difficult time.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Sonora, among the top podcast platforms in Spain, has tapped leading Chilean scribes Enrique Videla and Paula del Fierro to write a couple of serial podcasts for it. Their credits include Amazon Original “La Jauria” (“The Pack”), showrun by Lucía Puenzo (“The German Doctor”) and produced by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrain’s Fabula. Both are also co-writers of Movistar’s “Los Prisioneros” and Chilean-German co-production, “Dignidad.” “We’re delighted to add Chilean creative talent to Sonora. The original content that Del Fierro and Videla will write for our platform will join one of our most outstanding fiction creations, ‘Retornados,’ a science fiction thriller written and directed by Chilean scriptwriter, Julio Rojas,” said Gabriel Sáenz de Buruaga, CEO and founding partner of Sonora. Rojas is also one of the writers on “La Jauria” and the scribe of Spotify’s most successful Spanish-language podcast, “Case 63.”

Emiliano De Pablos Variety’s Global Locations Panel Conversations kicked off Saturday with a focus on Spain in which Juan-Manuel Guimeráns, Spain Film Commission general secretary, posited a new further reason for shooting in Spain.  Much is made of the country’s OMG locations, highlighted in “Game of Thrones,” its talent and technical prowess, and now extraordinary incentives. Now, as big international companies seek cost control and to promote sustainability, increasing attention will be paid to the Spanish industry’s ability to produce quality, cost-effective film and TV content very largely shot on a limited number of soundstages. Variety’s John Hopewell, in conversation with Guimeráns, pointed to the example of milestone series from Spain, such as “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and the first two parts of “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”). In the final stretches of the conversation, Guimeráns drilled down on some of key projects and recently opened studio facilities in Spain. 

K.J. Yossman “Deal or No Deal” is returning to Spain after a 12-year hiatus with original host Jesús Vázquez, Variety can confirm. The long-running gameshow, known locally as “¡Allá tú!,” is set to air on local network Telecinco, produced by Banijay Iberia label Gestmusic. Vázquez originally presented the show from 2004-2008. The re-commission follows the news that “Deal or No Deal” is also returning to the U.K. later this year on ITV and ITVX, produced by Banijay U.K.’s Remarkable Entertainment.

According to weather reports, this week, temperatures in the UK will be higher than in Malaga, Spain. According to the Met Office, parts of the country are set to bask in 25C heat this week - while the capital of Spain's Costa del Sol, the mercury is forecast to sit around 23C.

Emiliano De Pablos In a highly anticipated animation event at this year’s Cannes Festival, Emmy-winning Spanish director Rodrigo Blaas attends on Sunday the screening of his short film “Sith,” part of Disney+’s “Star Wars: Visions” Season 2 anthology. The first big-screen exhibition of “Sith” — released worldwide May 4 on Disney+ — followed by a meet and greet with Blaas marks one highlight of the Animation Day Revelations New Animated Shorts From Spain, organized by ICEX Spain’s Trade & Investment. The Spanish animation event at Cannes will also showcase Alberto Mielgo’s celebrated 2022 Oscar-winning short film “The Windshield Wiper.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s Revelations showcase has focused on shorts, not features, unveiling the huge breadth of animation talent and techniques in Spain. Some shorts directors are already stars, such as Alberto Mielgo with the Oscar-winner “The Windshield Wiper.” Diego Porral, director of “Leopoldo From the Bar,” served as animation lead on “Love, Death + Robots” episode “Kill Team Kill.” Standouts among new projects in Revelations included “Latente,” a Next Lab Generation winner from Carlos Zaragoza and Aurora Jiménez, and Martín Romero’s “To Bird or Not to Bird,” from Uniko and Abano Producións, which is a 2D short made largely in black and white featuring an angst-ridden clock cuckoo and other birds beset by environmental destruction.

Holly Jones Spain’s Festival de Málaga, through its industry arm Mafiz (Málaga Festival Industry Zone), heads to the Cannes Marché du Film with five works-in-progress from burgeoning Andalusian talent. “The Malaga Festival wants to support the completion of these works and make their international distribution viable,” commented Malaga head of industry, Annabelle Aramburu. This year, as Cannes more broadly celebrates Spain, the event curates two titles that tackle its tumultuous history and one which takes audiences on an unconventional road trip questioning the biological clock alongside narratives that dissect the minutiae of new forms of co-existing and the baffling concept of destiny.

Molly-Mae Hague has shared another beautiful video of her playing with her gorgeous little girl, Bambi.The Love Island star and creative director of PrettyLittleThing, 23, has been giving fans an honest look into her daily life as a new mum — and seems to be happier than ever. Molly-Mae, 23, took to her Instagram Stories on May 20 to show how much she loves spending time with baby Bambi. In the adorable clip, it sees Molly-Mae playing with her daughter as she says: "Who's a mummy's girl" as her daughter giggles in adoration.

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court on Friday ordered Jade Jagger, the daughter of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, to pay 2,200 euros ($2,422) in fines and compensation for attacking a police officer on the island of Ibiza. The 51-year-old jewelry designer was arrested on Wednesday along with a man following an altercation at a restaurant in the island's capital, Ibiza Town.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market. The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide. Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.

Emiliano De Pablos Anonymous Content has partnered with Spain’s Morena Films, one of the country’s top production companies, to launch a joint venture aimed at developing and producing Spanish-language content for the global market. The alliance marks the fifth international joint venture for Anonymous Content as they continue to build partnerships with local producers and companies in key territories around the world. Anonymous Content’s president of international, David Davoli, and Morena Films CEO Pilar Benito will oversee the joint venture, whose managing director will be named in the coming weeks, the companies announced Friday in a statement.

Lily Moayeri Primavera Sound, the 22-year-old music festival based in Spain, is more than a FOMO-inducing lineup kicking off Europe’s festival season. It’s a marriage between the festival and the cities in which it takes place. This used to be a monogamous relationship with its birthplace of Barcelona where the three-day festival is staged in the middle of town — uncharacteristic for an event that has a daily draw of over 80,000. Since 2012, however, Primavera became polyamorous, extending to a sister festival in Porto, Portugal with a pared down version of its signature Barcelona event. This year, Primavera pushes the boundaries of its polygamous liaisons by launching an almost identical version of its Barcelona festival (which falls on the first weekend in June) in Madrid a week later, the same weekend as the Porto festival.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s status as Cannes’ Marché du Film’s Country of Honor is a “milestone,” says María Peña, CEO of ICEX Spain Trade & Investment. But it’s also a mark of recognition, she says, after Spain’s big wins just this year at the Berlinale (three prizes for Estibaliz Urresola’s “20,000 Species of Bees”) and France’s Cesars (foreign film win for “The Beasts” and actor trophy to Benoît Magimel for Albert Serra’s “Pacification” and cinematography for its DP, Artur Tort). Peña also points to April’s MipTV, where Rafael Cobos’ “The Left Handed Son,” from Movistar Plus+, won Canneseries’ Short Format Competition, and “The Caravan,” produced by Barcelona’s Caravan Films, the first MipDoc International Buyers Screenings honors.

Sales: Luxbox Living in an idyllic Andalusia, a couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Screened at Seville and Tallinn. Sales: Begin Again Films. One of the big Spanish action-thrillers hitting this Cannes market, from a specialist (“Sky High”). Pre-sold to France (Kinovista), Germany and Italy (Koch Media) with Tripictures releasing in Spain. Sales: Latido

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor In its first acquisition at the Cannes Film Festival, Neon has picked up North American rights to director Pablo Berger’s animated feature “Robot Dreams” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes on Saturday. The Spanish filmmaker of “Blancanieves” based his first animated feature on the award-winning graphic novel by Sara Varon. “Robot Dreams” screens Saturday in the Special Screenings section of the festival. Neon previously scored three consecutive Palme d’Or wins with “Parasite,” “Titane” and “Triangle of Sadness.” “Robot Dreams” is described as a “universal exploration of the importance and fragility of friendship.” It follows DOG, a New York canine who decides to build himself a robot companion. They become inseparable, to the rhythm of 1980s New York city, until the sad summer night when DOG is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach.

Emiliano De Pablos Top Chilean fiction house Parox, producer of “Invisible Heroes,” has kick-started principal photography on international co-production “Los mil días de Allende” (“Allende, the Thousand Days”), a historical drama mini-series about the last three years in the life of Chilean President Salvador Allende. Alfredo Castro – one of Latin America’s most respected actors and a Pablo Larraín regular, star of films such as “Karnawal” and “El Club” – leads the mini-series cast as Allende; Benjamín Vicuña (“Besieged,” “Locked Up”) plays Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The four-episode, 55-minute fiction drama shoot is taking place entirely in Chile, lensing from May 15 for two months, under “Besieged” and “Inés of My Soul” director Nicolás Acuña.