Amazon Prime Video Ramps Up Originals in Spain
In yet another sign of explosive growth on Spain’s drama scene, Amazon Prime Video has unveiled four new Amazon Original series or movies tapping the large talents of some of its most successful comedy directors, producers, novelists and drama series creators.
In a sign of Amazon Studios’ hiked ambitions, the productions were described by Georgia Brown, Amazon’s head of European Originals, as “local stories that resonate with local audiences and have a global impact.” In the past, Amazon has stressed more the need for the former.
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Also updating Spanish journalists in Madrid on Wednesday morning on progress on the already announced “Sin Huellas” and “Un asunto privado,” Prime Video’s new slate shows it enrolling some of the biggest stars in Spain, led by “Below Zero’s” Javier Gutiérrez and Carmen Machi (“Broken Embraces,” “Perfect Life”).
Alongside Sílvia Abril, the two actors topline family time-travel comedy “Mañana es hoy” which is directed by Spain’s Nacho G. Velilla, helmer of Pantelion’s “No Manches Frida” and “No Manches Frida 2,” the biggest U.S.-Mexico double-market comedy movie franchise in history. Set up at Spanish production company Felicitas, the movie sees a Spanish family Gaspar transported from the summer of 1991 to 2022.
A YA movie marking the streamer’s first original science fiction proposition in Spain, “Awareness” was described by Maria José Rodríguez, Amazon Studios’ head of Spanish Originals, as “probably the most ambitious film we’ve worked on in Spain to date.”
“It’s a sci-fi film that meets a desire here for a blockbuster of this type,” she added.
“Awareness” is produced by longtime Jaume-Collet Serra producing partner Juan Solá and Mark Albela, a producer on some of the biggest international shoots in Spain such as Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Exodus: Gods and Kings.” Both now serve as producers at Federation Spain.
Daniel Escale Garcia
Billed as an action thriller and adolescent dama, “Awareness” turns on Ian, a rebel teen able to project mental images into the minds of other people. When his powers go out of control in public, he has to go on the run, pursued by two different organisations competing for control of his world.
Also confirmed as a new Amazon Original, drama series “Reina Roja” weighs in as a slice of Spanish Noir, adapting an extraordinarily successful novel trilogy by Spain’s Juan Gómez-Jurado, which has ranked as the most-read work in Spain for three years running.
Jurado and Amaya Murúzabal, creator of the original multi -POV concept of Prime Video’s “Hernán,” will turn the novels into a drama series produced by Amazon Studios and Dopamine and Focus. The series plays off a talent deal announced by Amazon Studios and Gómez-Jurado in April 2021, one of the first inked by the streamer in Europe.
From “The Others” producer Fernando Bovaira at MOD Producciones and Anxo Rodríguez for Espotlight, the eight-part “Los Farad” is a crime-thriller set in 1980s Marbella directed by Mariano Barroso (“What the Future Holds,” “La Línea Invisible”) and written by Barroso and Alejandro Amenábar regular co-scribe Alejandro Hernández.
“We are investing so heavily in our original content all over the world and it’s been exciting to see how original content within countries is resonating with fans in an incredible way and that’s been a huge part of our success,” Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke said at the presentation.
“It’s worth saying at Amazon that we are unique because we have a really curated slate,” Brown added. “We aren’t gonna do huge volume. What we are ultimately looking for is high quality content that demonstrates a diversity of voice and compelling stories and characters.”
Manuel Fernandez-Valdes
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