Conecta Fiction Winners: ‘Wellborn Family,’ ‘Favàritx,’ ‘Border Station,’ ‘Death in the Andes’ Scoop Big Awards
TOLEDO, Spain — “Wellborn Family,” “Favàritx,” “Border Station” and “Death in the Andes” won some of the biggest prizes on offer at the seventh edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, the Spanish TV co-pro and networking forum which hit its final straights Wednesday evening with its now traditional prize awards ceremony.
The announcements were preceded by an exclusive premiere of “Time Zone,” a new entertainment format created by Spain’s Zeppelin and Endemol Shine Nederland, a Banijay company, which is set to bow on HBO Max on July 14.
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Written by Zebina Guerra and Jorge Yúdice, “Wellborn Family,” a comedy presented by Spain’s Fundación SGAE, walked off with the biggest award of the night, a development contract at Spanish pubcaster RTVE.
A corrosive and classically structured social satire,“Wellborn Family” turns on the aristo Óscar Casañ-Calabuig who will do what he must to save his family from ruin, even if it means marrying off his beloved daughter to the son of an extraordinarily vulgar – but rich – family.
A noirish procedural which weighs in as the first scripted series to be set and shot on Menorca, “Favàritx” scooped a Spain Film Commission award for best use of locations.
One of the biggest projects introduced at Conecta Fiction in terms of artistic ambition, “Border Station,” a historical espionage drama-thriller, with time-travel elements, about a jazz singer transported back to 1941, scooped another big plaudit, the Warner Music Award, consisting in three days of Dolby Atmos sound studio access at its creative hub, The Music Station in Madrid.
Another big plaudit, the BTF Award from BTF Media, went to another high-profile prestige project, “Death in the Andes,” an adaptation of the novel by Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa by Peru’s Josué Méndez, an illustrious film director and TV series writer. Federation Studios-backed Glisk – run by Philipp Steffens, the former head of fiction at RTL TV, and ex-Relativity TV exec Julie Link (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”) – produces.
Created by sponsors, most Conecta Fiction prizes went to Spanish titles, partly because most sponsors are Spain based. So non-Spanish winners are often well worth tracking. “Disgrace,” a buzzy thriller set at the Argentina 1978 soccer World Cup from Germany’s Story House Pictures, scooped a TV Drama Vision Award, an invitation to the event at the Göteborg Film Festival.
Brazil’s “Dende,” a true-crime mockumentary about Dendê, Brazil’s most successful rapper, walked off with two nods, an invitation to Chile’s Sanfic Industria, one of the key industry events in South America, and the Core Award, voted by students at Madrid’s Core Entertainment Science School, a joint venture with Secuoya Studios.
An obvious move to the mainstream and a play for younger audiences, “Time Zone” in a fast-paced reality contest. It features 10 famous faces, including left-wing politician Alberto Rodríguez, rap artist El Chojin, influencer Alba Paul, ex-soccer ref Cristóbal Soria, fashion designer Fiona Ferrer, and Angela Ponce, the first trans woman to compete in Miss Universe,. Contestants have to progress from different time zones resolving mental and physical challenges as quickly as they can. The slowest is eliminated each program. The winner faces off with Master of Time Cristinini, a streamer.
The “Time Zone” presentation was led by Miguel Martín, managing director of Zeppelin; Miguel Salvat, VP original programming and commissioning editor HBO Max Iberia; and the celebrity contestants Antón Lofer and Joana Pastrana.
2023 Conecta Fiction & Entertainment Prize Winners:
RTVE Award
“Wellborn Family,” (Zebina Guerra, Jorge Yúdice, Spain)
Cmmedia Award
“Carbon 14,” (Izen Producciones, Spain)
Spain Film Commission Award
“Favàritx,” (Tv On Producciones, Empátic Comunicación, Spain)
Warner Music Award
“Border Station,” (Vertice 360, Spain)
Triodos Bank Award
“Until the Wedding Do Us Part,” (Ángela Armero, Alegría Collantes, Spain)
BTF Award
“Death in the Andes,” (Glisk, Capacitor, Germany, Peru)
Acorde Award
“Ns55, The Abandoned Spy,” (Kometa Producciones, Artemisa Entertainment, Dusko Pictures, Spain)
“Labelled Red,” (Minoria Absoluta, Spain)
Alma Award:
“Voices,” (Santi San Martín, Spain)
BAM Bogotá Award
“Cachimba,” (Avi Films, Mexico)
TV Drama Vision Award
“Disgrace,” (Story House Pictures, Germany)
Sanfic Industria Award
“Dendê,” (Vandalo, Brazil)
Nem Zagreb Award
“The Lake,” (Grupo Ganga Producciones, Spain)
Produ Award
“Dendê,” (Vandalo, Brazil)
Wawa Award
“The Lake,” (Grupo Ganga Producciones, Spain)
Bosque Del Cine Award
“Clean up!,” (Minoría Absoluta, Spain)
K is for Knowledge Award
“Clean Up!,” (Minoría Absoluta, Spain)
D.O. Castilla-La Mancha Wines Award
“Tonight You Should Go See The Boss,” (Chulada Cine, Spain)
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