Spanish TV Plays Co-Production Game as Streamers Fuel Growth of Original Series

Emiliano De Pablos
·7 min read
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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.

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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.

Local champions, Telefonica’s paybox Movistar+ and Atresmedia’s platform Atresplayer Premium, harbor strong artistic ambitions.

As platforms pause production in parts of the world, and Netflix rejigs its business model, Spain’s TV producers are ringing their options, plunging ever more into co-production.

“The market is being rationalized and shared production models don’t leave all the rights in the platform’s hands,” says Caroline Servy, managing director at the Wit.

“That’s why alliances between Spanish-speaking countries are more necessary than ever,” she adds.

Running Sept. 27-30, the Madrid-based second Iberseries & Platino Industria forum confirmed that trend.

Iberseries witnessed the announcement of partnerships by Ibero American powerhouses such as Los Angeles- and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios and Colombia’s Caracol Television, which committed to jointly develop, produce and finance premium series over the next year.

At Iberseries, “Cardo” and “Veneno” producer Buendía Estudios, which has rapidly consolidated since its 2020 launch, unveiled a TV drama adaptation of Javier Sierra’s bestselling book “El Ángel Perdido,” first fruit of its alliance to co-develop and co-produce with Universal Intl. Studios.

“There’s a certain maturity in platforms and channels, which will sooner or later have to look at their income statements. Not everything can be supported with originals,” says Ignacio Corrales, CEO of Buendía Estudios.

A three-way alliance, “The Gypsy Bride,”helmed by “Penny Dreadful” director Paco Cabezas, teams Atresmedia, Banijay’s Diagonal TV and ViacomCBS Intl. Studios.

Also announced at Iberseries, Prime Video greenlit Season 2 of the hit Spanish series “Better Days,” a co-production between VIS and “Elite” producer Zeta Studios, handled by Paramount Global Distributions.

“Being able to open ourselves to the co-production business model allows us to ring a broader range of options when it comes to creating content,” says Xavier Toll, Zeta Studios head of development and content.

“Creativity is penetrating the platforms’ content departments,” says Emilio Amaré, general manager at Plano a Plano, producer of Netflix’s “Valeria” and “Toy Boy.”

“This allows for new and different content models that open up a very good opportunity for international co-productions.”

Meanwhile, the continued influx of movie auteurs into series direction gives titles an artistic ambition envied in Europe. Two Mipcom market premieres, “Offworld” and “La Ruta,” are sterling examples.

Movistar+’s Buendía-produced “Offworld” packs five different stories told against the same context of a global power outage but in different settings, exploring genres and helmed by various first-in-class Spanish directors: Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo (“Between Two Waters”); Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“The Beasts”); Alberto Rodríguez  (“Marshland”) and Raúl Arévalo (“The Fury of a Patient Man”).

But common themes thread each story, such as how people negotiate crisis or change.

Set on Valencia’s La Ruta del Bakalao, which became one of the vibrant night club scenes in Europe, “La Ruta” is produced for Atresplayer by Caballo Films. The story is told backward from 1993, when four friends go their different ways, to the last episode in 1981 when they first meet.

“This is a market with a lot of vitality and creative power, I don’t see Spain suffering as much as other markets with reduced platform ambitions,” Servy concludes.

Here are some of the highlights of Spanish wares at Mipcom:

Bosé
Shine Iberia, Elefantec, Legacy Rock, VIS

A big Paramount+ bio-series of famed singer Miguel Bosé and his battle for freedom from the hidebound conservatism of his time, as an artist and person. A teaser trailer wowed Iberseries.

The Chauffeur’s Son
“El hijo del chófer,” Zeta Studios

Political thriller about Alfons Quintà, a legendary  Catalan journalist, friend of the powerful and a sexual harasser who ended up killing his wife. In development at “Elite” producer Zeta.

The Gypsy Bride
“La novia gitana,” Atresmedia, Diagonal TV, VIS

Directed by “Penny Dreadful’s” Paco Cabezas, a crime thriller set in Madrid’s gypsy community. World premiered to acclaim at San Sebastian, while debuting Sept. 25 to time-slot leading ratings on Atresmedia’s Antena 3. It has secured a Season 2.

The Head
Season 2 ,the Mediapro Studio, Hulu Japan

The Mediapro Studio’s biggest drama series, broadcast in more than 90 countries, including HBO Max in the U.S. Season 2 is helmed again by Jorge Dorado. John Lynch and Katharine O’Donnelly once more star, joined by Hovik Keuchkerian (“Money Heist”).

La Mesías
Suma Content, Movistar+

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, creators of “Veneno” and producers of “Cardo,” team with  Movistar+ on a family thriller about Enric, still traumatized by his mother’s messianic fanaticism. Movistar+ Intl. handle one of Spain’s hottest series.

Motel Valkirias
CTV, RTP, TVG, SPi

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, creators of “Veneno” and producers of “Cardo,” team with  Movistar+ on a family thriller about Enric, still traumatized by his mother’s messianic fanaticism. Movistar+ Intl. handle one of Spain’s hottest series.

A police noir thriller series set at a border motel, with doses of black comedy. Currently in post, sold by Onza Distribution.

The Nameless

“Los Sin Nombre,” Filmax

Series spinoff from Jaume Balagueró’ cult classic, a Gold Meliés Award winner which brought the flag down on Spain’s auteur genre boom from 1999. Balagueró is attached to direct.

Offworld
“Apagón,” Buendía Estudios, Movistar+

Movistar+’s big early fall swing and a big hit at San Sebastian, five stories written and directed by top movie directors — Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Raúl Arévalo, Isa Campo, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta — all set in a world where a huge solar storm sparks a massive power outage.

La Pasión Turca
Atresmedia, Buendía Estudios

TV series redo of Antonio Gala’s erotic novel, previously adapted into a hit 1994 feature film from Vicente Aranda and Lolafilms’ Andrés Vicente Gómez. Shooting from late October.

Peace Force
“Fuerza de paz,” Alea Media, RTVE

A primetime TV bet by pubcaster RTVE and Iberseries buzz title turning on a murder mystery of a soldier in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Africa. Showrun by Alea’s Aurora Guerra (“Old Bridge’s Secret”).

Secret Obsession
“Escándalo, relato de una obsesión,” Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group

A series on the love affair between an adult and a teenager, created once more by Guerra at Alea Media, partially owned by Mediaset España.

Ser o no ser
 RTVE, The Mediapro Studio

Six 25-minute-episode youth series on the trials and tribulations of a 16-year-old trans boy. Produced by TMS and subsid Big Bang Media for RTVE’s youth platform Playz.

Simple
“Fácil,” Sandra Hermida, Destrucción y Salvación, Movistar+

Dramedy by Anna R. Costa, co-creator of Movistar+’s most-binged series, “Arde Madrid,” about four young women, all with disabilities, sharing an apartment as independent adults. Beta Film sells.

Upa Next
Atresmedia, the Mediapro Studio

A revival of the legendary Spanish musical drama “Un paso adelante,” a Spanish “Fame,” from Atresmedia and the Mediapro Studio. The original 2001 production closed 60 countries, becoming the best-selling Spanish fiction ever at the time.

Wrong Side of the Tracks
“Entrevías,” Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group

Relationship thriller featuring a grumpy hardware dealer and his granddaughter. A top Telecinco primetime drama for four months and Netflix most-watched non-English series
in 71 countries.

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