Telefónica’s Movistar orders original drama

Telefónica is ramping up its investment in original content following the launch of Netflix in Spain earlier this year.

The telco’s premium TV service, Movistar+ is commissioning a drama series based on the 2010 best-selling novel Dime Quién Soy by Julia Navarro.

The series will be a produced jointly by Movistar and DLO Productions’ José Manuel Lorenzo, and will be filmed in Argentina, Spain and other European countries.

The period drama tells the story of fictional revolutionary activist Amelia Garayoa through the turmoil of the Spanish republic of the 1930s, the Civil War and up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The series will be directed by Fernando González Molina, director of movies including Tres Metros Sobre el Cielo, Tengo Ganas de Ti and Palmeras en la Nieve.

Dime Quién Soy is one of 20 projects currently in various phases of development by Movistar+, which has set an objective of producing six to eight series each year from 2017.

Other projects include comedy Vergüenza, directed by Juan Cavestan and Álvaro Fernández-Armero and starring Javier Gutiérrez and Malena Alterio, which is in the final stages of filming, La Peste, directed by Alberto Rodríguez and political thriller La Zona, written and directed by Jorge and Alberto Sánchez Cabezudo and starring Eduard Fernández, which is in pre-production and planned for 2017.

Movistar is ramping up original drama efforts as competition increases in the Spanish market from the likes of Netflix and HBO. Movistar Plus original production director Domingo Corral discussed his plans with TBI earlier this year.