TBI Weekly: Five Spanish-language shows on the acquisition trail

Film #1 (Source: Feel Sales)

With Spanish-language shows taking centre stage at Content Americas this week in Miami, TBI picks out five of the best for those on the acquisition trail.

As we revealed earlier in the week, Spanish-language shows on Netflix grab more viewing time than almost any other language’s programming on the streamer.

Scripted series have been at the forefront of this Spanish wave, but there are increasing signs that unscripted fare is also beginning to travel – just take a look at the rise of Spain’s true crime output.

And so, ahead of RealScreen Summit opening its doors next week in New Orleans, here are five Spanish-language shows worth taking a look at – before someone else does.

FILM #1

Producer: Arena Comunicación Audiovisual
Distributor: Feel Sales
Broadcaster: N/A
Logline: In the Amazon, a filmmaker aims to shoot his first documentary, but when the pandemic hits, he embarks upon a journey of self discovery.

Aiming to make his first documentary, director Telmo Ibarburu heads to Ecuador and into one of the most remote parts of the Amazon jungle, just as the pandemic hits.

Feeling lost, forced to isolate, and trying to make sense of the world around him, Telmo instead embarks upon a transformative journey, entering the world of the reclusive Taromenane and witnessing one of the largest oil spills to ever occur in the region.

“Telmo’s journey has two layers,” says executive producer Pablo Iraburu. “On the one hand, he travels to the edge of his world, to the invisible frontier that, deep in the Amazon jungle, separates us from the uncontacted. Parallel to that journey is an inner journey, a journey of discovery of who he is. Telmo is a filmmaker who doesn’t know he is a filmmaker.”

The pandemic completely changes Telmo’s plans. It forces him to isolate himself in the middle of the jungle, on an island. It is there that the indigenous Waorani come looking for him to ask him to make videos for them.

“The pandemic makes Telmo evolve from a disoriented reporter to a filmmaker at the service of a native community,” says Iraburu.

Meanwhile, his travels over the course of a year brings Telmo into the territory of another indigenous people – the Taromenane.

As Iraburu explains: “Every year there are documentary filmmakers from all over the world who try to go deep into the jungle to make contact with them (although this contact is illegal and dangerous) – Telmo has unwittingly gone much further than anyone else, and turned back as soon as he knew where he was. Telmo has not seen the Taromenane, but it is very likely that they saw him.”

Yeniffer Fasciani, sales, at Feelsales, says that audiences will have a “transformative journey, along with the author, from an innocent perspective to realizing the depth of another culture” over the course of the film, which is available in both 72- and 52-minute versions.

“The audience will empathize with Telmo, marveled like a child with the jungle and its inhabitants”.

La Mesias (Source: Movistar Plus+ International)

LA MESIAS

Producers: Suma Content & Movistar Plus+
Distributor: Movistar Plus+ International
Broadcaster: Movistar Plus+
Logline: A man must face the trauma of his past following a childhood upbringing with a fanatically religious mother.

This 7 x 50-minute thriller explores themes such as “overcoming trauma, faith as a tool to fill the void, and art as the only refuge from terror,” says María Valenzuela, GM at Movistar Plus+ International.

Written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, the series follows Enric, a man tormented by a childhood marked by religious fanaticism whose traumatic past is brought back to him when he sees a viral music video of a Christian pop band led by his sisters.

La Mesias is inspired by “different cases of family sects and children living confined lives within their homes to show that everything that happens to us as kids, will define our adulthood,” reveals Valenzuela.

The story jumps from 2013 back to the 1980s when Enric and his sister Irene are children and then also follows them in 1997 when they are teenagers.

“Enric experiences everything through self-destruction. All his past and his life experiences lead him to a process of inward regression and violence. However, when he sees his sisters, he feels the need to look for all of them and try to save them,” shares Valenzuela.

In Irene’s case, her survival mechanism has been to cover up and ignore her pain, almost as if it doesn’t exist, creating a life that provides her with security and expecting nothing more than stability to avoid confronting any of her ghosts.”

Valenzuela says that La Mesías is a “high concept series, absolutely different from anything we’ve seen before” and believes that the “risky but captivating story” will appeal to the global market.

Superthings: Rivals Of Kaboom – Kazoom Power (Source: Filmax)

SUPERTHINGS: RIVALS OF KABOOM – KAZOOM POWER

Producers: Filmax, Tandem Films & Turanga Films
Distributor: Filmax
Broadcasters: RTVE & À Punt
Logline: Three young superheroes learn about the power of imagination and teamwork while doing battle with nefarious villains.

Created alongside the SuperThings toy line, this 3D animated series has already been commissioned for two seasons, with 52 episodes releasing over the next two years, and a feature film due in 2026.

Aimed at 6-10-year-olds, the series follows Kai, Finn and Mia, three youngsters who are transformed into Kid Kazoom, Kid Fury and Multy – aka the Kazoom Kids – after being exposed to kazoom energy.

Each of the kids develops superpowers which are directly related to their individual personalities and tastes. Once they get to Kaboom City, they set out to stop the evil plan of the powerful villains Mr King and Professor K, who are trying to take over the city.

However, their friendship will soon be called into question when they find themselves on opposing sides.

“The series revolves around three main themes: the power of imagination, the importance of teamwork in the success of every hero and healthy rivalry, says Claudia Nario Bagó, international sales executive at Filmax.

“SuperThings offers a fun and different way to understand and explore the world. With imagination, any object can become something different, something wonderful and something fantastic. SuperThings also offers a different vision of what a hero is, representing the idea of a hero not working alone as an individual, but rather in a group of friends who work as a team.

“Finally, the series explores healthy rivalry as a way to get the best out of yourself. Throughout the series we will also explore themes such as self-control, the importance of thinking before we act, the strength of teamwork, effort and reward, reconciliation and success and failure. We believe the exploration of these topics will help towards the growth and development of the youngest viewers.”

Bagó adds that kids will love the ”action, excitement, pace, tension, humor, and above all, wacky missions” featured in the show, as well as the “striking visuals as well as the series’ fantasy and humor.”

El Conquistador (Source: The Mediapro Studio)

EL CONQUISTADOR

Producer: Hostoil
Distributor: The Mediapro Studio
Broadcaster: RTVE
Logline: “The most extreme survival reality competition in the world” in which three teams compete in extreme challenges for the privilege of food and good night’s sleep

Extreme survival format in which three teams face a series of extreme capture-the-flag challenges that put to the test not only their physical prowess, but also their mental strength, ability to work in teams and stamina.

“The living conditions in the camps are barely human, and the resilience and willpower of the contestants are pushed to the limit – sleeping in mud, in bad weather conditions, surrounded by mosquitoes,” says Amparo Castellano, head of non-scripted at The Mediapro Studio.

“In addition, they face the scarcity of food – contestants only get to eat if they win the immunity challenges, otherwise they’ll have to subsist with canned food from the small rucksack they’re given at the beginning of the adventure.”

If that wasn’t enough, the challenges range from jumping into the void from a height of 20m to walking through fire with their hands and feet tied up.

“When we say it’s the most extreme survival reality competition in the world, we’re not joking,” adds Castellano.

“The team that captures the flag is the winner and gets the ‘rich’ camp, where they will have the best commodities – a great one-off meal, beds with mosquito nets. They also get immunity and the right to nominate a contestant of the losing team.

“The second team gets the ‘poor’ camp – they sleep in even ground and have some tools like a machete. The last team goes to the ‘hell’ camp, located on crooked muddy ground, with no tools and bugs everywhere.”

Castellano says that the format is highly scalable, having already proven its popularity on Basque regional television ETB, where it has run for 19 seasons. The format has now reached a national audience on RTVE and Castellano sees strong potential, particularly among younger and Gen-Z audiences internationally.

Dejate Ver (Source: Atresmedia)

DÉJATE VER

Producers: Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Buendía Estudios
Distributor: Atresmedia TV International Sales
Broadcaster: Atresplayer
Logline: Ana, the assistant of a famous artist, begins to disappear – if she does not want to become invisible, she will have to change her life.

This quirky 8 x 30-minute comedy-drama follows Ana Callet, the right-hand woman to one of the most famous contemporary artists on the planet, until she begins to disappear – quite literally.

Ana realises that she has become so absorbed in her own bubble that she barely has any real connections with the people and the world around her and that if she does not want to completely vanish then she needs to make big changes in her life.

“Even though it might seem abstract, the main idea I wanted the series to convey was how strange life is these days,” reveals show creator and director Álvaro Carmona.

“I felt that due to new technologies, we’ve gradually accepted very odd behaviors as normal in our daily lives. This notion, coupled with the fact that nowadays everyone is an artist (or at least a content creator) thanks to our phones, led me to frame the series within the context of the art world.”

The show is set entirely from Ana’s perspective, a decision that Carmona explains helps to convey “how detached she is as an observer of the surrounding reality” and to showcase “the depersonalization of modern life,” while at the same time exploring “how close she experiences the consequences of that same reality in her quest to find her place in the world.”

Carmona adds that the show’s universal themes will make it appealing to audiences around the world: “I intentionally aimed for Ana’s existential angst and search not to feel tied to a specific location or type of character. Feeling understood, connecting with your family, striving to be authentic in a world designed to be superficial—these are things that resonate with everyone, whether you were born in Spain, Australia, or China.”