MADRID — Nicolás Britos’ “Nada,” Jorge Hernández and Ainara Mentxaka’s “Los años de plomo” and Pablo Díaz and Alberto Heredia’s “La novena provincia” figure among the seven TV drama projects in development set to be presented at the 2nd Madrid TV Pitchbox.
An event focused on Spanish TV drama, organized by online platform Filmarket Hub, The 2018 Madrid TV Pitchbox will take place on Dec. 18.
The seven projects will be pitched before executives from some of the most important Spain-based TV companies. Broadcasters Mediaset España, RTVE and Atresmedia Studios, and Telefónica’s leading paybox Movistar + have confirmed their presence.
For this upcoming edition, organizers are opening Madrid TV Pitchbox to key independent production houses such as Weekend Studio and Dynamo, which have good relations with global OTT operators.
After the pitching session, there will be a networking lunch, where projects representatives and companies’ executives will be able to share impressions.
The 2nd Madrid TV Pitchbox is tackling two projects profiles: On one hand, titles already supported by well-known production houses; on the other, projects that don’t have producers on board but bet on script quality.
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“Nada” is produced by Pedro Hernández at Aquí y Allí Films, the company behind standout auteur movies such as Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Aquí y Allá,” winner of 2012 Cannes Critics Week, Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” winner of San Sebastián’s top Golden Shell Award in 2014, and Méndez Esparza’s “Life & Nothing More,” who earned the John Cassavetes Prize at the Film Independent Spirit Awards 2018.
It is written by Argentine Nicolás Britos, creator of web-series “Limbo,” an Aquí y Allí production for pubcaster RTVE’s online platform Playz, which opened Santiago de Compostela’s 2nd Conecta Fiction international co-production and networking meeting in June.
“Nada” tells the story of a girl who must return to her hometown at the end of the world to investigate the disappearance of her father. At the age of eight, she fell under the water of a frozen lake in Tolhuin, Tierra del Fuego, and was dead for 12 minutes, enough to cause brain damage that forces her to use her mobile phone as a second memory.
Jorge Dorado, whose 2013 feature debut, “Mindscape,” was produced by Ombra Films and handled by Studiocanal, is attached to direct “Nada.” Dorado, has more recently helmed episodes of two big Movistar + original series, “Gigantes” and “El embarcadero.”
“Homeland” meets “Bodyguard,” its makers say, in the eight-episode thriller “Los años de plomo,” a take on the Basque Country conflict that brings to the table a strong female character.
Set in the bloody streets of Bilbao and its surroundings during the ’80s, it revolves around a female bodyguard whose mission it is to protect a mysterious businessman threatened by the ETA terrorist organization. She’s confronted by a sexist environment in which she’s not respected.
With echoes of “Fargo” and Spanish movie “El niño,” “La novena provincia” is a 10-episode series that combines black comedy, thriller, crime and action. Set in the underworld of drug trafficking in Algeciras, Cádiz, it follows a former soccer player who makes a living dealing in hashish while working in the Algeciras port.
Created and written by Pablo Díaz Torres and Alberto Heredia, “La novena provincia” is valued by Madrid TV Pitchbox projects selectors as a well-written story, with a Coen Bros. tone that shows a deep knowledge of the Algeciras area.
Further projects selected take in noir TV drama “Crónica del vacío,” produced by former Sony executive Manuel Longares at new outfit Lorolo; Gabi Ochoa and Héctor Beltrán’s domestic noir series “Sin huellas” is about two women, one an immigrant, the other of Romani, hired as cleaning women in the house of a rich family where a crime happens.
Set up at Málaga’s Pecado Films, “La asesora,” a young audience-oriented comedy series project created by Rubén Avila, David R.L. and José Alba, takes with “Mr. Robot” and “Broad City” as references.
Héctor Prieto’s thriller series “Sin escrúpulos” tells the story of a famous and controversial YouTuber who disappears the day he reach 20 million subscribers.
A pioneering online marketplace for films and TV series, with more than 15,000 users across Europe and Latin America, Filmarket Hub aims to give visibility to projects at an development stage and encourage new production deals.
Filmarket Hub also organizes Sitges Pitchbox, hosted by Catalonia’s Sitges Film Festival, whose October edition was MC-ed by Ron Perlman, succeeding Guillermo del Toro as its special guest.
The 2nd Madrid TV Pitchbox will take place in El Paracaidista, a multidisciplinary space in downtown Madrid.