PAMPLONA, Spain — Nacho Viale and Diego Palacio’s StoryLab – producers of the Netflix-acquired TV series “Estocolmo” and co-producers of Intl. Emmy nominated “La Casa del Mar” -have pitched their eight-part crime and historical thriller, “Lost Toys,” at the Europe-Latin America co-production forum, Conecta Fiction.
Since its foundation by Viale in 2014, Storylab has become one of Argentina’s strongest TV producers in terms of TV series with international potential.
“Lost Toys” jumps between two time-frames – 1936 Madrid and present-day Spain and Argentina – and is set against the backdrop of the rise of extreme right and left-wing movements in both these two historic periods.
The story begins with the investigations of a genius mathematician, Dante Cabo, who discovers that the secret behind a synchronized robot protecting four safe deposit boxes in Buenos Aires, is linked to four tiny wooden horses hand-carved by Adolf Hitler in 1936. Lost in the meantime, they hide the coordinates to Nazi gold hidden in Argentina. He discovers that the horses are described in a recent novel, “Lost Toys,” by best-selling Spanish author, Jaime Capri, and travels to Madrid to resolve the mystery.
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Capri initially refuses to cooperate, but then travels to Buenos Aires and explains that the novel is based on his grandfather’s diary, written in 1936 in Madrid, as dictator Franco gained control of Spain, during the bloody civil war.
StoryLab’s Palacio says that they aim to address the links between these two politically-charged historical moments, in a crime drama that they believe can build on the success achieved with “Estocolmo,” which was nominated for Mexico’s 2017 Fenix Ibero-American TV series Award and acquired by Netflix.
“We see ‘Lost Toys’ as a natural co-production between Argentina and Spain, Germany, Italy or Portugal because of its international plot,” explains Palacio. “Two turbulent periods in the history of Spain and Latin America – 1936, engulfed in Nazism, fascism and civil war and 2019 when we’re seeing the resurgence of nationalism, supremacism, and extreme right and left-wing movements.
Palacio added: “We believe that the classic and modern appeal of our series lies in this dialogue between ‘Lost Toys’ and everyday reality, between journalistic urgency, historical reflection and high quality entertainment.”
“Toys” is written by Lucas Molteni and Diego Vago, both co-writers on “Estocolmo.” More recently Vago has also written episodes for music-themed telenovela, “Club 57,” produced by Nickelodeon and Rainbow SpA.
The producers plan to produce three seasons. The first will shoot in Madrid, Buenos Aires and Patagonia, Argentina.
“We hope to find a European broadcaster or platform as the co-producer for the series outside of Latin America,” concludes Patricio.
Conecta Fiction runs June 17 to 20in Pamplona, Navarre, Northern Spain.