Conecta Fiction Reboot Sets Movistar Plus’ ‘Riot Police,’ Sets Panels
Click here to read the full article.
Movistar Plus action thriller “Riot Police” (“Antidisturbios”), one of the most buzzed up of drama series from Spain this year, at least among the few who have caught its first episodes, will be brought onto the international market at next month’s Conecta Fiction Reboot.
The unveil comes as Movistar Plus, the pay TV/SVOD arm of Spain’s Telefonica, fires up its drive to secure overseas markets for its premium drama slate with -reportedly, one of the most propulsive and full-on action-driven of its series, at least in Ep. 1, where a riot police squad is drafted in to carry out an eviction in the heart of a Senegalese community in Madrid. Captured in Ep. 1, their operation goes drastically awry as one protestor dies.
More from Variety
“Riot Police” marks first full series from Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose kinetic, social-issue movies plumb the gut humanity of homicide police (“May God Save Us) and politicians (“The Realm”), “Riot Police” looks to do the same for six members of Furgón 93, part of Spain’s Police Intervention Unit, as a woman Internal Affairs inspector team is tasked with investigating what went wrong, which is not so simple. Behind the failed eviction is a network of real estate corruption which spills over into the highest echelons of the establishment.
Produced in collaboration with The Lab Cinema and Caballo Films. “Riot Police” is a fast-paced series from the beginning to the end. Rodrigo Sorogoyen proves again that he has a special ability to create a human portrait framed by gripping action,” said Nicolas Lecocq, Movistar Plus head of distribution of original productions.
“The narration and rhythm of ‘Riot Police’ will engage a varied international audience,” he added.
“Riot Police” presentation, its first for the international market, will be hosted by Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus director of original productions of films and series, executive producer of The Lab Cinema Sofía Fábregas, and Oscar-nominated director Sorogoyen (“Mother”), who co-created and directed the series.
“Riot Police” looks like one highlight of Conecta Fiction Reboot, the one-off online alternative to Spain’s postponed TV forum Conecta Fiction, which has offered a first look at its 2020 program of conferences and panels, running June 15-18. Following, a breakdown of major events:
The onsite edition returns to Pamplona’s Baluarte Congress Center Sept. 2-3. During Conecta Fiction Reboot’s opening ceremony, finalist projects of the event’s three calls for projects will be announced, as well as selected projects for the Pitch Fundación SGAE.
Finalists from two major international calls for projects, Pitch Copro Series and Pitch Short-Form Series, will be invited, alongside those selected by Pitch Clips, organized by the Spanish screenwriters’ guild ALMA, and those from the Pitch Fundación SGAE, to present in person at September’s on-site event. Projects in development from the Laboratory of Creation of TV Series of the Fundación SGAE will also be given the chance to present.
From the 155 projects which qualified for submission, dramatic fare trended hottest, followed by comedy. Additionally, projects leaned towards shorter run times and smaller budgets as the half-hour format comes ever more back into vogue, Conecta Fiction organizers said Thursday.
Conecta Fiction Reboot’s three days of online conferences will kick off with three “Rebooting” panels, as well as diversity and case study presentations.
Rebooting the Industry: Jump the Next Curve of Shooting will take a comparative look at the international wave of shoot restarts. The panel will analyze conditions under which shoots can be executed, types of productions best equipped to restart shooting, and potential changes to budgets and complexity of shoots. A revision of post-Covid Spanish state aid will be explained as well as possibilities for private funding in the territory examined.
Navarre Infrastructure of Culture, Sports and Leisure manager director Javier Lacunza will moderate the panel which includes tax law firm ARPA partner and managing director José Ignacio Pérez de Albéniz, Navarre Film Commission coordinator Sara Seville, Mallorca Film Commission director Pedro Barbadillo, Canary lslands Film coordinator Natacha Mora, Terrassa Film Office manager Pere Clavería, Babieka Films founder-producer Denis Pedregosa and Film France general delegate and CRO Stephan Bender.
Conecta Fiction director Géraldine Gonard will moderate a second panel, Rebooting Co-Productions: The Delicate Art of Dating. Using dating as a metaphor, the panel will examine how a pairing can add value to creative projects and how co-productions can utilize each partners’ strengths to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Gonard will be joined by French Producers’ Guild president and Storia Television producer Thomas Anargyros, CNC head of fiction Alice Delalande, France Télévisions head of international fiction and acquisitions/co-productions Nathalie Biancolli, Wild Horses producer and CEO Nicolas Deprost, Plano a Plano CEO César Benítez and Diego Ramírez Schrempp of Dynamo.
Rounding out the trio of panels is Rebooting the Talent: Racing to Discover New Voices, hosted by former Netflix content executive María Cervera who will be joined by talent incubator ESPotlight CEO Anxo Rodríguez, ALMA president Alberto Macías, and screenwriter Natxo López (“Perdida,” “Caronte”). Participants will encourage writers to challenge the status quo as a means of elevating their voice above the noise while encouraging diversity in storytelling. Topics included will be improving and developing new talent, promoting the upcoming generation and finding talents outside of traditional markets.
Additionally, in collaboration with WAWA, an organization formed by female executives in key positions from America’s television industry, Conecta Fiction will host the Tips from Top TV Executive Women panel as part of its Conecta Wo(men) brand. Moderated by senior VP of content at A+E Networks Latin America Carment Larios, the panel will feature Jaque Content partner Ana Paola Suárez and Publispei international business manager Patricia Arpea.
Pedro Barbadillo, director of the Mallorca Film Commission, will moderate a case study focused on the U.K.-Germany co-production “The Mallorca Files” with participation from Cosmopolitan Pictures founder Ben Donald and Palma Pictures CEO Mike Day. The series’ second season is currently in post-production and has already sold in more than 60 countries.
“The transformation of Conecta Fiction 4 into this new hybrid version is a creative and well-thought out solution that will benefit not only the audiovisual industry, but also all the areas it directly influences,” said Lacunza in a press release.
He added: “Conecta Fiction Reboot will be an opportunity to imitate the excellent services offered in Baluarte in a digital environment and to put Navarra again on the calendar of the main film and television events both nationally and internationally.”
John Hopewell contributed to this article.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
