6:50 AM PDT 8/3/2020
by
Georg Szalai
The international streaming service of Lionsgate’s Starz unveils local-language productions from Spain and Mexico, including one about a porn star and one about the Miss Mexico pageant.
Starzplay, the international streaming service of Lionsgate’s Starz, on Monday unveiled its first slate of original series. The four local-language productions come from Spain and Mexico.
They range from thriller crime dramas to period pieces that will become available across the streamer’s footprint in Latin America. The company also plans to debut select titles in Spain and in the U.S. on Starz and Latinx streaming service Pantaya, a joint venture of Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media.
“As Starz continues to expand its global presence through the Starzplay platform and international direct-to-consumer app, creating international originals through co-production opportunities is the next step in curating our offering for our subscriber base,” said Superna Kalle, Starz executive vp, international digital networks. “Through our innovative producing partnerships and cooperation with our sister company Pantaya, we have the opportunity to create unique and defining series that will resonate with Spanish-language audiences worldwide.”
Here are details on the four international original series:
Nacho Vidal, an Industry XXXL
An “exploration inside ‘the other film industry’ that moves more than 500 million euros ($585 million) per year in Spain” focuses on “the extraordinary life of legendary Spanish porn star Nacho Vidal.” The Spanish show is produced in collaboration with Bambu Producciones and La Claqueta PC.
Express
A crime thriller produced by The Mediapro Studio comes from writer Ivan Escobar (Locked Up) who will serve as showrunner. It tells the story of the “one type of crime that has increased 100 percent in the last year: Express Kidnapping,” according to a plot description. “Everything is a countdown from the moment when you pick up the phone.”
Señorita Mexico
The Mexican period drama is “set in the dark glamor of 1980s Mexico following the contestants training for the country’s Miss Mexico pageant as they vie not only to win, but to make it out of the final contest alive.” The showrunner will be Lucia Puenzo, with the series being co-produced by Fremantle and Chilean production firm Fábula.
Toda La Sangre
The Mexican crime thriller based on a popular series of novels written by bestselling author Bernardo Esquinca tells the story of a crime journalist, Casasola, who is determined to solve every crime that haunts Mexico City but runs into a series of murders that resemble Aztec sacrifices and defy the laws of nature. The executive producer will be Zasha Robles from Spiral International, a unit of Etcetera Group.
RSS