‘Life and Nothing More’ Producer Aquí y Allí Backs English-Language Dramedy ‘Stay’ From Angela Paolini, Caru Basakatua (EXCLUSIVE)
Spain’s Aquí y Allí Films, behind Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Life and Nothing More,” winner of the John Cassavetes Spirit Award in 2017, is preparing a new film, “Stay,” an identity dramedy set in Madrid’s queer community.
In it, Sophie, a “normal” American girl who studies in Madrid is introduced to Spain’s queer community by her non-binary tutor, where she breaks free from the rules and expectations which have governed her life.
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Set to be presented at the Spanish Screenings on Tour Producers’ Showcase at the American Film Market, “Stay” has been penned by American writer Angela Paolini and Spain’s Caru Basakatua.
Paolini has also been a consultant and co-editor on several novels, including five No. 1 New York Times bestsellers and is the author of one of the stories in the anthology “The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm,” a No. 1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller.
Basakatua is a bilingual writer from Madrid with a PhD in clinical and health psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and experience in the fields of behaviorism, mental health and queer sexuality.
“Stay” is a story about queer people. A story that has a light touch, humor, a positive outlook, and emphasizes themes of friendship, community and hope,” Paolini and Basakatua say in a note of intent.
The first of a planned trilogy – “Stay,” “Come” and “Go” – was “born from a desire to portray queerness in all its nuances, without falling into simplistic depictions, sensationalism or the recent “normalizing” impulse,” they explain.
“The film’s choice of genre and tone are deliberate: ‘Stay’ is a dreamed that explores difficult themes – such as the imbalance of power in relationships and risky behaviors – without losing its sense of humor or its desire to transgress and transform,”they added. “Because, our lives are not a bottomless pit of misery! But they also aren’t an endless succession of parties… nor a “gay” version of “normal.” Our lives are all of that and none of that and much more. Our lives are diverse.”
“Stay” will shoot in English. In a novel business model, Aquí y Allí Films producer Pedro Hernández told Variety that he is looking to tap an international producer for the film with Aquí y Allí Films acting as its service company in Spain, allowing the production to tap into the country’s muscular tax rebates for international shoots which shoot in Spain.
He tried and tested this model on Gonzalo López-Gallego’s “American Star,” starring Ian McShane and produced by the U.K.’s Tamariska and Michael Elliott’s Emu Films. It shot in the Canary Islands, which offers tax rebates of 45%-54% on eligible spend.
“What I’m looking to do is maximize the potential that Spain has on a technical level, locations and tax breaks,” said Hernández.
He also aims to “step up to another level in terms of a film’s reach,” he said. “American Star,” for instance, was picked up for U.S. distribution by IFC Films,and sold to France, while launching an Oscar campaign. Emu has U.K. rights.
“The film has possibilities of recoupment. Suddenly, we’re making films which really have an industrial value,” Hernández said.
Aquí y Allí will not only manage tapping the tax rebate but put it up in advance, he added.
Launched in 2010, Aquí y Allí first caught attention with “Here and There,” the debut feature of Antonio Méndez Esparza, which won Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize in 2012. Further Aquí y Allí productions take in Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” which snagged San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2016.
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