Max Developing 12 Projects In Spain & Plans To “Give Value” To The Territory By Focusing On Local Content, Exec Says — Iberseries & Platino Industria
Warner Bros Discovery’s streamer Max launched in Spain and Portugal in May, and the platform already has solid plans to invest in local productions, according to Alberto Carullo, Max VP of Local Original Production Iberia and Italy.
Carullo was featured as part of a keynote focused on Max’s plans in Spain this afternoon at Iberseries and Platino Industria in Madrid.
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“We are developing some 12 projects and they’re all going through various phases and levels of maturity,” Carullo told the crowd in Madrid.
“From our viewpoint, we’re talking about a unique mixture of travel, reality, drama, and adventure projects. And we have been adding elements. What we do is unique, it is varied content like original series from the U.S., reality, and documentaries. And even in the summer with the Olympics. We want to give value to the territory, and in Spain specifically, there is lots of local content so the company is betting on local content.”
One of the shows Carullo discussed during the session was When Nobody Sees Us, an eight-part thriller from Zeta Studios and based on the Sergio Sarria novel of the same name. Max debuted footage of the series behind closed doors at the San Sebastian Film Festival last week.
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Spanish Holy Week celebrations, the series is a thriller led by two policewomen trying to solve a series of crimes in the Andalusian town of Morón de la Frontera, in the political and cultural region of Seville’s so-called ‘deep Spain,’ which is home to one of the biggest international U.S. military bases.
Lucía Gutiérrez is a sergeant of the Spanish Civil Guard investigating the bizarre suicide of a neighbor and strange events that have taken place during the first Holy Week float processions. Magaly Castillo is a Special Agent of the Military Police of the United States Army sent to find out the whereabouts of a missing American soldier who seems to be linked to the shady business of Colonel Douglas Hoopen, head of the Air Force Base, and an underhanded marine, Lieutenant Andrew Taylor. They soon discover that the two investigations are connected.
When Nobody Sees Us is the first Spanish production greenlit since HBO Max was combined with Discovery+ to create Max. The series is also one of the first European projects off the ground after Max owner Warner Bros Discovery decided to pull out of production for Max predecessor HBO Max in much of Europe and underwent a period of painful cuts. Spain was one of the few countries in Europe to avoid the cull.
“Spain values local content,” Carullo said of the region. “Content is the core of what we do and subscribers are the center of our goals. We want happy subscribers. That is our objective and is why we are focused on local content.”
Iberseries & Platino Industria runs until October 4.
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