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Protagonizada por Ana Boga y David Menéndez. © Movistar Plus+

Arranca el rodaje en diversas localizaciones de Barcelona y Berlín (Alemania) de Yo siempre a veces, una serie original de Movistar Plus+, creada por Marta Bassols y Marta Loza y producida por Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi.

Yo siempre a veces sigue a Laura (Ana Boga), que se quedó embarazada solo dos meses después de conocer a Rubén (David Menéndez), estando muy ciega de amor y de droga. Cinco meses después del nacimiento de su hijo, Mario, ya se estaban separando y no precisamente en buenos términos. Un libro expedido en el registro civil dice que son una familia; sin embargo, Laura cuida del niño casi sola. Lo hace con inmenso amor, fe, chispa y alegría, aunque a veces no tenga más ideas ni herramientas para cuidar de sí misma.

La serie, compuesta por seis episodios de 30 minutos, está encabezada por...

Una de las grandes apuestas en ficción de la plataforma de streaming. © Atresplayer

La nueva serie original de Atresplayer, “La Sombra de la Tierra”, un drama rural ambientado en 1896, basado en la novela homónima de la actriz Elvira Mínguez, que también se pone por primera vez tras las cámaras como directora del proyecto, se proyectará en el Festival de San Sebastián en septiembre.

“La Sombra de la Tierra”, compuesta por cuatro episodios de 50 minutos, narra el enfrentamiento de dos mujeres marcadas por el odio. Garibalda (Adelfa Calvo) es una mujer enferma que gobierna a los aldeanos con puño de hierro. Desde la infancia odia a Atilana (María Morales), a quien culpa de todos sus males. La posición de poder que hereda de su marido la utiliza para abusar de todos los que la rodean. Atilana es una viuda de mediana edad que sostiene como puede una finca que en otros tiempos fue grande.

Hours after Amazon MGM Studios announced that María José Rodríguez has departed as head of Spanish Originals, The Mediapro Studio has announced that she will take up the post of managing director of Globomedia, one of the jewels in its Spanish production house crown.

Rodríguez will take up her new position on Sept. 1, with oversight of Globomedia content strategy and production operations, reporting directly to Laura Fernández Espeso, The Mediapro Studio CEO.

A historic production house founded in 1993 as independent production lifted off in Spain looking to feed the prime time ambitions of newly created commercial networks Telecinco and Antena 3.

Creating massive hits such as its first series “Médico de Familia” (1995-99), “7 Vidas” (1999-2006), “Los Serrano” (2003-08), “The Boarding School” (2007-10)” and “Paco’s Men” (2005-21) which knocked U.S. shows out of primetime, fired up front and original sales abroad, forged a Spanish TV style which remains to...

María José Rodríguez, the veteran international TV executive who just exited her role in charge of original production at Amazon’s Prime Video in Spain, has been hired as managing director of Globomedia, the Spanish-based content producer run by The Mediapro Studio.

In the new role, Rodríguez, who worked in several capacities at Globomedia from 1997-2007, will be tasked with overseeing Globomedia’s content strategy and production operations, the Madrid-based company said Monday. She will report directly to Mediapro Studio CEO Laura Fernández Espeso and starts September 1.

“Globomedia is a pivotal brand for the studio, playing a crucial role in our overall strategy,” Espeso said. “With her extensive experience and impressive track record, María José brings invaluable expertise in both fiction and non-fiction content production. She is a respected and well-regarded professional within the industry. We are delighted to welcome her to our team, where she will lead such an important brand for us.

When director Dani de la Torre read a news article detailing how the Spanish coastal town of Marbella became the playing ground for hundreds of international criminal organizations, he knew he had a new show on his hands. His “La Unidad” producing partners agreed and thus became Movistar Plus+ original series “Marbella,” premiering in Spain on May 2, to large media impact.

During a preview of the show at the Berlinale Series Market de la Torre remarked how the underbelly of Marbella was “unknown” in Spain when he first read an in-depth investigation into the criminal activities in the Málaga province. “More than 132 different gangs call Marbella their home turf and have their headquarters there. This was a novelty I was immediately attracted to.”

“Every day, news stories are coming out about the Marbella gangs, but these organizations have so much money that it makes it very difficult for the police to properly fight against them.

Descubre todos los detalles de ‘Pared con Pared’. © Netflix

Netflix ha desvelado el tráiler de “Pared con Pared”, la primera película protagonizada por Aitana. La cantante, estrella internacional de la música, se convertirá en Valentina en el remake de la comedia romántica francesa “Tras la Pared” para librar una singular guerra de ruido con su vecino David (Fernando Guallar).

Valentina es una joven pianista que se prepara para una audición. David, un inventor de juegos que solo puede concentrarse en silencio. Solo una delgada pared les separa… ¿lograrán aprender a convivir?

La película, dirigida por Patricia Font (“El Maetro que Prometió el Mar”), escrita por Marta Sánchez (“Como Dios Manda”)y producida por Tripictures, Second Gen Pictures y Blind date Productions, está protagonizada por Aitana (“La Última”) y Fernando Guallar (“Explota Explota”). Además, completan el reparto Natalia Rodríguez (“Isabel”), Adam Jezierski (“Venga Juan”), Paco Tous (“Los Hombres de Paco”) y...

Director André Øvredal brings a fresh, new take on Dracula to the big screen in "The Last Voyage of the Demeter", starring Javier Botet. Botet, known for his roles in various horror films, was initially scared to take on the role due to filming conditions, but ultimately found it perfect. The film features an impressive makeup design and multiple looks for Dracula, with Botet's imposing 6-foot-7-inch frame adding to his portrayal of the iconic character.

The dawn of a new Dracula is imminent. Director André Øvredal has been tasked with bringing one of the horror genres most recognizable characters to life on the big screen in a fresh, new way, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter sets sail in cinemas this Friday. Portraying the Transylvanian Count this time for Universal Pictures is the Spanish-born Javier Botet. And Botet is no stranger to starring in scary movies.

Most notably,...

Bird Box is finally getting a sequel, and while there's no A-list actor like Sandra Bullock leading the movie, the Bird Box Barcelona cast is full of great performers. The original Bird Box follows a mother (Bullock) attempting to protect her two children from supernatural entities that make people take their own lives when they're looked at, which leads to everyone blindfolding themselves. However, Bird Box 2 isn't a direct sequel to the original 2018 movie. Bird Box Barcelona takes place in the titular Spanish city, and follows a new group of characters, as the entities terrorize not only a small town but the whole world.

Given that Bird Box Barcelona is much bigger in scope compared to its predecessor, it has a bigger cast. While most of the actors in the movie are extras who take their own lives based on the Bird Box 2 trailer, there's a tight-knit group of survivors...

New Spanish outfit has also acquired four high profile titles for distribution.

Beta Fiction Spain (Bfs) is to remake hit French comedy Alibi.com in Spanish, and has also acquired four high profile titles for distribution in Spain.

Coartadas S.L. (which translates as Alibis S.L.) is being written by Curro Velázquez, scriptwriter of Spanish hit Brain Drain and cop comedy series Paco’s Men. The director is still to be determined.

The second instalment of Philippe Lacheau’s film series, Alibi.com 2, was released through Studiocanal on February 8 in France and currently ranks second in the overall 2023 French box office...

The world’s TV scene faces challenges. But it still has opportunities. Marc Cistaré, a writer on “Locked Up,” has seized one, the strategic co-production alliance between TelevisaUnivision’s ViX streaming service and The Mediapro Studio.

Rolling off the hiked ambitions of Spain’s TV scene after streamer success, he has created“Las Pelotaris, 1926,” which The Mediapro Studio Distribution is bringing onto the market at this week’s MipTV.

A ViX Original, airing from March 10 on its platform as part of its premium offer, the show combines the craft learnt from two decades of writing Spanish prime-time series and the larger canvas, gender focus and artistic boldness of contemporary scripted.

Sold outside Latin America and the U.S. by The Mediapro Studio Distribution, which these days means a lot in terms of profile at Cannes TV markets, the series weighs in as one of the market’s big Spanish-language bets...

Berlín will introduce several new characters to the Money Heist franchise as the spinoff has added a number of talented stars to the cast list. A prequel to the hit Antena 3 and Netflix series, Money Heist, the Berlín spinoff sees Pedro Alonso reprise his role as the eponymous jewel thief as he plans another grand heist in Paris, France. While the world knows him as the bank robber Berlín, the spinoff makes him a bit more complex by exploring his backstory and allowing viewers to see what an ingenious criminal he is.

However, while Berlín is known for having successfully pulled off twenty-seven robberies, that doesn't mean he hasn't had any help along the way. With several new and talented actors joining the Money Heist franchise after being cast in Berlín, the spinoff will introduce a brand new crew who will prove themselves to be just as iconic as the original.

Warner Bros Discovery left Spain out of its clampdown on European original programs for HBO Max, and has now doubled down on the country by ordering a soccer comedy there.

Production is underway in Madrid on Playing Dirty (Monos con Pistola) The seven-part series comes from Jorge Valdano Sáenz and Pablo Tébar and is based on an idea from Carolina Bang and Álex de la Iglesia, whose drama 30 Coins is one HBO Max Europe’s most high-profile originals. The series is produced by Bang and de la Iglesia’s Pokeepsie Films, which is part of Banijay Iberia.

Playing Dirty follows the life of soccer agent Alberto Martín Ruiz, otherwise known as ‘Beto,’ as he leaves the comfortable life of working at a large soccer agency to go it alone and start his own venture. Navigating between his daily delirious struggle with soccer players and his stressful family life, his only solace is his girlfriend,...

After more than a two decades relationship, media conglom Atresmedia Group and the Málaga Film Festival have grown what looks like a unique case of symbiosis in the Spanish film-tv industry.

Atresmedia, a driving force in Spain’s film and TV sectors, joined the Málaga Festival as an official sponsor in 2000.

The DeAPlaneta-controlled broadcaster and Málaga, today Spain’s biggest festival dedicated to local and Latin American film and TV, have been faithful witnesses of the evolution of the Spanish film and TV industry.

The relationship has benefited both partners.

The Málaga Festival launched in 1998; one year later, a law began to oblige Spanish broadcasters to invest 5% of their annual revenues in local and European films. Broadcasters’ relevance in Spanish film financing rapidly multiplied.

Atresmedia -until 10 years ago Antena 3- started by tabling an economic contribution to the festival budget. At the same time, part of its annual...

Paris-based Charades Films has boarded Carlota Pereda’s rural thriller “Piggy” (“Cerdita”), one of the most awaited feature debuts of the year from Spain.

Written and directed by Pereda, “Piggy” is produced by Morena Films and France’s Backup Media, the outfit behind “Still Alice,” “Submergence” and Ari Folman’s Cannes entry “Where Is Anne Frank.” Charades will handle world sales rights on “Piggy,” while Filmax, a frequent backer of first time directors, will distribute the film in Spain.

Starring Laura Galán, Richard Holmes and Carmen Machi, “Piggy” expands on Pereda’s short of the same title which marked her breakthrough as a film director and won 90 awards, including the Spanish Academy Goya Award for best short film in 2019, the José María Forqué Award for best fiction short and a Slamdance Russo Brothers Fellowship.

Though “Piggy” represents her feature debut, Pereda has an extensive C.V. as a director and writer.

Adriana Ugarte, star of hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” will play the lead role in Atresmedia original series “Madre.”

A remake of successful Turkish TV drama “Anne,” in turn an adaptation of Japanese series “Mother,” “Madre” continues Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia’s bet on re-versioning recent standout Turkish scripted series. This strategy kicked-off with “Alba,” the Elena Rivera-starring redo of female empowerment skein “Fatmagul,” a modern Turkish classic.

A 13-hour series, “Madre” is produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Buendía Estudios, the joint-venture launched last year by Atresmedia and Telefonica-owned pay TV operator Movistar Plus.

Scheduled to premiere this year on Atresmedia’s SVOD service Atresplayer Premium and then launch on the group’s core channel Antena 3 in Spanish TV primetime, “Madre” will follow the same release windowing as “Alba,” which bowed in March on Atresplayer and now awaits a free-to-air TV debut.

Best known is its early decades as a sports broker, services provider and producer of auteur films, from Woody Allen and Roman Polanski to Spain’s Isabel Coixet and Fernando Aranoa, few companies have powered so fast and bullishly into high-end drama series production than Spain’s Mediapro.

That drive has seen The Mediapro Studio launch in 2919 as one of Spain’s preeminent production forces, and then build even more with new titles set up with Paramount Plus, Disney Plus (“Siempre Fui Yo”), Amazon, Warner Media (“Las Bravas”) and Netflix (“Magic For Humans Spain”).

Yet Tms is eager to own IP, still with relations with lineal players and completed 52 productions between March 2020 and January 2021, despite pandemic. So it runs a powerful and ever-growing sales operation, The Mediapro Studio Distribution. Variety chatted to Marta Ezpeleta, its first director appointed in 2019:

1.Selling a Gamut of Shows from A-z

Tmsd’s top...

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To prepare for Thanksgiving, most of our friends have been posting something they're thankful for every day on Facebook and Twitter. We have not participated in the festivities, but only because we've been saving up our thankful list so we can unleash it all at once. And now we're ready. This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for lesbian characters having lesbian sex on lesbian television. Specifically, we are thankful for these 20 lesbian sex scenes, all of which very nearly caused our TVs to burst into flames. In a good way.

Bo and Lauren's "Fa(t)e" Sex, Lost Girl

After dancing around their attraction for far too long, Bo and Lauren's first time was full of all the pushing/pulling/lip-biting/pants-ripping you would expect from a hyper-sexual fae and her human doctor. And...

In our first annual Top 50 Lesbian and Bi Characters poll, we asked you to vote for your favorite characters from film, television, and internet shows.

You cast your votes, and now we have the results. Before we reveal the winners, let's take a look at some of the trends that emerged.

Almost all of the characters were from films and television shows that made their debut after the year 2000. A few of the exceptions include Kerry Weaver from ER, and the ass-kicking ladies from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

While most of the characters were from Us productions, a fair amount came from international shows, including our top two characters (from the UK show Skins).

Also notable was the fact that some of your favorite characters, the leads from Xena: Warrior Princess (which ran from 1995-2001) and Idgie Threadgood from the film Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), were never officially presented as lesbian or bisexual.

As 2009 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the people and events that made this the Best. Lesbian. Decade. Ever. in pop culture.

Luckily for all of us, there was far more information to have mentioned from the last ten years than we could have included in this brief survey. That's why our lists for each year are not intended to be exhaustive, but are instead snapshots of different memorable moments that included the representation of lesbians and bisexual women in film, television, music, literature, comics, sports and the Internet since the year 2000.

2000

Chavela Vargas[/link] comes out

Mexican ranchera music legend Chavela Vargas publicly came out as a lesbian at the tender age of 81.

Angelina Jolie wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar

Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted and told Talk Magazine, "I only play women I would date.

In our annual Visibility Awards, we formally recognize the people who have positively or negatively impacted lesbian and bi visibility in American entertainment during the year. (See previous years here: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004.)

From Best Movie to Worst Song to Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year, these awards recognize the television shows, movies, music, books and people who entertained, inspired, or disappointed us in 2009.

Last year, some of the category winners were chosen by both the AfterEllen.com staff and AfterEllen.com readers. This year, AfterEllen.com staff and contributing writers chose the winners for each category, as readers will be given the opportunity to vote on a wider range of topics and categories in our first annual Lesbian/Bi Women's Choice Awards in January.

Once again this year, we've included international people, shows and movies as a reflection of the increasing awareness of lesbian and bisexual visibility around the world made possible by the Internet.

In 2009, the number of leading lesbian characters on primetime broadcast TV doubled — from one to two.

Out of the estimated 600 lead and supporting characters on network TV, seven of them of are lesbian or bisexual. And of those seven, five of them kissed women last year. And of those five, three of them made out during Sweeps.

Things looked bleak at the beginning of the year, but with the growing trend of lesbian brides getting gunned down or cheating on their wedding days, and the continued trend of bisexual characters only expressing their same-sex attraction during Sweeps, and the loss of Showtime's lesbian drama The L Word, we're ending the year on a downward spiral in terms of lesbian visibility.

Scripted Television: Broadcast

Primetime

The most surprising story in 2009 was the relationship between Callie Torres (played by Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (played by Jessica Capshaw) on Grey's Anatomy.

When...

Visibility Matters is a monthly-ish column by AfterEllen.com Founder Sarah Warn about larger trends affecting lesbian/bi women in entertainment and the media.

Visibility Matters: Entertaining the Future

Lesbian/bi visibility in entertainment today is a mass of contradictions. It's both better and worse than it was when I started writing about it more than seven years ago.

There are more lesbian talk show hosts than ever before on network TV, but still very few fictional lesbian characters on broadcast or cable TV.

We now have well-developed, prominent lesbian characters and superheroes in comics — from Willow to Batwoman — but even the most minor lesbian characters are missing from, or "straightened out" in, most studio theatrical releases. Sometimes an entire lesbian subculture is de-gayed, as demonstrated in Whip It.

Female musicians are coming out left and right as gay or bisexual, as we saw when Brandi Carlile finally confirmed last week that she's a lesbian,...