News

Exclusive: Ahead of its world premiere tonight, the Zorro TV series adaptation has landed a trio of European deals, as Mediawan Rights leans further into big-ticket IP.

M6 Groupe in France, Mediaset in Italy, Dpg Media’s Tvm channels in Flemish-speaking Belgium and Rtl Klub in Hungary have acquired the series, which is a Secuoya Studios production for Amazon Prime Video in the U.S, Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Other deals are in negotiations.

The ten-part series premieres tonight at the Grand Auditorium in the Palais des Festivals, with the screening of the the iconic franchise’s reinterpretation followed by a Q&a with actors Miguel Bernardeau (Elite), Renata Notni and Dalia Xiuhcoatl and executives including Secuoya Studios’ Sergio Pizzolante.

Mediawan has been pushing into louder and more expensive scripted IP over the past few years, and has supercharged its efforts after striking a $100M+ funding deal with Entourage Ventures.

The trailer for The CW’s new procedural introduces Victoria and Darby Spencer who are, despite the show’s title, definitely not sisters. The Spencer Sisters stars Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) as Victoria, a bestselling author and mom of Darby. Both mother and daughter share an interest in solving crimes, and together they take on cases that stump the police.

Episode one, “The Scholar’s Snafu,” will air on October 4, 2023. New season one episodes arrive on Wednesdays at 9pm Et/Pt.

Joining Lea Thompson and Stacey Farber in what’s described as a “female-led, lighthearted procedural” are:

Thomas Antony Olajide (Learn To Swim) as Zane Graham, Darby’s high school best friend and local cop. Edward Ruttle (Arctic Air) as Dr. Lucas Collins, Darby’s high school flame. Husein Madhavji (Saving Hope) as Alastair Dhumal, Victoria’s It Consultant (a.k.a. hacker). Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves (Sort Of) as Sarita Stark,...

Zorro inches closer to his long-awaited live-action return as the upcoming reboot series flanked by Mediawan Rights drops its first teaser trailer.

Per Variety, the series released a teaser featuring the eponymous swordsman, played by Elite star Miguel Bernardeau, in action as he rides through Los Angeles in 1834. The Bernardeau version of Zorro is a new incarnation of Diego de la Vega, with the main character featuring alongside Lolita Marquez, played by El Dragón: Return of a Warrior actor Renata Notni.

Related: Antonio Banderas Would Do Zorro 3 to Pass the Mask to Someone New

Produced by Spanish company Secuoya Studios, Zorro is the first live-action project chronicling the character since 2005's The Mask of Zorro 2, starring Antonio Banderas. The Spanish-language series features 10 episodes and is directed, in part, by Javier Quintas, known for helming projects such as Money Heist and Sky Rojo. Founder of Zorro Productions Inc. and The Mask of Zorro...

Mediawan Rights has unveiled the first teaser of the anticipated “Zorro” series reboot which is directed by Javier Quintas and is set to premiere on opening night of Mipcom.

Produced by leading Spanish company Secuoya Studios, the show marks the IP’s big television comeback almost two decades after its last live-action adaptation. The Spanish-language series will have its premiere screening at Mipcom on Oct. 15. Prime Video has already bought “Zorro” for the U.S., Latin America, Spain, Andorra and Portugal. Mediawan Rights is repping other territories.

“Zorro” underscores Mediawan Rights’s ambition to ramp up its portfolio of prestige IP’s boasting global appeal through its partnership with Entourage Ventures which has given the distribution arm a larger investment capacity.

Set in 1834 Los Angeles, “Zorro” stars Miguel Bernardeau, (“Elite”) in the eponymous role playing a new version of Diego de la Vega. Bernardeau stars opposite Renata Notni (“El Dragón: Return of a Warrior...

In its continued bid to create more premium content for the Latin American market under its Onza Americas banner, Madrid-based Onza Entertainment – behind such hit series as “The Department of Time” and a collaborator on Dopamine’s historical drama “Hernan” – is developing political drama series “Sattva.”

Created by Spanish actor Ruben Sanz (“El Dragon”) and written by Int’l Emmy-nominated Luis Gamboa (“Promesas de Campaña”), the series is conceived as a transatlantic production between Mexico and Spain.

Onza is presenting “Saatva” at Iberseries & Platino Industria’s new Co-Production & Financing Forum on Sept. 28.

The abundance of streaming platforms – and their insatiable demand for content – that allowed shows to circulate across more territories has encouraged more content production, said Valentina Pozzoli, Onza’s director of development & international co-productions. The success of such Spanish-language series as “Money Heist,” (“Casa de Papel”) “Dark Desire” (“Oscuro Deseo”) and “Elite” has also been a motivating factor.

Miguel Bernardeau, Guzmán in Netflix smash hit “Elite,” and Mexico’s Renata Notni will head the cast of “Zorro,” a reboot series from Los Angeles-based Secuoya Studios and John Gertz that will stream in exclusivity on Amazon’s Prime Video in the U.S., Latin America and Spain.

The flagship series at Secuoya Studios, “Zorro,” a modern take on the hero, is directed by Javier Quintas, whose credits include episodes of “Money Heist” and “Sky Rojo,” and Miguel Angel Vivas, a director on “Locked Up” and “Unauthorized Living.” Written by Carlos Portela, the 10 episode series is executive produced for Secuoya Studios by David Martínez, David Cotarelo and Angela Agudo.

John Gertz, founder of Zorro Productions and a producer on “The Mask of Zorro” and “The Legend of Zorro” movies titles, also executive produces along with former Sony exec Andy Kaplan at Kc Global Media, Sergio Pizzolante for C&t Mobs, and...

Univision has added four new executives to strengthen its streaming team in preparation for the launch of its upcoming two-tiered global platform that is slated to deliver Spanish-language content to 600 million people worldwide. Roger Sole has been appointed as chief marketing officer, Vincenzo Gratteri as SVP of development, Adam Waltuch as SVP of streaming partnerships and Rita Chertorivski as SVP of business and legal affairs.

“I’m confident these new additions to the team will help strengthen our new products and services to captivate our audience,” Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and chief transformation officer, said in a statement. “These new leaders will bring fresh perspectives, expertise, talent, and skillsets to an already stellar team of streaming executives, which were recently announced at Univision. We are fostering innovation, collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability, which are all central to our transformation.”

Sole will lead the marketing team in development, growth and creative approaches for the future streamer.

Madrid-based Onza, producer of hit Spanish series “The Department of Time” and Amazon Prime Video romantic comedy “Little Coincidences,” is expanding into the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets, establishing a Miami-based subsidiary, Onza Américas.

CEO and co-founder of Onza with its executive president José María Irisarri and Nicolás Bergareche, Gonzalo Sagardia has been named Onza Américas CEO.

A reaction to “the proliferation of content platforms” avid for Spanish-language content, Onza announced Tuesday in a press statement, Onza Americas is launched in partnership with former Fox Television Studios president Emiliano Calemzuk, and Vincenzo Gratteri, ex-content director at Patricio Wills’ Miami and Mexico-based W Studios.

Calemzuk and Gratteri will both become minority partners in Onza Americas, the still-highly connected Calemzuk serving in a non-executive role as chairman of the advisory board, and Gratteri taking up the position of SVP of development and production.

Onza Américas will be introducing itself and...

Univision, which is coming off a period of reorganization and nearing a change in ownership control, released its upfront slate Tuesday with an emphasis on consistency and reach to U.S. Hispanic consumers.

Calling itself “America’s Hispanic Superbrand,” the company said its offerings across entertainment, sports, live events and news give advertisers stability and growth potential despite the uncertainty roiling the marketplace. In its upfront presentation to advertisers, delivered online, it touted 11 new scripted series, 10 trophy soccer events and a series of initiatives surrounding this fall’s election.

“With a clear mission to inform, empower and entertain the Hispanic community, we’re playing a more vital role in our audience’s lives than ever before during these unprecedented times,” CEO Vince Sadusky said. “The investments we’ve made in network, local and digital programming has resulted in Univision finishing the broadcast season as the highest-growth network at a time...

There’s never been a better time to try and catch up on all those films and TV shows that’ve been sitting on your watchlist for months now. After all, if you’re practicing social distancing and staying home as much as you can, there’s not much else to do other than to stream content from your platform of choice.

Speaking of which, the first streaming service most people log into is Netflix. And that only makes sense, as they have more content than ever and continue to deliver more and more on a near daily basis. And while they certainly aren’t the only streaming site worth subscribing to, they definitely have the most variety and the deepest library.

But with so many movies and TV shows, where does one begin? Well, how about with some of the new additions coming this week? Yes, a new week...