Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo’s Series “La mesías” Among Winners at Banff World Media Festival

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo are celebrating rockie victory…

The Banff World Media Festival has revealed the winners of its 2024 Rockie Awards International Program Competition, with the 39-year-old Spanish actor, director and writer and the 33-year-old Spanish actor, director and writer among the honorees.

Javier Calvo & Javier AmbrossiAmbrossi and Calvo’s Spanish family thriller series La mesías has won the Drama Series: Non-English Language.

Created, written and directed by Ambrossi and  Calvo (‘Los Javis’) that was originally released on Movistar Plus+, the series stars Macarena GarcíaRoger Casamajor, Lola DueñasAna RujasCarmen Machi and Albert Pla, among others.

Featuring musical, religious, psychological drama and science fiction elements, the series follows a family torn apart by the matriarch’s religious fanaticism.

The competition saw participation from 30 countries and featured 155 nominees representing 19 countries including USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany and Taiwan.

HBO’s The Last of Us won the Grand Jury Prize and Best English-language Drama SeriesPoker Face won Best English-language Comedy SeriesFamily Guy won Best Animated Series and The Masked Singer won Best Competition Series & Game Show.

The International Program Competition winners include:

Comedy & Variety
The Graham Norton Show
So Television
UK

Competition Series & Game Shows
The Masked Singer
FOX Alternative Entertainment
USA

Docuseries
Boris
Woestijnvis NV
BELGIUM

Lifestyle
Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi
Part2 Pictures
USA

Reality Series
Wild Cooks
Avanti-Toast, Vrai, TVA, Zeste
CANADA

Podcast: Fiction
The Sesame Street Podcast with Foley and Friends
Sesame Workshop, Audible
USA

Podcast: Non-Fiction
The Other Side of the Story (L’autre moitié de l’histoire)
Radio-Canada OHdio
CANADA

Animation: Children
The Sound Collector
Eagle Vs Bat, Enanimation, Mackinnon & Saunders, ITV, RAI, Serious Kids
ITALY, UK

Animation: Preschool
Tabby McTat
Magic Light Pictures
UK

Interactive Children and Youth Content
Weirdwood Manor Vol. 2 – Rise of the Therimancer
Relish Studios, Wasabi Entertainment
CANADA

Live Action: Children
Horrible Histories
Lion Television, BBC, BBC Studios
UK

Live Action: Youth
Sofiy and Her War
Hakka TV
TAIWAN

Arts & Culture
Otto Baxter: Not A F**ing Horror Story
Story Films, Archface Films
UK

Crime & Investigative
Scandalous: Phone Hacking on Trial
Hardcash Production, BBC Panorama
UK

Environmental & Wildlife
Planet Earth III
BBC Studios, BBC America, France Televisions, ZDF, The Open
FRANCE, GERMANY, UK, USA

History & Biography
Lockerbie
Mindhouse Productions, Sky Documentaries
UK

Science & Technology
Deep Sky
Crazy Boat Pictures
USA

Short Form Non-Fiction Series
Out of the Shadows: Born from Rape
BBC News, BBC World Service 100 Women
UK

Social Issues & Current Affairs
The Shamima Begum Story
BBC Current Affairs
UK

Sports Documentary
Gods of Tennis
Mindhouse Productions, BBC Studios
UK

Animated Series
Family Guy
20th Television Animation, Fuzzy Door Productions
USA

Comedy Series: English Language
Poker Face
T-Street, MRC, Animal Pictures, Paramount Global Content Distribution
USA

Comedy Series: Non-English Language
Gorgeous (Les Bombes)
Les Productions Sovimage
CANADA

Drama Series: English Language
The Last of Us
HBO, Sony Pictures Television Studios, Playstation, Naughty Dog, Word Games, The Mighty Mint
USA

Drama Series: Non-English Language
La Mesías
Movistar Plus+, Suma Content
SPAIN

Feature Length Film
Men Up
Quay Street Productions, Boom, BBC1, Cineflix Rights
UK

Limited Series
Best Interests
AC Chapter One, BBC One, Fifth Season
UK

Short Film
The Flying Sailor
National Film Board of Canada
CANADA

Short Form Fiction Series
The Fades of Papineau (Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau)
Trio Orange
CANADA

Best Use of Music in a Series
Yellowjackets
eOne, Showtime
USA

Emerging Talent Prize
Emilie Mannering
The Fades of Papineau (Ça prend pas la tchas à Papineau)
Trio Orange
CANADA

Prix Francophone
Les Bombes (Gorgeous)
Les Productions Sovimage
CANADA

Roger s Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content
Satan Wants You
Nootka Street Film Company, Grand Scheme Productions, 666 Films
CANADA

Grand Jury Prize

The Last of Us
HBO, Sony Pictures Television Studios, Playstation, Naughty Dog, Word Games, The Mighty Mint
USA

Netflix Boards Film Adaptation of Cesc Gay’s Award-Winning Theatre Play “53 Domingos”

It’s Sundays fun days for Cesc Gay.

Netflix has boarded a big screen adaptation of the 57-year-old Spanish film screenwriter and film director’s award-winning theatre play 53 Domingos, which he’ll direct.

Cesc Gay, The drama, exploring family relationships, follows three brothers who meet to discuss what to do with their octogenarian father, who has started showing strange behavior.

As they discuss whether to move him to a nursing home, or into one of their homes, the initially civilized family discussion degenerates into an unexpected and hilarious fight.

The cast includes Carmen Machi, Javier Cámara and Javier Gutierrez.

Gay’s previous credits include international breakout Truman, the choral film Stories Not To Be Told and the television drama Félix.

The Netflix announcement rounds out a trio of Spanish feature productions unveiled by the streamer this week.

The previously announced titles span alongside political thriller Un Fantasma en la Batalla, produced by Society of Snow filmmaker J.A. Bayona, and investigative drama La Desconocida, written by journalist and author Rosa Montero.

The latter revolves around an investigation into the identity of woman found in a container located in the Barcelona docks, with no memory of who she is or how she got there.

Roger Casamajor to Star in Movistar+’s Family Trauma Drama Series “La Mesías”

Roger Casamajor has landed his next starring role…

The 45-year-old Spanish television, theater and film actor will star in Movistar+’s upcoming family trauma drama series La Mesías.

Roger CasamajorCasamajor joins a roster of cast newcomers that includes Macarena García and Lola Dueñas.

Other cast members include Carmen Machi, Ana Rujas, Albert Pla, Amaia, Biel Rossell and Cecilia Roth.

Debutantes are Irene Balmes, Bruno Núñez, Carla Moral, Iona Roig, Lluc Jornet, Sara Martínez, Arlet Zafra, Joana Buch and Ninoska Linares, who will play the teenage cast in the show, which is a Movistar+ production from creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo in collaboration with Suma Content.

“The casting process was spectacular,” said Ambrossi, who along with Calvo is behind shows such as La Llamada and Paquita Salas. “

We have always mixed big names with new talent and in La Mesías we are taking this to the max.”

The series, which follows Enric, a man tormented by a childhood shaped by religious fanaticism and the yoke of a mother with messianic delusions, began shooting on August 16 and will run for 22 weeks in different locations across Catalonia, Spain.

Pedro Almodovar’s Production Company Developing TV Series “Mentiras Pasajeras” with Viacom International Studios

Pedro Almodovarwill be spreadinglies

Viacom International Studios has set a co-development deal with El Deseo, the Spanish production company owned by the 70-year-old legendary Spanish filmmaker and his brother Agustín Almodóvar, for an eight-episode series, Mentiras Pasajeras.

Pedro Almodovar honored at MoMa Film Benefit

The companies will co-develop the series under the direction of Spanish screenwriters Nerea Castroand Blanca Andres

El Deseo, which produces both film and television projects, was formed in 1985 by Pedro Almodovar. His  latest release, Pain and Glory, earned a Best International Filmnomination and also a Best Actornod for Antonio Banderas.

“We are honored to have entered into this agreement with internationally distinguished production company, El Deseo, which will further expand our portfolio with more world-class productions and properties,” said Federico Cuervo, SVP and Head of Viacom International Studios. ”We look forward to working with Almodovar and his team, and we are certain that this co-development deal will result in even more captivating content for VIS and its partners.”

“We very much appreciate the trust VIS has placed in us, El Deseo, as producers and are convinced the joining of forces of two companies with such high standards in this industry will yield very exciting projects in this era of high demand for quality cinematic content. We hope this first venture is the first of many more to come. We are very excited! ”said Agustin Almodovar, producer of El Deseo.

The series follows a collaboration involving VIS, El Deseo, RTVE and Movistarfor the upcoming Isabel Coixet film, Snow in Benidorm. With a cast featuring Timothy SpallSarita ChoudhuryCarmen MachiAna Torrentand Pedro Casablanc, the project started filming on January 20 in Benidorm, Spain.