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 Shares First Look at Drama Series “Superstar,” Produced by Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi are superstar producers...

Netflix has unveiled a first look at its upcoming drama series Superstar from the 33-year-old  Spanish actor, stage, film and television director and writer and his 39-year-old Spanish producing and romantic partner, who is also an actor, stage, film and television director and writer.

Javier Calvo & Javier AmbrossiCalvo and Ambrossi are producing Superstar, a drama series from Nacho Vigalondo about the artistic beginnings of singer Yurena.

Superstar stars Ingrid García-Jonsson as Tamara (now known as Yurena), Natalia de Molina as Loly Álvarez, Secun de la Rosa as Leonardo Dantés, Pepón Nieto as Tony Genil, Carlos Areces as Paco Porras, Julián Villagrán as Arlequín and Rocío Ibáñez as Margarita Seisdedos, Tamara’s mother.

Superstar, NetflixAmbrossi said the project “represents television as a double-edged sword, the triumph of anti-heroes,” while Calvo added: “We wanted to do something wild, crazy, because it was a time of change in Spain. There were no rules, you could do anything on television.”

Known as “Los Javis,” Calvi and Ambrossi launched Suma Content, an independent global production label, in October 2021.

Their projects include he musical La Llamada, the television series Paquita Salas, Veneno and La mesías.

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.

Carmen Farala Named Winner of Inaugural Season of “Drag Race España”

Carmen Farala has sashayed-away with the crown…

The 30-year-old Spanish drag performer, whose real name is Daniel Mora, has been crowned the inaugural winner of Drag Race España, the offshoot of the U.S.’ Emmy-winning reality competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Carmen Farala

A jury made up of presenter Supremme de Luxe, designer Ana Locking and filmmakers/actors Javier Ambrossi and his real-life partner Javier Calvo decided in the last episode, broadcast on Sunday night, that Farala would take home the crown and the 30,000 euro prize.

Farala, who never found herself in the bottom two during the competition, beat out Killer Queen and Sagittaria for the title.

For eight weeks, the finalists have taken part in all kinds of tests and Farala managed to win three maxi challenges during the season: the tribute to La Veneno, the night of the 1,000 Rosalías and the makeover of rugby players.

Produced by Atresmedia Televisión in collaboration with Buendía Estudios, the Drag Race format landed in Spain on May 30 on the Atresplayer Premium platform.

Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo, aka Los Javis, Sign with Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo have new representation…

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has signed the 36-year-old Spanish actor, stage, film and television director and writer and the 30-year-old Spanish actor, stage, film and television director and writer, the duo known as Los Javis, for representation in all areas.

Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo

The LGBTQ+ advocates are known best for writing, producing and directing the critically acclaimed Veneno which was released on HBO Max last year in November during Transgender Awareness Week.

Veneno follows the life of transgender icon of the ’90s, Cristina Ortiz. It features the largest transgender cast in the history of Spanish cinema. The series marked an important milestone for the LGBTQ+ community and is currently nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Scripted Television Series in the Spanish Language category.

Prior to Veneno, Los Javis created the Netflix series, Paquita Salas, the story of one of Spain’s best talent agents in the ’90s, who now finds herself searching desperately for new stars after suddenly losing her biggest client.

The series, which won a Premio Ondas and Premio Feroz, peaked at #1 on the platform in Spain and became a huge hit in Latin America. The series was renewed for two more seasons after its premiere, with a fourth confirmed.

Los Javis are also playwrights who wrote and directed the musical play, La Llamada, which is set at a bible camp and continues to play in Spain almost eight years after its premiere and international run. The duo later wrote and directed the film adaptation of the play, which earned them five Goya Award nominations. It hit No. 1 at the Spanish box office and was acquired by Netflix.

Los Javis often makes appearances on local versions of shows like The Masked Singer, and this month, the duo will join the local version of RuPaul’s Drag Race as regular judges.