Madrid Online Pitchbox showcases 14 projects in development

by Alfonso Rivera

16/12/2020 - The online pitching event, to be held on 17 and 18 December, will offer production companies an inside peak into seven in-development feature films, plus a selection of television series

Madrid Online Pitchbox showcases 14 projects in development

The platform Filmarket Hub (more than 25,000 users across Europe and Latin America, and counting) has revealed its line-up for Madrid Online Pitchbox, an online pitching event focused on Spanish films and TV series in development. It’s a kind of speed-dating event aimed at discovering the best new fiction films coming down the pipeline and matching them up with Spain’s leading industry players: production companies, TV networks, OTT platforms, international sales agents and distribution companies. Set to take place on 17 and 18 December, the first day is dedicated entirely to films, while the second gives TV projects their chance to shine.

The team behind each project will have the opportunity to present a sales pitch, followed up by one-on-one meetings with participating companies. Madrid Online Pitchbox is supported by its institutional sponsor, the City of Madrid Film Office, a public service under the auspices of Madrid City Council. Its mission is to promote the city as a location for film and TV production, provide assistance to production companies and industry professionals who choose to shoot in the capital, support its audiovisual sector and encourage investment and local development.

This year’s selected projects include: a Spanish-Italian co-production, El turno de noche, described as a thriller influenced by Zodiac and The Piano Teacher, written by Francesco Cocco (also directing) and Victor Galan Dominguez and produced by JAR Producciones in association with Lupin Films and Invicta Films; Calladita, a comedy-drama written and directed by Miguel Faus, who also describes it as a satiric portrait of the Catalan middle class; Made in Spain, a comedy written by Carolina Hernández Correa that takes a light-hearted look at Spain’s rural heartlands, winner of a 2019 grant awarded by DAMA Ayuda; El cambio, a science-fiction thriller written by Asier Guerricaechebarria and directed by Diego H. Katarniuk Di Costanzo, produced by The Last Wagon Films; Espárrago, a feel-good tale written by Andrés Salaberri and directed by Julio Mazarico, filmed in Navarra and with a tinge of the Western about it; Antes de morir, a darkly comic dramatic thriller written by Daniel Del Casar; and Una y otra vez, an original comedy by Adrián Perea about a young journalist whose New Year ordeal rivals that of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

The television line-up includes: Umbral, created and written — with undercurrents of science fiction, mystery and drama — by Luis Murillo Arias (also directing and producing) and Gustavo Garzón (Cochabamba Films); Picadero, a crime series created and written by Almudena Monzú in partnership with Mauricio Leiva-Cock and produced by Amor y Lujo (Spain) and Fidelio Films (Colombia); Tag, a thriller created and written by César Alcaide (also directing) and David Muñoz, produced by Álvaro Weber and Javier Chinchilla (Smile); Umbra Dei, created and written by Matías García, a period crime thriller that explores the eternal struggle between tradition and progress; La playa, created, written and directed by Andrea Casaseca, a comedy-drama inspired by the world of Luca Guadagnino; Amordazados, a nine-part thriller about countryside crime created by Ricardo Garijo Lima; and En cuatro, a dramedy by Camila Montaldo that delves into polyamory and the social conditioning that tells us who we should find attractive.