Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
Barcelona-based Filmax, one of Spain’s leading entertainment companies, has lined up its next genre production, El Nido, the third fiction feature from Hugo Stuven following Solo and English-language Anomalous.
A psychological thriller feature, El Nido (which translates to ‘the nest’) tells the story of Marta, who is obsessed with protecting her family from the terrifying outside world and keeps her mother and her young son locked in their home. A man appears and tries to destroy all that Marta has created. Shooting is scheduled for the last quarter of 2023, and casting will soon be announced.
Spanish sales, distribution, exhibition and production outfit Filmax celebrates its 70th anniversary with a line-up of 16 titles in different stages from advanced development to pre-production. The slate of films includes animated films, comedies and romcoms as well as social dramas, TV series, and the company’s most popular genre titles. We try to put soul into everything we do. You can call this determination. I think that, looking back, we were able to anticipate and adapt to multiple market changes in the audiovisual sector. We went from being a local cinema distributor to becoming a producer of cinema and TV through a multiplicity of genres.”
Founded in 1953 by Turk Alfredo Talarewitz, formerly a head of sales for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Filmax was specialised in the distribution of Hollywood films. Two years later, it teamed up with Balcazar Producciones Cinematograficas to make its first original productions.
In the 1960s, Filmax signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute the studio’s films in Spain and, in 1987, the company was bought by Julio Fernandez. It is now run (by Julio’s brother Carlos who became president in 2010 and his daughter Laura) by Julio Fernandez. In the last 20-years, the company has increased its production of original content. It created a new genre label called Fantastic Factory, which is run by Brian Yuzna. Films produced under this umbrella include Yuzna’s
Faust: Love of the Damned, Jaume Balaguero’s Darkness, and Paco Plaza’s Romasanta.During that time, Filmax also expanded its activities to exhibition and international sales. Hits have included Balaguero’s and Plaza’s franchise
;[REC] Brad Anderson’s The Machinist, starring Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh; and Balaguero’s Muse. So far, Filmax has produced more than a hundred films and distributed over a thousand.Upcoming Filmax titles include the highly-anticipated
The Chapel, the second feature of Carlota Pereda after her hit Piggy which will world premiere in Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival in October. Patricia Font’s The teacher who promised the sea is about a teacher who is destined to a small town shortly before the military coup of dictator Francisco Franco in 1937; and Benito Zambrano’s migrant drama, Jumping the fence. Filmax acted as co-producer for these latter two titles.In terms of international distribution, recent Filmmax titles include Manuel Martin Cuenca’s
Andrea’s Love, Patricia Ortega’s Mamacruz, Paula Ortiz’s Teresa, and The Night My Dad Saved Christmas by Spanish comedy maestro Santiago Segura.“All our production has always had an international scope,” says Fernandez. “We have become a company very open to the market and have agreements with most Spanish producers, sometimes doing local and/or international distribution and, in some cases, also co-producing.
“I think another value of Filmax is that we are a family business, which allows us to think long term.”
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Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch
