“The Head”, THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO series in association with Hulu Japan and HBO Asia, released the official trailer with first footage of the drama coinciding with the announcement of its world premiere this coming 12th June.
The series will release simultaneously in 30 countries around the world, in more than 15 languages. The premiere includes Japan and the Southeast Asia countries, through Hulu Japan and HBO Asia; Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, on platforms operated by the Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), and Spain, where it will be seen exclusively on the platform OrangeTV. “The Head” has also been acquired by Brazilian operator Globoplay, where it will be released in the coming months.
“The Head” is a survival thriller set in a polar station in Antarctica, where the suspenseful storyline develops over six 50-minute episodes, directed by Jorge Dorado (“The Pier”, “Mindscape”), marked by the long, dark Antarctic months, the cold, the wind and the vast expanses of ice.
“The Head” is part of the collaboration between Ran Tellem (“Homeland”), Director of International Content Development at THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO, and Àlex and David Pastor (“The Occupant”, “Carriers”, “The Last Days”, “Eternal”), who have described it as "a claustrophobic thriller with a central mystery". The Pastor brothers co-wrote the screenplay together with Isaac Sastre.
“The Head” is one of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO's major investments and one of its most ambitious international projects given the scope of the production and having already guaranteed its worldwide distribution with the presence of Hulu Japan and HBO Asia. In fact, the series involved a significant deployment of resources, unusual in Spanish productions, including the two-thousand-square-meter studio in Tenerife, where the purpose-built set of the Polaris VI research station where most of the action takes place was erected, reproduced to actual scale, based on information about the layout and operation of this type of scientific facility, which enabled the show-runners to film long shots of the characters wandering around inside the station with complete authenticity.
The production crew also travelled to the rugged landscapes of Iceland to shoot the series' exteriors, although most of the story is set inside the polar station, which provides a particular feel of encapsulation.
Another of “The Head”'s key assets is its international cast including, among others, John Lynch (“The Terror”), Katharine O’Donnelly (“Mary Queen of Scots”), Tomohisa Yamashita (“Code Blue”) , Alexandre Willaume (“Below the Surface”, “Tomb Raider”), Laura Bach (“Sprinter Galore”), Sandra Andreis (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”), Amelia Hoy (“Killing Eve”) , Chris Reilly (“Allied”, “Everest”), Richard Sammel (“Inglorious Bastards”) and Tom Lawrence (“The King”, “The Crown”), in addition to the special collaboration of Álvaro Morte (“Money Heist”, “The Pier”) and Mònica López (“Hierro”, “In the City”).
“The Head”, with dialogues in English, Danish and Swedish, is set in the Polaris VI international station in Antarctica. A select group of scientists from several different countries are in charge of maintaining the base operational during the long polar nights. But in the midst of winter, the station suddenly stops communicating with the outside world.
The series took off in 2017, at the prestigious international Series Mania forum. THE HEAD was presented in a session to select projects that aroused enormous interest among representatives from the media and entertainment industry.
Plot
Winter has fallen on the South Pole. The sun will soon disappear for the next six months. A small team, known as the Winterers, will remain at the Polaris VI Antarctic Research Station to continue their innovative research, a crucial part in the fight against climate change, under the command of renowned biologist Arthur Wilde (John Lynch). But when spring comes, summer commander Johan Berg (Alexander Willaume) returns to the station only to find the entire team are either dead or missing. A killer is on the loose and Annika (Laura Bach), Johan's wife, is missing. If he wants to find her alive, he will have to trust Maggie (Katharine O’Donnelly), the young doctor who is profoundly shaken and apparently the sole survivor from the group… or, is there someone else?
