“Kosta (The Paradise)”, the series produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO in association with Finish public television network YLE and also Finish production company MRP (Matila Röhr Productions Oy), has announced its Spanish premiere date, exclusively on Orange TV (the TV platform of Orange), this coming 25th June.
The drama, starring Malaga’s Fran Perea, is part of a broader content acquisition agreement signed between Orange and THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO. Under the agreement, Orange has also bought the premiere rights for its television platform to full-length features “Rifkin’s Festival” (Woody Allen’s latest movie shot on location in San Sebastián last summer), and “Official Competition” (the film from Argentine directors Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, starring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez). The deal also includes the series THE HEAD (international series directed by Jorge Dorado, whose international premiere is set for 12th June), and “Caminantes” (the horror drama from Koldo Serra and José A. Pérez Ledo, filmed using footage from state-of-the-art smartphones set on the Camino de Santiago, due for release this summer).
Nordic noir set on the Costa del Sol and in Finland
“Kosta (The Paradise)”, a thriller straight out of the Nordic noir textbook was filmed at locations on the Costa del Sol, such as Fuengirola, and in the city of Oulu, in Finland, responsible for police thrillers “Hooked” and “Black Widows”, winner of the prestigious Golden Venla Award, and with main screenwriter Matti Laine, author of the crime novels series “Border Town” and “Bullets” and nominated for “Kosta (The Paradise)” at the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize 2020, which are awarded to recognize screenwriting excellence in Nordic countries. Ran Tellem, Head of International Content at THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO, also played a significant role in the series development.
Executive Producers from THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO are Laura Fernández Espeso, Javier Mendez, Ran Tellem and Bernat Elías, YLE’s Executive Producers are Jarmo Lampela and Suvi Mansnerus, with Marko Rohr as MRP Delegate Producer and Tiina Pesonen as Producer.
The series was released to great success in February on YLE, where all eight episodes reported audience figures above two million, both for the linear broadcast on YLE TV1 as well as via its VoD service YLE Arena, marking a record audience share in the country with a population of five million in which 40% of viewers made contact with the series at some point.
“Kosta (The Paradise)” revolves around a series of crimes that take place within the largest community of Finnish residents outside Finland, located in southern Spain. Two policemen, detective Andrés Villanueva, played by Fran Perea (“The Serranos”, “Luna, el misterio de Calenda”, “La sonata del silencio”, “The Last Circus”), a man affected by a deep feeling of loss and with strong ties to the Nordic residents, and Inspector Hilkka Mäntymäki, played by Finnish actress Riitta Havukainen (Fakta homma, Harjunpää ja heimolaiset), one of the best detectives in the city of Oulu, who is close to retiring and dealing with a complicated family situation, will take the lead in the case.
Coming from very different cultures and used to such different methods, the relationship between both police sets the stage for the common thread of a plot in which the contrast between the cold North and the warm South of Europe plays a prominent role also, a fact that is highlighted by the cinematography work itself with dark environments and gray in the Nordic country and with the sun and the light of the Mediterranean, very present in the series with images shot on the Costa del Sol.
The list of actors featuring in the production includes a mixed cast of both Spanish and Finnish stars including Maria Romero (“Historias románticas (un poco) cabronas”, “El olivo”), Oscar Zafra (“Victim Nº 8”, “Side Games”) and Emilio Palacios (“Servir y proteger”, “La zona”), and Finland’s Risto Tuorila, Carl-Christian Rundman and Armi Toivanen.
Sony Interactive Entertainment and the Barcelona-Catalunya Track, together with the MEDIAPRO Group, are organizing the “Gran Turismo All Star” event, a competition featuring Gran Turismo® Sport on PlayStation®4 which is set to feature Carlos Sainz and some of the best real and virtual drivers in Spain in an event which is set to take place on Friday May 29th, in a series of virtual races to raise money for the Spanish Red Cross.
After a host of online competitions in which Carlos Sainz demonstrated that he can hold his own with the best virtual drivers, the F1 driver from Madrid will get his chance in the simulator to compete in the “Gran Turismo All Star” at the Barcelona-Catalunya Track together with some of the most important names in Spanish motor-racing. In addition, all of the drivers will go head-to-head with one of the best Gran Turismo® Sport drivers, the PlayStation®4 (PS4) exclusive racing game.
The virtual event at the Barcelona-Catalunya race-track is set to take place this Friday May 29th at 18.30. “Gran Turismo All Star” is set to be a two-hour special and which will see the drivers take part in a series of different races. Just as in any grand Prix, there will be interviews with the drivers, qualifying, replays of the most exciting moves and commentary wot provide more excitement for the viewers.
Produced by LVP, “Gran Turismo All Star” will be include special coverage and can be seen on GOL, UBEAT, Marca.com and Soymotor.com.
March 11th 2020 the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, sounds the alarm around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic advances. In his statement he warns of the threat of infection of the virus and cautions that some countries don’t have sufficient health-care resources to be able to cope, while others are showing a worrying lack of concern. His announcement marks the start of never-seen-before global shut-down and a brutal wake-up call to a whole series of painful truths. As the writer Martín Caparrós at the start of the documentary comments: “extreme situations like this bring you face-to-face with the truth, which is a nice way of saying that normality doesn’t prepare you for it”.
“Reiniciar el món”, which first aired on Tuesday as part of the “Sense ficció” season on TV3, is now available via the Televisió de Catalunya web-site. The documentary is an opportunity to break the barriers on the lockdown and take a deep dive into the lives of the people on the front-line of the global emergency. The documentary takes us to the Congo to meet Massika, the last ebola patient diagnosed just as the first cases of coronavirus are detected. In New York, where we follow Teo Méndez, an orthopedic sports-injury surgeon who is volunteering in a hospital helping coronavirus patients, and in Barcelona, with Leo Anglès, who has seen how his treatment for cancer has been affected by the start of an economic crisis which has seen both him and his partner on the dole. We also travel to Columbia following a group of Venezuelan migrants who travelling back to their country of origin on foot and finally a day is spent with Mujgan Alishaji, a woman from Tehran who is helping home-less, female drug addicts working as prostitutes by taking in their children in the midst of the global pandemic. Stories that reveal a world unable to protect itself with deep wounds and inequalities that virus has laid bare.
The documentary is completed by accounts from health-care workers, philosophers, historians, lawyers, journalists, artists, writers and economists, international voices who were contribute their thoughts on a world which appears ill-prepared to readjust without overcoming existing challenges. Martín Caparrós, María Neira, Josep Ramoneda, Martha Nussbaum, the Nobel prize-winner Wole Soyinka, Yuval Noah Harari, John Thackara, Alain Deneault, Sira Abenoza, and Serge Latouche are just some of the experts that reflect on the biggest challenges facing us as we move into a new normal world.
“Reiniciar el món” is a Televisió de Catalunya production produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO with the support of the magazine 5W. Juanma Arizmendi and Marc M. Sarrado are the creators of a production developed in exceptional circumstances, in six intense weeks bringing together either self-recorded pieces done in challenging circumstances. Work facilitated by the management team at the magazine 5W Anna Surinyach and Agus Morales, with production from Eva Peris.
A new, old bookstore opened its doors in Barcelona, Ona Llibres, with a new concept of what a bookstore should be defined by Mediapro Exhibitions together with the management of Ona Llibres, and at a new location (Pau Claris 94). The Mediapro Exhibitions team were responsible for the project, from the graphic design and brand image, the audiovisual features to the architectural and structural rehabilitation project of the premises together with the interior design. Ona Llibres is much more than a bookstore devoted to Catalan literature, it is a cultural facility where art, literature and music come together. It is a space of meetings, talks and learning the modernity and diversity of which is sure to surprise.
The space
The architectural proposal for the Llibreria Ona reflects the concept of the 21st century bookstore, where the book as an object gains value with the balance between digital and analog. The proposal is based on a contemporary and functional design highlighted by the play on colors which highlight neutral surfaces. The swathes of colors that adorn the space delimit the different areas of the bookstore, helping the visitor to find their way around. Each shade has been defined according to the character and objective of the room. In the younger readers and children’s area, warm tones spark creativity. The areas intended for the adult public, tinted with colder tones, invite reflection and serenity. Each room has its own personality and this plurality translates into an ensemble that makes this space an important element in creating the venue’s brand image.
Since last Monday, Andreu Buenafuente has left the comforts of his house to go back to the set parking a caravan outside the studio in Tres Cantos. He’ll be accompanied by guests as well as the rest of the program team for this new stage. The guests will chat with Andreu from two sofas set up outside the caravan. The backing band will be returning as well with their very own set for their musical contributions.
“Late Motiv Park” is the next small step on the road back to the new normality, in line with other Movistar+ programs such as “La Script” and “Dar cera, pulir #0”.
“Late Motiv” is a Movistar+ original production together with El Terrat (THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO).
The Superliga Orange League of Legends, Spain’s biggest competition for the Riot Games hit, organized by LVP (MEDIAPRO Group), is set to return on June 15th 2020. The ten teams that make up the competition will be back in the Summoner’s Rift ready to fight it out for a title which for the last two seasons has been owned by Vodafone Giants.
LVP has recently announced the entire competition calendar for the summer season, with the official presentation set to take place on June 11th. LVP’s Twitch channel will be broadcasting “Programa 0” live, with all the latest news of the upcoming season which as a consequence of the current situation will have a different look and feel.
The competition will following all the latest safety recommendations with a Media Day for the first time ever being conducted entirely remotely with the LVP setting up a host of virtual rooms which will see the different teams taking part in the Superliga Orange recording video content including interviews as well as taking photos which will be used over the course of the season.
The logistical challenges that the new season has represented hasn’t stopped LVP from setting out to beat the audience records set in the spring, where it averaged close to 190,000 viewers per program as well as an 11% increase in time spent watching the Superliga Orange.
The key dates in the competition calendar
The Superliga Orange broadcast days will continue to Monday and Thursday. The summer season kicks off June 15th with the first round of matches finishing on July 9th with a “super week”, 3 days of competition in a week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). The next big day on the calendar is August 6th, the last day of the regular season. After the matches set to take place on that day, two teams will have booked their berths for direct passage into the semi-finals and the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th, will fight out in the quarter-finals for the final two semi-final spots. The quarter-finals are scheduled for August 10th and 11th.
The big week for the Superliga Orange will be the first week of September with the semi-finals taking place on August 31st and September 1st and the grand final on Friday September 4th. The day when the best League of Legends team in Spain is set to be crowned.
The competition will be aired, as usual, on the LVP Twitch channel and on TV on UBEAT.
All the latest news, on “Programa 0”
Although the Superliga Orange League of Legends returns on June 15th, fans will get a chance to get up close to the teams 4 days before the official launch with the airing of “Programa 0”. Over the course of the special launch show, there will be a host of special guests, as well as highlighting all the latest competition news, the official promo in addition to taking a look at the line-ups of the 10 teams taking part.
