Marie De-La-Fuente Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Anna Marie de la Fuente Gato Grande, an Amazon MGM Studios company, has upped Megan Espinoza and Moises Amsel to the positions of VPs of Film & TV Development in the company’s newly-launched English-language division. Espinoza and Amsel will assume responsibility for the daily operations of the new unit, focusing on the creation of original intellectual property in English for both TV and film, sourced from Latin American IP.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a triumphant night for Spain, J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-nominated “Society of the Snow” swept the top prizes at Platino Xcaret, named after the venue of the annual Platino Awards this year, which took place at the Xcaret Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami-based MGE Media has scooped up international distribution rights to Katherina Harder’s feature debut, “La Pérgola de las Flores,” produced by Parox, the Chilean producer of mini-series “Allende, The Thousand Days” (“Los mil días de Allende”), which is nominated for three Premios Platino. The prestigious Ibero-American awards event takes place April 20 in Cancun, Mexico where “Allende…” has been nominated for best series, best actor for Alfredo Castro, who plays the doomed socialist president Salvador Allende, and best actress for Aline Kuppenheim.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Award-winning Colombian director-producer Simon Brand and Miami-based media executive producer Daniel Eilemberg have joined forces with the founders of Emmy-winning Imaginer Films, Julio César and Laura Franco, to launch Clover Studios, a new production services company in Colombia. The new enterprise is in response to Colombia’s phenomenal growth as a major production center, driven by its competitive production incentives and flourishing creative community.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In an exclusive interview with Variety, German maestro filmmaker Werner Herzog discussed his plans to lead the 3rd Film Accelerator program organized by Barcelona-based La Selva. Herzog and his long-time cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger will be on hand to guide the 25 directing and 25 cinematography aspirants who will pair up to create short films no longer than 10 mins in length. On day one, he will give them a framework on which to base their project.

Anna Marie de la Fuente With John Travolta, Gregory Nava and a host of other luminaries lighting it up, the 12thPanama International Film Festival wrapped Sunday on a high note, with general attendance exceeding expectations. Speaking at the closing ceremony held at the Canal Museum, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron, IFF Panama Board President, hailed this latest edition as a vibrant rebirth for the festival.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Calling all Latino filmmakers, John Travolta wants to work with you. Swinging by Panama to present his 1978 musical rom-com “Grease” at the 12th Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama), Travolta professed his great love for “Mexico, Central America, South America, all of its parts.” “There is an incredible humanity that prevails and is different from anywhere else in the world,” he told Variety. Surprised to hear that Robert de Niro had starred in the Argentine series “Nada,” Travolta exclaimed: “I would have loved that, I would have enjoyed being lured to South America to play a part for a while.” The closest he’s come to working with a Latino director was with Alfonso Cuarón, who produced the short film streaming on Disney+ “The Shepherd,” based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1975 novella, which follows a young Royal Air Force pilot flying home for Christmas across the North Sea.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Moved from its usual December berth last year, the 12th Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama) runs April 4-7, replete with new industry activities and double the number of films since its previous edition. True to its mandate to serve as a showcase for Central American and Caribbean cinema, the festival’s program this year includes a bevy of acclaimed films from the region, including two Panamanian Indigenous-themed features, “Bila Burba” and “God is a Woman.” Recent years has seen the growing international recognition of pics from the region, with Nelson Carlo de los Santos becoming the first Dominican – and first Latin American – filmmaker to snag the best director Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his drama, “Pepe.” Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss’ sophomore feature, “Memories of a Burning Body,” clinched the Audience Award for best fiction film in the Panorama section of the A-list German festival.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Running April 4-7, the IFF Panama brings to this year’s edition a rich mix of standout director driven titles from Europe, the Spanish-speaking world and beyond, spangled by highlights from Central America, including Panama: “Bila Burba,” (Duiren Wagua, Panama) Documentary. Wagua’s debut feature. The Gunadule nation’s ties with the Panamanian government were fraught with territorial and cultural disputes.

Anna Marie de la Fuente While a number of films have been made about Panama’s Indigenous communities, few are by native filmmakers themselves. To date, perhaps only three Indigenous Panamanian filmmakers have ventured into filmmaking. Duiren Wagua, whose documentary feature debut “Bila Burba” plays at this year’s 12th Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama), running April 4-7, is hoping to change the status quo.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Netflix France’s campaign for Season 4 of the popular UK series, “Sex Education” was announced winner of Series Mania’s Best Marketing Initiative Award. Launched last year, the prize recognizes a company’s promotional efforts to consumers (BTC) as well as initiatives by producers and distributors to raise awareness of a show among commissioners and buyers (BTB). The jury included executives from BBC Creative Studios, Inédite Agency, and Make It Happen Studios, along with the Series Mania team.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Anonymous Content Brazil, a CAA-backed partnership between São Paulo-based RT Features and Anonymous Content, has kicked off production on its first scripted project, a TV adaptation of Raphael Montes’ bestseller “Perfect Days” for Globo Brazil’s giant streaming platform, Globoplay. The eight-episode adaptation is directed by International Emmy-winning helmer Joana Jabace (“Precious Pearl”) from scripts penned by Claudia Jouvin (“The Nightshifter”).

Anna Marie de la Fuente Fantastic Pavilion, the genre hub launched last year in Cannes, saunters back to the Croisette for its second edition, returning with a host of activities that include the Fantastic Galas, cocktails, and a showcase of genre video games as well as the second edition of the Fantastic Latido Award. Welcomed by the Marché du Film as part of its ecosystem, the Fantastic Pavilion will pay tribute to this year’s country of honor with a cocktail celebration alongside the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFF) as well as a spotlight on Swiss films and Switzerland as a filming location in The Fantastic Pavilion Rue Morgue special edition magazine.

Anna Marie de la Fuente With co-production an ever-popular resource for independents and emerging talent, the Madrid Film School (ECAM), hailed as one of the leading film schools in the world, has launched ECAM Forum, a new co-production initiative to run June 10 – 13 in Madrid. An Open Call ending April 9 has been announced March 18 for submissions from local Spanish feature film projects in development or in post-production, and series projects in development.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Gato Grande, an Amazon MGM Studios company, has unveiled the next project from its recently launched English-language division: mystery satire “Miami Spice.” Cuban-American showrunner Art Alamo, best known for his work on “Law & Order,” will be writing and producing “Miami Spice,” which is based on the novel “Mango, Mambo and Murder” from author Raquel V. Reyes’ lauded Caribbean Kitchen Mystery book series.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Prime Video Mexico is firing up a new original series, “Mentiras,” based on the popular Mexican stage musical. Singer-actor Belinda and Luis Gerardo Méndez (“Club de Cuervos,” “Narcos”) lead a stellar cast that includes Mariana Treviño (“A Man Called Otto”), Diana Bovio (“Lecciones para canallas”) and Regina Blandón (“Maquíllame otra vez”).

Anna Marie de la Fuente In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Variety, Fernando Medin, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Latin America and U.S. Hispanic, drilled down onthe company’s programming and growth strategy for the region where it launches its rebranded streaming platform, Max, on Feb.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buoyed by the Oscar nomination of Chile’s very own Maite Alberdi for her poignant doc, “The Eternal Memory,” Chile’s documentary sector could not be more vibrant. Debuting at the Berlinale’s Forum sidebar is “Oasis,” the latest feature doc from the Mapa Fílmico de un País (MAFI) collective and the hybrid LGBTIQ+ themed short film “Towards the Sun, Far from the Center.” Directed by Luciana Merino and Pascal Viveros and produced by Javiera Pineda, it vies for the best short film and the Teddy awards. Both have their world premieres on Monday, Feb.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Argentine director Luján Loioco (“About a Woman,” “The Girl with Yellow Heels”) is prepping her third feature film, “Queen of the Woods” (“Reina del bosque”), starring Chile’s venerable Alfredo Castro, seen most recently in Pablo Larrain’s Oscar-nominated “El Conde,” and rising Argentine actress Delfina Chaves (“Máxima,” “Ringo”). The story takes place in a cabin set against the snow-covered Patagonian mountains and is described as a “neo-horror feminine film that explores the failed relationship between a pregnant woman and her dying father.” Through the gripping mechanisms of thriller and neo-horror, the film delves deep into the theme of grief while posing unsettling reflections on the complexities of motherhood.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Top Brazilian titles at the Berlin Festival and EFM: “Betânia,” (Marcelo Botta) Botta’s feature debut, produced by Salvatore Filmes, associate produced by Ventre Studio, selected for Berlin’s Panorama. Set in stunning but barren Brazilian sand dunes, Betânia, 65, rebuilds amid global collapse. After losing her husband to a salty diet common in electricity-deprived areas, she seeks solace in a new village, cherishing its traditions.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Inspired by Arnold Wesker’s 1959 stage play, “The Kitchen,” Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “La Cocina” dives deep into the bowels of the industrial-size kitchen of a restaurant in New York City’s Times Square where food is churned out to serve throngs of diners, mostly tourists. For Ruizpalacios, whose feature debut, “Güeros,” won the best first feature award at the Berlinale nearly 10 years ago, “La Cocina” (“The Kitchen”) is basically an anti-food-porn movie. “I wanted to show the other side of the food industry where expediency is more important than the quality of the food.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Netflix Mexico has unveiled a rousing new slate in production this year that includes the series debut of Luis Estrada (“¡Que viva México!”), a new pic from Rodrigo Garcia (“Familia”), another series from hit-maker José Ignacio “Chascas” Valenzuela (“Who Killed Sara?”) and “La Reina del Sur”’s Kate del Castillo unusually toplining a comedy. Also leading the pack is series “Gringo Hunters,” produced by Woo Films and Redrum in co-production with Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment in association with The Washington Post.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In an exclusive interview with Variety, Ronald Day, Telemundo’s president of entertainment & content strategy, drilled down on what has made action-packed series “Lord of the Skies” (“El Señor de los cielos”), the company’s longest-running Super Series franchise and a bonafide hit. With Season 9 set to premiere Feb.

Anna Marie de la Fuente A bio-series about iconic ranchera singer Chavela Vargas starring “La Reina del Sur” lead Kate del Castillo is in the works. Colombia’s Caracol Televisión and indie Miracol Media are co-producing “Chavela,” which will trace the tumultuous life and career of the legendary singer.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Netflix has promoted Carolina Leconte to the position of senior director of content at its Mexican outpost. She steps into Roberto Stopello’s shoes, who has ankled.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Latin America is about to get an array of new thematic channels, thanks to a strategic partnership between Canal+ Group’s Thema America and SPI Int’l. SPI Int’l’s popular channels FunBox UHD, FilmBox Arthouse, Gametoon, FightBox, DocuBox, Fast&FunBox, FashionBox, Erox, Eroxxx, and 360TuneBox, will be distributed across the region via Thema America, which will represent and distribute the channels.

Anna Marie de la Fuente With the exception of Nigeria’s Nollywood, which produces an average of 2,500 films a year, Africa’s “potential as a film powerhouse remains largely untapped” despite great strides in production, according to a Unesco report. Brazil’s Spcine, the city of São Paulo’s film-TV body, is hoping to change the status quo.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Content Americas, the fast-rising trade event in Miami, has unveiled the finalists for its 2024 Content Americas CoPro Pitch and Content Americas Hispanic Kids Programming Pitch. According to event organizer C21, more than 80 submissions rolled in for the CoPro Pitch and over 50 for the Kids Pitch from seasoned producers across Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Among the CoPro Pitch finalists are scripted series “Hot Sur,” an adaptation of the Laura Restrepo bestseller about an undocumented Mexican immigrant looking after her bipolar sister in the U.S.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Habanero Film Sales has snapped up documentary “I Trust You” (“En vos confio”) from Juan Pablo Gugliotta and Nathalia Videla Peña’s Magma Cine (“The Distinguished Citizen,” “1976”) in one of the more significant of multiple deals struck at a hectic Ventana Sur (VS) in Buenos Aires. Directed by Agustin Toscano, whose “The Owners” and “The Snatch Thief” participated in Cannes’ Critics Week and Directors’ Fortnight sidebars in 2013 and 2017, respectively, “I Trust You” follows former nuns Susana and Nélida who have been incarcerated at the Tucumán Women’s Prison since 2006, accused of a crime they insist they did not commit.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Among the Copia Final titles in Ventana Sur, the Dominican Republic’s “Tiger” (“Tiguere”) by lauded filmmaker José María Cabral (“Woodpeckers”) casts a harsh light on the machismo culture of the Caribbean nation and by extension, Latin America. Shot in a lush mountain retreat, “Tiger” is set in a boot camp where families drop off their teenage sons with the hope that they learn to become “real men.” It is led by boot camp head Alberto, who decides that his son Pablo, an aspiring artist, is ready to join the camp.