Guests also take in ‘Scenes From a Marriage’ and 'Etty' writer-director Hagai Levi, ‘La Mesías’ star Carmen Machi and big Spanish breakout Victoria Martín: ‘We’ve always aimed high,’ says co-founder Betu Martínez Molero who breaks down this year's selection Carmen Machi, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Hagai Levi, Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue, Victoria Martín, Ferran Adrià. All will bring star power to Barcelona’s leading series festival Serielizados which is set to kick-off Oct. 19 with the Catalan premiere of the 3Cat-HBO Max “In Vitro.” A prime launching pad for Spanish premieres, the festival will showcase six international series in competition and a four-title national competition led by the world premiere of Movistar Plus-100 Balas’ “Celeste 2,” and Catalan premiere of “Killing a Bear” (“Killing a Bear”), another Movistar Plus Original.On the industry front, Serielizados Pro will consolidate and expand its program, taking in case studies on successful co-productions, (“In Vitro,” “Segunda temporada”) trend analysis, networking sessions, and the second Mind the Gap international pitch with 11 premium projects. More than 300 delegates are expected including reps from YouTube, Mubi, RTVE, Arte France, Beta Film, ZDF, Oble, DR Sales, Imagina Sales, and many more.
Betu Martínez Molero, Serielizados’ co-founder with Victor Sala, unpacks the festival’s DNA and program highlights. You said last year that your goal was both to up your number of visitors and to better serve the local industry. Is it mission accomplished after last year’s 80% increase in visitors and Serielizados Pro’s first Mind the Gap?
Yes, we totally accomplished that and after growing by 80% last year, our challenge this edition is consolidation. Our main hurdle has always been convincing people to pay for a cinema ticket to watch two episodes of a series. We’ve overcome that by not only premiering great series but also bringing the talent directly to the fans.
On the industry side, Serielizados Pro has settled into its identity as a boutique forum. We don’t want to be huge; we want to be effective. We focus heavily on European co-productions, matching local Catalan and Spanish creators with international agents through pitching sessions, masterclasses, and networking.
In fact, after our first Mind the Gap Pitching, we’re already seeing participating projects secure financing and move into production, which proves that the concept works. This year your motto is ‘An Eye for It,’ to spotlight your unique cultural curation remit. Could you expand on this theme and why you chose it?
When we launched Serielizados in 2013, finding great TV was almost a DIY effort. In Spain, VOD was basically limited to Canal+ and Filmin. There was very little original local production, and people were finding their favourite TV shows through obscure corners of the web.
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