SPi promotes new projects at Conecta Fiction
The annual edition of Conecta Fiction and Entertainment took place between 26 and 29 June in Toledo. Manuel Claro, SPi's Director of Business and Coproductions, was present and shared news about SPi's upcoming new productions, particularly about Cold Haven and Codex 632.
The series Cold Haven, a co-production with Iceland's production company GlassRiver, which is already in pre-production, will start shooting later this year. It will be eight weeks of shooting in Iceland and two weeks in Portugal. With 8 episodes, this series is a thriller that investigates the mysterious death of a Portuguese woman on a small island in Iceland, to where she moved with her teenage daughter in the hope of a better life. The small island community is shaken and begin to search for the murderer among themselves. Everyone is a suspect. The Icelandic detective in charge of solving the mystery ends up facing the hardest choice of her life...
Regarding Codex 632, Manuel Claro and Pablo Ghigliano, Head of International Co-productions of Globoplay, announced that the series will premiere in October on RTP and Globoplay. Codex 632 is a 6-episode series in which it is possible to follow Tomás Noronha, a History professor specialised in cryptology, in his investigation on the true identity of Cristovão Colombo.
The series, written by Pedro Lopes, adapted from the best-seller of the same name by José Rodrigues dos Santos, is the first co-production between RTP and Globoplay. Starring Paulo Pires and Deborah Secco, the Portuguese and Brazilian cast includes Betty Faria, Alexandre Borges, Ana Sofia Martins and Marcelo Urgeghe, among others.
On the topic of co-productions, Manuel Claro also announced that new projects are on the table with international production companies. There are projects being developed with Spain - in particular with CTV, with who SPi produced the series Motel Valkirias and signed a project development agreement earlier this year - with Iceland, Germany, Argentina and even Chile. "What moves us is always the content," Claro says. However, co-producing is not enough. The coproduction has to make sense for the producers involved, the story has to have a natural connection between the countries". In the words of the Director of Business and Coproductions: "the basis of a coproduction for us is the content and an organic alliance with the country, the territory with which we are working". In the case of Cold Haven, a co-production with Iceland, the basis is cod. "Cod is the most consumed fish in Portugal and is produced in the North Sea, between Norway and Iceland. The story is based on a Portuguese community working in a cod factory in Iceland. It is always the theme of content that will connect us to other territories", he says.
To end with another excellent news, Portugal and Brazil were the countries invited to join Conecta Fiction & Entertainment 2024, ensuring a special highlight for the audiovisual of both countries.