Granada Launches Iberseries, a New International Spanish-language TV Series Festival

By Emiliano De Pablos

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The first edition of Iberseries, a new international Spanish-language TV series festival, will take place May 25-30 in Granada, Southern Spain.

Promoted by the Secuoya Foundation, the event is backed by top TV networks and SVOD platforms across Spain, Latin and North America.

Netflix, HBO, Movistar Plus, Atresmedia, Disney España and Azteca TV figure among the operators that have already confirmed their support, the organization said.

The festival will be open to TV fiction, documentary and animation contents.

Iberseries will give 12 awards, taking in dramatic series, comedy series, youth series, miniseries, screenplay, dramatic actress and actor, comedy actress and actor, and a honorary prize for career achievement.

“Our goal is to promote the festival idea, which is neither of institutions nor of private companies. We aim to give visibility and connect people, countries and stories,” said Secuoya Foundation president Raúl Berdonés at a press conference in Madrid last week.

“Today we can boast that Spain, for the first time ever, has become the main Spanish-speaking production country in the world,” added Berdonés, whose Secuoya Studios, set in Madrid’s Tres Cantos, became last year Netflix first European Production Hub.

The Isabel La Católica Theater will be the main venue for festival screenings, hosting opening and closing galas, The Centro Federico García Lorca will be the meeting point for industrial activity.

“Spanish-language series are achieving a visible success for everyone. That’s why we decided it’s time to establish an international festival aimed at building a niche in which the members of this industry could meet,” said Iberseries director, Samuel Castro Hansson.

Iberseries advisory committee is formed by screenwriter-director Ángeles González-Sinde, Spain’s former Minister of Culture; Mexico-based producer Epigmenio Ibarra, CEO of Argos Comunicación; Claudia Triana, director of Proimágenes Colombia; and famed Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet.

For five days, Iberseries will alternate sections with series premieres, contents and meetings aimed at both public-sector and industry representatives.

A Capitulo 1 sidebar will premiere a selection of Spanish-language series for the 2020/2021 season; Iberseries Pro will host keynotes by a prestigious figure in the Latin American TV sector and industry meetings, addressing issues such as the international boom of Spanish-language series, financing opportunities and literature and TV series’ growing connections.

Iberseries Plus will comprise masterclasses, conferences, roundtables and meetings by showrunners and creatives with the audience.

González-Sinde, who sees the festival as “a scenario of reflection and analysis of the present and future of the sector,” valued Iberseries as an “essential opportunity for the industry that will serve as a meeting point for all those who love TV series.”

The presence of further companies such as Amazon, RTVE, Televisa, Telemundo, Caracol and RCN is under negotiations, organizers said.

Iberseries promoters also take in Granada Town Hall and Andalusia’s regional government. It is also supported by the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX), Madrid’s Casa de América and Granada’s Centro Federico García Lorca.