Movistar Plus+ Reaches ‘Final Step’ of Its Current Evolution with Ambitious Theatrical Feature Plans

As someone who has been immersed in the world of streaming for quite some time now, I can confidently say that Movistar Plus+ is truly making waves in the industry. Their diverse and powerful spread of productions at this year’s San Sebastian Festival is a testament to their unyielding commitment to content creation.


Among all companies participating in this year’s San Sebastian Festival, none boasts a more diverse lineup of productions than Telefónica’s home platform and super-producer Movistar Plus+. This collective offers a competition film titled “I’m Nevenka,” a high-end drama series called “Querer,” a popular thriller series for the masses, “Celeste,” and “Mugaritz,” an insightful documentary about Spain’s most intellectually stimulating restaurant.

Movistar Plus+’s robust new content ventures are highlighted by the variety of their projects, as they continue to delve further into non-fiction and solidify their position as Spain’s foremost investor in content. They will debut their first movie lineup in January. Instead of withdrawing from content production, they are actually immersing themselves even more deeply.

Over the past ten years, Movistar Plus+ has significantly expanded its content creation and broadened the types of productions it supports. In the early era of streaming, Movistar Plus+ was an innovator in local production by investing substantial budgets into its television shows. Early series like “The Plague” and “Giants,” though reminiscent of Hollywood productions, preserved a distinctly Spanish essence that appealed to homegrown viewers.

Now, the company is doing the same with its theatrical feature pipeline.

Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus+ director of fiction and entertainment content, expressed that the triumph of our premium series boosted our courage. We’ve previously ventured into cinema with productions like ‘While at War’ and ‘Prison 77’. However, we aim to integrate film production as a regular element in our yearly plans, working on five to six films annually,” says Corral.

In Corral’s words, “The culmination of this phase is crafting ‘event cinema,’ as exemplified by ‘I’m Nevenka.’ This project underscores our determination to surpass previous limits.” Icíar Bollaín, the director of “Nevenka,” shares that this dedication led to one of the most exceptional production environments she has encountered. She expresses gratitude for Movistar’s support during filming, which was challenging due to locations in Bilbao, Zamora, and England. The film was also set in 2000, requiring meticulous attention to details such as cars, buildings, makeup, hairdressing, and costumes. These intricate details increased the production costs, but Movistar was supportive of all our needs, according to Bollaín.

One additional benefit Movistar Plus+ enjoys for its shows is an efficient promotional engine behind them.

Movistar Plus+ has an unrivaled promotional strategy among Spanish companies, one that significantly amplifies a theatrical film’s visibility on television in Spain,” Bollaín states, emphasizing its advantage.

Movistar Plus+ may anticipate a strong box office performance for “I’m Nevenka” or substantial viewership for one of its series, yet this isn’t necessarily their primary goal. According to Corral, success for him is not typically defined in the same way as it might be at more commercially-focused global platforms.

The executive expresses their desire for Movistar to become an exciting platform, where viewers are consistently surprised,” says the spokesperson. “Here, they will discover compelling narratives that captivate them, and encounter well-developed characters.

Movistar Plus+ is set to astonish its subscribers with the upcoming documentary “Mugaritz,” focusing on the renowned restaurant in our country. Unlike choosing a filmmaker known for their extensive nonfiction work, the company opted for horror mastermind and director of “REC,” Paco Plaza, to lead the production.

According to Corral, our current approach involves broadening our horizons. He was thrilled about the prospect of incorporating a highly skilled director in the horror genre, Paco, into our team, allowing him to narrate the tale of a restaurant and delve into the profound philosophy behind the renowned Mugaritz.

As a cinephile, I’ve been thrilled to witness the expansive growth of Movistar Plus+. In the realm of content creation, they’ve outshone all other platforms – local or global – by offering the most extensive slate of original Spanish titles. A recent survey by GECA confirms this, with Movistar Plus+ premiering 28 new Spanish titles between September 2023 and June 2024. This impressive lineup surpasses competitors like Prime Video (24), Atresplayer (20), RTVE Play (19), and even global giants such as Netflix (12), Max (8), and Disney+ (7). It’s an exciting time to be a fan of Spanish cinema, with so much quality content being produced by Movistar Plus+.

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2024-09-21 09:46