Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo’s La Termita, Sara Gonzalo’s Accidental Launch Production Alliance (EXCLUSIVE)

As a seasoned cinephile with a penchant for unraveling the intricate tapestry of Spanish cinema, I find myself enthralled by this new alliance between La Termita Films and Accidental Films. The collaboration between Isaki Lacuesta, Isa Campo, Sara Gonzalo, and Jacobo Martínez promises to be a veritable powerhouse in the realm of Spanish filmmaking.

Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo’s award-winning production house, La Termita Films, has entered into a production partnership with Accidental Films, the fresh label established by Sara Gonzalo, who served as managing director at Bambu Producciones from 2011 to 2024.

The partnership finds Lacuesta and Campo achieving personal bests in their careers. Notably, Lacuesta helmed the Berlin competition player films “One Year, One Night” and “Saturn Return,” which garnered a Spanish Film and Direction award at this year’s Malaga Festival. Meanwhile, Campo collaborated on Iciar Bollain’s highly anticipated film “I’m Nevenka,” which will have its world premiere in the main competition at San Sebastian this weekend.

From 2011 to 2013, Gonzalo held the position of general manager at Bambú, guiding the company as it expanded into larger industrial projects, starting with “Grand Hotel” and moving on to “Velvet” (2013-2015), “Cable Girls” (2017-2020), and “Fariña” (2018). Under his leadership, original Spanish series gained international acceptance without the need for dubbing into standardized Spanish in Latin America.

Jacobo Martínez, who has been the Director of Photography for all these high-quality series, began working at Accidental in May.

As a movie enthusiast, I’d put it like this: Back in 2006, I found myself in the heart of an intriguing tale at La Termita-Accidental Studios. The comedy film, “La candidata y el guionista,” was born, inspired by real-life events. In the thick of things was Gerard Florejachs, a witty monologue writer for Spain’s own late-night host, Andreu Buenafuente – reminiscent of David Letterman. His task? To breathe life into the speeches of politician José Montilla, the Socialist candidate vying for the presidency of Catalonia’s Generalitat government. And guess what? He won!

In “La candidata y el guionista” by Florejachs and Lacuesta, the candidate is a woman who’s competing against an unrefined, principle-lacking populist. The author excels at writing humor but struggles in real life, finding it hard to maintain relationships and now expecting his third child with a third separate partner.

The production house, La Termita, is responsible for creating movies like the 2023 “Foremost by Night” (originally titled “Sobre todo de noche”), a stolen child drama directed by Victor Iriarte. This movie was jointly written by Campo and produced by both Campo and Lacuesta.

Many Termita-Accidental projects tend to be somewhat, or even fully, expansive undertakings designed for a wider public, rather than small-scale endeavors.

Lacuesta and Campo are primarily recognized for their dramatic works like the San Sebastian award-winning “Between Two Waters,” but their creation “Saturn Return” often surprises audiences with its comedic twist that plays on expectations. However, “The Candidate and the Screenwriter” is somewhat different.

Lacuesta shared that both Isa and he are really excited about the prospect of creating a comedy. With ‘Accidental’ involved, it seems feasible to produce this movie with high-caliber actors,” (paraphrased from your original text)

Additional ventures include two television series: one is a heartwarming love story centering around a renowned Spanish pop artist-composer, while the other is categorized as a “political suspense,” both based on real-life occurrences.

Lacuesta mentioned that these stories are modern and could feature excellent actors. He’s enthusiastic about creating additional pieces, but he emphasized the need for scriptwriting and direction work. By contributing to co-productions, we can make films that align with our reputation while also producing more commercially successful titles, thereby expanding in both artistic and industrial aspects,” (paraphrased)

Gonzalo stated that Accidental was established with the goal of independently producing our own projects and stories, specifically those from creators we admire. Isa and Isaki are at the forefront of our aspirations. Therefore, we proposed a collaboration to harness their undeniable talent and our expertise in production across various genres and budgets,” (Gonzalo noted).

Lacuesta and Campo can work on various projects as writers or directors, or possibly both. Similarly, Martínez might be the Director of Photography for certain productions, yet he’s also nurturing his skills in writing and directing, he mentioned.

This partnership unites two dynamic companies in Barcelona, Catalonia (a region known for its generous film and TV subsidies) with the Canary Islands of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (offering substantial tax credits). La Termita Films, an esteemed label based in Barcelona, will collaborate with Accidental Films, founded by Gonzalo and Martínez in the Canaries. The goal is to produce content locally, while still being open to providing services for international film shoots. Moreover, Gonzalo expresses enthusiasm about venturing into international co-productions.

Even though numerous businesses in Spain are controlled by large corporations, it’s equally thrilling to establish a partnership between two genuine independent entities,” Gonzalo expressed enthusiastically.

2024-09-18 11:17

Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo’s La Termita, Sara Gonzalo’s Accidental Launch Production Alliance (EXCLUSIVE)

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