Ran Tellem and Javier Méndez
"The Head" is the first fiction series by Álex and David Pastor in Spain. The Canary Islands and Iceland are the setting of this survival thriller directed by Jorge Dorado, which takes place in one of the most remote places on the planet: the Antarctica. “It is an original idea of Ran Tellem and David Troncoso, with the writing of the Pastor brothers. Little by little we were able to gather the necessary pieces to carry out this great international production shot with dialogues in English and Danish, located at the international Polaris VI station in Antarctica. It is a thriller where there is a crime, but there is no police to investigate, so it is the mission commander himself in charge of finding out what happened at the base,” said Javier Méndez, Chief Content Officer of The Mediapro Studio.
The executive maintains that the market is reacting very positively to the first images displayed, since they have identified it as a very premium product. "We have high hopes that it can be one of the most important series during 2020," Méndez assured.
Ran Tellem, Head of Development of The Mediapro Studio, defines "The Head" as a great enigma, while recognizing that there is something natural in this story. “A polar station is usually a place where people of different nationalities find a home, a space where they want to work. By being locked together, people act in very different ways and become a unit, a family. To do this show we headed to the Canary Islands, where nobody felt like home. We had only us to connect and that connection is felt within the cast and crew. I think that when something feels natural, it is easier to develop an idea, which generates a truly international show,” he considered.
According to the executive, the keys to the staging of this story are the particular characteristics of the studio and the innovation when narrating. “From the beginning, we set out to make a show that took place in complete darkness, but that is on Earth. The set seems to be in space, because there is no place to go and humanity is far away. Outside it is completely dark and if you stay for more than 20 minutes, you disappear. The ability to create that here on Earth was something that inspired us to start looking for a story, so building it was a process. First we knew how the beginning was going to be and then we left everything in the hands of the talented writers, Alex and David Pastor, who built the story, their characters and an innovative way of narrating,” Tellem described.
“The Head” has an international cast, with names suchs as John Lynch, Katherine O'Donelly, Tomohisa Yamashita, Alexandre Willaume, Laura Bach, Sandra Andreis, Amelia Hoy, Mónica López, among others, and the special collaboration of Álvaro Morte. Recruiting this cast was also a delicate process, because they are talents from different countries.
“With each of the characters there is a different story. Laura Bach was the first person we met. When we met her, something she said about her character made us change the script and her role, causing her to become more involved and have more responsibilities, which generated a much more interesting character. That same day we also met Alexandre Willaume. In the case of Tomohisa Yamashita, I had a meeting with Hulu Japan where I showed them the show and they asked me to have another meeting that same day. I didn't know what to expect and they told me that they liked the project, that they would like to have it, but only if we add a Japanese actor. Then they sent us a list with possible names and the first one was Tomohisa. We had a call, he read the script and he liked it a lot, so we felt that connection. In his case, we also made changes in the character based on the personality of the actor. It was a long and beautiful process of preparing the cast for the show. Before meeting the actors, we did a job of understanding what the relationships between the characters were. When they sat at a table to eat together, we wanted to know exactly what each character felt about the other. Once you have that you can take out the lines of the script that do not match,” explained Tellem, who does not hesitate to point out that one of the greatest aspects of the series is its script.
“Every person to whom we sent the script wanted to have a call with us. It was the most valuable tool for casting. Each actor made a process of incorporating their character and added their own layers, secrets and desires. I think the greatest achievement of this show is the narration. Its argument is very strong, with many turning points. You could say that it is a series driven by the script, but what is really cool is that the characters are very well built too. At times you forget about the plot and focus on the characters,” Tellem commented.
NEW CHALLENGES
It is known that the emergence of new operators demanding more content constitutes an excellent position for producers. It's almost like an ideal world for their business, and it is exactly the panorama that Javier Méndez sees. "Alongside its writers, directors and actors, The Mediapro Studio has a lot of talent to meet that huge demand," he assured.
However, the executive warns that there is great disorientation and some chaos in the industry resulting from the breakdown of the traditional business model. “We trust that in a few years the market will settle. What happens in the next five years will be very important, because everything responds to a cultural change where series and new content are already part of our lives. Everything suggests that in 100 years we will talk a lot about this moment,” Méndez emphasized.
On the other hand, the executive points out that, for the immediate future, there should be a debate about the duration of the content. “In a very short time the series will have to offer much shorter episodes. People are very encouraged to consume the content at all times and in any place, so we need to occupy the spaces at all times,” he expresed.
Asked about the evolution of Spanish content in the international market, the executive said that the new operators have allowed to place the content in Spanish globally very quickly. “While it is true that this content already had its place, it was sold in a more divided way. Today, on the other hand, it allows us to reach a huge audience without the obstacle of the language barrier, since they are used to reading subtitles,” Méndez explained.
Finally, when it comes to establishing new challenges, the executive said that Hispanic talent is very large and has enough capacity to produce very efficiently. “Our duty is to put the entire Hispanic production industry in the place it deserves. We must increase its value, double the bet and be more ambitious in the type of content we do. We have the ability to give the world a very premium content. It is our biggest goal now,” Méndez finished.
By Aldo Bianchi
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