Iberseries Platino Industria guests got a sneak peek at the first episode of “Codigo Implacable,” the first TV series in a production alliance between Sony Pictures TV (SPT) and The Mediapro Studio. After the screening, a press conference was held by Paulina Gaitan and other executives from each company.
Marta Ezpeleta, Mediapro’s sales head, spoke first. She revealed that the company had up to 68 entertainment and fiction projects at different stages of production. Of these, 20 are fiction series.
“For those of us in development and production, we have to take advantage of these incredible times,” said SPT exec Ana Bond who cited the production boom high demand for – and acceptance of – premium Latino content.
Serving as showrunner and director of some episodes was New York-born Venezuelan filmmaker Joel Novoa, whose credits include the series “Arrow” for WB, “Walker for CBS, “Cobra Kai” for Netflix and his award-winning film, “God’s Slave.”
Speaking from the U.S. where he’s working on a couple of U.S. series, Novoa described his experience on the Spanish-language series as a much-needed return to his Latino roots and “to tell our stories.” The son of filmmakers Joseph Novoa (“Sicario,” “Solo”) and the late Elia K. Schneider (“Tamara”), Novoa said the project excited him once he read it. “It has a spirit and a heart that I did not see in other scripts I had read; working with Paulina Gaitan and other talent of her caliber was such a great privilege,” he toldVariety.
The series consists of 10 episodes and is filmed in Mexico as well as Colombia. It features four detectives representing different generations, who work together to find a serial rapist who continues to assault women for over 35 years. Gaitan portrays a police rookie who has to prove her worth at station. Together they catch the culprit but he doesn’t admit to all the unresolved cases they present to him.
“It’s important and necessary to portray stories of strong women on the screen, this is the time to do it,” asserted Gaitán whose character clearly endures workplace harassment herself. Gaitan’s character is joined by an undercover agent (Pascacio López), a former commissioner (Ana Layevska) and a retired police officer (Guillermo Quintanilla).
“It is a series that aims to entertain, but also to raise awareness,” Bond was added to the series, which was inspired by a true-life France case.
“Codigo Implacable” is slated to bow on America Movil’s streaming platform, Claro Video, in Latin America.