Pablo Fendrik deirector de El refugio
STARZPLAY, Pantaya, Fremantle, and Fábula, announced its newest Spanish language co-production collaboration for the science fiction miniseries El Refugio, wrapping principal photography this week in Chile. The series stars Alberto Guerra (La Jauria) and Ana Claudia Talancón (Como Caído del Cielo) and is directed by Argentinean Pablo Fendrik (Ardor).
The miniseries consists of six one-hour episodes based on the original idea by Julio Rojas (La Vida de Los Peces) who also co-wrote the series with Francisco Ortega (Logia) and Enrique Videla (La Jauría) and the duration of production included 10 weeks of filming in rural areas of Santiago, Chile. El Refugio will premiere in Latin America, Brazil, and Spain on STARZPLAY and in the United States and Puerto Rico on Pantaya. Internationally known as The Shelter, Fremantle will handle the international distribution of the series.
El Refugio (The Shelter) is executive produced by Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Ángela Poblete and Mariane Hartard, from Fabula, and Christian Vesper, from Fremantle. The co-production deal was brokered by Sheila Aguirre, EVP Content Distribution & Format Sales, Caribbean & Hispanic US for Fremantle, Paul Presburger, and Mario Almeida from Pantaya and Jeff Cooke for Starzplay.
“We are excited to push the boundaries of premium Spanish-language series with El Refugio, which is a brilliant fusion of various genres,” said Mario Almeida, Head of content for Pantaya. “At its core though, El Refugio is a love story about families, and how families cope with life-changing events. This series is wholly unique, and we know will strike a chord with audiences when they watch.”
“Reuniting with the magnificent teams at Fabula, Pantaya, and Fremantle for this powerful story reinforces our commitment to co-producing locally made and culturally relevant content,” said Superna Kalle, president, International Networks for Starz.
“It is a great challenge to make a 100% Latino science fiction series and the result of Pablo Fendrik’s work and his team is surprising. El Refugio is an entertaining and exciting story, performed by great actors and actresses” said Ángela Poblete, executive producer at Fábula.
“A sophisticated and timely thriller with universal issues of love and family at its heart, El Refugio features extraordinary talent both on and off-screen. We can’t wait to share this unique story with audiences and see how they react,” says Christian Vesper, president of Global Drama for Fremantle.
In El Refugio a family experiences the strangest hours of their lives when unusual phenomena begin to take place, apparently caused by an alien invasion or a completely unidentified force of nature. But all of it happens through their screens. When they go outside, nothing seems to be happening, aside from what springtime in the Mexican countryside holds in store for a group of humans.
