After a run that put Spanish originals at the centre of global awards conversations, Movistar Plus heads into Mipcom with a clearer growth plan: scale the slate, chase younger subscribers and use genre to carry social-issue stories without giving up entertainment.
Last week’s International Emmy nominations for Alberto Rodríguez’s The Anatomy of a Moment and Javier Cámara’s performance in Jakarta extended a streak that already includes Series Mania prizes for Querer and Celeste, two Oscar nominations for Sirāt, and Cannes heat for La Bola Negra.
From awards streak to volume play
Under CEO Alfonso Gómez Palacio and contents director Juan Andrés García Romero, the operator’s next phase is aimed at younger viewers. The Mipcom title Many People Need to Die, the series debut of YouTube-podcast comedian Victoria Martín, is positioned as an audience and subscriber driver. García Romero says a second season has already been ordered.
That is part of a larger commitment. In early July, Movistar Plus announced it will double annual Spanish original series output from eight to 16 titles, arguing that originals “attract more client and generate more engagement.”
The slate as strategy
- Younger skew: A comedian-led comedy that has converted viewers into subscribers and earned a quick Season 2 renewal.
- Co-production risk-sharing: Killing a Bear marks a fourth collaboration with Arte France; Celeste Season 2 brings in The Mediapro Studio for production and international sales.
- Genre with an edge: The Castle, Killing a Bear and Celeste are crime thrillers that deliberately reject easy genre tropes.
Killing a Bear, a fact-based wild bear murder mystery from Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo, is set in Catalonia’s Aran Valley. The creators describe it as a procedural and a fable that uses genre as a vehicle for the violence born of polarized conflicts. The Castle, meanwhile, marks the series co-creator debut of Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s longtime co-writer, and follows a young police inspector’s long pursuit of a prostitution kingpin.
Why it matters for buyers
For media planners, entertainment marketers and acquisition teams, the doubling of original output is a supply-side signal. More commissioned titles means more Spanish drama and comedy entering the international market, often with a distribution partner already attached. The co-production structure also spreads cost and de-risks a bigger pipeline.
The creative model is a second takeaway. Celeste creator Diego San Jose says Movistar Plus gave the team freedom to make a series with “light and shade” rather than a broad comedy built for the widest possible audience. That latitude has become a retention lever: it helps titles stand out in a crowded drama market while remaining exportable.
What to watch
The bet is that volume and prestige can coexist. Early renewals and international sales partnerships suggest Movistar Plus is trying to convert award momentum into a repeatable growth engine, not a one-off. The next test will be whether new voices such as Peña and Martín can keep delivering both subscriber conversion and festival attention at a faster cadence.
Source: Variety
