Beta, Movistar+ expand alliance

MIPTV: German producer and distributor Beta Film is expanding its relationship with Spanish pay TV firm Movistar+ via a multi-year coproduction and distribution arrangement.

Ismael Calleja

The deal will see “a substantial, annual number of productions from a variety of genres, budgets and settings” being coproduced with Movistar+ and sold by Beta globally.

The German company has worked closely with Telefonica-backed Movistar+ for several years, closing numerous sales for Movistar+ original dramas such as The Pier and La Zona.

Christian Gockel, exec VP of international operations at Beta Film, said: “We are very optimistic because, from the early days of our cooperation, we have come to value Movistar+’s approach to filmmaking as unique in its perfect blend of creativity and marketability.“

Ismael Calleja, head of production and business affairs at Movistar+, added that his company was planning to “evolve our initial strategy,” which included an investment of €75m (US$84.28m) in originals in 2017, and was “looking for a stronger and wider alliance.”

Calleja said the deal would “help us to enlarge our originals’ international partners network.”

Just before this week’s MipTV, Beta closed deals for romantic thriller The Pier with Rain in Italy, ORF in Austria, HBO for the Baltics, SBS in Australia, MBC in the Middle East and U-Next in Japan, among others.

La Zona was most recently picked up by Amazon in Italy, Canal+ France, VRT in the Benelux and throughout Eastern Europe by Canal+ Poland. It was also sold to Starz in the US, as previously announced.