Beta Spain unveils spy reality format inspired by Spanish film Undercover

Award-winning Spanish film Undercover (aka La Infiltrada)

LA SCREENINGS: Beta Entertainment Spain is launching a new format called Undercover Agent: Double Game to the market, inspired by the multi-award-winning Spanish film La Infiltrada.

Distributed by Beta Fiction Spain, Undercover tells the true story of a police officer who infiltrated the terrorist organisation ETA under another identity for eight years, during which time she lived with ETA members and contributed to the dismantling of a major commando unit.

As revealed to C21’s sister publication Cveintiuno in LA this week by the CEO of the production company, Javier Pérez da Silva, the company has used the movie as a starting point for a spy reality show with infiltration as its central element. La Infiltrada: Doble Juego (Undercover Agent: Double Game) “has a bit of The Traitors, but is more like 007: Road to a Million,” he said, referring to the format set in the James Bond universe from Prime Video.

“It’s our big format this year. What we’ve done is take the fiction IP and bring it to entertainment, to build a reality and adventure format,” explained Pérez da Silva.

Undercover Agent: Double Game follows the rules of the Spanish police force’s real-life infiltration program, which takes place at the Ávila Academy. Sixteen officers are trained to infiltrate, but four of them are actually infiltrators themselves, and the rest must discover who they are. “It feels like a contest. And it’s all based on the marketing of the film, which was a box office hit and received excellent reviews,” the Beta executive added.

The show will be hosted by one of the actors from the film, which was directed by Arantxa Echevarría and became the second highest-grossing film in Spain in 2024. It was recognised with multiple awards, including the Goya for Best Film and Best Actress for Carolina Yuste.

While Undercover Agent: Double Game is a development project designed for the local Spanish market, Beta Entertainment Spain is confident that the “concept works everywhere” and is therefore a format with the capacity to travel outside Spain.

The creation of original IPs is one of the production company’s priorities. Earlier this year, it launched the format Dancing with Robots in partnership with Spanish companies Boomerang TV and Phileas, and has already secured a screen in Spain.

According to Pérez da Silva, after the boom in format adaptations with track records in recent years, a period is now beginning in which the market will seek more original entertainment IPs. “Everyone is looking for separate lines of business, and that’s what your own IP gives you,” he said.  He added: “In the next five years, buying will start to return. Without a doubt.

“Streamers are already in the black and will move the market, and that will also move the free-to-air channels. It will be a great time again for producers, creators, and creatives.”