Netflix Inks Alex Pina Pact, Unveils New Argentine, Brazilian Originals

Netflix has secured an overall deal with Alex Pina, the creator of the hit Spanish series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist), and has announced new original dramas out of Argentina and Brazil.

La Casa de Papel is the most watched non-English show on Netflix. Pina, who heads up Vancouver Media and is also behind the Spanish successes Locked Up (Vis a Vis), The Ship (El Barco) and Paco’s Men (Los Hombres de Paco), will produce new projects exclusively for the streaming giant. He is at work on season three of La Casa de Papel for 2019 and is developing Sky Rojo, a female-led action drama.

“We are thrilled to announce our overall deal with Alex Pina and to be working with such a talented creator and production team,” said Erik Barmack, VP of international originals at Netflix. “We have full confidence that Alex will continue to break boundaries with his unique vision and storytelling capturing audiences worldwide.”

“Working alongside Netflix is a dream come true,” Pina said. “We are living in a moment where series are becoming one of the most relevant cultural movements ever. The possibility of reaching the last corner on the planet and building a world where content of all languages can travel globally is to be part of the dream of thousands of creatives from around the world; productions coming from small places in the world that today can reach everyone. We had to be there, beside Netflix, as part of this revolutionary challenge.”

The platform has also announced two new originals out of Latin America. Its latest original out of Brazil is the eight-part The Faction, launching in 2019. The 90s-set drama focuses on a lawyer who is forced to become an informant against her own brother, who leads a criminal gang from behind bars.

“What drew us to The Faction is that through the perspective of Cristina the series invites the audience to explore the inhospitable prison universe of São Paulo of the 90s through an electrifying dramatic thriller,” Barmack said. “Cristina’s trajectory of empowerment and corruption is intertwined with that of the faction and will appeal to Netflix members around the globe.”

“The Faction addresses the contradictory Brazilian reality as a way of better understanding the origin of the problem,” said showrunner Pedro Morelli from O2 Films. “At the same time, this is a suspenseful and high voltage thriller that will get the audience hooked.”

From Argentina, meanwhile, is Puerta 7. The platform’s third Argentina original is created by Martin Zimmerman (Ozark, Narcos), written by Patricio Vega (Los Simuladores) and produced by Pol-ka. Launching next year, it will explore Argentina’s infamous soccer barra bravas. “As a lifelong soccer fan, for years I’ve wanted to explore the intersection between the sport, politics, and crime in Argentina—one of the great incubators for global soccer talent, and my mother’s homeland,”  Zimmerman said. “There is no better place than Netflix to bring this story about the world’s favorite sport to a global audience. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Netflix yet again, combining the experience I gained on both Ozark and Narcos with the talents of my brilliant collaborators in Argentina, to make this dream a reality.”