In a milestone move, Sony Pictures Television has unveiled “La Academia,” its first Spanish-language scripted series filmed in Spain for Prime Video and Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat.
“La Academia” is produced for Sony by Brutal Media, commissioned out of Sony Pictures Television’s international production group. SPT is distributing the series worldwide. Shot over last summer in Barcelona, “La Academia” will be dubbed into Catalan for its 3Cat broadcast.
A scripted young adult drama series which SPT describes as being set in the high-pressure, high-drama world of elite youth soccer and its rising stars, ‘La Academia’ takes place at the Spanish training centre of the Apolo F.C., one of the best professional soccer clubs in the world.
There boys and girls from different social backgrounds fight for a shared dream which will inevitably create fiction between them: to make the first team and become the world’s next top players.
The young cast is led by new Spanish talent such as Ton Vieira (“HIT,” “Through My Window”), Marc Soler (“UPA Next”), Mia Sala-Patau (“This Is Not Sweden”), Ebony Vidjrakou (“Brutal Doctor”) and newcomer Rita González.
Paco Tous (“Money Heist,” “30 Coins”), Diego Martín (“Elite,” “Súpernormal”), Barbara Goenaga (“Súpernormal,” “La noche más larga”), Luka Peros (“Money Heist”), Marc Martinez (“Intimacy”) and Irene Montalá (“Historias para no dormir”).
“La Academia” is executive produced by Marisa Simón-Moore for SPT, Arlette Peyret for Brutal Media and Oriol Sala-Patau and Conxa Orea for 3Cat. Brendan Fitzgerald serves as an executive producer, and Raimon Masllorens as a producer for Brutal Media.
“‘La Academia’ is a true milestone for Sony Pictures Television, our first Spanish-language drama series filmed on the ground in Spain, and we look forward to developing further projects through our local team, lead by scripted development director, Marisa Simón-Moore,” said Matthew Justice, EVP, head of U.K. and Europe, Sony Pictures Television.
“With La Academia, it has been fantastic to not only tap into the incredible production resources the Spanish industry offers, but, alongside our friends at Brutal Media, to tell a story which will resonate globally and has drama which can unfold both on and off the pitch,” he added.
“At the very origin of this idea, we thought that putting football, elite young talent, rivalry and pressure together, would be the perfect recipe for a high wattage production”, added Masllorens. “We are sure the series will have a warm welcome by young adults and families the world over.”
The series is directed by Fernando Trullols (“Bosé,” “Hache”) and second unit director, Laura Jou (“Cucut,” “Caida Libre”), Series creators Jacobo Delgado (script coordinator), Pablo Bartolomé and Laura León, alongside Yolanda García Serrano, comprised the writers team.
La Academia
Credit: 2024 CPT HOLDINGS, INC.
Launching its Spain-based Spanish-language production, SPT can count on both the huge popularity of soccer, the world’s biggest sport, and the large success of Spanish series: Four Spanish seasons feature in Netfix’s Top 10 chart of its most popular Non-English series ever, led by “Money Heist,” streamers hits helping to create an international star system. Eminently multi-national, soccer is a natural scenario for character drawn from throughout the world, “La Academia” featuring, for example, Jairo, newly landed from Colombia with no formal training yet innately talented with the ball.
SPT is announcing “La Academia” as it readies its London TV Screenings presentation which takes in action-packed thriller “Red Eye” as well as first looks at epic crime drama “Dope Girls,” Left Bank’s “Insomnia” starring Vicky McClure; and the anticipated third instalment in Blueprint’s acclaimed “Scandal” franchise, “A Very Royal Scandal.”
SPT’s unscripted formats division will showcasing global hit “So You Think You Can Dance,” about to launch its eighteenth season in the U.S. It will also unveil a brand-new cutthroat reality gameshow from Stellify Media, and celebrate “Dragons’ Den”/“Shark Tank” international super-brand.
Sony Pictures Television’s London Showcase 2024 will tease its scripted line-up, set to be revealed in full at the L.A. Screenings later this year.
The showcase will be a mix of executive producer and talent-led presentations and meeting opportunities with key creatives, as well as clips, sizzles and full screenings of the titles on our slate, SPT said Friday.
