With the support of CinemaChileTV, subsidiary brand of ProChile, producers María Elena Wood (Maria de Wood Producciones) and Sergio Karmy (Alto Andes Films) are presenting their new content to the most outstanding professionals in the entertainment world. The French encounter will take place virtually until this Friday, October 16th.
MIPCOM is one of the most relevant events of the year for the audiovisual world, where more than 13,000 professionals from the biggest companies like HBO, BBC, Netflix, or Amazon meet in search of new alliances, sales, and co-productions; the encounter also offers a complete program of conferences, drawing a picture of the current state of the global market.
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Wood is one of the most powerful women in local production, and her vast experience has brought her to lead high-calibre projects like the series Dignity, a German co-production based on the horrors of the cult of Colonia Dignidad (“Dignity Colony”) led by Paul Schäfer in the South of Chile, that will soon have its Latin American premiere on Amazon Prime. In addition, she is working with Colombia for Amazon Studios on a series based on the book News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez.
In the coming days at MIPCOM, Wood is relaunching her boutique production company and promoting projects aimed at making audiences feel good, such as the feature film Mujeres Grandes, a creation of Chilean screenwriter Bárbara Zemelman (Soltera otra vez), under the direction of Argentina’s Natalia Smirnoff (Rompecabezas).
“María Wood Producciones has stood out in making stories and films by relevant Chilean women and, starting now, we will also develop gender-themed fiction, thus one of the projects we’re showing is Mujeres Grandes, which tells the story of four women that are part of that generation that practically doesn’t exist in fiction, women between 50 and 60 years old. They find one another in a house in Pucón, in the South of Chile, in which each of them begins to go through a process that ends with them staying there, initiating a new adventure in their lives,” says Wood.
A second production she is promoting is a romantic comedy. “No tragedies,” she says, and it’s called Un Verano Perfecto. “Who hasn’t had an unforgettable summer? That is what this story is about, and we also want to do a format that allows us to narrate many unforgettable summers, family comedies. This year, with the pandemic and with these tremendous challenges and difficulties that we’re facing, we want to come with illuminating stories,” Wood adds.
Meanwhile, Sergio Karmy of Alto Andes Films, a production house that is expert in developing projects associated with complex social contexts around the world, is promoting a variety of new content, standing out among them is the documentary series Peace, Peace, Now, Now!, which tells the story of women who have found themselves amid armed conflict and how they escape, and it boasts the presence of recognized women as hosts. Karmy assures that very soon he will announce the names of two international actresses that will be joining the project.
“We shot the first episode with Daniela Vega in Colombia, telling the story of the City of Women; and the second was shot here in Chile with Shirley Manson, the vocalist from Garbage, telling the story of the women of the solitary cueca. We’ll film the third episode in November in Guatemala with a very well known Mexican actress, and in December we’ll film in Madrid with another big Spanish actress, an episode related to Mexico. With those four episodes we close the first season, which is focused on Latin America. For this series, we’re looking for buyers and exploring faces and topics for a possible second season, focused probably on Europe,” affirms Karmy. He adds that, in addition, he’s in search of financing for the series Celebrity Boxing Night and a North American co-producer for Drake’s Equation.
This is the ninth consecutive year in which CinemaChileTV, backed by ProChile, accompanies and coordinates the participation of Chilean creators and producers at MIPCOM, in addition to promoting its 2020 International TV Catalogue through a virtual stand.
