EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas is increasing its footprint into Spain in a brand new manufacturing enterprise with prolific native producer Enrique López Lavigne geared toward producing formidable initiatives with Spanish expertise with worldwide enchantment.
Bannered Goodapatxe – in a nod to Lavigne’s Apache Movies firm, which he runs alongside El Studio – the enterprise goals to get two to 3 productions off the bottom a 12 months.
Particulars of the primary initiatives are beneath wraps, however the companions have revealed they’re in growth on a Spanish historic movie noir, a western and science fiction image and 4 extra style function movies directed by younger Spanish authors.
Lavigne has been a driving power within the Spanish unbiased cinema scene for greater than 30 years.
He began out as a movie purchaser for Canal Plus, earlier than shifting into distribution at Sogecine. He branched into producing within the late Nineteen Nineties, taking credit on a number of early movies by now established filmmakers similar to Isabel Coixet’s These Who Love, Javier Fesser’s The Miracle of P. Tinto, Julio Medem’s Intercourse and Lucia, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s Intact and Daniel Calparsoro’s Warriors.
Within the 2000s, he produced three of the ten highest-grossing movies of all time in Spain: Fessier’s Mortadelo & Filemon: The Huge Journey, produced beneath the banner of Sogecine, and J.A. Bayona’s The Unattainable and A Monster Calls, produced by his Apaches Leisure along with Belen Atienza.
Lavigne has additionally loved success with style fare similar to Paco Plaza’s Verónica and The Grandmother in addition to Fresnadillo’s zombie image 28 Weeks Later, the well-received sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.
Lately, he has embraced the arrival of the streamers with productions similar to marriage comedy Vergüenza for Movistar+, expertise agent comedy Paquita Salas for Netflix and Veneno for Atresplayer, in regards to the late Spanish transgender singer and tv character Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez.
He’s presently gearing up for the discharge of Maria Ripoll’s romantic comedy Yo no soy ésa, made in collaboration with Sony Footage Worldwide, on which he’s a co-producer beneath his El Studio banner.
Lavigne is joined within the enterprise on his facet by longtime affiliate Pilar Robla, whose latest credit embrace The Messiah by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis) for Movistar+.
“We’re thrilled to announce this three way partnership with fellow producer Enrique López Lavigne,” mentioned Goodfellas co-founder Vincent Maraval.
“We’re satisfied that his consummate information of the Spanish business and profitable observe report in discovering native expertise make him the right accomplice with whom to determine and work with promising administrators and initiatives with a very worldwide enchantment.”
The collaboration was unveiled on the San Sebastian Movie Competition the place each the brand new companions are out in power.
Lavigne is on the competition as co-producer of Argentinian director Luis Ortega’s El Jockey within the Latin Horizons line-up, which beforehand premiered in Venice and has simply been introduced as Argentina’s Oscar entry for the 97th Academy Awards.
Goodfellas is in San Sebastian because the gross sales agent on competition titles, Gia Coppola’s The Final Showgirl, Laura Carreira’s On Falling, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Thierry Frémaux’s Lumière, The Journey Continues, Paco Plaza’s Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April.
“It’s a brand new and thrilling problem to construct a line-up of growth and European coproductions of Spanish skills and impressive initiatives,” mentioned Lavigne.
“It can allow us to compete with extra strong, higher financed and extra authentic initiatives with sturdy worldwide potential, drawing on the instincts and acumen of a group, led by Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua, which I’ve admired for greater than 30 years due to its unparalleled festivals and markets expertise and experience.”
He mentioned Goodapatxe’s mission can be to find and develop new expertise able to overcoming language, style and format limitations to enchantment to worldwide audiences, and adapting to the recent challenges of the brand new configuration of the audiovisual business.
“Nothing may make me happier, after 35 years as a purchaser, distributor and producer, than to contribute to the fixed reinvention of cinema with the perfect companions attainable,” he added.
Goodapatxe joins a rising community of labels and joint ventures launched by Goodfellas since its creation in 2019.
These embrace genre-focused Wild West, a three way partnership with Capricci which has generated movies similar to The Swarm and Vincent Should Die, in addition to gross sales labels Gebeka Worldwide, targeted on animation, and Oui Michel, geared toward sports activities themed movies and sequence.
