David Farnor | On 13, Jul 2018

Netflix has inked an exclusive overall deal with award-winning producer and writer Alex Pina, the creator of La Casa de Papel.

The streaming giant is increasingly stepping up its direct relationships with individual creators, as it seeks to commission and own material for worldwide distribution away from co-production deals or third party licensing agreements. While it has so far blanked on names such as Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, Netflix is also looking at European talent, such as the creators of its German smash hit series Dark. Now, it’s turned its attention to the mind behind the most watched non-English show on Netflix, La Casa de Papel (Money Heist).

Pina, who is founder of production company Vancouver Media, has helped to shake up Spanish TV dramatically in recent years; he’d also the creative powerhouse behind the groundbreaking prison thriller Locked Up (read our review here), as well as The Ship – El Barco and Paco’s Men – Los hombres de Paco. Under the terms of the deal, Pina will produce new series and projects exclusively for Netflix.

Erik Barmack, Vice President, International Originals, Netflix says: “We are thrilled to announce our overall deal with Alex Pina and to be working with such a talented creator and production team. We have full confidence that Alex will continue to break boundaries with his unique vision and storytelling capturing audiences worldwide.”

Pina adds: “Working alongside Netflix is a dream come true. 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.”

After the global success of Part 1 and 2 of the Spanish heist phenomenon, up next as part of the deal is the start of production of La Casa de Papel Part 3, slated for release in 2019. Currently in development is also Sky Rojo, a female-action drama that is set to start production in 2019.

Add to Watchlist