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 attraction.
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 yr.
Particulars of the primary initiatives are below wraps, however the companions have revealed they’re in growth on a Spanish historic movie noir, a western and science fiction image and 4 further style function movies directed by younger Spanish authors.
Lavigne has been a driving pressure within the Spanish impartial 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 bunch of early movies by now established filmmakers corresponding 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 Large Journey, produced below the banner of Sogecine, and J.A. Bayona’s The Inconceivable and A Monster Calls, produced by his Apaches Leisure along with Belen Atienza.
Lavigne has additionally loved success with style fare corresponding 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.
In recent times, he has embraced the arrival of the streamers with productions corresponding 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 persona Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez.
He’s at the moment 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 below 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 data of the Spanish trade and profitable monitor file in discovering native expertise make him the right companion with whom to establish and work with promising administrators and initiatives with a very worldwide attraction.”
The collaboration was unveiled on the San Sebastian Movie Competition the place each the brand new companions are out in pressure.
Lavigne is on the pageant 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 pageant 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 abilities and bold initiatives,” mentioned Lavigne.
“It’s going to allow us to compete with extra stable, higher financed and extra unique initiatives with sturdy worldwide potential, drawing on the instincts and acumen of a workforce, 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 could be to find and develop new expertise able to overcoming language, style and format obstacles to attraction to worldwide audiences, and adapting to the contemporary challenges of the brand new configuration of the audiovisual trade.
“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 very best 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 corresponding to The Swarm and Vincent Should Die, in addition to gross sales labels Gebeka Worldwide, centered on animation, and Oui Michel, geared toward sports activities themed movies and collection.
