Fox Networks Group Latin America also unveils ‘Besieged' 3, ’Good Intentions,’ teases ‘The Host’


Gael García Bernal’s political thriller “Aquí en la tierra” (“Here on Earth”), a searing indictment of Mexico’s ruling elite, has been re-upped for a second season by Fox Networks Group Latin America.


The announcement of the renewal comes as, at Spain’s Conecta Fiction, FNGLA senior vice president Mariana Pérez unveiled a new thriller, “Buenas Intenciones,” whose development is set up at Fox Telecolombia, confirmed a third season of “Sitiados” (Besieged) and sneak peeked “The Host,” an innovative non-scripted format starring Adrián Suar, one of Fox’s first two non-scripted shows in Latin America.


Pérez’s presentation underscores various trends at Fox Networks Group Latin America, a driving force behind new generation TV in the region:*FNG Latin America is upping the volume. It has 10 series in production for 2018, more than last year, said Pérez, and “three-to-four times” as many series in development. Fox needs ever more contents, scripted and non-scripted, above all for its Fox Premium service, Pérez explained.


*Diversification: “The Host” and “Fox Talent” a second show teased at Conecta Fiction, will be non-scripted, as Fox begins to develop a general entertainment range serving to make it appointment viewing in a digital space.


*Distinctiveness_ “What we’re looking for are programs whose essence is their difference, which don’t repeat other shows. To compete today, you have to be distinctive,” Pérez said at her presentation.


*Select big plays: “Besieged” 3, will, foreseeably unfold on a far larger canvas than the original, set at a fort in southern Chile, and Season 2, taking place as Colombia’s Cartagena lay under a sea seige. The third part will require more investment,” Pérez said.


Co-starring Garcia Bernal, who co-created the series with Kyzza Terrazas, and produced by Fox Networks Group Latin America and Mexico’s La Corriente del Golfo, García Bernal and Diego Luna’s new production label, “Here on Earth” world premiered in competition at Canneseries this April, receiving an upbeat reception.


Bowing April 20 on Fox Premium in Latin America, and shot with a cinematographic force, it skewers Mexico’s ruling elite, turning on the horse-trading, corruption, demonstrations of near surreal luxury, blackmail and murder, practiced by one of Mexico’s most influential families as its patriarch, Governor Mario Rocha (Daniel Giménez-Cacho) prepares to run for president.


Ariadna Gil plays Rocha’s wife, Alfonso Dorsal his feckless step-son, Tenoch Huerta, the son of the head of the family’s security detail, with ambitions to climb the social ladder.


Season 2 is now casting, Pérez said at Conecta Fiction on Tuesday. It will again co star Gael García Bernal, who will direct an episode. Kyzza Terazzas is writing the second season scripts. “Here on Earth” is once more produced for Fox Premium.


Described by Fox as an “epic mega-production original,” the eight-episode Fox Premium “Besieged” 3 has gone into production in Mexico, starring Alfonso Herrera (“The Exorcist”) and Eréndira Ibarra (“Sense 8”).


Produced by Estudios Teleméxico and directed by Sebastián del Amo (“Cantinflas”) and Álvaro Curiel (“Acorazado”), the third part of ‘Besieged’ transfers the action to an under-siege 17th century Vera Cruz in Mexico, promising an “unparalleled” use of resources. Series is one of the most seen on Fox in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, Perez said.


“Buenas Intenciones” is a 13-segment thriller written by Colombian Andrés Talero Gutiérrez about a veteran DEA agent who, when his daughter is knocked down by members of a drug cartel, decides to pay the cartel back in kind.


In maybe FNG Latin America’s most singular drive into diversification, in “The Host,” Argentina’s Adrián Suar, a blockbuster comedy star (“Me casé con un boludo”), play a lovelorn hotel manager who invites world-famous singers to perform. Mixing fictional drama, performances, and improvised comedy – some driven by comedian Martín Bossi, “The Host” is produced by FNG Latin America and Suar’s Pol-ka, one of Latin America’s most prominent production houses, whose credits include “The Bronze Garden,” “The Fragility of Bodies” and “The Lobbysist.” Going into production in July, it will air across Latin America in September.


A second non-scripted departure for Fox, “Talent Fox” stars actor-singers Wisin, Diego Torres y Lali in an alternative show featuring performers who, for whatever the reason – stage fright, personal problems – have never performed in public. “This isn’t a show about choosing the best voice but helping people to break barriers,” Pérez said.


Fox Producciones Originales has launched a third call for applications for series projects, opening up to include not only Latin America but also Spain. Fox received over 3,300 proposals in its first two editions.


FNG Latin America and Entrelíneas, headed by José Alberto “el Güero” Castro, are developing “InFidel,” written by Mexico’s David Barraza Ibáñez, an intimate portrait of Fidel Castro, via the women who have formed part of his love life. Each of the eight episodes turns on a different woman.


FNG Latin America has set up a writer’s room to develop “Santa Evita,” based on the 1995 best-seller by Argentine Tomás Eloy Martínez, about the 26-year odyssey of Eva Duarte’s mummified cadaver. A writing team created by Chilean director Pablo Larraín is developing “Santa Marta,” a religious thriller from an original idea by Larraín.


Pérez also screened excerpts from call girl drama “My Name is Bruna,” now shooting its third season and a hit over all Latin America; and Brazil’s true-events-based “1 Contra Todos,” about a man mistaken for a drug lord, with a fourth season in development.


In a different vein, “Run, Coyote, Run” has a third season in development. A bromance black comedy, packed with odd-ball characters and set on the U.S.-Mexico border whose Season 1 finale, on FX Mexico, was the most-seen show in Mexico in its time frame when it first aired.