Pitchbox Interview: Antonio Recio Beladiez, creator of “Clandestines”

A Madrid TV Pitchbox 2017 Special Mention

We talk to Antonio Recio Beladiez, creator and director of “Clandestines”, a series project that looks into the Spanish historical past, with a story centred around the life of oppositors to the fascist regime of Franco, as well as those which helped them go through exile, running a very high risk for their lives.

Brief synopsis:

Spain 1958. Marcos and Lucía work at an ad agency; Marcos is also a police photographer. Both are members of a clandestine organization which facilitates fake documents for men and women who are trying to flee the country.

FMH: We’d like to know a bit more about your trajectory, why did you choose this profession? Where did you study? Where did you start your career?

A.R: Since I was a kid I wanted to be a filmmaker. When I was 17 years old I was lucky enough to meet someone who introduced me to the world of film. I had the chance to be at film shoots and little by little, the camera seduced me. It was the first thing that attracted me. Fortunately, I didn’t study anything, I almost went to college, then it was called “Information Sciences”, but I had worked as a camera assistant and it was, without a doubt, the best schooling I could ever get, as it is the best way of learning what it means to shoot film. When, further down the line, I wanted to learn more concretely about lenses, color, scripts…I did it with courses and workshops.

FMH: What other stuff have you worked on? Can you talk to us or show us your most noteworthy work up until now?

A.R: I’ve worked in many different departments since then. Camera operator, director of photography, producer and finally, director. I’ve been working in fiction for 26 years, the last 18 as a director. I’ve worked on diverse Spanish TV shows and I’ve also directed a few tv movies.

FMH: Talk to us about the project Clandestines. How did you come about with the story? What is it about?

A.R: I consider myself a director, not a screenwriter, but I write since I was a kid. The story of Clandestines came up from a screenplay for a feature film that I then transformed into TV series.

The main idea was to talk about the life of people who lived fascism in Spain within clandestinity, in the 50s and 60s in Madrid. We see everything to the lens of a photographer who works for an ad agency, but who also collaborates with the homicide police department. He’s also got a parallel life taking headshots for the passports and fake documents of people who were being chased by the regime, trying to leave the country for a better life.

FMH: What was the process of writing a script like this?

A.R: Tough and long. A lot of research about the time everything takes place. There were many famous crimes and murders throughout those years, which shocked Spain for its bloody and violence, which are part of this documentation that I needed to write the story.

FMH: How long have you been working on this project?

A.R: I was working on the project for three years, alternating it with my work as a director.

FMH: Where does the project stand now? What does it need to further be developed?

A.R: It needs financing and a broadcaster who will go for it and will want to make a show about our closest history.

FMH: What are you seeking to explore or what do you want to show with this TV series?

A.R: I want for people to get to know who were these characters that had to escape the country. They weren’t only opposing the regime, which usually ended in them being incarcerated into concentration camps and execution, it was also innocent families of opponents to the regime, homosexuals etc.

It is an homage to all those people who lived at the edge of the blade, risking their life helping other people to get out of the country. As a character says, back then, it was a hell full of innocents.

FMH: What would you stand out most in the project?

A.R: The convergence of real cases with that clandestinity. The audience knows the main character is in constant danger, collaborating with the police which is very violent and identifies him as part of their team. The intrigue and stakes are higher and higher constantly. And of course, to shed some light on a very dark time of our history, which is good to remember today.

FMH: Had you tried to shop it around before getting to know us at Filmarket Hub? How was the experience?

A.R: No, Filmarket Hub was my first option. The project was selected as part of the SGAE (Spanish association of authors and editors)development lab for tv series in 2015.

FMH: What made you submit it to Madrid TV Pitchbox?

A.R: The thought that someday it might become a reality, of course, and also because I don’t know another platform which can be capable of getting together, in one pitching session, all the main industry companies in the country.

A lot of the people who write fiction have a very hard time selling their work and themselves as writers, due to lack of network or contacts in other TV channels or production companies. And most of the time, our project see the light of day; a project to which we have dedicated a lot of time, it won’t even be read. If you don’t have a name, it is very difficult to be known, that’s why it is very important to have platforms like Filmarket Hub.

QUICK QUESTIONNAIRE

Three favorite screenwriters:

• Ben Hecht
• Rafael Azcona
• William Goldman

Three favorite film books:

• The adventures of a screenwriter in Hollywood, W.Goldman
• Save the Cat! , B. Snyder

And, though it is not a screenwriting book:

• Hitchcock/Truffaut, F.Truffaut

Three favorite directors:

• Alfred Hitchcock
• Steven Spielberg
• Krzysztof Kieslowski