Chile’s preeminent scribe Julio Rojas, whose serial podcast “Case 63” was Spotify’s most popular podcast in Latin America and was adapted into English with Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac starring, is writing his first romcom after the global success of “Case 63.”
Titled “Detras de ti” (“I Got Your Back,” working title), the upcoming project is being co-produced by Spain’s EvaFilms and David Naranjo’s Pris & Batty, best known for its hit comedies “8 apellidos vascos,” “8 apellidos catalanes” and “Toc toc.”
“Ever since I listened to ‘Case 63,’ I was very keen to work with Julio and bring his work to the big screen,” said Eva Cebrián of EvaFilms, adding: “Julio is an indisputable storyteller who has most understood the audio format, given his deep experience as a screenwriter.”
While Rojas has a predilection for sci-fi projects, Cebrián pointed out that romance was very much intrinsic to his work. “Detras de ti” will be a departure for Rojas, but it’s set in the near future and will still bear science-fiction elements.
Rojas is also known for co-writing Pablo Fendrik’s Latino sci-fi series “The Shelter,” story editing Lucia Puenzo’s “La Jauria” and penning a number of acclaimed features, led by Marcela Said’s “The Summer of Flying Fish” and Matias Bize’s “The Memory of Water.”
To be directed by Vicente Villanueva, (“Toc toc”), “Detras de ti” centers on 24-year-old Joaquin, an aspiring screenwriter who while trying to land a job at a streaming platform, forms part of an “image support team,” a top secret service where a group of nerds in a control room connect visually and aurally with a celebrity to guide him through situations and make him appear more intelligent, creative and talented than he really is.
When Joaquin sees his client, B-list actor Daniel Casañas, start falling in love with the same girl he loves, the boundaries between appearance and reality begin to blur for everyone. This is “a romantic comedy in a world where the real and the artificial, where the authentic and the apparent grow increasingly muddled,” the synopsis says.
EvaFilms and Pris & Batty are also co-producing fantasy tale “La Ternura” which is being shot in the Dominican Republic.
EvaFilms was founded in 2019 by Cebrián, who held executive positions at pubcaster RTVE as head of film and later, of TV programming. She also founded onDemand Media, an audiovisual producer and consultant in Mexico and Spain, was an advisor to the digital creative agency Social Noise and was director of new projects and developments for Stage Entertainment Spain, a company that produces some of the most successful musicals in the world.
Rojas is represented by Agencia La Luz, a talent management agency and project incubator founded byConstanza Arena, the former executive director of CinemaChile, that represents many of Chile’s foremost writing, directing and acting talents.
