Global production giant Fremantle is teaming with Chilean producer Fabula on the Spanish-language drama series La Jauria (The Pack).
Director and screenwriter Lucia Puenzo (Ingobernable, Wacolda) is on board as showrunner for the eight-part series, which is described as a psychological thriller and is set to start production in January in Chile.
Daniela Vega, star of Fabula’s A Fantastic Woman, which won this year’s best foreign-language film Oscar, leads the cast, marking her debut in a Latin American drama series. The Pack also features Antonia Zegers (A Fantastic Woman, The Club).
“We are immensely proud to be working with the highly talented Fabula team on our first Latin American drama. The Pack is a powerful story with strong female characters leading the fight against the very real social issues of femicide and gender-based crimes in Latin America,” said Christian Vesper, executive vp, creative director, global drama at Fremantle.
The project marks the latest in a string of high-profile drama partnerships for Fremantle, which teamed with Working Title for The Luminaries; Michael Haneke for Kelvin’s Book; and Natalie Dormer and Mainstreet Pictures for Vivien Leigh, among others.
The series opens as the students of a private school stage a takeover in protest of a teacher who is suspected of sexually assaulting a pupil. Blanca Ibarra, a 17-year-old student, leads the protest, but suddenly goes missing. Amidst the search for the missing schoolgirl, a video of Blanca being raped by a gang of unidentifiable men emerges and goes viral. A gender-based crime specialist police force formed by Elisa Murillo and Olivia Fernandez work to find Blanca before it’s too late. As the investigation gets deeper, they learn that there is more than one offender behind the crime.
“The Pack is an appealing series that will allow us to address the current social context, with a breathtaking narrative that gives no respite,” said Television Fabula president Angela Poblete. “It has the freshness of the feminist revolution that has inspired millions of citizens to march in the streets of the capitals of Latin America, from Santiago to Buenos Aires, from Bogota to Mexico City, and portrays the impact of gender violence in our societies.”
The Pack will be co-produced in association with Kapow and in partnership with Chilean pubcaster TVN.
