email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

Julio Fernández • Producer

"A strong dose of adrenaline"

- Julio Fernández has managed to build strong ties with Filmax, a production company behind many young directors and which in recent years has specialised in genre films

Producer Julio Fernández has managed to build strong ties with Filmax International, a historic Catalan production company behind many young directors and which in recent years has specialised in genre films, making their mark on hits such as The Kovak Box, The Machinist [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and the television series "Películas para dormir", with films directed by, among others, Alex de la Iglesia, Chicho Ibáñez Serrador and Mateo Gil.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Filmax has also produced box office hits such as El Lobo (over 1.5 million admissions in Spain), Los managers (starring Fran Perea and Paco León) and Perfume: Story of a Murderer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a European super-production in which Filmax was the Spanish partner.

Furthermore, the project Fantastic Factory, based on an original idea by Fernández, brought together the most eminent professionals of the fantasy film genre to produce titles such as Jaume Balagueró’s Darkness [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which was moderately successful in Spain and the US. The company will also distribute big titles such as El último de los justos and Transsiberian [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(directed by Brad Anderson and starring Woody Harrelson, Eduardo Noriega and Ben Kingsley), and is about to wrap up Cobardes, the new film by the directing duo behind Tapas, Juan Cruz and José Corbacho.

Cineuropa: Filmax has always made genre films in Spain, a choice that to many seemed suicidal. Why this single specialty?
Julio Fernández: Because I like fantasy films, because of the possibility of international sales, and because we took a gamble on Spanish cinema.

What attracted you most to REC [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
interview: Julio Fernández
film profile
]
? Didn’t it seem unusual?

I liked its originality and the risk factor, elements that render the project attractive and emotional.

The film was shot with a shoulder-held camera in a single building. Was it very costly? Did you come across unexpected problems?
We managed to stay within budget and the problems were solved through talent and hard work.

Have the awards that you received at the Sitges Festival helped you sell the film? How has it sold outside of Spain? What was it that foreign distributors liked about the film?
The film has sold throughout the world. That which piqued distributors’ interest the exactly the same thing that we liked and which compelled us to produce the film.

The film has already been bought in the U.S., for a remake. What can you tell us about this new project? What will change with respect to the original?
The film has already begun shooting in the United States with an impressive set. Filming takes place in Los Angeles and we hope they’ll be able to at least match Balagueró and Plaza.

What other horror projects is Filmax developing?
We’re continuing with this innovative slate, making horror films, including a group of films we consider claustrophobic horror, which will be entitled Paintball and Circus.

What kind of audiences will most like the film?
It’s a project that all kinds of audiences will like because it contains something new, a strong dose of adrenaline that promises doubly spectacular reactions if the film is seen in a group.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

See also

Privacy Policy