‘Santa Evita’s’ Natalia Oreiro to Star in EO Media-El Camino Murder Mystery ‘Punta Blanca’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Argentina’s EO Media, led by CEO Ezequiel Olzanski, has teamed up with Nicolas Aznarez’s Uruguay-based El Camino Films (“Blindness”) to co-produce murder mystery “Punta Blanca” (a working title) with a stellar cast led by Natalia Oreiro, star of Disney’s “Santa Evita” and Prime Video’s “Iosi, the Regretful Spy.”
The six-episode limited series is created by up-and-coming writer-producer Joaquin Romero Vercellino and penned by writers behind the hit Argentine series streaming on Netflix, “El Marginal”: Silvina Olschansky and Guillermo Salmerón, as well as Alejandro Aimetta (“Maradona: Blessed Dream”). EO Media will also handle international sales.
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Described by the producers as a “thrilling whodunit that takes place in the glamorous coast of ‘90s Punta del Este, Uruguay,” it’s inspired by such pics as “Knives Out“ or “Murder on the Orient Express” “where the identity of the killer remains a mystery until the very end and includes a nod to the Oscar-winning ‘Parasite.’ Here, beneath the veneer of glamour, another world lurks, waiting to be unveiled.”
The series will be shot on location in Punta del Este and will be tapping Uruguay’s coveted location filming incentive. The Uruguay Audiovisual Program refunds up to 25% of eligible expenses for foreign entities making films in Uruguay with a local company.
Uruguay has become a valuable lifeline for Argentine producers given the dire cuts in the country’s spend on the arts. Its cash-strapped film-TV body, INCAA, has been defunded by the administration of the new far-right president Javier Milei, among other draconian moves to rein in the country’s hyperinflation. Uruguay has been proposed as a base for the all-important market Ventana Sur, which has traditionally been held every year in Buenos Aires.
“Punta Blanca” will be shooting in some of the same locations used by the recent Premio Platino winner for Best Series, “Barrabravas,” and by “Iosi, The Regretful Spy,” (“Iosi, el espia arrenpentido”), produced by The Mediapro Studio’s Oficina Burman for Prime Video and noted by the New York Times as one of the best TV shows of 2023.
El Camino recently provided local production services to one of Netflix’s most ambitious series, “Senna,” about Brazilian Formula 1 race car driver Ayrton Senna, which shot in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, among other places.
EO Media’s credits include Disney’s “Ringo,” Amazon Original “El Presidente” and the upcoming bio series “Cris Miró,” about the late Argentine trans artist who rose to prominence as a vedette in Buenos Aires’ revue theatre scene.
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