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“Demokracy,” a period women’s emancipation tale plus crime thriller, has walked off with the biggest prize at Conecta Fiction Reboot, a development deal from Spanish public broadcaster Tve.

Written by Spain’s Rodrigo Martín and screenwriter-producer Pedro García Ríos, “Demokracy” is set in 1979, during Spain’s transition from Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in 1975 to supposed full democracy in 1982. In it, Clara, one of Spain’s 42 first ever women police officer graduates, is assigned to a conflictive police station in Madrid, and begins to aid an undercover operation. This exposes the station to both the heroine trade and far right factions, which were eventually to launch Spain’s 1981 near-run coup d’etat. A drug trade subplot links her to two other women, one the wife of a drug dealer who suffers domestic abuse, but is unable to divorce, the other the mother of a drug addict. Clara’s battle to...

Pamplona, Spain — A project pitched three years ago at the very first Conecta Fiction in the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela, “Ines of My Soul” was back at the international co-pro and networking summit, this year in Pamplona, where it was held up as one of the still-young event’s most significant success stories.

The stage was crowded, including speakers Consuelo Silva, executive producer at Chilevisión; Rtve director of content Fernando López Puig; Jorge Redondo, executive producer at Boomerang TV; Ricardo Carbonero, head of acquisitions for Amazon Prime Video in Spain; screenwriter Paco Mateo and co-directors Alejandro Bazzano and Nicolas Acuña.

The miniseries, a made-for-tv adaptation of Isabel Allende’s novel of the same name, is being co-produced by broadcasters Rtve in Spain and Chilevisión in Chile as well as Madrid-based production company Boomerang TV. Amazon Prime Video has secured exclusive streaming rights in the U.S., Spain and Latin America.

Madrid — Two female-driven feature comedy projects with potential international appeal, Cristina Trenas and Isabel Delclaux’s “Three Astronauts” and Roberto Goñi and Laura Molpeceres’ “Two Friends,” proved top highlights at the fifth edition of Pitchbox, held in Madrid.

Organized by online platform Filmarket Hub, the films-in-development showcase took place May 22, attracting a typically select but high-quality caliber of executives and represented companies from key players such as Telecinco Cinema, Atresmedia Cine, Tve, Warner Bros. España, DeAPlaneta, Tornasol Films, Morena Films, Latido Films, Dynamo and TriPictures.

The seven projects pitched, previously filtered and analyzed by Filmarket Hub, generated a wide-ranging selection in terms of film genres and budgets, while reflecting women’s growing visibility in creation, direction and lead characters.

Event’s networking also served to confirm that Spanish film industry problems remain, from regulatory uncertainty to under-capitalized public funding schemes and the commitment to independent production of many public broadcasters.

Spanish drama production has evolved quickly in the past few years, while the proliferation of Svod platforms is revolutionizing the sector. Ott distribution has helped push some Spanish series onto not only continental screens, but also global TVs.

Take, for example, Alex Pina’s “La Casa de Papel,” produced by Vancouver Media for Atresmedia, and acquired worldwide by Netflix. Its Dalí-inspired aesthetic has been celebrated at Brazil’s Carnival and Saudi soccer matches.

Netflix has now commissioned Spanish drama series (such as Bambú’s “The Cable Girls”) and made early investments in others (such as Rtve’s “The Department of Time,” Atresmedia’s “The Cathedral of the Sea”).

Spanish fiction has “always been a quality product,” says Mediapro head of content Javier Méndez. Now, “the world is discovering Spanish fiction through its presence on new global platforms.”

Beyond Spain, the main target is Latin America.

In February, Movistar Plus — Telefonica...