Venevision nabs rights to Spanish trio

Deal covers U.S. DVD, VOD, pay TV

By EMILIANO DE PABLOS

Miami-based Venevision Intl. has taken U.S. DVD, video-on-demand and pay TV rights to three Spanish-language films, headed by Rodrigo Cortes' thriller "The Contestant."

Completing the package is Imanol Uribe's adventure story "The Nautical Chart," the film adaptation of a bestseller by Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Joaquin Oristrell's comedy "Nobody Is Perfect," about three physically handicapped friends.

Pics were sold by Spanish pubcaster RTVE's international sales arm, which has also sold Venevision a batch of 14 films for Stateside pay TV, including immigration drama "Crossing Borders" and Ventura Pons' dramedy "Animales heridos."

Venevision Intl. is one of the most voracious U.S. buyers of Spanish films, principally targeting the Hispanic market. It leads the distribution of significant Spanish film titles for DVD and TV outlets in the U.S. Latino market.

In the past three years, the Cisneros Group-owned company has bought some 200 films from Spain, mainly to feed its U.S. cable service Venemovies.

However, a few films acquired by Venevision for the U.S. have also been released via HBO.

Launched in May 2006, Venemovies offers Spanish-language pics around the clock. Nearly 40% of them come from Spain; the rest are Latin American or U.S. Hispanic features.