“El Marginal”, the Argentine Netflix series that breaks schemes

Buenos Aires. The Argentine series “El Marginal”, created by director and screenwriter Sebastián Ortega in 2016, and whose fifth and final season premiered last May, is somewhat reminiscent of “La Casa de Papel”, two productions that after their incorporation into a streaming platform exceptionally expanded their international reach. The Argentine fiction, which narrates the comings and goings of the inmates of a dangerous prison, quickly achieved a national success by broadcasting its first season on Public Television, which made Netflix interested in it and will participate in the development of four of its five seasons, in which it became an international phenomenon. There is a certain morbidity in the audience for exploring a world that is alien to them, but that they know, listen and know exists,” Pablo Culell, general producer of the series, told EFE. And he adds that within this universe there is a palette of characters who, “although they border on the criminal in a concrete way”, seek a change and “generate empathy with the audience”. The prison itself is another character where “Argentina and Latin American countries are reflected”. And that’s why, in countries that don’t have these types of prisons, there’s something exotic, a “Europeanized” look at what Latina prisons can be. Its realistic basis is shown in the codes, in corruption, in the question of who are those who have to be inside and who are those who have to be outside, but “it is not a testimony of prisons, it is not a documentary,” he says. BET ON THE PREQUELS “El Marginal” is a series with a particular structure. It is not common for prequels to occupy entire seasons in fiction, but it is more common than the ‘spin-off’ or parallel series developed later. The series is for Culell “an example of many things” for the Argentine audiovisual medium: “It is the first series with five seasons, the first with such a great international success and the first that points to the prequels and then go to the sequels”. It was originally intended as a one-season miniseries for public television. However, its national repercussion and its subsequent sale to Netflix “forced to make a second season”. A prequel, already in collaboration between public television and Netflix, whose success “was enhanced 10 times more”, and surpassed in audience the leading channels. It sounds strange that in times where stories don’t seem to end, a platform like Netflix lets go of a series that has given it so many benefits.” There are cycles that are fulfilled, there are stories that it is better to leave and that the public misses them, to exhaust them because they are successful and that it ends up turning its back on them or getting tired, “explains Culell. ” We prefer to leave with success in tow and with people feeling that it was well told,” he addsHowever, the producer assures that “the future is the future (…) and maybe at some point the possibility of doing something with ‘El Marginal’ or something similar will appear.” In fact, already in 2018 “El Recluso” was premiered, a replica made with a Mexican cast. EFFECTS OF STREAMING AND SOCIAL NETWORKSIn Spain, the last two seasons were among the most viewed on the platform. Here the producer emphasizes that “generally” Argentine productions work well in Spain, and vice versa. In the rest of Latin America the success was widespread and for several weeks “El Marginal” was in the Top 10 of Netflix of non-English-speaking series. The fourth season had almost 30 million views in less than ten days in non-English-speaking countries,” says the producer, adding that the final season, a month after the premiere, was still in the top 10 of Argentina, Uruguay and other countries. It is the dream of any audiovisual creative to be able to transcend your own border,” he says. In addition to serving as a showcase, streaming platforms allow you to maintain a much more exhaustive follow-up of your views. Previously, successful series had to sell their format abroad, either selling the original series or the production book itself to adapt it with actors from other countries, while with streaming platforms the impact “comes much more directly”. We recommend you read: Closed the stage of “El Marginal”, Culell says that from Telemundo Streaming Studios they are working on two great projects that will soon premiere on Netflix: “Diario de un Gigoló”, an Argentine thriller with a mostly Mexican cast, a Spanish protagonist (Jesús Castro) and some Argentine actors; and “El secreto de la familia Greco” an adaptation of “Historia de un Clan”, with a Mexican cast and actor Fernando Colunga, about the Puccio Clan, an Argentine family that dedicated itself to extor kidnappingssivos. Michoacan Government ‘Asks’ Pueblos Unidos to Remove Its Criminal Barricade

Original source in Spanish