Veneno (TV series)

In May 2019 it was announced that Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi were in talks to produce, write and direct a biopic about the life of Spanish transgender TV personality "La Veneno" for Atresmedia.[8] In November 2019 the cast was confirmed, with Jedet, Daniela Santiago and Isabel Torres being selected to play the main character, Cristina Ortiz, in the series.[9] The selection was very well received by the general public who thanked the duo for choosing three genuine transgender women to play a transgender woman.[10] Filming began on December 16 in Isleta del Moro, a small town in the province of Almería. Production later extended to Adra, Valencia and the Community of Madrid (with special focus at the Casa de Campo) and was scheduled to last four months, ending in March 2020.[11][12] Production was shut in early March due to Spain's national lockdown, decreed on March 14 and caused by the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, which had already infected over 5,000 people by that date.

On January 17 and 25, the first two teasers were posted on social media.[13] On January 28 it was announced that the series would be released on Atresmedia Premium in March 2020.[14] The official release date was revealed on February 14.[15] The series' poster was revealed on March 6 with the final trailer being released a week later.[16]

Veneno focuses on the life and death of one of the most important and beloved LGBT icons in Spain, known as La Veneno (Cristina Ortiz). Despite being known for her charisma, and a fun personality, La Veneno's life and death remains an enigma. This story tells the experiences of a struggling transgender woman, who achieved fame with television appearances in the 90s and conquered the audience with a unique vision of the world. Throughout her life, the LGBT story in Spain is narrated from the 1960s to the present day.

The series follows the story of Valeria Vegas, a journalism student who never understood why people called her by a name that was not her own, the same thing that happened to Cristina, by then misnamed “Joselito” and the same one she had they have to survive a cruel and violent childhood under the Spain of the 60s. Two women who were born in very different times but who end up united forever when Valeria decides to write a book about the life of the iconic Cristina, La Veneno.[17] The series also talks about the importance and relevance of the mass media, how they can popularize or marginalize in just one second.

Spain, 1990s. The last decade of the second millennium was an amazing and turbulent one for Spain.[18][19] The 1992 Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona transforming the city in its whole and showing the world the new open and democratic Spain after the Francoist Dictatorship, the 1992 Universal Exposition was held in Seville and Spain started an internationalitzation process to let the world know the country. Tourism raised and so did the economy. What visitors did not know is that the country was in a process of moral reconstruction after a 35-year totalitary dictatorship. A lot of people were still fanatics of those kind of politics. The mentality of the dictatorship included press and personal censorship, repression and persecution of minorities or left-wing people. After this dark period the social movement popularly known as "Movida Madrileña" started. This movement consisted in making use of the freedom you had been deprived. Music, press and people could now express themselves completely without being afraid of being taken to prison nor being assassinated.[20] Thus, Madrid became this liberty paradise within Spain, filled with parties, wild life and cultural activities of all kind of ideologies.[21] The democratic transition started in the 1980s even though, as said, the essence and soul of Franco was still present even though he was dead. The first five years of the 1990s decade in Spain were a dark life-changing period for the country due to the huge amount of corruption scandals, terrorist attacks and due to the assassination of three 14-year-old girls in the province of Valencia. The girls were kidnapped in November 1992 by (following the official report) two young men after they both agreed to take them to a youth discotheque in Picassent. They were taken to a ruined rural house in the middle of the hills in Tous where they were raped, tortured and killed.[22] Through the research, the discovery of the bodies in January 1993, its respective funeral and judgment, the media was always present since one of the girls' parent recurred to the press in first instance to find them. When it was revealed that the girls thumbed to go to the club (something very normal at that time), women's liberty was reduced considerably due to all the terror this action generated now. The essence of freedom in Spain declined and social cronic shows started appearing on national television.[23]

One of the most popular ones and the most important was Esta Noche Cruzamos el Mississippi, hosted by journalist Pepe Navarro. This TV show mixed humorous sketches and news of social chronicle. It is mostly known because of its humor and in major part due to the exhaustive investigation and following of the triple crime known as the Alcàsser Girls murder.[24][25] El Mississippi, aired on Telecinco, became the most-watched late night show in Spain. In April 1996 journalist Faela Sainz, had to make a reportage for Navarro's show. After being scammed in her first try of making a reportage in Chueca, Sainz drove to the Parque del Oeste to film how prostitution took place in Madrid, to show the world something that was still very mute in the press.[26] Separated in two "districts", the park was filled with transgender and cisgender prostitutes. The journalist, alongside a camera and audio man, interviewed some of them.[27] At one point she interviews Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez which adopted the alias of "La Veneno" due to the 1976 Los Chunguitos track "Dame Veneno". The interview with La Veneno aired on live television on April 15. The audience constantly asked the show when she was going to make an appearance. After two weeks insisting, Ortiz made an appearance on the show on April 29, 1996 and became a regular member of the crew. Her undeniable beauty, unbeliably raw stories, soez language, light and sense of humor captivated the public, making Navarro's show reach 8 million viewers every time she made an appearance. La Veneno became one of the first transgender people to show Spain the raw but true reality of prostitution, poverty and minority disrespect even in an own family. Since that moment, she became an instant LGBT icon in Spain and a voice for all transgender people who have been repressed for their personal identity. When Esta Noche Cruzamos el Mississippi ended in 1997, La Veneno did two R-rated movies, released an EP and continued appearing in other television shows like La Sonrisa del Pelícano or Sálvame. In 2003 she enters prison due to fraud. After being released from prison in 2006, University of Valencia transgender student Valeria Vegas meets La Veneno and become close to each other. In October 2016 La Veneno's memories "¡Digo! Ni Puta ni Santa. Las Memorias de la Veneno", written by Vegas, were released.[28]

In order of appearance.

Since the release of the series' first episode on March 29, 2020 the number of subscribers to Atresplayer Premium grew 42%, reaching 3.3 million subscribers. Veneno had the best debut of a series in the platform's history and became the most-watched programme on Atresplayer Premium being 10 times more watched than any other show on it to date.[29] The series' second episode aired on June 28, to celebrate the cancelled Pride Day. On August 12, Atresmedia announced that the third episode would be available on their platform on September 20. Starting then, a new episode was launched every Sunday, marking the series' end on October 25, 2020. The first three episodes were screened at more than 200 Spanish cinemas on September 17.[30] To mark the launch of the last episode on the streaming platform, the first two episodes aired on free-to-air channel Antena 3 on October 25, 2020.[31] They were the most-watched show of the day in Spain, with over 2.5 million viewers for the first episode.[32]

In July 2020, HBO Max acquired the streaming rights to the series for the United States and Latin America.[33][34] The series premiered on HBO Max on November 19, 2020.[35]

In June 2020 it was announced that the series' main cast was selected as the barker for the 2020 Gay Pride in Madrid. However, Veneno reached its popularity peak in October 2020, as the series was coming to an end. On October 10, 2020, the City Council of Madrid announced that a new commemorative plaque of La Veneno would be placed at the Parque del Oeste due to popular demand after the fist one was vandalized and stolen a week after its placement in April 2019 during the presidency of Manuela Carmena.[38][39] On October 15 a huge promotional canvas was placed in the centre of Gran Vía, Madrid's most transitted and most important avenue.[40] This marks the first time an LGBT series is promoted in this avenue in particular. On October 18, Spanish vice president Pablo Iglesias stated on Twitter that the series "makes you cry, laugh, remember, empathize, but above all, it makes you understand the savage pain that trans people have been and are inflicted on, simply by being themselves. I hope a lot of young people see the series".[41] This caused a lot of people to react negatively against the Government of Spain, who promised a national "Trans Law" back in 2015. On October 30, Minister of Equality Irene Montero announced that the law would be voted by the Spanish people before being submitted for approval by the government in the following months.[42][43] This would allow transgender people to change their name and gender in the official documentation without presenting medical evidence of transition nor taking hormones. Spain's law stated before this that you had to present medical evidence to do so as well as taking hormones for 2 months without interruption. Montero had previously recommended Veneno on RNE "to understand the stigma that trans people suffer".[44] Veneno also became the only Spanish series to be included in the prestigious FreshTV Fiction list as one of the most innovative productions of MIPCOM 2020. It was also nominated for a Premio Iris for Best Direction and its main characters won the Premio Ondas for Best Female Performance in a Fiction.

• Official website
• Veneno at IMDb