The Mallorcan film producer Miguel Ruz
Miguel Ruz has positioned Nowhere as the second most-watched Spanish-language film in the history of streaming platforms
He had always wanted to work in film, and despite studying engineering in England and moving to Germany at the age of 23, he decided to return to English soil with the goal of becoming a filmmaker. The bet made by Miguel Ruz from Palma on his own content paid off, so much so that today he can boast that Rock & Ruz, his production company, has created the most-watched Spanish-language film in the history of streaming platforms and the second most-watched non-English language film: Nowhere, the survival story starring Anna Castillo on Netflix. Until the phenomenon of La Sociedad de la Nieve came along, “unfortunately for our film, but fortunately for the film industry, which I am a great supporter of,” declares the Mallorcan producer. “I did not expect the success of Nowhere. A week before the premiere, there was no buzz, and we didn’t know what was going to happen. The platform is the marketing, they told us.”
“If a story has an emotional connection, the genre doesn’t matter”
“Pulling at heartstrings”
The Mallorcan describes the producer’s work as a constant search for intellectual properties, news, stories, scripts… “The key is to come up with a concept that we are not accustomed to, which is very difficult.” Then comes the time to “wrap it up, primarily with the screenwriter who you believe, together with you, can develop a good story. You have to pull at heartstrings.” The next step would be to find the ideal director and, “if the project is class A, you definitely need a strong actor or actress.” Ruz defines the type of performers he likes to work with: “All the Latino, Spanish, or Italian talent that has proven to work in the USA, like Óscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Ana de Armas, Gael García Bernal, Javier Bardem…”
With the story in hand, it’s time to decide “where you’re going, who you meet with to position it. You have to differentiate the project that works on platforms – giving the necessary emotional doses so the viewer doesn’t get distracted – from the one that works in theatres – where you’re obliged to pay attention. If we want to do it independently, we get in touch with the platforms. We look for a territory licence, which gives you a starting point that continues with the work of sales agents. Moreover, we have the fiscal incentive of the country where it is filmed and we can complete the financing with other territories. On the other hand, studios work with a percentage.”
For the producer, the coexistence of theatres and platforms is “very compatible, but there will be a very selective approach to what goes to theatres. It has been demonstrated with Barbie and Oppenheimer.” In short, “there will be total coexistence and synergy between theatres and platforms,” he concludes.
“Mallorca should be on the same level as the Canary Islands in terms of tax incentives to make it worthwhile to come and film”
The Insularity of Mallorca
Ruz would like to bring one of his upcoming projects to Mallorca, but he believes that “a little more infrastructure is needed so that it is not just for filming 25% of the production, but so that teams can stay and shoot on set. We should be on the same level as the Canary Islands in terms of tax incentives, as insularity is a handicap. However, what we have here is unique.”
Among his upcoming projects, “this year we are shooting two: the horror film El Hada (The Tooth Fairy) and Miracle in Cell No. 7, a remake of a Turkish film about overcoming adversity that we will shoot in Mexico with one of the country’s biggest box office actors. On the other hand, we are writing a concept about a sea chase with Alejandro Hernández, screenwriter of While at War, which is the one I would like to bring to Mallorca, and the true story of a former legionnaire with Leonardo Fasoli (Gomorra).” Very diverse projects, as for Ruz “if a story has an emotional connection, the genre doesn’t matter.”
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