Greta Molas, writer of Argentina’s “La chica que limpia” which inspired Fox’s breakout hit “The Cleaning Lady,” has signed to develop a new series, “Escorts,” with Madrid’s Hispánica Audiovisual and Uma Films, based out of Córdoba in Argentina.
A social-issue city underbelly thriller, “Escorts” turns on Mare, a young medical resident who attends an escort, helping her home. The incident opens up for Mare an unknown and tempting world.
The sex workers Mare meets, however, are planning to leave a well known agency where they are exploited in order to set up their own business. “It is not going to be that simple and terror begins to show its face,” the synopsis runs.
Just as in “La Chica que Limpia,” where the protagonist turns to crime in order to cover the costs of care for her ill son in the absence of social welfare support, “Escorts” is framed in a broader social context. Mare moves to a country’s capital in the first place “in search of a solid economic future to change her family destiny.” She discovers a “public health system crisis which advances every day,” the synopsis adds.
“In the realm of writing, one must not be lukewarm; it’s about taking risks to challenge and transform. The stories that truly resonate are approached with honesty and courage. With every project, I strive to explore deep and challenging themes,” Molas told Variety.
“This title will be as important as her previous project, ‘La Chica que Limpia,’” said Virginia Juárez, Hispánica Audiovisual founder.
“Greta Molas is a talent that has contributed to adding value to a peripheral audiovisual sector in a country of the Southern Cone, thanks to her versatility in telling good stories with a strong local tone but universal transcendence,” Juárez added.
“Escorts” now has a long synopsis, treatment, development of main characters, a bible and a script for a pilot, she said.
La Chica que Limpia
“At Uma Films and Hispánica Audiovisual, we are committed to creating content that not only entertains but also sparks important conversations,” said Uma Films head Lucía Palacio.
“‘Escorts,’ the new series by the writer of ‘La Chica que Limpia,’ tackles relevant and contemporary issues. We are proud to be part of this project, which promises to challenge and enrich the television landscape.”
Formerly head of Ideas HD, Palacios produced “Encuarentenados” and served as executive producer on the Molas co-written“4 Feet High,” an Arte France-backed VR series screened at the Venice TV Festival about a disabled young woman who wants to have a sex life, like anybody else.
Juárez is a former lawyer, and an ex-partner at Córdoba-based Jacque Content, which produced the original “La Chica Que Limpia,” and under Paola Suárez emerged as one of the most dynamic of non-capital-city-located production houses in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Looking to back young female writing talent in Argentina and beyond, inserting their films into international financing systems, at Hispánica Audiovisual Juárez can be seen as continuing Suárez’s life-mission.
“Criminals of the depravity of some of its motley mobsters raised the bar on organized heinousness on Argentine TV,” Variety wrote of “La Chica que Limpia.”
Fox gave a series greenlight in 2021 to “The Cleaning Lady,” a U.S. version of “La Chica que Limpia” created by Miranda Kwok, delivering Fox’s highest-rated drama premiere in two years as well as Hulu’s most-streamed Fox debut in the network’s history. It is now running to four seasons.
“La Muchacha que Limpia,” a Mexican makeover produced by WarnerMedia Latin America and BTF Media, aired on HBO Latin America from 2021. Turkey’s 03 Media produced a telenovela reversion of “La Chica Que Limpia,”
Further versions have been optioned for Spain and India.
Paola Suarez
Credit: Matias Werd
Source Agencies
