Spanish literature could prove to be a boon for international film and TV adaptations, says Fernando Benzo, author and secretary general of the Spanish Federation of Publishers.
“Books are a safe intellectual property – that’s the main concept for me,” Benzo told Variety.
“When you work on a book, usually you already have the fan base. You have all the people that have read those books, so it’s a stronger bet than if you work with original material.”
Benzo, who will address the Shanghai Film Festival on Spanish literature’s adaptation potential at June 21’s Stories Travel Further – Literature and Cinema in Spain-China Dialogue, argues that Spanish-language books offer something many producers are constantly chasing: recognizable material, existing readers and the possibility of reaching far beyond one national market.
“We used to say we have our own petrol, and our own petrol is the language,” he said. “When you think of a Spanish book, you don’t have to think only of a book that is being sold in Spain. It’s a book that can be sold to 600 million people.”
