U.S. HISPANIC
ABC will produce Spanish format Aquí no hay quien viva
Maribel Ramos-Weiner| 20 de abril de 2011
Craig Doyle (writer), Luis Balaguer (executive producer), Ben Silverman (executive producer) and creators Laura Caballero, Alberto Caballero, and José Luis Moreno
(Maribel Ramos-Weiner). This upcoming premiere season, American network ABC will air the sitcom I hate this place. It is an adaptation of the Spanish format Aquí no hay quien viva, which aired on Antena 3 from 2003 to 2006 with great success.ABC acquired the rights to the Antena 3 format after Luis Balaguer, president of LatinWE, and his business partners Ben Silverman, of Electus; Sofía Vergara, and Spanish producer José Luis Moreno, presented the project to the Anglo network.Disney facilitated the deal due to the successful relationship forged with RTVE and Moreno, during the adaptation of The Golden girls for Spanish TV.“This project is making history. It is the first time a Spanish product is brought to American TV on a major network such as ABC. We couldn’t have picked better partners. We had a wonderful experience producing Golden girls in Spain with Disney and Fernando Barbosa. I felt the U.S. market for many years had gotten used to importing formats from England, and I thought they were missing out on many great ideas generated elsewhere around the world, particularly in Spain,” said Balaguer to PRODU. Details about the cast and the adaptation are still being fine-tuned. Spanish siblings Alberto and Laura Caballero, creators of the series, will work as consultants on the adaptation.Aquí no hay quien viva has been adapted by Sony for Chile, Argentina, and Colombia, and in Europe it has versions in Portugal, Serbia, Greece, and France.
