Alonso Aguilar, head of Mexico Originals at Amazon Studios and showrunner/director Jorge Michel Grau regaled participants of the Madrid confab Iberseries & Platino Industria with a first look at the trailer of Prime Video Latin America’s most expensive production to date, “Every Minute Counts” (“Cada Minuto Cuenta”).
The new original series, that turns on the devastating earthquake that hit Mexico City on Sept. 19, 1985 made use of the Unreal Engine virtual screen technology first used by Disney’s “The Mandalorian,” unprecedented for Mexico, or Latin America for that matter.
“The technology has been used in smaller productions in Latin America but not at this scale,” Aguilar told Variety, who added that they have two ongoing projects, a movie and series, currently in production, that are also tapping into the 3D virtual technology that was originally developed by ILM and Epic Games.
Pre-production for “Every Minute Counts” took six months and another six months to shoot, said Grau (“We Are What We Are”), who added that they used a 200 sq. m. screen (2,153 sq. ft.) to recreate the streets and buildings of 1985 Mexico with extraordinary detail.
Starring Osvaldo Benavides, Maya Zapata, Jesús Zavala and Antonio de la Vega, the series offers a gripping account of the critical hours after the earthquake, showcasing the courage and solidarity of citizens during one of Mexico’s greatest tragedies. Measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale, the earthquake is said to have leveled large parts of the city in 10 seconds.
“The story, however, isn’t about the earthquake; it’s about the people who changed after the earthquake and who decided to become who they are because of it. And that was our goal. Our aim was to tell stories of characters who became better because of the earthquake,” said Grau at the presentation.
Delving into the technical details, Grau explained: “We got the original blueprints for each building and the area where they were constructed, and those buildings were turned into models. We had a physical model at a 1:24 scale, with almost 85% fidelity in textures and finishes. That model was scanned centimeter by centimeter and generated in 3D. So, all the buildings already had a 3D volume, and from there we sent it to Unreal, which is the software used to create video games. That’s where we gave the buildings 100% of their final look, based on the original construction blueprints and photographs of how the buildings looked after the earthquake.”
“So, what you’ll see in the series is not just the building, but also the hanging sheets, the windows where the smoke came out, and the parked cars — everything is an exact replica of how it was in 1985. It’s a time machine, but told through the eyes of our characters,” he added.
“What we also tell in the series is how the government covered up the tragedy as Mexico was going to host the World Cup in a year and they didn’t want to lose that opportunity,” said Aguilar. Prime Video will be dropping the entire 10 episodes worldwide on Nov. 8.
“We’ve had a good year,” said Aguilar, citing recent Latin American standouts “Pimpinero,” “¿Quién lo mató?,“ “Nadie nos va a extrañar” and a “Betty la fea” sequel, “Betty la Fea: The Story Continues.”
Produced by Amazon Studios and Leo Zimbron’s Traziende Films, “Every Minute Counts” is executive produced by Mónica Vargas, Juan Manuel Borbolla and Zimbrón.
Grau, Moisés Urquidi and Fernando Urdapilleta directed the series from screenplays penned by Alfredo Félix-Díaz, Victoria Orvañanos, Natalia Quevedo, Alejandro Valenzuela, Venancio Villalobos and Grau.
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