Guillermo Francella: “I don’t live serial hate on networks because I don’t use them”

With a long list of successes in film, television and theater, it did not surprise many that his first big bet on streaming, the movie “Hail”, quickly took over the ranking of the most watched on Netflix just seven months ago. Although, of course, not even the records that it broke if we are referring to the Spanish-speaking market, prevented the final product from receiving harsh criticism, mainly from social networks.

That space, however, does not seem to affect much the artist born in 1955, who is aware that the field of virtuality exposes you to high-sounding comments, so he simply prefers not to access these spaces and enjoy the affection that his compatriots they profess him for his work in “The secret of their eyes”, “Married with children” and, of course, “Poné a Francella” and other well-remembered productions.

What generates William Francella that many of the streaming productions made in Latin America find very harsh criticism precisely in their countries of origin? The question Trade to Francella at a press conference with various Latin American media regarding “The Manager”, the new series that stars today on the Star+ platform.

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“It is not (something) so regular. When they are criticized it is because they are products that have not been liked. Sometimes there are serial haters on networks, which is like a daily life that I don’t live because I don’t use networks. But that animosity that you mention, exhaustive, I don’t see it. I have now experienced it on networks with ‘Granizo’, which was like a medium campaign against the product, but it was a success. It was the most watched Spanish-language film in Netflix history. It was something huge and they liked it, because in streaming if you don’t like it you leave it, but they have that control (to know) if they only saw the beginning, until the middle or reached the end. And in all countries they reached the end almost entirely. I think it’s been seen by over a hundred million viewers. That was the only time I felt that animosity in terms of networks, and perhaps some criticism in paper newspapers for the content, but I do not see what you are saying (that the productions are more criticized in their country of origin). On the contrary, I enjoy beautiful things from viewers in my country, from the content that I carry out, and they are very different and massively accepted”, he considers.

In “The one in charge”, William Francella plays Eliseo, the doorman of a condominium in Buenos Aires who seems to have the owners on his side, after almost 30 years of service characterized by patience and good humor. However, from one moment to the next, the bond is disrupted when he discovers a plan to build a swimming pool on the roof where he lives alone, which will mean evicting him and, worse, firing him from him. This fact will motivate the dark side of him – still unknown to the residents – to turn on and start a kind of plan to capture the largest number of neighbors in favor of things simply not changing.

“Eliseo is someone very affectionate, but he handles everything right and left. I think it was interesting to explore that forcefulness in the story as an actor, because it had all the twists and turns, and it had to be handled with an austere, relaxed tone, nothing overflowing, on the contrary, with the greatest gestural and interpretative economy, and at the same time having a valuable text behind it, it was quite solid for me to interpret it”, he refers.

Although calculating and sure of himself, Eliseo will not have it easy. Characters with the most varied profiles live inside the condominium. Lawyers, painters, mothers, retired soldiers and even politicians. Some of these are played by actors who are also recognized inside and outside of Argentina, such as Gabriel ‘El Puma’ Goity, Mirta Busnelli and Martín Seefeld.

In ten episodes, the viewers of “The Manager”—an idea of ​​the famous filmmakers Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat—will inevitably identify with a goalkeeper who, without losing his smile, must plan each move in pursuit of his goal. Thus, while helping a boy from the condominium to conquer ‘his first love’, he must also contrive to blackmail an unfaithful neighbor who made the ‘mistake’ of offering the construction plans for the pool at a meeting of the board of owners. .

Act with streaming in mind

In another part of the conference, Francella spoke about how she faces each of the audiovisual projects in which she is involved. According to her, it is not enough for her to read and learn a script. That meticulous process prior to her premiere generates the same nerves that the first productions of her generated some decades ago.

“I carried out the task of executive producer here, I am very behind the books, the cast, I participate in everything. It’s my way of working. I observe, I look, I see the issue of launching, of communication. I don’t like to work on autopilot saying my lyrics and then going home. When I choose, I get in with legs and everything. It’s not that I’m wearing a project, but I love what I do, my stomach hurts with nerves when I’m about to start, like when I was a teenager in my first jobs. There is no cloned routine, but I do work and a lot”.

Finally, and taking into account that “The Manager” was filmed a year ago, the Argentine artist responded about the differences between recording for the big screen and for streaming.

“What it took to make this series was like shooting three movies in a row. I appeared in all the scenes and therefore there were no breaks for me, so I was a pupil in the place. But seeing it captured, it was tiring and hard, but it was worth it. I am a lover and viewer of series, and I wanted to go through one, the desire to work supported by a platform like Star+, but I had never experienced it. I would like to have more immediacy in the results. Don’t forget that a year ago we finished recording, but (it was later) the post production process for the whole world, dubbing, subtitling, color mixing, sound, editing, chroma key, etc. I am more amused by a certain immediacy in the result, to corroborate, to listen to the returns, with you, with family and friends, but happily the product has been very liked. There is a pro and a con in this type of format, but I really liked going through it, ”he concluded.