HBO Max has secured an exclusive premiere television deal with Domingo Corral, the acclaimed Spanish television executive whose departure from Movistar Plus+ last year sparked an unprecedented show of industry support. The agreement, revealed this week at the Series Mania festival in France, represents a significant vote of confidence in Corral’s creative direction at a time when Spanish television is enjoying remarkable global acclaim. The deal gives HBO Max exclusive rights to produce original television content with Corral in Spain, with the first project already greenlit: a series exploring the case of El Nani, a young offender who vanished in police custody during Spain’s transition to democracy in 1983.
A New Beginning for Spanish Television’s Innovative Powerhouse
Corral’s removal from Movistar Plus+ in May 2025 sent shockwaves through Spain’s creative sector. The decision led to an extraordinary open letter signed by approximately 150 luminaries, among them Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, Javier Bardem, and Penélope Cruz, expressing gratitude for his guidance and worry for the channel’s direction. Their combined message underscored the significant influence Corral had exerted on Spanish broadcasting’s artistic development and worldwide profile throughout his time at the country’s largest pay-TV service.
Under Corral’s creative direction, Movistar Plus+ attained exceptional results on the worldwide market. In 2025 alone, the platform’s output received the principal honour at Series Mania for Alauda Ruíz de Azúa’s “Querer,” whilst Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt” claimed the Jury accolade at Cannes and thereafter obtained two Oscar nominations. These accolades proved that Spanish television could contend at the pinnacle of international competition, cementing the nation as a serious creative force in quality content development.
- HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey announced the exclusive first-look deal
- El Nani series represents the inaugural project under the new partnership agreement
- Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos will pen and direct the El Nani series
- Corral continues tradition of backing Spain’s most creative storytellers and filmmakers
The El Nani Project and Corral’s Signature Style
The first project under Corral’s HBO Max deal exemplifies his characteristic approach to developing television that illuminates significant turning points in Spanish history. The El Nani series scrutinises the unexplained vanishing of a young petty criminal in police custody during 1983, a case that came to represent Spain’s difficult shift to democracy. Rather than presenting it as a standard crime account, the project casts the following trial as a proving ground for examining the nation’s nascent democratic structures. This conceptual richness—recasting a individual case into a wider inquiry of institutional responsibility—represents the signature element of Corral’s artistic sensibility.
The creative team assembled for El Nani underscores this commitment to excellence. Alberto Rodríguez, alongside Rafael Cobos, will write and direct the series, contributing considerable pedigree to the project. The pair are also competing in Series Mania’s primary competition this week with “The Anatomy of a Moment,” another Movistar Plus+ project from the Corral era. Their involvement indicates that HBO Max is backing established talent able to delivering the nuanced, character-focused narrative work that has become associated with prestige Spanish television.
A Well-Established Collaboration Comes Back
The collaboration between Corral and Rodríguez-Cobos is not without precedent; their previous work together under Movistar Plus+ created a creative rapport founded on shared creative vision. This sustained partnership serves well for both parties. For HBO Max, it ensures that Corral incorporates established partners into the fold, individuals already aligned with his creative vision and equipped to producing work that meets global quality benchmarks. For Corral himself, sustaining these partnerships offers creative stability and momentum as he navigates his move from corporate executive to freelance producer.
Sarah Aubrey’s remarks at Series Mania highlighted HBO Max’s commitment to supporting creators rather than constraining them. “The answer always is the finest narratives from the finest creative minds,” she stated when asked about the streamer’s commissioning philosophy. This approach appears tailor-made for Corral, whose body of work demonstrates an unwavering dedication to discovering and developing Spain’s leading creative voices. By offering him a first-refusal agreement with editorial freedom, HBO Max signals its readiness to back his artistic vision and editorial sensibilities.
Spain’s Television Renaissance During Corral’s Stewardship
Domingo Corral’s period as head of drama and entertainment at Movistar Plus+ profoundly reshaped Spain’s standing within the global TV sector. Under his stewardship, the platform developed from a regional subscription television provider into a creative force able to compete with Europe’s leading broadcasters. His creative vision favoured artistic integrity over commercial expediency, resulting in a collection of programmes that received acclaim at the most prestigious European awards and festivals. This strategic commitment to excellence over volume cemented Movistar Plus+ as a choice for demanding viewers and a beacon for top-tier creative talent.
The acknowledgement afforded to Corral by Spain’s creative institutions underscores the magnitude of his achievements. In May 2025, approximately 150 leading names from Spain’s film and television industries—including Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Alejandro Amenábar—published an open letter expressing their gratitude for Corral’s efforts and voicing concerns about Movistar Plus+’s strategic path subsequent to his leaving. This extraordinary demonstration of support from the nation’s artistic leadership testified to the significant influence Corral had exerted upon Spanish broadcast content and its worldwide profile.
| Series Title | Key Achievement |
|---|---|
| “Querer” | Series Mania top prize (2025), directed by Alauda Ruíz de Azúa |
| “Sirāt” | Cannes Jury Prize (2025), two Oscar nominations |
| “Sundays” | San Sebastián top prize (September 2025), from Alauda Ruíz de Azúa |
| “The Anatomy of a Moment” | Series Mania main competition entry (2026), written and directed by Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos |
| Movistar Plus+ slate | Elevated Spain’s international television profile and established platform as European creative destination |
The range and quality of these successes demonstrate that Corral’s success was neither accidental nor isolated. His knack of recognising engaging stories and connect them to creative visionaries generated a consistent stream of award-winning content that found audiences at home and abroad. This proven history gives HBO Max with substantial faith as it embarks upon its collaboration with Corral, indicating that his future work will uphold the artistic rigour and cultural significance that marked his Movistar Plus+ productions.
The Direction of Auteur-Driven Television
The HBO Max deal constitutes a significant turning point for creator-focused television in the streaming era. By granting Corral an exclusive first-look deal for Spanish-language productions, the American streaming giant is effectively endorsing a creative philosophy that prioritises artistic integrity and cultural value over formulaic content created solely for algorithmic engagement. This alignment demonstrates HBO Max’s strengthened resolve to moving beyond competing simply on subscription figures but on the quality and prestige of its original programming. Corral’s hiring highlights a industry-wide understanding that premium storytelling, notably from international markets, represents a vital competitive advantage in an highly competitive streaming landscape.
The opening project under this agreement—a show focused on El Nani, a petty offender whose disappearance in police custody during 1983 epitomised Spain’s troubled transition to democracy—demonstrates the calibre of material Corral tends to favour. Directed by celebrated film-makers Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos, the series seeks to blend historical importance with modern-day relevance, exploring themes of government responsibility and fairness that resonate far beyond Spanish borders. This commitment to substantive narratives implies that HBO Max plans to draw on Corral’s experience to develop content with genuine artistic ambition, positioning Spanish television as a foundation of its worldwide plan.
Questions Emerging From the Streaming Landscape
Despite the optimism surrounding Corral’s appointment, significant concerns remain regarding the sustainability of quality TV output within the streaming ecosystem. Whilst HBO Max has demonstrated commitment to high-calibre content under Sarah Aubrey’s direction, the broader streaming industry remains engaged with financial difficulties and shifting subscriber demands. The financial pressures confronting streaming services occasionally conflict with the extended production timelines and substantial budgets needed for genuinely ambitious auteur-driven projects. Whether HBO Max can sustain its commitment in culturally significant Spanish-language content amid broader industry consolidation and financial uncertainty remains an open question that will substantially influence the platform’s trajectory.
Furthermore, Corral’s move from Movistar Plus+—Spain’s leading subscription television platform with deep institutional knowledge and national market reach—to HBO Max calls into question creative autonomy and budget distribution. Whilst Aubrey’s stated commitment to “the best stories from the best creators” points to a collaborative atmosphere, the realities of operating across a vast multinational enterprise stand in sharp contrast to managing a domestic service. The extent to which HBO Max will afford Corral the creative latitude and budgetary discretion he enjoyed at Movistar Plus+ is yet to be determined, particularly as streaming services navigate tightening financial constraints and competing strategic priorities throughout various markets and programming categories.
- Will HBO Max continue backing in prestige Spanish content amid economic pressures?
- Can Corral preserve his artistic vision across a multinational corporate framework?
- How will this arrangement shape other European creators’ relationships with streaming platforms?
