Production has begun on La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta, a new action-packed Amazon Original series, co-created by alumnus Mauricio Leiva-Cock '13.
The series is a Western set along the Mexico-US border in 1851, “a period fueled by greed, anger, and xenophobia when an all-out war is waged,” as Amazon described in a statement to the press. The show will follow the adventures of Joaquín Murrieta, a notorious and legendary outlaw hailing from Sonora, Mexico who is often referred to as the Robin Hood of the West, and the character of Carrillo, as they unite to face a common enemy.
“For a long time we have wanted to make a Western told from our Latin American perspective, and the fact that Amazon Prime Video has bet on this series and has joined us on this adventure is a dream come true,” said Leiva-Cock in a joint statement with series co-creator Ramírez Schrempp of Dynamo. Leiva-Cock and Schrempp typify the series as “a story of Mexican identity where current issues of migration, race, and discrimination are explored, under a genre that has seldom been explored in our region.”
The series is produced in Mexico and stars actors Juan Manuel Bernal (Monarca, Perfect Obedience) and Alejandro Speitzer (Dark Desire, Someone Has to Die).
“It is a story of heroes and anti-heroes, exposing our diversity and our tenacity,” Leiva-Cock and Schrempp said. “It is also the creation of a myth from different points of view, in a newly created border after the Mexican-American War. It is a series with a modern twist on its language that will surprise and captivate not only genre lovers, but a much wider audience.”
Mauricio Leiva-Cock is a Colombian independent narrative filmmaker. His work has participated in festivals and artistic residences worldwide such as the Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab, Tribeca All Access, Buenos Aires Talents, Morelia, Beijing, Biarritz, São Paulo, San Sebastian and Huesca. Leiva-Cock’s feature-length script, Aquí Vivió y Murió Espiritu Perdomo was selected for the Cine Qua Non Lab Screenwriting Residence in Morelia, Mexico, the Buenos Aires Talents Development Workshop, the Bolivia Lab Screenwriting Lab in Cochabamba, Bolivia and the Ibermedia Cinefilia Lab in Colombia. The project was a Quarterfinalist at the 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, won the Script Development Award from Promimagenes Colombia in 2014, and received the Tribeca Film Institute Latin America Fund in 2016. Leiva-Cock is one of the founding members of the international production company Fidelio Films, alongside fellow Columbia University alumni Mauro Mueller '13, David Figuera García '13, and Mark Raso '12.
