Francisco Javier García de la Camacha Gutiérrez-Ambrossi (born 24 June 1984), better known as Javier Ambrossi, is a Spanish actor, stage, film and television director, and writer. He is best known for creating and directing the musical La llamada and its film adaptation together with Javier Calvo, as well as the television series Paquita Salas, Veneno and La mesías.[1]
Javier Ambrossi | |
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 Javier Ambrossi at the 32nd Goya Awards in February 2018. | |
| Born | Francisco Javier García de la Camacha Gutiérrez-Ambrossi 24 June 1984 |
| Alma mater | Complutense University of Madrid |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2012–present |
| Partner |
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| Relatives |
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Early life
editAmbrossi was born in Madrid, the son of Javier García de la Camacha and Sofía Gutiérrez-Ambrossi. From a young age, he dreamed of being a writer.[2] Ambrossi graduated with a degree in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid and studied dramaturgy at the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático.[3] His younger sister, Macarena García, is also an actress.[4]
Career
editAmbrossi's career as an aspiring actor began in the early 2000s, as he took on many bit roles.[2] He had supporting roles in a number of national television series, including El comisario, Génesis: En la mente del asesino, Hermanos y detectivos, Amar en tiempos revueltos, Cuéntame cómo pasó, Maitena: Estados alterados, La fuga, and Arrayán. His best known roles were as Gustavo in the series Sin tetas no hay paraíso and as Cristiano in the series Ciega a citas.[3] Ambrossi also acted in the film Sexykiller, morirás por ella and had the leading role in El triunfo. In the theater, he had parts in El enemigo de la clase and in Beaumarchais.
Since 2013, Ambrossi has co-directed La llamada at the Teatro Lara in Madrid, a musical he created alongside Javier Calvo.[5] In August 2015, the Mexican production of La llamada opened at the López Tarso theatre in Mexico City with a Mexican cast.[6] In September 2017, the film adaptation of La llamada, also co-directed by Ambrossi and Calvo, premiered in Spain.[7] It is centered around two teenage girls attending a rural Catholic summer camp.[2] The English version of the film is known as Holy Camp!.
In July 2016, the web television series Paquita Salas, created by Ambrossi and Calvo, premiered on Flooxer.[8] The pair originally created the indie series as a way to hone their filmmaking skills, but due to its success, Netflix acquired the rights to air the second season of the series.[2] There are currently three seasons with a fourth pending release. The comedy show is named for its mature female protagonist, who is a failing 50 year old showbiz agent and is played by Brays Efe.[9] The mockumentary style of the series was very original in Spain, who doesn't have a tradition of short-form sitcoms.[9]
Along with Calvo, Ambrossi was listed 47th in El Mundo's list of most important LGBT people in Spain in 2017.[10] They have been credited with pioneering a new model of authorship for popular film in Spain, and in 2020 El País described them as "an unstoppable millennial revolution".[9]
From October 2017 to February 2018, Ambrossi and Calvo appeared on the reality television talent competition show Operación Triunfo as the teachers of acting in the "Academy".
In 2020, Ambrossi and Calvo created the biographical television limited series Veneno, which aired on Atresplayer Premium and HBO Max.[11] The series narrates the life of actress, celebrity, model, sex worker, and star, Cristina Ortiz, la Veneno, who was one of the first women to bring visibility to the trans community in Spain during the nineties and is based on Valeria Vegas's ¡Digo! Ni puta ni santa: Las memorias de la Veneno.[12] When the first three episodes were released, they landed at the top of Spain's box office, and subscribers to Atresplayer increased by 42% with the show, which is watched ten times more than any other on the platform.[2][13] The show was picked as one of Variety's best international series in 2020.[14]
Veneno was the first project that Ambrossi and Calvo created under their own production company, Suma Latina Producciones. In 2021, they relaunched the company under the name Suma Content. The independent production company operating internationally and is based in Madrid.[15] In an interview with Variety, Ambrossi explained, "At Suma Latina we were only able to do one production a year and we always had exclusive arrangements that limited what we could do. Suma Content was born for us to be free, no more exclusives."[15]
Since 2020, Ambrossi has been a panelist for Mask Singer: Adivina quién canta, the Spanish version of the international music game show Masked Singer.[16] On 1 March 2021, Ambrossi was announced as a judge for Drag Race España, the Spanish version of the television drag queen competition Drag Race.[17]
In 2023, the family thriller television series La mesías, created, written and directed by Ambrossi and Calvo for Movistar Plus+, was included out of competition in the official section of the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival.[18] Centered around the life of a man named Enric, who carries religious childhood trauma, the series is about how he is impacted by the viral video of a Christian pop music group, and it has been described as their most ambitious and complex project to date.[19]
Ambrossi and Calvo also created the drama television series Vestidas de azul for Atresplayer Premium, a spin-off and continuation for Veneno in 2023.[20] The show begins two years after Veneno when Valeria returns to Valencia and discovers a VHS copy of Antonio Giménez Rico's famous documentary Vestida de azul and looks to uncover what has happened to the six transgender women it features. "With the series, we’d like to convert the documentary’s protagonists into a mainstream phenomenon, giving them what they didn’t have in the past: Fame but also respect and affection," Ambrossi has explained.[14]
In February 2024, Ambrossi co-hosted the 38th Goya Awards, alongside Calvo and actress and singer Ana Belén.[21]
On the whole, Ambrossi, along with Calvo, is bringing greater visibility to the LGBTQ+ community and related themes via his work in the mainstream media industry. There work has been described as "representative of a Spanish queer aesthetics which navigates between combative subversion and mainstream normalization" and as "changing hegemonic social and idealogical constructs in relation to gender, sexuality, and identity".[22]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Cuéntame cómo pasó | Richi | 6 episodes |
| 2001 | Operación triunfo | Self-Coach | 35 episodes |
| 2006 | El triunfo | Topo | |
| 2006 | El hormiguero | Self-Guest | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Sexy Killer: You'll Die for Her | Jaime | |
| 2011 | The Bird Spider | Pet shop salesman | |
| 2014 | Planeta Calleja | Self | 1 episode |
| 2018 | La resistencia | Invitado | 1 episode |
| 2018 | Looser | Self | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | Terror y feria | Javier Ambrossi | 1 episode |
| 2020 | Mask Singer: Adivina quién canta | Investigator | 25 episodes |
| 2020 | Física o Química: El Reencuentro | Self | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Drag Race España | Jurado | 34 episodes |
| 2021 | B.S.O. con Emilio Aragón | Invitado | 1 episode |
| 2021 | Family Feud: The Battle of the Famous | Self-Contestant | 1 episode |
| 2023 | José Mota Live Show | 1 episode | |
| 2024 | Drag Race España: All Stars | Jurado | 1 episode |
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Paquita Salas |
| 2020 | Veneno |
| 2020 | Paca la Piraña, ¿dígame? |
| 2023 | La mesías |
| 2023 | Vestidas de Azul |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Paquita Salas | 16 episodes |
| 2017 | Holy Camp! | |
| 2020 | Más de Veneno: El Documental | |
| 2020 | Veneno | 5 episodes |
| 2023 | La mesías |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Terror y feria | Producer | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Veneno | Executive producer | 8 episodes |
| 2021 | Cardo | Executive producer | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Una Navidad con Samantha Hudson | Producer | |
| 2023 | La mesías | Producer | 7 episodes |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Paquita Salas | 15 episodes |
| 2017 | Holy Camp! | |
| 2020 | Veneno | 5 episodes |
| 2023 | La mesías | 6 episodes |
Recognition and accolades
edit| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best Adapted Screenplay | La llamada | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Audience Award - Best Spanish Film | La llamada | Won |
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best New Director | La llamada | Nominated |
| 2018 | Best Adapted Screenplay | La llamada | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Málaga Talent Award | Won |
| Year | Category | Series | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Best Screenplay | Paquita Salas | Nominated |
| 2019 | Best Director | Paquita Salas | Nominated |
| 2020 | Best Director | Veneno | Won |
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best Non-Catalan Language Film | La llamada | Nominated |
| 2018 | Audience Award | La llamada | Won |
| Year | Category | Film/Series | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best Film: Comedy | La llamada | Won |
| 2021 | Best Drama Series | Veneno | Nominated |
| 2024 | Best Screenplay in a Series | La Mesías | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Best Spanish Film | La llamada | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Audience Award | La llamada | Won |
Personal life
editAmbrossi has been in a relationship with actor and director Javier Calvo since 2010.[23] Together, the two are universally known as "los Javis" and have become public figures with active social media followings.[2] They spontaneously proposed to each other at the Capitol Cinema in Madrid during the premiere event for one of their films.[9] Both of them have the phrase "Lo hacemos y ya vemos", which translates to "we'll do it and we'll see" and is the title of a song from La llamada, tattooed on their forearms.[9]
References
edit- ^ Javier Ambrossi y Javier Calvo crearon 'La llamada' para dar trabajo a Belén Cuesta
- ^ a b c d e f Betancourt, Manuel (19 August 2021). "The Myth Makers". Vulture. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Javier Ambrossi". Forbes Summit (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ Rubio Rueda, Almudena (5 February 2018). "Así son y así se llevan Macarena García y Javier Ambrossi, dos hermanos de cine". Bekia.
- ^ López Palacios, Iñigo (19 December 2013). "El triunfo de la sencillez inteligente". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Prisa. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ Díaz, Aroa (1 September 2015). "Éxito en la versión mexicana del musical 'La llamada'" (in Spanish). Teleprograma. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ Rivera, Alfonso (22 September 2017). "Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi • Directors". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ Engel, Philipp (6 July 2016). "GRAN ESTRENO EN FLOOXER DE 'PAQUITA SALAS'. HABLAMOS CON ELLA". Fotogramas (in Spanish). Hearst Magazines International. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Smith, Paul Julian (2018). "La Llamada, Paquita Salas, and the Javis". Film Quarterly. 71 (4): 41–45. doi:10.1525/fq.2018.71.4.41. ISSN 0015-1386. JSTOR 26498159.
- ^ Romo, José Luis (23 June 2017). "Los 50 homosexuales más influyentes en España 2017". El Mundo. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- ^ vertele.eldiario.es (3 November 2020). "Así presenta HBO Max a 'Veneno', que ya tiene fecha de estreno internacional". vertele (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ Reyes, Jorge Vega (8 August 2022). "Veneno como narrativa emergente de las plataformas de streaming y el renacimiento de un ícono de la comunidad LGBTI: Series de televisión como protagonistas del surgimiento y las memorias de personajes dentro de las narrativas audiovisuales". Uru: Revista de Comunicación y Cultura (in Spanish) (6): 97–106. doi:10.32719/26312514.2022.6.7. ISSN 2631-2514.
- ^ "How the trans icon Spain 'didn't want to see' inspired a hit TV show". Los Angeles Times. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ a b Sandoval, John Hopewell,Pablo; Hopewell, John; Sandoval, Pablo (21 June 2023). "'Veneno' Creators Los Javis Drop International Trailer for Sequel, 'Vestidas de Azul' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Lang, Jamie (21 October 2021). "'Veneno,' 'Paquita Salas' Creators Los Javis Launch New Independent Global Production Label, Suma Content (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "Malú vuelve por sorpresa a TV como jueza estrella de 'Mask Singer', en relevo de Ainhoa Arteta". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 11 September 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
- ^ Avendaño, Tom C. (1 March 2021). "Ana Locking, Javier Ambrossi y Javier Calvo serán el jurado de 'Drag Race España'". El País (in European Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "'La Mesías' de Los Javis anuncia su fecha de estreno, previo paso por el Festival de San Sebastián". Vertele!. 15 September 2023 – via eldiario.es.
- ^ "Masterclass: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi - Serielizados". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "'Vestidas de azul', la continuación de 'Veneno', se estrena en diciembre en Atresplayer". formulatv.com. 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Ana Belén, Javier Ambrossi y Javier Calvo presentarán los Premios Goya". Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. 30 October 2023.
- ^ Garcia Lopez, Miguel (26 April 2023). "Millennial Screen Cultures in Spain: Queering the Mainstream". Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies.
- ^ Betancourt, Manuel (19 August 2021). "The Myth Makers". Vulture. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
External links
edit- Javier Ambrossi at IMDb (in English)