Supernova, the new Argentine Prime Video series born from a fat-phobic insult

“The biggest motivation for writing the original idea it was to create for me the opportunity that no one gave me“, He says Giovanna Capo (34), creator and protagonist of Supernovathe new Argentine series that premieres its four chapters on Amazon Prime Video this Friday 8 July.

With several autobiographical notes, this current and transgressive comedy drama directed by Ana Katz centers on the lives of three friends who are going through a moment of crisis. They are Nicolasa (Chiefo), June (Ruggero Pasquarelli) and Mimì (Carolina Kopelioff).

The cool main trio is supported by a secondary cast with many figures, including Luis Ziembrowski, Nancy Dupláa, Inés Estévez, Marina Bellati and Diego Cremonesi.

For those who are not subscribers to the platform, the production of Kapow and Grupo Octubre can be seen on Channel 9which broadcasts a chapter every Friday in July at 10:30 pm.

The series that comes from an insult

Johanna is an actress and journalist. He began to download the germ of Supernova about ten years ago. Before turning into this story, he thought of it as a sketch to upload to YouTube; then it was a graphic comic and finally it became a series of feminist and erotic comedies.

“That original series is called fat whore. It was born from an insult from the mother of a friend who was angry that I left the house where I lived with her daughter to move in with a boyfriend, “says Johanna, who has been acting since she was 9, she did a very independent theater. and is debuting in a major production.

That insult ended up turning into an alter ego that Johanna laughed with her friends. But over time she resigned herself, and she began to think of him as a character in a story who, like her, tries to do what she loves most, breaking with so many prejudices and paradigms.

“On the one hand, putting a protagonist with a body different from the hegemonic is already telling something. But also getting her to talk about how difficult it is to engage in acting … that’s when I started to find a way around it. “

A “pitch” thought of as a TED speech

When I already had the script fat whoreGiovanna he didn’t know what to do with his idea or how to sell it as an audiovisual project appetizing. So he decided to work on double shifts and to finance his driver with a small production company.

“I raised the money, and when I was missing a couple of thousand pesos, I was hit by a car while riding a bicycle and the insurance paid me the money that was missing. It is to believe or to fail”She says, still a little incredulous.

Finally, it was presented at the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), won a national competition, and crossed paths with Amazon Prime Video people at a festival. The hardest part was missing: convincing them that they produced fat whore.

“I went with everything, because I had been kneading it for so long, that I had a very clear product. I tried a 5 minute talk, kind of a very simple TED talk with the idea of ​​moving“, tells.

“I have spoken from my personal experience, from the need to tell a story of empowerment and also of revolution to my own prejudices, because I also had to do a personal job to put my body there, in front of the cameras, ”he recalls.

Chiefo managed to attract the attention of Prime Video, who, together with Kapow, began to develop a more choral story and less centered on Nicolasa, the name of his character, in honor of his African great-grandmother. “Y when Ana Katz walked in, that’s when the party was over”Assures Giovanna.

-Because?

-Because that was what was needed. I had the background and the heart of the character, but since it was my first script, of course they lacked the pen of someone with more experience to sort those ideas, give him the flight and subtlety he needed. All that she Ana could give him to turn him into Supernovawhich is something else but keep the heart of fat whore.

Explosive anti-heroes

the plot of Supernova runs through three intersecting stories: that of Nicolasa, that of Mimì and that of June, three friends who are about to turn 30, in a moment of total emotional and professional imbalance.

“They are at such a breaking point that they end up generating an explosion and rebellion with a shock wave that is the supernova,” Johanna completes. “There’s a lot of that in Ana Katz that promises you a happy ending and suddenly it’s not, it’s a defeat. They are characters who are not doing well in life. total antiheroes“, He adds.

-How much were you involved in that transition from “Gorda puta” to “Supernova” and how much did it cost you to let go and give up?

-It’s a bit inevitable not to be able to let go. But I got it for the project to grow, you have to open and share. Otherwise, I do it myself and three people see it. They trusted me, they gave me the opportunity of my life and I trusted them. Ana made the version of her, but the essence of fat whore is present.

-Are you satisfied with the final product?

-I never felt it was ripped or lightened, but obviously the content has changed a lot. I still want to tell some things that I will obviously capture in future projects. But let me clarify: it hasn’t been lightened in a commercial sense, at all. It is commercial zero and popcorn. In fact, during the filming, the joke with Marina Bellati and Luis Ziembrowski was that it is an “Amazon Indian“.

-In addition to them there are Nancy Dupláa, Inés Estévez, Diego Cremonesi. What happens to you when you see that something you wrote becomes concrete and with those actors?

-An illusion. I still do not understand. It was pure learning, they were all very open and generous.

anti lobby star system

Once Chiefo has managed to get Amazon Prime Video’s attention and production has begun, he did not know until the last moment if she would be the protagonist of history

“Before they wanted it for Mexico, but I said it was Argentinian and I wrote it to run it. There have been years of twists and turns. There are other criteria in the industry. In Argentina there is an obsession with putting a figure, a star or a celebrity to have an audience “.

-But doing it with another protagonist contradicts what the series proposes.

-Exactly. That’s where they would have ruined it. I think when they figured it out, they gave me this chance. It was a lot of push from me, a lot of support from Kapow. But the platform has the last word and, until the last moment, it would have played a secondary role.

Did they ever tell you what their doubts were and why they finally decided for you?

-No. I like to think they understood that making another decision was against the spirit of the project. But the truth is, I don’t know. Also, Which person of my age, with my physical characteristics, is very famous? There are not many. I told him.

In short, the last thing that was confirmed was my performance. Y he had to give me the opportunity and open a door to Latin America. Because there aren’t many series here that have this that the same person who created it is the same one who plays in it. That in the United States and Europe works more. This please like me, Lots of fleasthere are many examples.

And why doesn’t it happen here?

-The problem is that here they are obsessed with him star system. and I think that this is a pineapple in the face star system. He is giving another message. Look at Iosi, the secret spy (the lauded Argentine Prime Video series): You see (Gustavo) Bassani and he breaks it, and it’s really good to see someone new.

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