It’s been some eight years since the BBC adaptation of John le Carré’s “The Night Manager” took the world by storm, racking up awards on both sides of the pond. The spy thriller, starring Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman will be back, this time set mostly in Colombia.
“More than 75% of the story is about Colombia,” says Barry Ryan, head of production at Ink Factory, which also produced Season 1 and will produce Seasons 2 and 3. The fact that there has been a peace process, that there was a conflict and that young soldiers were involved – that background has been used to inform and shape the narrative, he adds.
When series creator-writer David Farr thought about setting Season 2 in Colombia, he flew over with executive producer Tessa Inkelaar, on a “writing recce.” Drawing inspiration from his visit, he wrote all six episodes, completely off-book. In an interview with other outlets, he said: “I did not tread lightly into extending ‘The Night Manager’ beyond the original book, but an idea came to me a couple of years ago which felt truthful to that unique world of dark corners and shady identities.”
According to Ryan, they met with AG Studios, run by Rodrigo Guerrero, and were sold. “I really loved Rodrigo’s approach to production, but also how he dealt with people, the way that he looked after his crew,” he says, adding: “And he’s someone who’s got a lot of experience in a variety of productions, is very levelheaded and is very also very proud of Colombia. He wants people to come to Colombia and you feel it. He’s really an amazing ambassador for the country.”
After some three weeks shooting in and around London, Ryan and some 16 others that included BAFTA-winning director Georgi Banks-Davies (“I Hate Suzie,” “Kaos”) and a few department heads flew to Colombia. With a mostly Colombian crew – numbering close to 300 – they shot at a villa in Girardot, located some four hours from the capital of Bogotá, the Caribbean port city of Cartagena and Medellín, set in the Aburrá valley of the Andes mountains.
Speaking of Medellín, Ryan says: “There’s no place like it in the world,” describing the experience of emerging from a tunnel to be greeted by the dazzling sight of the city nestled in a “bowl.” “When you’re moving towards the city at night, [how] the way lights go up and sort of rise up around the bowl is very unusual,” he adds.
They also opted to incorporate its annual flower festival and its famous square populated by the rotund sculptures of Medellín’s most renowned artist, Fernando Botero.
A nearly five-week shoot in Colombia in August last year was followed by a stretch in Spain’s Canary Islands and Barcelona where they found some striking similarities with Cartagena in the former. In both cases, they were drawn to these locations for their incentives.
With the exception of some specialized camera parts, they rented their equipment from Congo Films, one of the more established rental equipment outfits in Colombia that also has an outpost in Chile.
“It made sense to keep it all local,” he says, reflecting on how production worldwide has changed over the years. “There’s a much greater democratization,” he muses. Being able to tap Colombia’s CINA incentive, a 35% transferrable tax credit for qualifying foreign productions, was a key factor in deciding on Colombia. Administered by promotional entity Proimagenes, it has been a boon to Colombia’s audiovisual industry.
Shooting in August also meant dealing with the heat, especially in Cartagena. “On our first day of filming, our DoP [Tim Sidell] wanted to film the light coming into this hotel but despite being indoors, the humidity was 100% and the temperature was in the 50s, we were all sweaty,” he recalls.
“I think everyone was massively impressed with the local team,” he says, pointing to the camaraderie and highly accommodating attitude they brought to the set.
Its Latino cast, as revealed so far, is led by Diego Calva (“Babylon,” “Narcos: Mexico) who Ryan describes as “incredibly charismatic and brilliant” and Emmy-nominated Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & The Six”).
Aside from Hiddleston reprising his role as Jonathan Pine and Colman as his spy boss Angela Burr, it’s unclear whether Hugh Laurie’s arms dealer villain character (Dickie Roper) will make an appearance.
Season 3 will not be in Colombia although there will be references to it, Ryan adds. “Find out where I’m doing my next recce and you’ll know where it’s going to be set,” he laughs.
“The Night Manager” will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and worldwide, outside of the U.K., on Amazon’s Prime Video.
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