Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is presented by the European Film Market of the Berlinale. Hosted by Variety’s Marta Balaga, the podcast offers an in‑depth look at timely industry trends and creative shifts shaping today’s audiovisual landscape.
In this episode, “IP & Original Series: A Dive into The House of the Spirits & House of Yang” the conversation centers on two new Berlinale Special Series premieres: a major literary adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel The House of the Spirits and the original mystery‑drama House of Yang, rooted in personal history and intergenerational trauma.
The guests - Rowan Woods (Berlinale Series Advisor), Francisca Alegría (Director, Showrunner, Executive Producer and Screenplay), Fernanda Urrejola (Showrunner, Executive Producer and Screenplay), Stefanie Ren (Creator, writer and showrunner), and Arto Sebastian (Producer) - discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in adapting iconic IP as well as creating new work that speaks to contemporary audiences. Rowan Woods opens with insights into this year’s Berlinale Special Series lineup and reflects on the global episodic landscape, highlighting why cinematic, author‑driven storytelling continues to flourish internationally.
Francisca Alegría (Writer, Director, Producer). She earned her MFA in Film Screenwriting and Directing from Columbia University in 2016. Her debut feature La vaca que cantó una canción hacia el futuro premiered at Sundance (2022) and ranked among Rotten Tomatoes’ Top 100 Films of the Year. She currently serves as showrunner, director, and writer on the limited series adaptation of La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits).
**Fernanda Urrejola **(Actress, Producer, Screenwriter). Trained at Duoc UC and Alfredo Castro’s Escuela de la Memoria, she launched her career with the TV series 16 in 2003. Since relocating to Los Angeles in 2016, her credits include Narcos: México and Cry Macho (dir. Clint Eastwood). She is a co-writer of La vaca que cantó una canción hacia el futuro and serves as writer, actress, showrunner, and executive producer on the screen adaptation of La casa de los espíritus.
Stefanie Ren (*1987, Pingtung, Taiwan) studied screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her early short films screened in Cannes and earned a nomination for the German Short Film Award. She later served as head writer on RTL’s Nicht tot zu kriegen (German Comedy Award nomination) and on the Paramount+ thriller A Thin Line, which premiered at Series Mania. Her feature debut Cleo premiered at Berlinale in 2019, followed by the Netflix feature For Jojo. Ren is a mentor at Serial Eyes and a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie. Her new series House of Yang, which she created, wrote and served as showrunner for, will premiere this year in the Berlinale Special Series section.
Arto Sebastian trained as a director at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, graduating in 2017 with the historical drama Snowblind. He later completed Munich’s renowned screenplay lab Drehbuchwerkstatt München and has since developed a range of series and feature films as a writer. In addition to his work as an author, he is involved in numerous projects as a dramaturgical consultant. With his production company Wood Water Films, he has produced a variety of fiction films, including Alaska and Beyond the Blue Border, as well as documentaries such as Silent Observers and Soldiers of Light. His first produced series, House of Yang, will premiere in the Berlinale Special Series section in 2026.
**Rowan Woods **is an experienced film and TV curator and executive, with experience across distribution, sales, production, development, festivals and journalism. She currently leads the series programming for the Berlinale and BFI London Film Festival and until recently was the Creative Director at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Prior to this she held acquisitions roles at BFI Distribution and Shudder, ran the British Council's international film festival programme, and spend time working for sales agent Film Constellation and on the development team at BBC Films. Earlier in her career she spent five years as producer on many of the BBC's high profile film programmes and also held PR roles in distribution and at the London Film Festival.
Marta Bałaga is a film journalist and moderator, writing for Variety and Cineuropa. She has moderated at Cannes, Berlinale, Flanders Film Days and collaborated with Helsinki Film Festival - Love & Anarchy, Finnish Film Affair, New Horizons Film Festival, and more. She has led MIOB’s LAB of Cultural, Creative and Festival Journalism and Söderlångvik Masterclass. She’s a member of FIPRESCI and the European Film Academy, and has served on many juries, including Venice International Film Critics’ Week.
The Berlinale’s European Film Market is the first international film market of the year, where the film industry starts its business.
Industry Insights - The EFM Podcast puts a spotlight on highly topical and trendsetting industry issues, thereby creating a compass for the forthcoming film year. Industry Insights – The EFM Podcast is co‑funded by
Creative Europe MEDIA. This Episode is and hosted by Marta Balaga and developed in partnership with
Variety.
