The Councillor (El Partido 2) follows the story of a politician who finds himself in the midst of a scandal. To salvage his career, he moves to a small village and starts again as a councillor.
Written and directed by Alex Rodrigo, this award-winning series explores the inner workings of corrupt politics and the moral implications of power through a comedic lens.
The Councillor is a comedy that tackles deeper issues such as corruption, power, regret and loneliness. How did you manage to incorporate humour in the story while exploring such complex topics?
Humour is the best way to tackle human tragedies! To tackle the personal and collective moral misery. If you laugh at all the paradoxes that your society has, the comedy and the deep reflections will appear without effort.
What inspired your web series?
Well, local politics in Spain is a crazy issue. Mayors and councillors usually think that they’re the owners of the town. All the internal fights in political parties are a surrealist seed to write scripts.
Why did you choose web series as your format?
Because this humour is not possible on TV. TV companies are so polite, they are not very brave with this kind of comedy.
What is unique about your series?
The theme, I guess. Comedy about political fights, comedy about power abuse which is something that everyone recognises in Spain but, fiction hasn’t dealt with it yet. It’s like House of Cards, but from a ridiculous point of view.
What are the challenges you came across making your series and how did you overcome them?
High ambitions and low budget, like everyone in web series art! My big challenge was the balance between surrealist humour and social criticism. And to develop all the plots in a short duration series.
What did you learn from making this series? What would you do anything differently?
More time of pre-production. We had to rewrite three days before shooting because of budget troubles! To anticipate that, that’s what I would change.
What did you want to achieve in creating this series?
To talk about politics, power and business from my point of view (close to anarchist theories), and from my personality (comedy tone for serious issues). Nothing more.
What reaction did you get from people, particularly in Spain where the story is set?
Lots of laughs because the party is fiction, the village is fiction but, these things have happened in local politics in the past couple of years. People want to turn Fernando Serrano into a real politician, like a real parody about our country.
Do you have any future plans for this series?
Well, its the second season in web series format. If we could make a long duration series, it would be fantastic. But I don’t believe that. It´s sad, but I think that the project is over.
What advice would you give to emerging creators?
1) PRE-PRODUCTION
2) PRE-PRODUCTION
3) PRE-PRODUCTION
4) If you like your script, shoot it! Be sure that there are people who will like it. Trust in it!