Makers of hit series Money Heist back with another fast-paced show

The new Spanish-language action series Sky Rojo is sheer excess.

The plot is simultaneously minimal and over the top: Three prostitutes are on the run, their vengeful pimp is after them.

"What do we want to be, hares or foxes?" one of the women asks her friends. "Foxes all the way" is the answer.

And so goes the show itself. The action is nonstop, the ultra-vivid colors jump from the screen, the tonal shifts induce whiplash, and the soundtrack will fry your speakers.

The only thing that is restrained about Sky Rojo, the first season of which dropped last Friday on Netflix, is its running time: Each of the eight episodes clocks in well under 30 minutes.

"We have an audience that is becoming more and more demanding, so you have to give them the tenderloin - no sides, no french fries, no salad," said Alex Pina, the Madrid-based writer and producer who created the show with his professional and personal partner, Esther Martinez Lobato.

"They understand more with less so you must go to the essentials."

Pina, 53, certainly knows about serving up meals people love to devour: He created Money Heist, which was Netflix's most popular non-English-language series until the French heist drama Lupin passed it earlier this year.

Martinez Lobato, 44, is a writer on the show, which is currently in production on its fifth and final season.

Money Heist is just one of the creators' high-profile series - a growing list that has extended their reach well beyond the Spanish border.

The couple met about 15 years ago, when Martinez Lobato joined the writing staff of Los Hombres De Paco, a cop show Pina had co-created.

Initially working with the Spanish giant Globomedia, they eventually set out on their own; Pina founded the production company Vancouver Media in 2016.

For Sky Rojo, which is set on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Pina and Martinez Lobato were keen to challenge themselves even further.

"We wanted to show a constant third act - all action, all the time," Martinez Lobato, 44, said. "You take away any sequence or dialogue that is not absolutely necessary for the plot and you only use what's extremely important and fast-paced. It is hectic and completely different from what we're used to doing, but very stimulating."

The central female trio is an international conglomerate of sorts made up of Argentine singer-actress Lali Esposito; Yany Prado, from Cuba; and Veronica Sanchez, from Spain.

Sanchez, 43, said: "Alex came to me and said, 'You will be a woman who is running away from a brothel where she has been held captive, and it's action-packed so get in shape' - he meant in terms of physicality and getting ready to fight." "When I received the script, I saw that the character was even crazier than I had thought."

Sanchez revealed she drank the highly caffeinated South American drink mate on the shoot every day - a fitting beverage for a show in which each episode feels like a shot of espresso.

Vancouver's brassy approach may not be to everybody's taste. But the distinctiveness of its productions, with their eclectic set lists, high-resolution cinematography and flamboyant plot twists, is undeniable. It all amounts to an aesthetic that the couple is happy to claim as Spanish.

"We've always had the same gaze from the United States in terms of fiction because they've been the main producers, but thanks to streaming platforms, we can give a different perspective and a different spirit to any kind of genre," Pina said. "What is local is perceived as exotic, in a good way, and people can appreciate it." - NY Times