Miravista, thefledgling co production venture created by Walt Disney's Latin Americanoperation and Telefonica Spain's Admira, have signed up Argentine-born LosAngeles resident Gabriela Tagliavini to direct its debut feature, Ladies'Night.

A co production with Mexico's Televisa and ArgosComunicacion, the $1.5m - $2m romantic comedy is scheduled to start principalphotography this fall. Casting auditions are currently underway in Mexico.

Based on an ideaand story treatment by BVI marketing senior vice-president Ignacio Darnaude anda screenplay by Issa Lopez, Ladies' Night follows the lives of two female friends who find love inthe most unexpected places in modern day Mexico City.

"This isalso a timely story of female empowerment," said Tagliavini who pointedout that she, the producer (Inna Payan of Argos) and Lopez are all women intheir 30s.

"We arethrilled to have Gabriela directing our first film under the Miravistalabel," said Diego Lerner, president and managing director, The WaltDisney Company-Latin America. "She is an incredibly talented youngdirector with a very daring visual style. She also has a keen connection andunderstanding of the issues that matter most to the youth of Mexico today. Thisknowledge is essential for the production of what we expect to be a verycontemporary and entertaining film."

Tagliavini'sdirectorial debut in 2001, The Woman Every Man Wants, garnered several awards, including BestDirector at the New York Independent Film Festival and Best Director at the LatinoFilm Festival in San Francisco.

The WomanEvery Man Wants wasrecently nominated in the category of "Outstanding Independent MotionPicture" for this year's ALMA Awards (The American Latino MediaArts).

Tagliavini hasdirected several TV commercials as well as a television series. She has writtenseveral screenplays and a novel, The Colours of Memory, which was published in English andSpanish and received critical acclaim in Latin America, Spain, the US, Canada,Australia and the UK.

She has a Bachelor'sdegree in film directing from the School of Superior Cinematography in Argentina,and a Master's degree in film writing from the American Film Institute(AFI).

Miravista is anextension of the partnership in Argentina between Disney and Admira which hold30% each in leading production house Patagonik Film Group, with Argentineanmedia giant Grupo Clarin and founder/president Pablo Bossi as partners.

Miravista willproduce films primarily in Brazil and Mexico although they are open to makingfilms in the rest of Latin America and in Europe, particularly Spain. Bothcompanies will continue to produce content through Patagonik, the result ofwhich have been such recent hits as Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas) and foreign Oscar contender, Son OfThe Bride (Hijo De LaNovia), both SonyPictures Classics acquisitions for the US.

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