Advanced Television

FilmRise acquires The Miramar Murders

April 10, 2023

FilmRise, the New York-based film and television studio and streaming network, has acquired exclusive North American distribution rights including AVoD, TVoD, SVoD, FAST, and broadcast rights to the shocking six-part documentary crime-series “The Miramar Murders: The State Vs. Pablo Ibar” as one of its first original true-crime limited docu-series. The announcement was made today by Max Einhorn, SVP Acquisitions & Co-Productions of FilmRise.

“The Miramar Murders: The State Vs. Pablo Ibar” is directed and produced by Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo, who directed the documentary “Born in Syria” and produced awarded films such as “The Endless Trench”. The series is also produced by Xabi Berzosa, the prestigious producer behind such internationally well-known titles as “Loreak” and “Handia”. “The Miramar Murders: The State Vs. Pablo Ibar” premiered on HBO Europe. It consists of 6 1-hour episodes which recount the chilling triple homicide from 1994 and the investigation and trials that followed.

Einhorn states, “This is a powerful series that recounts the conviction of Pablo Ibar and his defense team arguing his innocence years later, keeping him away from the death

penalty. Viewers get to watch all the chilling details from the murders up to and through his Supreme Court trial. Fans of true-crime documentaries will find this program fascinating.”

In 1994, in South Florida, Pablo Ibar was arrested on a charge of triple homicide. The Miramar murders, as they came to be known, were the first in U.S. history to be captured in their entirety on a home security camera system resulting in unprecedented media coverage. However, the low-grade technology of the time made it impossible to clearly identify the two perpetrators who are seen executing the victims in cold blood. When the police arrest Pablo Ibar they are certain they have captured the killer.

In the year 2000, defended by a legal aid lawyer, Pablo is sentenced to death. In desperation, his family start a campaign in his native Spain to raise money for the extremely expensive appeal process. In February 2016, after 16 years on death row, Pablo’s lawyers manage to get the Florida Supreme Court to suspend his execution. The court orders a new trial, ruling that Pablo was sentenced without due process and based on weak, inconsistent evidence. Pablo Ibar has, by this point, spent 22 years in jail. Back at square one, Pablo’s defense team prepare for a new trial, while the family tries to raise enough funds to pay for it (around 1.5 million US dollars). The District Attorney’s office is still calling for the death penalty for Pablo, but this time they have new evidence: Pablo’s DNA has appeared at the crime scene 23 years later. In 2019, Pablo is tried again, although this time with a first-rate legal team, as well as support from Spain. However, the verdict comes back guilty, and Pablo is sentenced once again. But all is not lost for the family when just two days later, one of the members of the jury calls the judge with the intention of changing his verdict…

The deal was negotiated by Max Einhorn, SVP Acquisitions and Co-Productions for FilmRise and Ivan Diaz, Head of International, Filmax.

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