background
Mr. Trance was an idea born, curiously, from a radio program. Its creator, Valerio Veneras, directed and presented “La hora trance” (Trance Hour) from June 2002 until February 2004 on Radio 3 (a national spanish radio station).
“La Hora Trance” was a space, as mentioned in the intro to the show, “dedicated to music, imagination, and those little day-to-day mysteries”, where the listener embarked on a captivating journey within each program, interpreted through music, literature and cinema. After his time on Radio 3, Mr. Trance returned in April 2004, this time inside the illustrated story book entitled “Historias del Sr.Trance”(Tales of Mr. Trance) (Editorial Casariego), a compilation of narratives that Valerio Veneras wrote and read on his radio program together with comics and illustrations of Mr. Trance drawn by Veneras. The book, distributed throughout Spain, was endorsed by two heavyweights: Alejandro Jodorowsky, who wrote the prologue and dedicated some nice words to Mr. Trance, and Lolo Rico, writer and director of the famous spanish TV program “La Bola de Cristal” (Crystal Ball) who acted as a key supporter during the book’s launch. “Historias del Sr. Trance” was well received and successfully made noise throughout different Spanish media outlets.
About the author
Valerio Veneras was born in Santander, Spain in 1975. He has a degree in audiovisual communication, resides in Madrid and has worked as executive producer at Sergio Cabrera y asociados since 2006. Besides being a radio personality and cartoonist, he has also written and directed two short films alongside Lilí Cabrera; “El espejo” (“The mirror”, which won “Best spanish short film” in the Seminci de Valladolid film festival of 2006) and “Estrella fugaz” (“Shooting star”, official selection in Short shorts international film festival 2009).
In 2010 Valerio wrote and directed the five minute short “Mr. Trance. A day at the Ministry”. Recently he founded, along with Lilí Cabrera, “El recreo studio” and is currently producing the Mr.Trance series. The project has won a grant from ICAA (a department of the Spanish Ministry of Culture).
