Rebelde Way

Rebelde Way was inspired by the Spanish series Compañeros, with Cris Morena developing a story addressing themes relevant to teens such as friendship, love, family conflicts and social differences.

The show was Cris Morena's first fiction production through her own company, Cris Morena Group, developed in co-production with the Israeli company Yair Dori International (now Dori Media Group) to aim for both local success and international projection.

Most of the main cast, including Camila Bordonaba, Benjamín Rojas and Felipe Colombo, had previously worked with Cris Morena on the children's show Chiquititas, while Luisana Lopilato joined as a new face and had her character built specifically with her in mind.

The cast underwent intensive training in acting, singing and dancing because the series had a strong musical component requiring live performances both on and off screen.

Filming took place at Cris Morena Group and Yair Dori Group studios in Buenos Aires starting in early May 2002, at an intense pace to allow daily episode broadcasts, with permanent sets built for the Elite Way School including classrooms, dormitories, patios, hallways and offices.

The exterior of the Elite Way School was filmed at Club Belgrano in Buenos Aires, while additional scenes were shot on real city locations for family scenes, school events or outings.

The in-fiction band Erreway was formed by the four lead actors, and music was developed in parallel with the script and casting as a core part of the concept; the actors were chosen partly for their musical and vocal talent alongside their acting skills.

The series' soundtrack mixed original Erreway songs with contemporary pop and indie hits from artists like Gorillaz, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne and t.A.T.u., as well as edited film score tracks from The Bourne Identity and The Virgin Suicides.

In Germany, the show was released on Prime Video in 2006 in a censored form, reduced to approximately 25 episodes due to its mature content.

After Netflix acquired global rights in 2019 and premiered the series on the platform on December 8, 2019, it received over 60 million views and entered the Top 10 most-watched shows in several countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia.

In 2021, the show's age rating in Argentina was changed from suitable for ages 13+ to adults-only (+18) following controversy after its Netflix re-release, due to scenes depicting attempted sexual assault, dating violence, homophobia, eating disorders and forced abortion.

The show inspired numerous international remakes, most notably the 2004 Mexican telenovela Rebelde and its 2022 Netflix sequel series, as well as versions in India (Remix), Portugal, Chile, Brazil and Greece; a planned Spanish adaptation by TVE and a Brazilian pilot by Destiny were both never produced or aired.