The San Sebastián Film Festival will receive a key economic boost from Spain’s Ministry of Digital Transformation and Civil Service to consolidate its industry events, which include the Creative Investors’ Conference, co-organized with CAA Media Finance.
Moneys involved may not seem large. Under the terms of the agreement, the Ministry will become the sole sponsor of industry events at the Festival, stumping up a €500,000 ($580,000) grant to support the Creative Investors’ two-morning confab, plus the Conference on Leading the Audiovisual of the Future, organized by the Ministry of Digital Transformation for Sunday, Sept. 20.
Also, the best Spanish project prize at San Sebastian’s Zinemaldia Startup Challenge, a new tech pitching session, will rise to €30,000 ($34,800).
The support recognizes the reality of San Sebastián. Under directors Mikel Lejarza and all the more José Luis Rebordinos, San Sebastián has developed an informal market, bulwarked by a significant contingent of top Spanish and French sales agents keen to push slates with titles not just a San. Sebastián but also Venice and Toronto as far longer sales cycles require them to work deals across multiple markets.
The festival’s lineup and Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum attracts the cream of Latin American directors and producers, led this year by “Spencer” helmer Pablo Larraín and Argentina’s Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo”) with new films in competition and Celina Murga with a just-announced project at the Forum.
Industry delegates hit 2,411 last year, an all time record. Now readying for its 5th edition over Sept. 22-23, the Creative Investors’ Conference looks set to attract this year executives from heavy hitters such as Acme AI & VFX, Black Bear International, Media Capital Technologies, MUBI, Neon, Studiocanal and Sumerian Pictures.
Meanwhile, Spain’s government launched in 2021 a Spain Audiovisual Hub of Europe Plan with a €1.6 billion ($1.85 billion) budget, financed by Next GenerationEU funds, part of the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience facility.
A first phase of the Spain AVS Plan saw the government largely back tax breaks and credit facilities. A second, spearheaded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, has seen its investment arm, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), a sovereign state-backed venture capital fund, invest around €215 million ($252 million) into Spain’s film, TV, vid game and new technology sectors, sparking matching private sector investment of a further €230 million ($269.1 million).
Working the whole chain-of-value of development, production and sales, targeting international business opportunities for operations based out of Spain and partnering with new companies or investment vehicles, the SETT investment drive is likely to be one subject at the Conference on Leading the Audiovisual of the Future.
San Sebastián’s industry boost also forms part of second phase Spain AVS Hub.
“With this commitment to the San Sebastián Festival, we reinforce an infrastructure which is strategic for the Spanish audiovisual world, given its ability to attract investment, create opportunities, connect talent with international financing and project the image of the initiative: Spain Audiovisual Hub of Europe,” Spanish Minister for Digital Transformation Oscar López said Tuesday.
The Ministry’s support will “serve to consolidate growth of the Industry department, something it has been doing consistently for more than a decade,” San Sebastián Festival director José Luis Rebordinos added. “This sponsorship will give an even greater boost to activities such as Zinemaldia & Technology and to the Creative Investors’ Conference, an event which assembles in San Sebastián important international leaders from the audiovisual sector,” he continued.
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