The future Catalunya Media City in the Tres Xemeneies, the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya, Oscar nominations that no longer surprise, 65 schools linked to the audiovisual sector, presence in major festivals, and globally recognized actors and directors. These are some of the most visible angles of a broad Catalan audiovisual sector, which goes much further: from production to post-production, to video game developers, to audiovisual equipment rental, and broadcasting companies, the sector's value chain covers a wide spectrum of companies, professionals, and, increasingly, startups.
Representatives of all of them gathered at the presentation of the Acció and the Cluster Audiovisual de Catalunya report that has X-rayed the sector, a week before the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) at Fira de Barcelona. The conclusions are clear: the sector continues to grow, as it has been doing steadily since Acció began analyzing it in 2020, when there were 3,600 companies in the audiovisual sphere. Now, companies are close to 4,500 (7% more than the previous year), and turnover exceeds 9,000 million euros for the first time. Specifically, it was 9,120 million, which represents a 6% increase (at a slower pace than the previous year, when it grew by 12%). The dynamism of the sector also leads to an increase in jobs, which rise to nearly 45,000, an 8% increase. All of this leads the audiovisual sector to contribute 2.9% of GDP to the Catalan economy.
What are the keys to this growth? In addition to the context of international acceleration and the emergence of new technologies, Catalonia —with Barcelona at the forefront— has infrastructures such as those of the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya, training centers, the new XRLab at the Palo Alto site, and the future Catalunya Media City. "The expansion of large studios will respond to one of the needs and challenges of the sector," highlighted Inma Rodríguez from Acció. In addition to infrastructures, there are agents such as clusters and associations, as well as training centers that foster the talent necessary for the audiovisual ecosystem to grow.
Barcelona as an epicenter
In this ecosystem, Barcelona is key.In fact, the city concentrates more than 50% of the sector's companies in Catalonia, with more than 2,500. In addition, it does so at a great distance from the second city in number of companies: Sant Cugat hosts 111, while Sabadell has 86, and Girona, 82. So much so that the province of Barcelona acts as the great audiovisual hub of Catalonia, with 87% of the sector's companies.Barcelona leads in a diverse ecosystem, where half of the employees work in micro-enterprises or small companies with fewer than 50 professionals, and where practically half of the turnover comes from large companies (which are 1% of the total number of companies). Whether large or small, 73% of Catalan companies have been operating for more than 10 years, in a robust sector now shaken by technological changes and new tools.
Facing this sector, the ISE serves as a dynamizer and promoter. However, the fair, which last year exceeded 85,000 visitors, faces a challenge for the ecosystem. "Surely the ISE has the challenge of being even more useful and attractive for audiovisual service providers in Catalonia," according to the director of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies (ICEC), Edgar Garcia, who has stressed that the sector has strengthened and structured since Barcelona hosts the congress, with a "very positive return": "It is fortunate that we have a strategic fair like this."
This is a mutual feeling: for ISE, it is a stroke of luck to be in Barcelona, as evidenced by the testimony of Mike Blackman. In addition to the praise, the general director of ISE has also returned a challenge for Catalan audiovisuals: "You have to promote the opportunities of the companies that are here more strongly."
"The audiovisual industry does not know enough about the talent and potential that exists here," Blackman reiterated. Faced with these tasks, ISE itself is already contributing in this direction, helping to position the audiovisual ecosystem and bringing it closer to large and small companies from abroad: "The industry worldwide recognizes that ISE works in Barcelona. And some are staying, opening offices and generating economic impact."
And from the challenge of internationalization, to that of innovation. The president of the Catalan Audiovisual Cluster, Miquel Rutllant, has argued that "the first challenge is how companies in the audiovisual industry embrace dynamism to adapt, grow, and internationalize." And it is that "the rules of the game are changing for a sector that was mature and consolidated, and that creates new niches and opportunities." In this scenario, he outlined another challenge: "We have to attract much more capital," viewing the audiovisual sector as a transversal ecosystem that can delve into a multitude of sectors, from healthcare to education.
Video game traction
In this sense, "the sector is very broad" and, in that mix, some areas are boiling more than others, as highlighted by the CEO of Acció, Jaume Baró. At the head, with clear leadership: thevideo gamesand system integration technologies, precisely the protagonists of ISE. Both areas have seen the number of companies grow by more than 45%, and turnover has increased by 31% in the case of video games, and by a remarkable 76% in integrated systems.In this growth, startups also play a relevant role, with 380 linked to the audiovisual sector (more than double that in 2019). They do so from multiple angles, ranging from content creation to video games, musicTech, and adTech. Their activity not only impacts turnover and jobs but also the positioning of Catalonia, with Barcelona at the forefront, as that reference hub for audiovisual production at a European level.