"We have to run a lot to start building within two years." This is how explicit Miquel Rutllant, president of the Clúster Audiovisual de Catalunya, is when he talks about the Catalunya Media City project, the future infrastructure for the audiovisual sector that wants to compare itself with the best in Europe. Being able to define the project at a time when the sector is undergoing an extraordinary change with new technologies and the exponential increase in audiovisual content ---accelerated by the pandemic--- will allow for a very broad vision of where the audiovisual industry is heading: virtual technology in a business, research, talent environment... And a clear long-term vision.
"We know that there is now a very positive conjuncture for the industry, but what we want is to strengthen the ecosystem so that it is very powerful in the long term, and that is why we are betting on virtual technology as a fundamental element for future audiovisual production because it will allow us to produce with higher quality, at lower and more efficient costs, with more powerful visual effects," explains Rutllant.
Driven by the Clúster Audiovisual de Catalunya and the Institut Català de les Indústries Culturals of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat, the project has two aspects. On the one hand, to launch the expansion of the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa, a center in operation since 2005 that is distributed over an area of more than 50,000 square meters and has four studios of about 6,000 square meters, and which houses more than 40 companies from the audiovisual, innovation, and media sector that represent a good part of the Catalan business engine. Specialized in television series, films, and advertising, the infrastructure is at one hundred percent occupancy and now wants to be equipped with an additional 2,000 square meters of studios "to respond to a growing demand from the sector," specifies Rutllant.
Secondly, the construction of Catalunya Media City, a new production center for the audiovisual and digital content sectors that will also bet on innovation and creativity with the launch of creative hubs, training centers, research spaces, technological development centers, and business incubators. Always in close relation with the business world, to expand its interrelation with the world of education and research and go hand in hand to define a great infrastructure pole of attraction for national and international talent. Currently in Catalunya "we have a very complete ecosystem of the audiovisual industry with a lot of talent and innovation, but we lacked this infrastructure to position ourselves as a world reference in equipment."
Catalunya Media City: the future infrastructure for the audiovisual sector that aims to compare itself with the best in EuropeIn the coming months, the definitive location will be specified. Possible sites are being studied in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Cerdanyola del Vallès or the area near the Tres Xemeneies, in Besòs, next to Sant Adrià and Badalona.
Connected with the rest of the world
However, the enclave is not the most decisive factor. The essential thing is that it is not an isolated infrastructure. "The promoters of the initiative are very clear that the important thing is to be interconnected with the rest of the Spanish and international audiovisual industry, since today no one can propose an audiovisual infrastructure that works on large fiction projects of series and films without it being developed in different work headquarters that each contribute part of the realization" ---recording, special effects, post-production...---, states Rutllant and explains the experience developed in the Dutch city of Hilversum which has become an important audiovisual hub that "has created a lot of wealth, developed talent and generated employment."
The Catalan project has a planned budget of about 300 million euros that will be initially financed 50% between private and public funds. In this sense, Catalunya Media City is one of the 27 projects chosen as driving initiatives for economic recovery and that will opt for financing from the European reconstruction funds Next Generation UE.
6.700 million turnover
"The sector is of capital importance in Catalonia," although it is very atomized ---only 20 companies exceed 10 million in turnover---, "we have international references like Mediapro." In total, Catalonia has 1,100 companies dedicated to audiovisuals, which add up to a total turnover of 6,700 million euros and employ 26,000 people, according to the study The audiovisual sector in Catalonia. Strategic Update, prepared by the Department of Business of the Generalitat. The audiovisual entertainment division accounts for the most significant part of this turnover, with 3,869 million euros. "This strategic analysis highlights business opportunities around fiction, the growth of the video game industry in Catalonia, and the key role of audiovisual technology in the future business models of this industry," explains Miquel Rutllant.
The Catalunya Media City is one of the projects that will opt for funding from the EU's Next Generation fundsWith this ecosystem, Catalonia is also one of the references in the central Government's plan to develop the project Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe, endowed with some 1.6 billion euros, which aims to turn Spain into a hub for audiovisual production. The plan foresees increasing audiovisual production in Spain by 30% by 2025, with an investment of 1.6 billion euros. With this objective, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, on his trip to the United States last July, met with the top executives of the production area of the world's major audiovisual companies, in a meeting supported by the sector's employers' association, Motion Pictures Association, one of thelobbiesmost influential in North America.
To attract their production to Spanish lands, "the central government plans to design tax incentives to reduce administrative and regulatory costs and create tools and platforms" that encourage the majors to locate the filming and production of series and films in Spanish territory. "But what the state plan does not do is choose locations, and hence the importance that Catalonia can soon have this new great infrastructure that adds to the offer of the Terrassa Audiovisual Park," points out the president of the Audiovisual Cluster.
The Catalunya Media City and the Catalunya Audiovisual Park will add 100,000 square meters, about 20,000 of which will be dedicated to studios, so that it can be offered to the major international production companies in the sector. But the space will not only be for them, the new infrastructure will be prepared to boost the new audiovisual sector, for 360º, immersive or video game productions and will host an eSports infrastructure to respond to the growing demand in this area.