Catalunya Media City: it is time to focus on the industry

A few weeks ago, the architectural project for the Turbines Building of the future Catalunya Media City was officially presented. The event held at the Tres Xemeneies del Besòs gave the definitive impulse to the strategic commitment that will consolidate the Catalan audiovisual industry on the world stage. As President Illa stated on the day of the presentation, Catalunya Media City is now irreversible. The future audiovisual hub is making decisive progress on the urban and architectural fronts, but now the focus must be on the industrial part that the space is to host.

First, it is necessary to understand how Catalunya Media City will be configured. We imagine it as two large blocks. The first would consist of the Turbines Building and its surroundings. This sector represents the foundations of Catalunya Media City, where research, training, spaces and audiovisual equipment for companies and professionals, and a large space for audiovisual-based cultural productions open to the public will converge. An emblematic building that must be known worldwide for its unique location, its architectural image, its productions, and its industrial past. The Turbines Building will have to provide new professionals and innovations in technology and content to the global audiovisual industry that will be located within a few years in the second large block of Catalunya Media City.

This second block will consist of the Tres Xemeneies and the area designated for the audiovisual industry and housing, where the economic and industrial growth that will allow the recovery of the large investment made will be generated. In this area, advanced technological infrastructures will also be built, such as studios with state-of-the-art technology, data centers, and telecommunications, which will be at the service of companies throughout the audiovisual value chain that will be installed in the hub.

To achieve the industrial objectives of Catalunya Media City, it is necessary to accelerate the deadlines, its definition, and, immediately after, its execution.

An important factor is the sharing of these infrastructures and equipment among all actors of Catalunya Media City to ensure that they positively revert to all of them.It is key to configure a business ecosystem that generates connections between companies to produce the audiovisual content and technological applications of the future. To achieve this goal, we must focus on attracting the main international companies in the industry, which will find the talent and thepartnersstrategic ones they need.

For example, if we bet on audiovisual production with AI, we have to be able to bring together the big players that lead this sector, such as Open AI or Runway. But we also have to attract agencies and studios that provide creativity and produce content, as well as operators that integrate this content into their platforms.

We can also become a benchmark in virtual production technologies, and attract leading companies, such as Epic Games, to use the resources of Catalunya Media City. Virtual production technologies, combined with AI and future innovations, will be essential in tomorrow's audiovisual industry. Therefore, we also have to attract the major platforms and operators in our country, such as the CCMA or RTVE's new Catalan channel, but also international players who will find in this space the best global virtual production environment.

We need to find the operators that will give Catalunya Media City the expected trajectory, and support and provide facilities to the local industry so that it can be part of the hub

To achieve the industrial objectives of Catalunya Media City, it is necessary to accelerate the deadlines, its definition and, immediately afterwards, its execution. The project must be drawn industrially.That is, to define strategies for attracting the international audiovisual industry with a perspective of both production and new technologies and uses that we findat the ISE, and from industrial promoters who build the buildings and infrastructures. We need to find operators that give Catalunya Media City the expected trajectory, and support and provide facilities to local industry to be part of thehub, through innovation grants, among others.

To make this possible, it is advisable to count on the main economic organizations of the Catalan audiovisual industry, such as the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia, to boost industrial development. Now is the time to lay the solid foundations for this important future project for our country. And it must be done well, with the involvement of all key audiovisual players.