Hollywood. London. Manchester. Seoul. Barcelona. At first glance, they are cities separated by thousands of kilometers, languages, cultures, and market dimensions. But when the lights come on, they share the same challenge: competing in an increasingly global, technological, and demanding audiovisual industry.
Blockbusters that triumph at the Oscars, Korean phenomena like Parasite or Squid Game, and a Catalan audiovisual sector that already exceeds 9 billion euros in turnover face, in essence, the same challenges. How to reduce dependence on large platforms? How to adapt to the irruption of artificial intelligence? How to connect with increasingly fragmented audiences? And, above all, how to transform local potential into a project with global projection? The answers to these questions will mark the future of the audiovisual industry worldwide, including in Catalonia.
Precisely with the aim of anticipating these changes and strengthening the international positioning of Catalan audiovisuals, the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia —which brings together nearly 250 companies in the sector— has promoted various international expeditions in recent years, together with ACCIÓ. From Los Angeles and Montreal to Manchester, Las Vegas, Seoul, London, or Oxford, these trips respond to the same strategic need: to observe closely how some of the world's most advanced audiovisual ecosystems face the challenges that will also mark the future of Catalonia.
"The challenges of the Catalan sector are the same as those in the United States, the United Kingdom, or South Korea," emphasizes Miquel Rutllant, president of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia. "But what changes is the way each industry decides to face them." And this is where the lessons from these international missions appear: not so much to copy models, but to understand what works, detect trends, and see how they can be adapted to the Catalan context without losing identity.
"If we only look at ourselves, we end up thinking that our problems are unique," reflects Rutllant. "And they are not: the future of audiovisual is being discussed simultaneously all over the world." In this global conversation, Catalonia wants to play a relevant role thanks to the traction of a growing sector, which already exceeds 9.120 million euros in annual turnover —close to 2.8% of Catalan GDP— and brings together more than 4,400 companies and almost 45,000 professionals. An industry that has diversified far beyond cinema and television, incorporating areas as diverse as video games, visual effects, immersive experiences, and audiovisual content linked to major events.
With all these elements, Catalonia aspires not only to maintain its position in this global race but also to consolidate itself as a relevant player alongside the great world powers. "The talent is there. The creativity is there. But we have to be able to turn them into a global industry," Rutllan emphasizes.
1. Culture as economic policy
If there is one lesson that has recently left its mark from these international expeditions, it is the way South Korea understands cultural industries. Over the last two decades, the Asian country has gone from having a limited presence in international markets to becoming one of the great global entertainment powers.
An industry that, among other achievements, has elevated the children's song Baby Shark to become the most played video in YouTube history. It has managed, for the first time, for a non-English-speaking film, Parasite, to win the Oscar for best picture. It has broken audience records with series like Squid Game. And it has turned K-pop groups like BTS or Blackpink into global icons capable of filling stadiums around the world.
The key to success? Cultural policy. "In Korea, they have understood that culture is also an economic policy," summarizes Rutllant. "K-pop, K-dramas, or cinema are not just entertainment, but tools for international projection. Public management has assumed that creative industries are both a political and economic tool, because they allow the country to be projected worldwide and, at the same time, have a direct effect on other sectors of the economy, to the point of boosting exports."
In fact, South Korea estimates that for every euro invested in creative industries, a return of up to 1.8 euros is generated in exports from other economic sectors. "It's a very strategic view. They have understood that giving prestige to their culture helps to give prestige to the country as a whole," says Rutllant.
A philosophy and a policy that, making allowances — and also taking into account the strong degree of state intervention in cultural products in South Korea — can offer useful clues for Catalonia. "Probably one of the aspects we most need to strengthen is internationalization," argues Rutllant. "From Catalonia, we should commit to opening many more international offices that would help Catalan audiovisual companies reach global markets."
2. Marketing is also part of the industry
And from this, another great lesson emerges: it is not enough to generate good content, you also have to know how to get it out to the world. Precisely, an essential part of the international success of Korean content is explained by its promotion, distribution, and internationalization strategies: commercial offices spread throughout the world, support programs for creative companies, and strong sustained investment over time.
The lesson is especially relevant in a global industry where the competition to capture the attention of viewers is increasingly intense, conditioned by social media content. Promotion and marketing, therefore, can no longer be a later phase of the creative process, but must be part of it.
In South Korea, this vision translates into concrete resources. KOCCA, one of several public agencies under the Korean Ministry of Culture, "has a budget of 476 million dollars to promote Korean content. And it's not even the only agency," emphasizes the cluster's president.
3. Without public-private collaboration, there are no large ecosystems
These lessons, applied to the Catalan context, lead to a clear realization: without solid public-private alliances to invest, there are no large audiovisual ecosystems. Thus, although public management can strengthen resources and increase investment, the sustained involvement of the private industry is also essential.
Only the combination of public investment and private sector involvement allows for the promotion of large-scale projects with an international vocation. And it is in this aspect that Catalan audiovisual still faces challenges: it needs to strengthen infrastructure to attract international productions, companies, and creators.
In this sense, Rutllant defends as "strategic" the Catalunya Media City in the old Tres Chimeneas of Sant Adrià de Besòs, a project under construction with a horizon of 2028 that aspires to become one of the great audiovisual hubs of the future in Southern Europe.
Beyond its physical dimension, the Catalunya Media City is conceived as a key infrastructure to position Catalonia as a gateway to the European market. The goal is for companies from all over the world—especially from markets like the Korean one, which face difficulties accessing a very fragmented European environment—to be able to land and operate from here.
Among future projects, Catalan audiovisual also foresees the expansion of the studios at the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa. These actions will involve an investment of 13 million euros and will allow, once completed in 2028, to almost double the available space to 6,550 square meters, in a complex where between 35 and 60 audiovisual productions are produced each year.
4. New formats are already the present
But, beyond identifying the challenges, international expeditions have also served to observe the strengths of the Catalan sector. "One of the aspects that has surprised us the most is that technologically we are not that far behind," assures Rutllant. "In fact, in some areas linked to immersive formats or digital creativity, we have very competitive companies on an international scale."
The figures support this statement. "When we look at the aggregated data, the Catalan audiovisual sector continues to grow above the general economy, and even above South Korea's figures," explains Rutllant. The growth, however, is not homogeneous: there are segments —such as audiovisual production for events, immersive experiences, or virtual reality— that are growing at a great speed. "And we must remember that these new formats are also an undisputed part of the audiovisual sector," he defends.
Areas such as post-production, visual effects, or certain technical services are profoundly changing with the arrival of new technologies, but this does not imply their disappearance, but rather a redefinition of their role. "There are Catalan companies with a lot of talent and knowledge that simply have to find a new place within the value chain," defends the president of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia.
5. The dependence on large platforms
International expeditions have highlighted another global concern: the dependence on large audiovisual platforms, from Netflix to Amazon. A reality detected with particular intensity in South Korea, where Netflix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars annually in local productions in recent years. Strategic investments that, at the same time, have generated a dependence that worries both companies and administrations.
Given this, the country is increasingly promoting the creation of its own intellectual property, with the aim that stories are born and developed within local ecosystems. In this context, formats such as webtoons or web novels have emerged, which have become true engines of content creation, with stories that are later adapted into series, films, or video games.
The strategy, therefore, involves creating from the origin on proprietary platforms, controlling the rights, and subsequently scaling this content globally, also through the major platforms.
All these lessons lead to the same reflection: it is not about aspiring to unseat Hollywood or replicating the Korean model, but about understanding the trends that are redefining the industry and the tools that Catalonia needs to take advantage of them. In a constantly transforming sector, the key is no longer whether Catalonia wants to be part of the global audiovisual conversation, but what role it is willing to play.