05/12/2024 - The representative of the Spanish institute takes stock of this year’s promotional activities and breaks down the “Who Is Who – Shooting in Spain 2025-2026” guide

Elisa García Grande, executive director of ICEX-Invest in Spain, a programme overseen by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade, takes stock of this year’s promotional activities and breaks down the new edition of the “Who Is Who – Shooting in Spain 2025-2026” guide.

Cineuropa: What is the “Who Is Who – Shooting in Spain 2025-2026” guide, and what’s new for this edition?
Elisa García Grande: The new edition of the “Who Is Who – Shooting in Spain” guide is intended to be an indispensable tool for foreign companies interested in shooting in Spain. This digital resource, which is constantly updated, brings together more than 100 contacts from production service companies, studios and film sets, consultants and related bodies. In addition, it includes key information about the main associations, clusters, film commissions and film offices in the country.

Among the main new additions this year, we would highlight the constant updating of the guide, which ensures immediate access to the latest information on providers and services. The contact network has also been expanded, incorporating new companies and associations that reflect the diversity of the Spanish audiovisual ecosystem. The integrated interactive tools facilitate personalised searches for resources, in accordance with each user’s needs. Lastly, particular emphasis is put on sustainability and advanced technology, highlighting providers that comply with high standards in these areas.

With this guide, we continue our commitment to offer easy, efficient and comprehensive access to the immense potential that Spain offers as a film set and audiovisual destination, thus supporting the growth and success of all of those productions that happen to choose our country.

How would you assess the Shooting in Spain activities organised in 2024?
2024 has been a year with a high workload, but it has been fundamental in cementing Spain as a top destination for international audiovisual production. Under the Shooting in Spain brand, and throughout the year, we have actively taken part in more than 20 international professional forums and markets promoting the advantages of Spain that make it a highly competitive destination for shoots and investments, and establishing key relationships with investors and producers from around the world.

Our assessment of this year is very positive in terms of visibility and notoriety. We have devoted ourselves to working intensely on conveying the unique advantages offered by Spain: a favourable fiscal framework that stimulates investment, quality infrastructures that guarantee successful productions, and highly qualified local talent, which makes us even more competitive. During the entire year, we have also been presenting our services designed to simplify each step of the process of getting set up in Spain, through personalised institutional support, connections with investors and potential partners, and comprehensive consultancy for startups as well as long-term support.

What’s more, we have expanded our international network with the inclusion of two specific satellite offices for the audiovisual sector in Los Angeles and Singapore, thus consolidating our global presence and facilitating international investors’ access to the services we offer. All of this, together with our over 100 economic and commercial offices around the world, forms part of our drive to connect international productions with key local and regional partners.

How would you weigh up the impact of the "Making It Easy for You" campaign?
This campaign was launched at the Marché du Film, and we believe this slogan perfectly reflects our objective of facilitating business development for those who put their faith in Spain. As well as boasting attractive tax incentives, top-tier professionals, top-notch sustainability and infrastructure standards, the implementation of cutting-edge technology, and a diverse climate and landscapes, ICEX-Invest in Spain, with its proactive attitude, offers a personalised support service that is summed up to perfection by our slogan “Making It Easy for You”.

We present Spain as a strategic destination for investment and for production, but also, we’re here to facilitate decision making when it comes to where to invest, shoot or set up, to mention just a few examples, as part of our public service commitment.

In fact, through our Shooting in Spain brand, we offer a comprehensive range of services, including guidance on how Spanish taxes work, assistance with setting up in Spain and business expansion, and access to a network of professionals and audiovisual industry experts. And our services don’t end with setting up a business in our country; rather, we accompany these firms at all times so that they can become better established and grow efficiently.

Without a doubt, we have made a commitment to excellence and to ensuring the success of the projects so that each investment in Spain ends up being fruitful and contributes to strengthening our dynamic and constantly expanding audiovisual industry. This slogan goes beyond a one-off campaign, given that it fully ties in with our overarching mission and also with the one specific to the audiovisual sector, which we are firmly committed to, moving forward.

What are Shooting in Spain’s priorities for 2025?
As we move into 2025, we will maintain our commitment to positioning Spain as a global benchmark in the audiovisual industry. We intend to continue the work that we started more than 25 years ago and that we have reinforced in the last three years, thanks to the “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe” plan.

Our priorities for 2025 are focused on increasing the visibility of our country in key markets – the US, European and Asian ones – where we will look to attract new international investors and productions, and give a boost to the sector’s internationalisation. To achieve this, we are going to maintain our active presence at trade fairs, conferences and relevant international events, while in parallel with this, we will place special emphasis on fostering institutional collaboration, on both the national and international levels. Furthermore, we will pay particular attention to sustainability and technological innovation in response to international productions’ ever-growing demands for solutions that are more environmentally friendly and are adapted to new digital trends.

Summing up, all of these objectives reflect our firm commitment to continue positioning Shooting in Spain as a leader in the worldwide audiovisual sector, aligning our actions with the global vision of ICEX-Invest in Spain to carry on fostering a more competitive, innovative and sustainable audiovisual ecosystem.

(Translated from Spanish)