• This event, targeting shooting destinations, location scouts, production companies and the audiovisual industry, will be held on 17th and 18th October

  • Organised by Feria de Valladolid and Spain Film Commission with the sponsorship of the Junta de Castilla y León and Valladolid City Council

 

This latest edition of Shooting Locations Marketplace, the shooting destinations event taking place on 17th and 18th October, will see an increase in the number of Spanish and international destinations, producers, location scouts and companies linked to audiovisual production. Professionals from 15 countries will gather for this two-day event organised by Feria de Valladolid and Spain Film Commission and sponsored by the Junta de Castilla y León and Valladolid City Council.

The outlook for the third edition of Shooting Locations Marketplace is extremely promising, given the participants’ standard and diversity, as well as the excellent results of the two previous editions. The event has been organised in various work scenarios in order to provide all shooting agents with the opportunity to meet. They include an appointments schedule organised in accordance with the shared interests of destinations and location scouts, as well as roundtable discussions and talks on issues such as sustainable shoots, tax incentives or the impact of the recent scriptwriters’ strike.

Shooting Locations Marketplace will be attended by 36 Spanish and 9 international destinations – France and Brittany, Germany, Berlin-Brandenburg and Baviera, Poland, Norway, Jordan and Egypt. There will also be a rise in the number of private companies attending, both in terms of those seeking to attract shoots, including four hotel chains and an estate, as well as production service providers, from Namibia, Peru, Estonia, Jordan and Spain.

Alberto Alonso, Feria de Valladolid’s Managing Director, highlighted the steady growth of Shooting Locations Marketplace “reflected in these figures, the result of the incorporation of new destinations and companies. This is thanks to the hard work and support of our partner, Spain Film Commission, and our sponsors, Valladolid City Council and the Junta de Castilla y León”.

Alonso went on to add that “the increased offer brings with it a rise in the number of location scouts who will be attending Shooting Locations Marketplace: 69 professionals from seven countries. For this new edition, we have continued with last year’s strategy of including executive profiles with a greater decision-making capacity in terms of the choice of destinations”. He also highlighted the fact that 65 per cent of the location scouts and producers are from the US and the UK, the two leading markets in the western audio-visual industry.

Juan Manuel Guimeráns, Secretary General of the Spain Film Commission, stressed “Spain’s competitive capacity to attract international shoots, the development of the country’s audio-visual industry and the crucial role played by Shooting Locations Marketplace in creating contacts and connections with professionals from other countries”. Guimeráns positioned this event in the framework of the Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe Plan, an initiative driven by the Spanish Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures.

Valladolid Councillor for Tourism, Events and City Brand, Blanca Jiménez, stated that “hosting this event is a magnificent opportunity for Valladolid, and is in line with the city’s drive through the Valladolid Film Commission to attract shoots as an economic sector and to promote the city’s brand. In addition, the fact that Shooting Locations Marketplace coincides with SEMINCI (Valladolid’s International Film Week) allows synergies that will benefit local industry in general. This event is enjoying steady growth, attracting new proposals and turning Valladolid into the audiovisual capital of Spain during this period”.

Inmaculada Martínez, Director General for Cultural Policies, explained that the presence of the Junta de Castilla y León’s Regional Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports at Shooting Locations Marketplace, “is part of our determined efforts to drive our Community’s cultural industry and audiovisual sector, as well as promoting the region as a shoot location”. Ms Martínez went on to highlight several of the initiatives the Regional Ministry has promoted this year in this sense, such as boosting the actions of the Castilla y León Film Commission and the Castilla y León Film Archive, or increasing subsidies for feature film and short film audiovisual projects. She explained that “the aim is to ensure that the audiovisual sector, a sector with both drive and talent in our Community, contributes even more to our economy, our culture and our society”.

Talks

The challenges facing the audio-visual industry, the sustainability of film shoots, the use of artificial intelligence in the search for locations or how locations can inspire stories are just a few of the issues that will be addressed during the talks and roundtable discussions included in Shooting Locations Marketplace.

The programme will get underway with a conversation between US scriptwriter Jay Gibson, winner of an Emmy and two Writers Guild Awards, and location scout Lori Balton. Together, they will debate “Places, plots and company”. Gibson has worked on films such as “Dead Poets Society” and “The Thin Red Line”.

Lori Balton is a veteran location scout who this year has worked on “Haunted Mansion” and “The Little Mermaid”. Other films on her resume include “Babylon” and “The Lion King”.

“Different visions and realities” is the title of the roundtable discussion scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, moderated by Jaclyn Philpott, Executive President of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). Following on from this, Spain Film Commission will present a study on the use of artificial intelligence in choosing locations, directed by Alba Meijide.

Topics for day two include the challenges facing the audiovisual industry and how sustainability criteria influence the choice of locations. The programme will end with a masterclass by location scout Enrique Gutiérrez del Álamo, who was in charge of productions “Cuando nadie nos ve” (When Nobody Sees Us), part of a training programme organised by the Global Audiovisual Training Centre (GATC), which is based in Rio de Janeiro.

Shooting Locations Marketplace also has collaboration agreements with a number of professional associations. Major new signings this year include the AFCI, the Association of Film Commissioners International, based in Los Angeles. Alberto Alonso explained that “this is a major endorsement for the visibility of the project on a global scale. What’s more, the association’s Executive President, Jaclyn Philpott, will be playing an active role in Shooting Locations Marketplace”.

The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI), the European Film Commission Network (EUFCN) and the Spanish associations Profilm, Appa and Alía, together with the specialised media, complete the list of partners collaborating in Shooting Locations Marketplace.

International shoots in Spain

According to data released by Profilm, the association of production companies that carry out international audiovisual projects in Spain, last year, Spain hosted shoots for 49 international productions, which generated a direct investment of 288 million euros. The majority of this corresponds to the hiring of technical teams and stunt specialists. The Canary Islands, Catalonia and Navarra were the principal shoot locations chosen by these international productions.

 

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