This year’s edition of Shooting Locations Marketplace, the event for shooting destinations held in Valladolid on 17th and 18th October, saw a rise in the number of participating Spanish and international destinations, location scouts and companies operating in the audiovisual production sector. Professionals from 15 countries gathered at 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.

Shooting Locations Marketplace amply met the promising initial outlook, based on the standard and diversity of participants and the results of previous editions. The event aims to provide a meeting point for all those agents involved in film shoots through a series of work scenarios: an agenda comprising more than 950 meetings arranged in accordance with the shared interests of the destinations and location scouts, as well as roundtable discussions and talks on issues such as the sustainability of film shoots, tax incentives, the impact of the recent scriptwriters’ strike or the use of artificial intelligence in the search for locations.

Shooting Locations Marketplace was attended by 36 Spanish and 9 international destinations: France and Brittany, Germany, Berlin-Brandenburg and Baviera, Poland, Norway, Jordan and Egypt. The number of private companies attending also rose, both in terms of those seeking to attract shoots and production service providers. Indeed, Shooting Locations Marketplace also provides a space for these businesses to present their activities, and this year’s edition included interventions by firms from Peru, Jordan, Spain, Estonia and Namibia.

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 attended 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.

The Chairman of Feria de Valladolid’s Executive Committee, Víctor Caramanzana, highlighted the fact that “Shooting Locations Marketplace was created to become a benchmark for audio-visual industry professionals and destinations, and in just two years has grown both nationally and internationally”.

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.

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 addressed during the talks and roundtable discussions included in Shooting Locations Marketplace.

The programme got 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 debated “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” was the title of the roundtable discussion held on Tuesday afternoon, moderated by Jaclyn Philpott, Executive President of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). This was followed by a presentation by Spain Film Commission on the use of artificial intelligence in choosing locations, directed by Alba Meijide.

Collaboration between India and Spain was the subject of analysis during a roundtable debate between managers of the India Film Office, production company India Shoots, Valladolid Film Office and the Casa de la India Foundation.

Topics for day two included the challenges facing the audio-visual industry and how sustainability criteria influence the choice of locations. The first of these topics were discussed by Adrian Wootton, CEO of the British Film Commission and Robert Ortiz, Production Vice-President at Paramount TV, Tiffany Tiesiera, Senior Vice-President of Focus Features, Anja Metzger, Baviera’s film commissioner, and Ahmed Sambad, Managing Director of the Egypt Film Commission.

Executive producer Mika Saito, Andy Weltman, CEO of Babelsgber Estudios, and Meghan Beaton, an executive director at the Norway Film Commission, analysed aspects related to the sustainability of shoots in a session chaired by Carlota Guerrero, Co-President of the European Film Commission Network (EUFCN.)

The programme ended 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.