Why Spain is the New Hotspot for Global Productions: Insights from ICEX and Palma Pictures | TellyCast Podcast

This special Shooting in Spain episode of TellyCast explores why Spain has become one of the most attractive destinations for international audiovisual productions. Justin Crosby is joined by Vanesa Álvarez, Foreign Direct Investment Projects Director at ICEX-Invest in Spain, and Eduardo Rodrigalvarez, Head of Locations & Supervising Location Manager at Palma Pictures.

Vanesa shares how initiatives like the “Making It Easy for You” campaign, substantial tax incentives, and Spain’s audiovisual ecosystem are transforming the industry, making it easier for foreign producers to collaborate and invest. Eduardo provides an insider’s view on the practicalities of shooting in Spain, highlighting its versatility, professional crews, and stunning locations that rival anywhere in the world.

Tune in to discover how Spain is setting new standards for international productions and why it should be on every producer’s radar for 2025.

This episode of TellyCast is supported by Shooting in Spain, a brand of ICEX Invest in Spain, funded by the EU Next Generation Funds and the Government of Spain.

Transcript

Considering Spain as a shooting location for your next TV project? Looking for a Spanish partner to join your international co pro? And need help to identify business opportunities and set up in Spain? If you're coming to Mipcom, make sure to meet the Shooting in Spain team, powered by ISEX Invest in Spain.

They offer a free public service specialized in attracting TV productions and supporting foreign entrepreneurs to Looking to establish in the Spanish media sector? Ask for shooting in Spain when visiting the audio visual from Spain. Stand at Riviera seven or request a one-to-one meeting by email to invest in Spain at ICEX es.

That's invest in Spain at ic es shooting in Spain. Making it easy for you.

Hi, I'm Justin Crosby and welcome to TellyCast, the content industry podcast show featuring the movers and shakers of the international content industry. This episode of TellyCast is supported by Shooting in Spain, a brand of ISEX Invest in Spain, funded by the EU Next Generation Funds and the Government of Spain.

On this week's show, I'm speaking with Vanessa Alvarez, Foreign Direct Investment Projects Director at ISEX Invest in Spain about why now is the right time for the audiovisual industry to invest in Spain, the organization's activities in 2024, the impact of the Making It Easy for You campaign, and their focus for the coming year.

I'll also be joined by Eduardo Rodríguez Álvarez, head of locations and supervising location manager at Palma Pictures, one of Spain's leading production service companies, with a portfolio that includes titles such as The Crown, The Mallorca Files, and Who Is Erin Carter? It's coming right up!

So my first guest on this week's special Shooting in Spain episode of TellyCast is Vanessa Alvarez, Foreign Direct Investment Projects Director at ISEX Invest in Spain. Vanessa, welcome to TellyCast. 

Vanesa: Thank you, Justin. 

Great to see you. And, uh, this evening we've got a very big event that's happening with lots of dignitaries and production companies from the UK and also from Spain talking about how they can work better together when it comes to co productions and investments in Spain, etc.

So we'll, we've got lots to get through. Um, I guess the first ideal place to start is looking at Spain. It's, it's long been, you A very popular destination for international productions. But why now? Why is the moment now particularly apt to invest in the audio visual industry in Spain? 

Vanesa: Well, this is the perfect moment, uh, because Spain has positioned itself as a key player, uh, in the last year.

We have been working in this sector for decades now, but since 2021, when we launched our Spain, Europe's audio visual have plan, we really, uh,

for, uh, better positioning, uh, more visibility, uh, massive investment in the sector, and, uh, many, uh, new connections and, uh, and, uh, possibilities for foreign producers to settle down and work in Spain. 

Okay, and, and, well, we've, we've seen, um, a huge jump in profile. Obviously, you were Country of Honor at MIPCOM, and there's lots of other activities that we'll talk about in a second.

Um, but let's, let's first of all talk about one of the key elements of, uh, uh, that, that, uh, ISEX Invest in Spain has, has, has been developing, which is tax incentives and the infrastructure in Spain compared to other European countries in, in attracting particularly. UK production companies. I mean, how do they compare from Spain versus other European countries?

Vanesa: Well, Spain has a very competitive scheme of tax incentives for co productions and for directly for shooting in Spain. Uh, it's, uh, it has been improving in the last years. Uh, we have a common regime that offers up to to 30 percent as a tax rebate. But we do have also a regional incentives that can be added or can be additional to that general incentive and that can go up to 54%, for instance, in the Canary Islands.

Or, uh, 60 or even 70% in some northern regions like Navar or uh, de Basque country. So, uh, it's a set of, uh, fiscal incentives that is really attractive for, for foreign producers. And there is, uh, not. At all, the only attractive a point that we offer for them. We do have a leading infrastructure, excellent locations.

We can replicate almost any place in the world inside our geography. Big pool of talent, our own content industry that has been developing very quickly that can offer almost any service that can, uh, can be requested. We have plenty of government support, of course, as I mentioned before, with our Spain audiovisual hub of Europe.

Eh two, uh, launch in eh 2021. This planned, eh, we do have a fast track procedure for visas that is really interesting and, and, and, uh, valued by, uh, travelers and professionals in this sector. Eh, we offer cost effective, eh, productions and, uh, facilities, public studios, uh, and make a full, a comprehensive ecosystem, uh, around the industry.

So. What can I say more, no, more than that? I think it's a, uh, um, uh, a set of, uh, of, uh, strong points, uh, of interesting, and, uh, uh, elements that really are attractive for foreign producers. 

Yeah, well, that's a, that's a pretty, uh, pretty good lineup of, uh, of incentives and opportunities there. Just coming back to what you were talking about when it comes to locations.

Obviously, unique, cultural, and geographic. diversity within Spain, massive country, of course, as well. But we know there's mountains. We know the beautiful sea and, you know, some other locations. We remember a lot of old Westerns shot many years ago and probably still in Spain. So, you know, do you see the appeal of Spain now being, um, more attracted than ever when you talk about all of those different incentives and perhaps the the local capabilities of crews.

Do you think now that that is increased to a point where, you know, it's, it's, it's now like an unbeatable package? 

Vanesa: Definitely the situation has nothing to do with what was in the past. You have this idea in mind, of course, you mentioned the Westerns that were shot in Almeria in the south of Spain, and it's true, the, the locations were always there, they still are, no?

But the, what do, what we have now is a professionalized. developed sector of activity in our economy. We do have companies for every activity related to this industry. We do have the talent, the universities, the governmental support, and a massive talent pool. Package. I have to mention also off a fight fiscal incentives and some direct support measures.

So we do have a services that are like like our service. The one we offered at I think investing Spain that are for free that are available for all companies. We do accompany them. We help them to grow to find the correct locations, not only to shoot, But to establish a company also, we do have an as a comprehensive service that supports the internationalization of a Spanish companies that are already producing content in Spain.

So all the it's a big network of support and and, uh, and, uh, and, um, claims like, can I, how can I say, like, attractive points for, for, uh, companies in this sector for foreign companies. No. So nowadays, our, our, our sector is fully professionalized, internationalized, and it has evolved a lot. It has. It is much more complex than the idea that you may have from the past.

No, but the locations are still there. And more than that, Now we have identified the locations. It is possible to find the images already. We do, we do have that, uh, a list of, uh, locations. Any producer can ask, I need mountains, I need castles, I need, uh, old places or I need dirty, uh, spaces, whatever, you know, whatever is needed, we can find it for, for the producers.

So I think it's a, it's much more developed. 

And you've launched a, uh, uh, a program called Making It Easy For You, a campaign that was launched last year. So what were the primary objectives? And presumably it's, as it says on the tin, you know, it's, it's making it much more easy for, for producers to produce and, and, and co produce in Spain.

But tell us a little bit about, uh, That campaign? 

Vanesa: Yeah. Well, the campaign was launched at March film, uh, uh, and, uh, and, uh, when we launched this, uh, this idea, making it easy for you, not the, the sentence, uh, what we had in mind was not only a commercial campaign, it was really our mission, what we. Every day on a daily basis.

This is our real work. Uh, we wanted, uh, we wanted foreign producers and, and foreign companies really to, to know that we are there for them because we are always ready to help. It's a public service that we offer in Spain is totally for free. And we do accompany companies throughout their decision making process.

From the beginning, when they are trying to find a location for a. For a company that they want to create in Spain, or really to, to, to, to make a movie in Spain, we can give them advice on every detail. The Spanish tax system, if they need a some visa, a special visa, or, or some support in that regard, we can help them.

We can give them access to a network of people. Professionals and experts in Spain. Put them in touch with the film commissions with the regional authorities. We can accompany companies to consolidate their business and grow in Spain. Also, actually, at ethics investing Spain, we do have a service that is called after after care service that we offer to foreign companies that are already working in Spain and have experience in Spain that are considered actually Spanish companies in all regards, but we continue accompanying them in a part of our aftercare service throughout their life in Spain.

So, uh, I mean, it sounds a pretty comprehensive package, as I mentioned earlier on. So, ISEX Invest in Spain has been really quite visible throughout the year. Anybody within the international audio visual industry will have seen a lot of the efforts that you've been, uh, putting in right across markets and, and, and different territories.

What do you think, uh, Were the biggest significant achievements of ISEX Invest in Spain in 2024? 

Vanesa: Well, thank you for that question because, uh, we have been trying to intensify our effort to be there presenting markets in the most relevant markets in the last years. And I can say this year we have been, uh, we Participated in more than 20 international professional markets with two different hats on the one hand, representing our own companies and helping them to internationalize their businesses abroad.

And on the other hand, as our hat, like, invest in Spain, trying to attract foreign investment and helping foreign companies to find locations to shoot in Spain. So we have been participating in really a lot of activities, more than 250 in the last three years, actually. And in this year we have, Really, we have tried to be very visible, to focus in visibility for our companies, for our country as a top shooting destination, and as a natural destination for investment, for funding.

And actually we have been promoting our services abroad. We have participated in events trying to explain better what we do at Ithex Invest in Spain. We offer personalized institutional support, links with other investors, with, uh, uh, partners of all kinds in Spain, comprehensive advice, long term support, as I mentioned.

But we also have created partnerships. Two dedicated antennas, representatives in Los Angeles and in Singapore to really help us reach more, uh, contacts abroad, not to reach foreign producers that maybe didn't know about Spain, didn't know about the strong positioning that Spain has gained, has, has reached in, in these last years.

And, and we wanted these antennas to really, uh, act as a, um, as a, uh, As a point as a contact point that is closer to the main markets and that helps us be, you know, like more visible and have more impact after. 

Is that set to continue into 2025? a very visible and huge investment that you've been making.

And is that set to continue into next year? 

Vanesa: Yes. Actually, we do have a network of more than 100 economic and commercial offices, uh, under our embassies under the embassies of. Spain around the world and, uh, uh, one of our ideas for the next year is to really, uh, um, um, rely more on the support of this foreign network that we can, we can count on in different countries.

Like for instance here, uh, the, we have the economic and commercial office of Spain in London too, and they are doing a great. Uh, job to organize this event tonight. Uh, and other ideas that we have for 2025, we want to consolidate visibility to continue being present in the most important markets to really have impact.

That's our, our, the idea we have in mind always. impact and focus. We will for that we will continue being present in key markets in Europe, in America and in Asia. We will continue promoting internationalization also because we do produce a lot of Content is 100 percent Spanish made, and we do want to, uh, show it to the world, uh, uh, better.

We are going to try to foster institutional cooperation a bit farther because we have done a lot recently, but there is still room to collaborate with the Spanish companies and with international organizations and companies. And uh, we will play, we will pay sorry, attention to sustainability and technological innovation because it's critical for the sector.

As I was telling you. While we were supporting the sector with an extraordinary effort in this past year, the sector was actually evolving, getting more and more professional, and more and more sophisticated. So we want to be there for them regarding these two points, sustainability and technological innovation, that we think they are critical for the future years.

So we will continue offering support. We will try to use more our network of more than 100 economic and commercial offices. And we will try to foster institutional cooperation and we will focus in sustainability and technological innovation to help our companies. When I say our companies, let me repeat that it's the companies that are 100 percent Spanish, but also the foreign companies that have established themselves in Spain.

The minute they create a company in Spain, they are Spanish in all regards. So, uh, we work for them too. 

All right. Fantastic. Well, I wish you all the best for tonight's event. I think we've got over a hundred delegates coming tonight from both UK production companies, and as I mentioned, Spanish production companies and service companies and lots of other supporting services.

So it's a great place to. to start and or to end the year I should say and and start your 2025 campaign. Um, so for any UK producers or international producers who are looking for a new new locations and are wanting to collaborate with Spain, what should they do? What's the, uh, what's the call to action for them?

Vanesa: Well, uh, First of all, please contact the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in London under the Embassy of Spain or ourselves, the Invest in Spain division of Ithex Spain. We are in Madrid and we are always available by email, by telephone. We do have, uh, actually, uh, some, uh, Service to respond any queries from the sector a very quickly and in an organized manner.

It's a service that was launched only two years ago, and it continues, of course, and it's always available for any producer. 

All right. And well, we'll put in the episode description, uh, some contact information and a, uh, a web link as well for anybody who's looking to, uh, to work with you, uh, more closely.

Vanessa, thank you very much for your time. Good luck with the event. And I know you're here for Focus as well, uh, this week. So, uh, so good luck with all of that. And, uh, thank you for coming on TellyCast. 

Vanesa: Thank you very much. Really. Thank you. Goodbye.

So my next guest on this week's Shooting in Spain special show is Eduardo Rodríguez Álvarez. Head of Locations and Supervising Location Manager at Palma Pictures. Um, so, Eduardo, tell us about Palma Pictures. We're, uh, I mean, uh, I think it was two, two and a half years ago, I, uh, I interviewed Mike, who's the CEO.

It was quite a long time ago. Feels like a long time ago. Um, uh, now you're one of Spain's leading production service managers. businesses and studios, et cetera. So for anybody who doesn't know about Palmer pictures, tell us about your business. 

Eduardo: Well, uh, we are, uh, we basically work as, as your, um, um, when you, when you want to shoot in Spain or Portugal, mainly in Spain, you are, uh, you contact us so we can offer you, we can, we, we can show you what Spain can offer you in terms of locations, in terms of what is, possible to be done or not, as well as provide you with all the know how, the local know how of any part within the Spanish territory and Portugal of, of crew, how things work, equipment, lighting.

And from the very beginning, we will be We will be telling you, uh, or showing you what is possible and what is not. Uh, very, um, in television, you have to be very straight, you know? So we'll be very, we're, we're very transparent from the, from the get go. And, uh, and what we do. Uh, to make, uh, to make possible, uh, the project and to make it work, um, to make, uh, to give it the best chance as possible to the project to happen.

Um, we, uh, we initially will start with a conversation of what you're after. Uh, this could be, I'm looking for Afghanistan, but can I shoot it in Spain or I'm looking for, uh, Uh, U. S. A., but can I shoot it in Spain or the, the, generally you start with a location, basically. We'll start and we will, we will show you, we will do you, we will do a, uh, a custom made, uh, presentation of where we can see those location exist.

And then we will take the conversation from there. So we'll be like, look, We do have this and they are in these places. And, um, and then you will be looking at the presentation, having a meeting with our heads of production, like, uh, yourself, Bocari or Pilar Amar, or my day as well, uh, which will, uh, we'll go through through the details.

Cause you will be, well, I love this location of this area, but like any area there is logistics to have into account, like, is there. local crew. Is there, is the equipment going to bring you far away or not? Because that has a big knock on effect on budgets. So you want to spend your money on, on camera. You want to spend your money on what you're shooting, not on, on, um, unfortunately logistics, uh, that doesn't add value to your project.

So we will, we will help you all the way, uh, to achieve the best possible project that match creatively. With the budget that you have. 

Okay. Okay. So your, your first point of contact is often the location manager, is that right? 

Eduardo: Our first point of contact is either the location manager or it's more regular, um, a producer or the, or the studio itself or the, or, or the production company itself that is producing the, the show.

Uh, it would be a mix location manager in this case, it will happen if maybe they are in the middle of a shoot and they need to grab a few days of Spain and then the supervising location manager probably needs something fast and quickly. That's not the usual it can happen, but the usual is more like a year or quite a bit of time before the shoot is going to happen.

Uh, a producer has is considered in different territories around the world. Which could be tropical, but for them could be Mexico, it could be, Italy, like, could be Greece, it could be Spain. So it's about where should I take this project to. 

And it could depend on the seasons as well, of course. That's 

Eduardo: it. So we have to break down what they're after, and, uh, and say, look, we got this, this is what we have.

Uh, here, and, and taking from there, working hand in hand with the producer. 

So, um, give us a sense of the size of Palma Pictures, because I know you've got a very big production facility in Mallorca, and you've got a headquarters in Madrid, is that right? 

Eduardo: Well, we've got several, um, uh, branches, uh, across Spain, so we've got offices in Barcelona.

We've got offices in Madrid, we've got offices in Tenerife, and, um, and we've got the headquarters are in Mallorca. Historically, uh, Palma Pictures is a Mallorca, uh, it's a company that was started in Mallorca, and it grew from there. We're talking about three decades ago. And, uh, and it did quite well at the beginning from, uh, the commercials, uh, when he, he managed to, uh, To put back into, um, top of the top of, uh, top of the game, uh, studio facilities and, uh, equipment, lighting, equipment, camera, equipment, grip, equipment, and so on.

Um, but in the last decade, slowly it's been opening different branches like Barcelona, like Madrid, like, uh, Tenerife, like Lisbon. Where we are, we have transformated from being a New York, uh, base company to a national base, uh, base company to an international base company by offering as well, Portugal. 

So, I mean, your, uh, portfolio is incredible, you know, some of the projects you've worked on, the crown.

The Malorca files, who is Erin Carter, just name, uh, three of those more recent productions. Going into 2025, I mean, can you tell, talk to us about, uh, any, any projects that you've got booked in that you're working on, or is there anything that you can, you can, uh, you can let us know about, or is it all the under wraps?

Eduardo: I think it's under wraps. We signed a lot of NDAs, so I can't really go into details, uh, but we got quite a few projects on, uh, on the pipeline. They are going from things that are going to be shooting in Barcelona, things that are going to be shooting in Andalusia, and things that are going to be shooting in Madrid and in Mallorca.

Are these mainly dramas or films or is there any reality kind of shows? I mean, is it a bit of everything? 

Eduardo: Majority is TV dramas. We obviously do our fair amount of as well reality shows and scripted. Um, which mainly are, uh, mainly Mallorca as well as some of them in mainland. But we're talking about the TV dramas and the feature films of the projects I was mentioning that we're preparing for next year.

It's, hopefully it's gonna be a busy year and, uh, and everything is, uh, It's going to move forward and, uh, and we can be, we can be showing you newer projects and more challenging projects for the next years to come. 

Well that's reassuring to know that, uh, you've got lots of projects coming up because there's obviously, there's been a little bit of doom and gloom around TV, uh, certainly the, the second half of this year.

Um, so, uh, so this week, obviously you're, you're over in London. We've got, uh, Um, focus the event that's happening, uh, with lots of locations around, around the world coming together. And there's a lot of production discussions happening there. And we've got this event tonight, which is bringing together, uh, the, uh, Spanish and the UK production communities.

Um, so if any producer is looking to work in Spain, obviously you're going to say, come to us and talk to us. I mean, you, you obviously have, uh, have lots of, uh, uh, lots of ability to help them. Um, How do you see next year then panning out other than, other than your, your, uh, your, your productions that you've already, uh, uh, uh, got, got, uh, confirmed?

How do you see the industry as, uh, wider industry developing over the next year or so? 

Eduardo: Well, I think we are in a, in a very, there is a good momentum right now in Spain. We have, uh, we have been busy. Not us, like everybody nationally in Spain has been busy shooting amazing stuff in the past years. From big productions like, you know, like, um, Um, uh, uh, um, uh, uh, Game of Thrones and As The Crown and big, big productions, which is very positive for, uh, for the crews and for the people.

Because at the end of the day, the professionalism of the crews, of the place that you're shooting on is the key for more productions to come to that territory. So let's say It's been a very good training as such, a very good experience for, for the production to adapt to international, uh, shoots to come, to come to the country.

And I think the years to come, it looks it's going to keep busy. And I think it's just getting a momentum where, where if you're looking for good quality teams, they know what they're doing. And, uh, and a place where we want you to come. We want you there from, uh, from permit wise and from, uh, facilities, from different commissions and so on.

They're very welcoming and, and happy to make it work, to listen, to say, Oh, I want to do this crazy thing on this location. And instead to say no, they're like, okay, how can we make it work? And, and work together with the production to make it happen. I think it's an exciting time right now in Spain to bring any size production, international, studio, independent, and so on, to Spain.

And Spain, one of the greatest thing that it has in my opinion, is that you go to the whole range of locations. So you can have a hairy desert, like you can have a snowy mountains, like you can have forest, uh, tropical forest, like you can have, um, uh, Beautiful beaches, like you can have castles, like historic buildings, like aristocratic spaces, like parks, like, and so on.

And combined with, I mean, everybody knows about it, but I think it has to be mentioned, we've got great weather. So, we actually got a lot of daylight, uh, daylight hours during the day. And we got the sun, and it's nice to be able to shoot with those conditions because you don't have to push shoots. So you don't have to go onto interior locations because you have to have weather cover.

Like, the chances are you're going to be able to shoot it on location and get the most of that exterior shoot. And it's, it may happen whether it's weather, but it's less likely than other, perhaps more northerner locations in Europe. 

Yeah, yeah. Well, and, and not to mention the tax incentives that, uh, Vanessa was talking about, which some of those extraordinary going up to about 70%, which is, uh, which is pretty attractive.

Um, Eduarda, we can hear the pianos just started in the background. That's, uh, sort of signaling the, uh, the events just getting started. So, uh, we are gonna be on the table together. I think we can be talking with lots of other producers. Uh, so looking forward to that. Thank you very much for your time and, uh, best of luck.

this week and, uh, all the best for 2025. Thank you very much and thanks for having me.

Well, that's about it for this week's show. We'll be back next week with our final episode of 2024, as we look back at some of the highlights of the year, including interviews with Slash, Joe Sugg, Billy Boyd and Don Monaghan, Omid Jalili, Jane Root, Evan Shapiro, and Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office producer, Patrick Spence.

TellyCast is produced by Spirit Studios and recorded in London. Until next week.