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Spanish rights group Egeda hosted a round table Sept. 23 at the San Sebastian Festival to shed light on its bid to find and explore solutions to the stickiest challenge facing filmmakers – access to financing.
The panel featuring ICAA head Ignasi Camós, Luis Cueto from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service, Javier Villaseca of Sego Finance, Jesus Prieto of Sego Creative and executive producer Miguel Torrente of Balment, analyzed the benefits of Sego Creative, a financing tool that specializes in the creative and cultural industries, and is the offshoot of the collaborative agreement that Egeda inked with crowdfunding platform, Sego Finance Group, last May.
The round table was moderated by Egeda’s Carlos Antón who pointed out that if Spanish filmmakers were to be competitive on a global scale, such an innovative financing tool was key.
Asked what was the production cost of all Spanish audiovisual productions in a given year, ICAA’s Camós replied: “We don’t have an exact figure, but we can make an estimated calculation if we consider that in film alone, 337 were made in Spain last year, with an average budget of $2.5 million each,” he said. Doing the math, he calculated that €1.6 to €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion-$1.9 billion) was invested in film production in Spain.
Sego Creative will connect the interests of investors with promoters of audiovisual projects, and is available to all Egeda members who have a project, in any format and at any production stage, with financing needs, it was explained.
“With this Sego and Egeda project, you’re bringing together the best of two previously separate worlds, filling a gap. What do I mean? Ignasi [Camós], his predecessors, and successors are asked to run a marathon with chains on their feet. Why? Because the public sector isn’t tasked with efficiency, but with equity. It’s expected to establish criteria where the best of what is submitted by the deadline receives aid, which is then contested if it doesn’t strictly adhere to standards set two years ago, and therefore must comply,” Cueto pointed out.
The new initiative promoted by Egeda builds on the momentum of financing projects like CreaSGR, which has successfully secured over €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) for more than 10,000 projects in its 18 years of operation, establishing itself as a key reference point in the Spanish audiovisual financing landscape.
Said Villaseca: “I believe that ultimately, we serve as an additional complement to what already exists in this sector. Bank financing will continue to be available; whether we are strong or not won’t change the current landscape of the industry or the financing it receives.”
“However, if we are strong, it may make banking entities more comfortable, as companies will be better financed. This could lead to the emergence of more audiovisual projects and enable Spain, as a business ecosystem, to compete with companies outside our borders,” he said, adding: “This is a widespread challenge in our country: financing doesn’t reach us in the same way it does for companies that need it, making it difficult to compete in an increasingly globalized world. As consumers, we are no longer limited to what our neighbors produce; we can access products from thousands of kilometers away. Therefore, it’s essential for us to contribute our part to this industry and support its growth.”
Villaseca added that SegoFinance has clocked more than 10 years of experience in the alternative investment sector and has invested more than €100 million ($111 million) in innovation and technology. This could double in the near future, he said.
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