The San Sebastian Festival will host its second Creative Investors’ Conference from 26-28 September within the scope of ‘Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech’, one of the axes of ‘Spanish Screenings XXL: an International market for Spanish production’, part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) to boost Spain’s role as Europe’s audiovisual hub and is promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Sport through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, the Malaga Festival and the San Sebastian Festival.

The gathering will include a series of panels and discussions (open to festival industry badgeholders) and attendees will also have the opportunity to attend the Zinemaldia & Technology event and the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge competition on 28 September.

Organised in collaboration with CAA Media Finance, one of the international market’s leading talent agencies, the conference will welcome top global executives including Bobby Allen, SVP of Production at Mubi; Elisa Alvares, Founder of Jacarada Consultants and Senior advisor for IPR.VC; David Arroyo, Partner of Suma Capital; Rosa Attab, Producer; Jeb Brody, President of Production at Amblin Partners; Mariano César, SVP Content GE Content Latin America at HBO Max; Sarah Colvin, Director of Acquisitions at Neon; Liesl Copland, Executive Vice president, Content and Platform Strategy at Participant Media; Peter Czernin, Co-Chairman of Blueprint Pictures; David Davoli, President of International of Anonymous Content; Marc Dujardin, President of Le Collectif 64; David Flynn, Head of Global Drama at wiip; Anna Higgs, Managing Director of Casarotto Ramsay & Associates; Kiska Higgs, President, Production & Acquisitions at Focus Features; Phil Hunt, CEO of Head Gear Films and Co-managing Director of Bankside Films; Fionnuala Jamison, Managing Director of MK2; Aijah Keith, Senior Manager (Head of Indie Film Licensing) at Hulu; Michelle Knudsen, Manager and Producer at 42 Production; Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon, Co-founders of Killer Films; Axel Kuschevatzky, CCO and Founder of Infinity Hill; Jean Labadie, President of Le Pacte; Vincent Maraval, President of Goodfellas; Teresa Moneo, Director, International Original Film, Netflix; Matías Mosteirín, Producer and Director General at K&S Films; Tendo Nagenda, Producer at 10 by Ten; Lisa Nishimura, producer; Maren Olson, EVP of Film, 30West; Nick Shumaker, manager and producer at Anonymous Content and Head of AC Independent; John Sloss, President of Cinetic Media and Founder/Partner at Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LawCo; Whitney Sudler-Smith, Co-founder of Vanglorious Productions; Gabrielle Tana, Producer and Co-founder of Brouhaha Entertainment; Robert Walak, President of Film and TV at Iconoclast; and Michael Weber, Managing Director of The Match Factory.

Roeg Sutherland, Benjamin Kramer and Sarah Schweitzman from CAA Media Finance will participate in the Conference and moderate some of the activities, as will Wendy Mitchell, delegate and advisor of the San Sebastian Festival.

The event, which will only be open to San Sebastian Festival attendees with industry accreditation, will cover specific topics such as opportunities in the shifting US landscape; global trends across the film value chain; the outlook from leading streamers; specific challenges facing independent producers; examining the global marketplace for Spanish-language content; finding strength in  new international collaborations; and futureproofing how the industry continues to evolve to best serve audiences.

The panels, talks and discussions will be held from 10 am to 2 pm on September 26 and September 27 at Tabakalera. The detailed schedule will be published on the festival’s website by Sept 11.

About Spanish Screenings and Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech

Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech is one of the four axes making up Spanish Screenings XXL alongside Spanish Screenings Content (Malaga Festival), Spanish Screenings on Tour and Spanish Screenings 360, a programme of actions running throughout the year which also includes the creation of a virtual promotion and business platform PLATO and the podcast ‘Spanish Screenings 360. The Podcast’, available on the leading audios platforms and YouTube.

In short, the initiative consists of the creation of an audiovisual market for Spanish-produced content that favours the exchange and creation of new projects in a context of interaction and business that contributes to strengthening the value chain of the Spanish audiovisual industry.

Spanish Screenings XXL, an international market for Spanish audiovisual productions is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), which has the goal to strengthen Spain’s role as a European audiovisual hub. Thus, together with the Ministry of Culture and Sport through the ICAA and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, the Malaga and San Sebastian Festivals.

This programme to increase the international reach of Spanish audiovisuals receives a new boost in 2022-2023, with a wider diversity of contents and volume of activities for adapting to the new challenges of the audiovisual industry.