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Unlike France, Italy, Germany, Canada and others, Spain has no co-production agreement with the United States. That means U.S. producers are on their own when it comes to protection from government interference in filming, dealing with permits and bureaucracies, losing intellectual property and collecting money. That said, there are eager producers, available government subsidies, beautiful locations and talented filmmakers from Spain who want to do business with companies outside of their country. 1994 was the worst year on record for Spanish filmmaking, but 1995 was a banner year. At mid-year, the General Director of Spain's Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (ICCA) predicted 60-70 films would be made in the country by the end of the year. At year's end, 59 pictures had been rated for exhibition, quite a few more than the 30-40 average of years past.
Spain was represented at the AFM by three individual distributors and one producer's organization. Sogepaq International is part of the immense Prisa publishing and communications conglomerate and was profiled separately on this website. Public broadcaster Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) showcased seven films at the AFM, including the highly touted Atolladero, a futuristic western horror story set in Texas in the year 2048. Antena 3 TV owned Lider Films had the good fortune of having its first distribution outing in Spain be the Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman starrer Seven that took the country by storm and pulled in a sinfully satisfying $1.4 million in its first weekend. Seven was the first film to be routed through Lider's output arrangement with New Line Cinema, finalized at MIFED. The new sales/distribution company brought 14 titles to the AFM, 12 with English subtitles and two exclusively in Spanish.
The producer's organization at the AFM is F.A.P.A.E., which is a federation of eight separate Spanish TV and film producers' associations representing some 174 individual production companies. F.A.P.A.E. was created in 1991 to provide a single voice to represent the interests of Spanish producers both nationally and internationally. F.A.P.A.E. isn't a distribution company, so its AFM suite was more laid back than most. However, dozens of one-sheets from many recent (and not so recent) Spanish film productions were available as were trailers and videotapes of finished films. Elena Cano Cano, Assistant Manager at F.A.P.A.E. was tasked with keeping as many Spanish producers on hand as possible and arranging for meetings between them and buyers from all over the globe. A number of influential producers ventured to Los Angeles not only for the AFM but also for the concurrent running American Cinematheque profile of Recent Spanish Cinema at the Directors Guild, featuring a tribute to director Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. The director, along with prolific producer Andr&$233;s Vicente Gómez (Two Much ), goya grabbing director of El día de la Bestia, Alex de la Iglesia and others were honored at a pre-AFM reception held by the Consul General of Spain as part of the American Cinematheque.
Producer José Alberto Tellería of Ikusmen Productions came to the AFM hoping to screen a version of his latest film, but learned about a lab mistake while he was already en route and had to be satisfied with meeting buyers and making new contacts. He's got two films due out in 1996 with working titles Para Australia (For Austrailia) and Y en polvo te convertirás (And Into Dust You Will Return). Tellería is optimistic about making more films the co-production route, but knows it's much easier for his company to work with Italian or French rather than American production companies because there is no fear that a film will lose its European flavor. Tellería is amazed at Americans' professed belief in their Constitution and First Amendment free speech rights on one hand but their absolutely Puritanical views on sexuality and the human condition on the other. Tellería says he would love to structure co-productions if he could be certain that his own blend of dark, social satire could mix with the sensibilities of an American producer. Primitivo Rodríguez Gordillo, President of production house Videokine, is also intrigued by the thought of co-productions. Gordillo is currently shooting the feature film Licantropo, a suspenseful thriller about a man who believes he is the re-incarnation of an internationally famous historical figure. Not all Spanish producers work exclusively in Spain. Director Javier Gómez Serrano's Elegant Mob Films operates out of Orange County. The director debuted in 1991 with a noir thriller Believe in Eve, written by the director's partner Stephen Siciliano, who currently lives in Spain and is completing a screenplay about a small town hooker that the two hope to put into production this year.
There's no doubt that Spanish producers want to put together co-productions with companies from outside of Spain. The only question is whether companies in the United States, absent the benefit of any co-production agreements, are willing to put in the required effort and man the laboring oar on the American side of the Atlantic. Money may be one reason U.S. companies are willing to work to co-produce a film (and not just work to make a co-production deal). 1995 saw the introduction of a new subsidy system (called the Automatic Subsidy) of the ICCA where grants of one-third of a film's budget, up to a maximum of $840,000, go to projects that pull in more than $250,000 at the box office. That means a film costing $2,520,000 (shot in Spain, most economically) can still get one-third of its budget back from the ICCA if the work hits the $250,000 mark at theaters. The ICCA also gives a limited amount of money up front to new directors. These two programs led to a record $100 million being invested in Spanish cinema in 1995. Unfortunately, U.S. production companies cannot get producer credit if they hope to secure the Spanish government funds for their projects. This often kills the idea for most American producers.
Meanwhile, Spain is announcing more and more co-production agreements. In September 1995, Spain and Mexico reached an accord that films co-produced by Spanish and Mexican companies will be quoted as "national productions" in both countries. The Parliament's of both countries must approve that agreement before it becomes law and there are plans to incorporate the language of the agreement to include other South American countries such as Argentina and Brazil. In addition, an agreement between Spain's ICO (Instituto de Crédito Oficial), Antena 3 TV and F.A.P.A.E. has reserved $4.5 million for loans between 1995 and 1998 exclusively for the production of feature films. Production companies must be F.A.P.A.E. members who have licensed TV rights to the work to Antena 3. These seem like small requirements indeed when it comes to securing the funds for a production.
One cloud hung over both the AFM and American Cinematheque celebration of Spanish film. National elections were held in Spain on Sunday, March 3, and Jose María Aznar's right wing "Popular Party" ended 13 years of socialist rule by gaining a 16-seat victory over Felipe Gonzalez's P.S.O.E. party. The Spanish producers and distributors at the AFM were not certain how this will affect film and TV. They seemed more in a state of Parliamentary denial, wanting to focus initially on whether Aznar will be able to form a government, knowing he would have to court either Basque or Catalan nationalists or the left-wing I.U., any combination of which would make strange bedfellows. Aznar had previously announced three media related policies: privatize the public broadcaster RTVE; consolidate the Ministry of Culture into a Ministry of Culture and Education; and throw out recent ground-breaking cable legislation that saw the giant Cablevisión established in July of 1995 as a joint-venture of telephone operator Telefónica and pay TV channel Canal Plus España. Antena 3 TV protested heavily against the legislation, fearing that Cablevisión would have exclusive access to Telefónica's network of phone lines. While the (old) government assured that every cable operator would have access, the new government may abolish the law that allowed the joint-venture to exist. The cable dispute is sure to be reported in detail by entertainment industry trade papers as it unfolds during 1996.
Even with funding for a project, if Spanish productions (or co-productions) are going to be competitive internationally -- especially in the U.S. marketplace -- the scripts must go through the development process to ensure that projects will be well-received in Spain, in the United States and in other territories. Producers Vicente Gómez and Tellería, directors Gutiérrez Aragón and de la Iglesia and even Paloma Marugan, the Deputy Commercial Officer of the Embassy of Spain, all voiced the same opinion: Film is an international language where the best stories don't get lost in translation.
For more information about Spanish co-productions, contact:
