4.14.2006
5.2. Spanish Film Industry trends
The six hits of 2004 were not only produced by these Spanish “Studios” and supported by higher and synergetic production and marketing budgets. They also included elements of the Spanish ‘Star System’ that was developed within the film industry and beyond television. The six hits – El Lobo, La Mala Educación, Isi/Disi, Mar Adentro, Crimen Ferpecto and Di que sí – include actors like the ugly Santiago Segura (Torrente), the beautiful actor Eduardo Noriega (from Amenabar’s Abre los Ojos), the sensual/sexual actress Paz Vega (Lucia y el Sexo) and the charismatic Javier Bardem (Collateral); the hits were designed, produced and directed by top Spanish talent including Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar and Alex de la Iglesia; the six films had elements with international appeal and leverage in Europe and Latin-America, facilitating the internationalization of the products and their revenue sources.
The six movies covered different markets: at least two of them could be considered arty-reflective films (La Mala Educación, Crimen Ferpecto); two of them could be seen as mainstream realist dramas (El Lobo, Mar Adentro); and two of them can be classified as mass comedies for the youth (Di que sí, Isi/Disi); all the hits received hundreds of minutes of mainstream media attention, not only from the associated media concerns to the involved production companies, but from all media interested in the stars of the films in order to fill their schedules with attractive content. These six movies had the elements to place them at the center of attention of the media. It is also important to point that the mentioned stars were essentially developed within the film sector, not so involved with TV, showing the importance of reaching a point in which the film industry develops its own star system.
Another variation of Spanish production is its internationalization, proved by the big share of co-productions that are part of 2000-2004 results. Since 1995 co-productions have almost doubled from 22 in the mid nineties to 39 to 42 in 2003. Another element is the Anglo-Saxification of some projects, allowing for talent exchange and internationalization of “Spanish” content/talent/capital. This development has been possible thanks to the Spanish legislation on co-productions and its model of “financial co-production” which allows Spanish companies to participate in productions from other countries just by investing between 10% and 25% of the production cost without participation of talent or other resources. The resulting film will receive the Spanish nationality as a minority co-producer. Of course, part of the co-production deal might be the inclusion of Spanish technicians or actors. Even at the pure financial level, the Spanish industry gets the benefits of international networking with European, US or Latin-American companies and with financial and creative co-productions the benefits of talent exchanges and professional feedback (Mendez-Leite, 2005, p. 34).
An interesting example of this trend to internationationalization is the film by Alejandro Amenabar “Los Otros” (The Others). Shot in Spain in 2001, Los Otros included Nicole Kidman in the starring role and a high production budget (mix of national and international capital), it was shot in English and with Spanish technicians. This approach has been followed by similar co-production deals with more or less Spanish input (talent, resources or locations) but with the described benefits of linking the industry with top professionals from other regions. Films showing this collaborative practice are The Machinist, starring Christian Bale and co-produced by Filmax; El Puente de San Luis Rey, starring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Geraldine Chaplin and co-produced by Kanzaman with Pembridge from the UK and Davis from France; A Good Woman, starring Scarlett Johanson and also co-produced by Kanzaman with Buskin from Italy and Good Woman from the UK; or The Secret Life of Words, starring Tim Robbins and directed by Catalan director Isabel Coixet. This strategy, developed by some companies in Spain, is enriching for the industry and will be key for its professional and economic expansion. It is also the way in which key ‘independent-arty’ driven talent from the Anglo-Saxon world gets additional financing for their projects.
The result is an industry able to operate as Hollywood, with local talent, local stories, conglomerated economic support, and international links with top creative talent and capital. The result has been a connection of film ideas to commercial objectives, of established film companies to bank financing, and of the financial sector (banks and investment management firms) and of international companies and talent with the Spanish film industry. Today’s Spanish Cinema, standing on its own history, has achieved certain comparative advantages and thematic specialization: Spanish dramas and comedies, character driven stories, reflexive-arty films and youth horror (Ferrada, 2005, p. 26).
Additional production, distribution and marketing placed into some of the other, less high-concept, 117 films produced every year, would increase the “hit” rate above 5% and into the territory of 10 or 12 hit films per year. However, by September 2005, Spanish films market share at the local box-office remained at 13,3% with stable box-office revenue at Euro80 Million estimated for the year (Ministerio de Cultura de España, 2005b). If the challenge is to get the National Films market share beyond 20% and to reduce the Majors’ domination, new measures and actions will have to be implemented. As the current developments of the industry have shown it is important to get the media involved in order to legitimize the products and diminish the public uncertainty when approaching a national film, to get better deals with distributors (through industry agreements or new regulations) and to campaign for a wider commitment of the Spanish society with its own cinema.
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In summary, the Spanish film industry offers a portfolio of 117 titles per year, with 5% of them becoming “hits” and generating more than 500,000 viewers in theaters, more than Euro 2.5 Million in the Spanish box office, and longer and better commercial lives across other windows. Between 1996 and 2003 the top ten titles concentrated 58% of the Spanish films box-office revenue (ICAA, 2004, p. 15). In the words of producer Jose Vicuña: “the films that work at the Box Office, work better than ever, but the ones that don’t work, don’t work at all” [Vicuña, Producer]. A polarization of Box Office results seems to have emerged from the tough competition faced by film going as a leisure activity.
These figures comply with the Small-Sample/Extreme-Outcomes model developed by De Vany & Walls (1999, p. 313-315). Only a reduced amount of “chances” are available and from them just a few hits will emerge. Those hits have to be big enough to sustain the loses of the failed films and the future development of the industry at the same time. In the process, talent and professionals, companies and investments, come and go, a minority of them manage to get solid footing on the industry, others disappear into TV, advertising, or anything else.
The hits were produced by companies that operate in diversified markets within the audiovisual industry. They are not limited to film production but are part of bigger communication conglomerates, capable to take a Spanish film into higher positions by means of their mass communication strengths, using their cross-promotional/intertextual marketing, promotional and advertising tools, and their business leverage with, or crossed ownership of, some distributors and exhibitors. Of the 125 films produced in 2004, 50% were made by 16 production companies out of an average of 111 companies operating every year during the first half of the decade (ICAA, 2004, p. 8). The “hits” were produced by companies that constitute the new Spanish version of the modern Hollywood Studios, including the “Star-System” and the model of ownership: Prisa’s Sogecine/Sogepaq; the independent Distributor/Producer Filmax, partly owned by “Riva y García Venture Capital Group”; Telefonica’s Lola Films; and Almodovar Brothers’ El Deseo among others (Escolar, 2005, p. 23; Aguinaga, 2005, p. 90-91; Filmax, 2005; Riva y García, 2005).
In summary, the Spanish film industry offers a portfolio of 117 titles per year, with 5% of them becoming “hits” and generating more than 500,000 viewers in theaters, more than Euro 2.5 Million in the Spanish box office, and longer and better commercial lives across other windows. Between 1996 and 2003 the top ten titles concentrated 58% of the Spanish films box-office revenue (ICAA, 2004, p. 15). In the words of producer Jose Vicuña: “the films that work at the Box Office, work better than ever, but the ones that don’t work, don’t work at all” [Vicuña, Producer]. A polarization of Box Office results seems to have emerged from the tough competition faced by film going as a leisure activity.
These figures comply with the Small-Sample/Extreme-Outcomes model developed by De Vany & Walls (1999, p. 313-315). Only a reduced amount of “chances” are available and from them just a few hits will emerge. Those hits have to be big enough to sustain the loses of the failed films and the future development of the industry at the same time. In the process, talent and professionals, companies and investments, come and go, a minority of them manage to get solid footing on the industry, others disappear into TV, advertising, or anything else.
The hits were produced by companies that operate in diversified markets within the audiovisual industry. They are not limited to film production but are part of bigger communication conglomerates, capable to take a Spanish film into higher positions by means of their mass communication strengths, using their cross-promotional/intertextual marketing, promotional and advertising tools, and their business leverage with, or crossed ownership of, some distributors and exhibitors. Of the 125 films produced in 2004, 50% were made by 16 production companies out of an average of 111 companies operating every year during the first half of the decade (ICAA, 2004, p. 8). The “hits” were produced by companies that constitute the new Spanish version of the modern Hollywood Studios, including the “Star-System” and the model of ownership: Prisa’s Sogecine/Sogepaq; the independent Distributor/Producer Filmax, partly owned by “Riva y García Venture Capital Group”; Telefonica’s Lola Films; and Almodovar Brothers’ El Deseo among others (Escolar, 2005, p. 23; Aguinaga, 2005, p. 90-91; Filmax, 2005; Riva y García, 2005).
The six hits of 2004 were not only produced by these Spanish “Studios” and supported by higher and synergetic production and marketing budgets. They also included elements of the Spanish ‘Star System’ that was developed within the film industry and beyond television. The six hits – El Lobo, La Mala Educación, Isi/Disi, Mar Adentro, Crimen Ferpecto and Di que sí – include actors like the ugly Santiago Segura (Torrente), the beautiful actor Eduardo Noriega (from Amenabar’s Abre los Ojos), the sensual/sexual actress Paz Vega (Lucia y el Sexo) and the charismatic Javier Bardem (Collateral); the hits were designed, produced and directed by top Spanish talent including Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar and Alex de la Iglesia; the six films had elements with international appeal and leverage in Europe and Latin-America, facilitating the internationalization of the products and their revenue sources.
The six movies covered different markets: at least two of them could be considered arty-reflective films (La Mala Educación, Crimen Ferpecto); two of them could be seen as mainstream realist dramas (El Lobo, Mar Adentro); and two of them can be classified as mass comedies for the youth (Di que sí, Isi/Disi); all the hits received hundreds of minutes of mainstream media attention, not only from the associated media concerns to the involved production companies, but from all media interested in the stars of the films in order to fill their schedules with attractive content. These six movies had the elements to place them at the center of attention of the media. It is also important to point that the mentioned stars were essentially developed within the film sector, not so involved with TV, showing the importance of reaching a point in which the film industry develops its own star system.
Another variation of Spanish production is its internationalization, proved by the big share of co-productions that are part of 2000-2004 results. Since 1995 co-productions have almost doubled from 22 in the mid nineties to 39 to 42 in 2003. Another element is the Anglo-Saxification of some projects, allowing for talent exchange and internationalization of “Spanish” content/talent/capital. This development has been possible thanks to the Spanish legislation on co-productions and its model of “financial co-production” which allows Spanish companies to participate in productions from other countries just by investing between 10% and 25% of the production cost without participation of talent or other resources. The resulting film will receive the Spanish nationality as a minority co-producer. Of course, part of the co-production deal might be the inclusion of Spanish technicians or actors. Even at the pure financial level, the Spanish industry gets the benefits of international networking with European, US or Latin-American companies and with financial and creative co-productions the benefits of talent exchanges and professional feedback (Mendez-Leite, 2005, p. 34).
An interesting example of this trend to internationationalization is the film by Alejandro Amenabar “Los Otros” (The Others). Shot in Spain in 2001, Los Otros included Nicole Kidman in the starring role and a high production budget (mix of national and international capital), it was shot in English and with Spanish technicians. This approach has been followed by similar co-production deals with more or less Spanish input (talent, resources or locations) but with the described benefits of linking the industry with top professionals from other regions. Films showing this collaborative practice are The Machinist, starring Christian Bale and co-produced by Filmax; El Puente de San Luis Rey, starring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Geraldine Chaplin and co-produced by Kanzaman with Pembridge from the UK and Davis from France; A Good Woman, starring Scarlett Johanson and also co-produced by Kanzaman with Buskin from Italy and Good Woman from the UK; or The Secret Life of Words, starring Tim Robbins and directed by Catalan director Isabel Coixet. This strategy, developed by some companies in Spain, is enriching for the industry and will be key for its professional and economic expansion. It is also the way in which key ‘independent-arty’ driven talent from the Anglo-Saxon world gets additional financing for their projects.
The result is an industry able to operate as Hollywood, with local talent, local stories, conglomerated economic support, and international links with top creative talent and capital. The result has been a connection of film ideas to commercial objectives, of established film companies to bank financing, and of the financial sector (banks and investment management firms) and of international companies and talent with the Spanish film industry. Today’s Spanish Cinema, standing on its own history, has achieved certain comparative advantages and thematic specialization: Spanish dramas and comedies, character driven stories, reflexive-arty films and youth horror (Ferrada, 2005, p. 26).
Additional production, distribution and marketing placed into some of the other, less high-concept, 117 films produced every year, would increase the “hit” rate above 5% and into the territory of 10 or 12 hit films per year. However, by September 2005, Spanish films market share at the local box-office remained at 13,3% with stable box-office revenue at Euro80 Million estimated for the year (Ministerio de Cultura de España, 2005b). If the challenge is to get the National Films market share beyond 20% and to reduce the Majors’ domination, new measures and actions will have to be implemented. As the current developments of the industry have shown it is important to get the media involved in order to legitimize the products and diminish the public uncertainty when approaching a national film, to get better deals with distributors (through industry agreements or new regulations) and to campaign for a wider commitment of the Spanish society with its own cinema.
Follow to the Next Section
.
