EITB and Elkargi: strategies and success in the Basque audiovisual industry

The professional conference "The Basque audiovisual industry. The future is already here", organized by EITB and the financial institution together, has addressed the present of Basque audiovisual production with contributions from key names in the industry.

During the event, the director of the San Sebastián Festival José Luis Rebordinos, Netflix Global Head of Talent Sergio Trying and the director of ETB Unai Iparragirre They talked about the current situation in the sector, moderated by Urko Odriozola, Director of Communication at Elkargi. To the event, led by the journalist Iban Garate, a hundred representatives of Basque production companies attended. Likewise, "The Basque audiovisual industry. The future is already here" included the intervention of the general director of EITB, Andoni Aldeco; the president of Elkargi, Lander Arteche, and the person responsible for the tax area of this company, Marta Mendinueta.

José Luis Rebordinos has placed emphasis on “the golden age" that the Basque audiovisual industry is experiencing "after years of good work by the film community, filmmakers and production companies, but also, EITB, the Festival and the institutions." He also highlighted its international projection: "Basque cinema has internationalized thanks to its quality and solidity, taking advantage of the diversification of channels to reach a global audience." Rebordinos has also highlighted the importance of "that entities like Elkargi accompany in the financing and taxation to contribute to the consolidation of a Basque audiovisual industry that favors the diversity of voices and the development of interesting projects.”

Sergio Trying, for his part, has referred to the strategies and keys to global success of the streaming platform. "By Netflix, we aim to entertain the world with great stories and offer consumers a new way to access and enjoy entertainment, wherever they are. To this end, we have created an exceptional work culture," he explained. He also noted that his goal is to inspire people: "We want our teams to do what is best for Netflix. In return, this creates a sense of responsibility and self-discipline that drives us to do the best work.”

Unai Iparragirre He also agreed to highlight the talent of Basque cinema and the good results of the productions and the awards they are receiving: “We believe that it is time to take an important step internationalizing our production and seeking international alliances that allow our productions to travel better.” In his opinion, EITB is a good ally for a platform like Netflix, since it makes “high contributions and is not competitionIparragirre has also pointed out that "at EITB we would like to have the collaboration of Netflix in the protection of a language as unique and ancient as ours, and take advantage of the knowledge of the context by someone who occupies such a relevant position in the organization, so that he can make the situation known at Netflix's headquarters."

Regarding the area of financing and taxation of projects carried out in Basque territory, Mendinueta highlighted that “with the aim of highlighting the fiscal measures approved through the three provincial territories of Euskadi, started in Bizkaia, at Elkargi we offer the audiovisual industry a new comprehensive, turnkey service. To the financing that we have given all our lives, we now add taxation as a source of financing; In both cases, the money we fund goes with the guarantee of Elkargi." According to the financial manager of Elkargi, this minimizes the risk of the operation to make the feature films and offers legal and financial security for the production companies, greater attractiveness for investors and, therefore, facilitates the creation of new projects.