The audiovisual sector meets at the South Series industry conferences

The first edition of the South International Series Festival, which will take place in Cadiz from October 6 to 12, will host a conference dedicated to the audiovisual industry that will attract a hundred professionals to analyze the current situation of the sector and its development possibilities. More than 75 activities will make up this program, which among other things aims to take advantage of “the image and idiosyncrasies of Cadiz to turn the city and the province into an attractive, fun and effective industry forum different from the institutionalism of other markets,” according to those responsible.

One of the most attractive sections of this conference will undoubtedly be the one entitled Un café con, which will start at 9:15 a.m. on 9:15 a.m. with El éxito de las series en español (The success of Spanish-language series). The testimony of a creator, starring producer and showrunner Daniel Écija in conversation with TV editor Natalia Marcos. On the 10th, at 9:00 a.m., Making Spanish-language series in the United States will feature Guillermo Escalona in conversation with producer and director José Luis Acosta. Finally, on the 11th, at 9:00 am, The rise of Spanish and the global success of Spanish-language audiovisuals will be given by Guillermo Escribano, and will be presented by Joan Álvarez, director of the South International Series Festival.

In addition, the Panels section will host round tables and group presentations by experts on specialized content. Thus, on October 9, at 9 a.m., The value of International deals in the audiovisual industry will bring together Laura Miñarro (Buendía), Anxo Rodríguez (Espotlight), Chris Albrech (Rubicon Global Media) and Elsa Huisman (Cabinet 111, Studio 112) moderated by Iban Díez (Menta), while at 10 a.m. the panel entitled What content are broadcasters and platforms looking for? will be joined by Susana Herreras (Movistar), Ana Bustamante (Mediterráneo), José Pastor (RTVE), Beatriz Campos (Studiocanal), Ricardo Cabornero (Amazon), Montse García (Atresmedia) moderated by producer and journalist Toni Garrido. On the same day, at 5 p.m., Amma/South Women will feature Ana Graciani, Ángeles Reiné and Rocío Sepúlveda with screenwriter Isa Sánchez acting as moderator.

On October 10 (11:00 a.m.), under the title Production of Series in Saudi Arabia. International Co-productions and growing strategy, Redah Al Haidar and Osama Al Kurayji, from Hakawati, and actress, director and producer María Bestard will talk with producer Ana Beatriz Rodríguez as moderator. At 17.00, Tourism for Serializers: from the screen to the destination will host a talk by Piluca Querol (Andalucía Film Commission), Mike Villanueva (Castilla-La Mancha Film Commission) and Raúl Torquemada (Madrid Film Office) moderated by Ana Alonso.

This program of Panels will conclude on the 11th with Film Commission Rodar en Series, at 13.00 hours, with Alfonso Blanco, general director of Portocabo, director Chiqui Carabante and the director of the Andalucía Film Commission, Piluca Querol; at 17.00 hours Del videoclub al set will count with the participation of Álvaro Ariza; and at 18.00 hours, La producción de series en India, will do the same with Kunal Srivastava, founder of Diorama.

In addition, under the name Keynotes, presentations on trends and advanced innovation will be given by prestigious leaders in the series industry. This year will highlight the presence of Rémi Tereszkiewicz with an exclusive keynote on how producers and film commissioners can use data and marketing solutions to better sell their TV series and take advantage of this OTT market opportunity. It will include live case studies demonstrated directly from the Betaseries Insights platform and our latest surveys on OTT uses (to be defined: genre trends, preferred formats…).

For its part, The Masterclass will be a star section in which great masters of the series will participate with specialized sessions for the industry that, on occasion, will be open to the public. Among the programmed appointments, a colloquium with the Argentine screenwriter and filmmaker Armado Bó, Oscar-winning screenwriter for the award-winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, and the film director, writer and screenwriter Carlo Padial on the creative process of fiction series, on October 9 at 12:00 noon, stands out.

The following day, October 10, at the same time, Guillem Morales will talk with Jaime Alonso de Linaje under the heading Directing series from the UK for the world. Morales is a Bafta-winning director and screenwriter, known for his work on the Guillermo Del Toro-produced The Uncertain Inhabitant and Julia’s Eyes.

Finally, on the 11th at noon will be the turn of Cristóbal Tapia and La música en las series. This Chilean/Canadian musician and composer is an Emmy and Bafta award winner, and has participated in major productions such as Black Mirror and The White Lotus.

Likewise, young people, university students and industry professionals will enjoy master classes with the great professionals of the series in the Campus program. The first event will be Why do we make series? on October 9 at 5 p.m., with the participation of Javier Olivares and Bruto Pomeroy. The following day, at the same time, the table. The importance of actors and actresses in the evaluation of Spanish series will be integrated by Yolanda Serrano and Eva Leira.

In the Pitching industry sessions section, This is not a murder mystery will be presented with the participation of producer Kristoffel Mertens, and Beatriz Campos from StudioCanal. And in the Creative corner, meetings will be held on the 10th at 11:00 (Creators in series) and 13:00 (Two creators, one vision) respectively, with directors Patricia Font and María Ripoll and screenwriters Alba Lucío and Jelen Morales, with journalist Mariola Cubells as moderator; and with director Alberto Rodríguez and screenwriter and director Rafael Cobos. Finally, on October 11 at 1:00 p.m. the webseries to the platforms will feature executive producer Teresa Segura as the protagonist.

The latest advances in the sector will have their place in the South Lab section, a space with activities and important representatives of advanced innovation, new audiovisual technologies and, of course, artificial intelligence. AI, creativity and copyright. Under the title AI, creativity and copyright, Colman Gota, lawyer and member of the legal services department of Sgae; and Guillermo Escalona, screenwriter and producer; and Daniel Rubio Yagüe, professor of the School of AI and Big Data of IMF Smart Education, will debate, moderated by Rubén Gutiérrez del Castillo, general director of the Fundación Sgae.

Focusing on the United Kingdom, the guest country in this first edition, several experts will shed light on how to produce with this country after Brexit. The African, European and Latin American markets will also be the focus of discussion. Professionals such as Gail Egan, CEO of the Oscar-nominated Potboiler Productions, directors Guillem Morales (Inside Nr1, Templanza) or producer Mark Williams (Ozark), are part of a large delegation of Anglo-Saxon professionals in this edition.

South Series also focuses on Africa in this edition and a large representation of industry professionals will arrive in Cadiz to share their business vision. The African delegation will be led by Moses Babadope, Nigerian producer and distributor, Mimi Bartels, production manager of FilmOne Studios, a Nigerian specialized distribution and production company of audiovisual content, showrunner James Omokwe, director of two of the best received Nollywood TV series in recent years: Ajoche (2018) and Riona (2020) or Femi Odugbemi, CEO of Zuri 24 Media, audiovisual content production company with internationally recognized and distributed titles such as Battleground or Brehtren, among others.

Series in Spanish / Spanish in series

In addition to the various activities planned, South Series focuses part of its meetings on analyzing the current state of Spanish-language series in the audiovisual industry. This is the main objective of the international meeting Las series en español / El español en las series in which more than twenty creators, producers and experts will participate and which will bring together leading professionals from the Spanish and Latin American industry in Cadiz. The series addresses this issue from two points of view: the promotion of Spanish and the scope of audiovisual creation, production and distribution. One of its objectives is also to promote greater collaboration between productions and professionals in all countries where the Spanish-language series industry is active, including the United States.

Throughout the day of October 11, different tables will provide the vision of professionals such as Fabia Buenaventura (ICEX), Luis Cuento (Spain Audiovisual Hub), Carlos Rosado (President Spain Film Commission), Max Sanguine (Gato Grande), Paco Cordero (BTF), Manolo Cardona (Actor, director and producer), Gloria Saló (Geca), Conchi Cascajosa (Rtve), writer Diego Moldes, Leonardo Padrón (Netflix), director and screenwriter Ramón Salazar and screenwriters Carla Guimaraes and Virginia Yagüe.

The program for the industry is completed with the presentation of El español en el mundo with Guillermo López-Gallego and Joan Álvarez, on the 9th at 9.00 am,

All these activities are exclusive to audiovisual industry professionals who have been previously accredited.

South International Series Festival is a private initiative sponsored by the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte de la Junta de Andalucía, co-financed with European funds, Ayuntamiento de Cádiz, Diputación de Cádiz, and the participation of Mediaset España as main media sponsor. Also collaborating in this first edition are Movistar Plus+, Spain Film Commission, Fundación SGAE, Fundación Bancaria Unicaja and Canal Sur.