Spain Takes Center Stage at MIPCOM

PARIS, July 18: The
Spanish audiovisual industry will be highlighted at this year’s MIPCOM with a
series of events and conferences organized in partnership with the Institute
from Spanish Commerce Export (ICEX) and the Federation for Spanish Producers’
Associations (FAPAE).

Focus on Spain, supported
by the Spanish public TV and radio group RTVE, will explore the country’s
audiovisual sector, which is undergoing rapid international expansion. Three
conferences will be held at MIPCOM, which runs from October 13 to 17: “Market
Overview,” “Spanish Fiction: New Business Models and Business Opportunities”
and “Fresh Fiction from Spain.” Marcos Santana, the president of Telemundo Internacional, is among those expected to
attend.

During MIPCOM Junior,
running from October 11 to 12, TV3 will host a conference, “Animation from
Spain: Sharing Expertise,” followed by a lunch that examines youth programming.
More events will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We’ve chosen
to focus on Spain at this year’s MIPCOM to celebrate the creativity and
competitiveness of their audiovisual industry, which has taken key positions on
the international market over the last few years, mainly thanks to popular
formats and series sold the world over,” commented Paul Johnson, the director
of television at Reed MIDEM. “Spain has groups with international scope,
covering all sectors of the market—production, distribution,
broadcasting, all of which are potential partners for MIPCOM
participants.”

Ángel Martín
Acebes, the director of ICEX, added: “Focus on Spain is an occasion to show
MIPCOM participants the creative and business potential of Spanish audiovisual
and telecoms services in a new light, to demonstrate their expertise and their
development not just in traditional TV production but also in new sectors like
the Internet, mobile telephony and rights management.”

—By
Kristin Brzoznowski