Spain will have a major presence at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in an effort to increase its collaborations in North America, with events including a coproduction forum aimed at Canada. 

ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, a trade promotion agency, and the publicly-funded Spanish Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) have partnered to bring more than 30 Spanish producers, sales agents, film organizations, filmmakers, and talents to TIFF.

The delegation was formed following a significant investment from the Government of Spain of €1.6 billion (or about C$2.1 billion) in March 2021 to attract and increase content production in the country to 30% by 2025.

Pablo Conde, director of Audiovisual From Spain at ICEX, tells Playback Daily that Canada is one of eight countries that Spain is focusing on to establish coproduction deals to make it the “audiovisual hub of Europe.” The interest in Canada is due in part because of the access to TIFF, while the other seven countries are the U.S., the U.K., Russia, India, Korea, Japan, and Turkey. He says the plan was established before the Russia-Ukraine war, and the other countries “were chosen for being big producers or big consumers of contents.”

“Canada has become one of the top-rated film markets in the world, and has produced and developed some of the most creative and impressive animations, documentaries, dramas, and more,” says Conde. “You have niche and new streaming platforms that seek for more content. So, a coproduction with Spain could be beneficial for both Canada and us.”

He adds that TIFF is the right place to look for buyers and producers, as well as “a gateway to the U.S. film market and industry.”

ICAA and ICEX will host a series of industry events at the festival to help achieve its goal: the Cinema From Spain Pavilion, which will occur throughout the festival with nine companies and their representatives in attendance; the “Do It the Spanish Way!” Spain-Canada coproduction forum on Sept. 9; the Spanish Fiesta on Sept. 10, where they will announce an expansion of Spanish Screenings, the country’s annual film market in Málaga; and the “Everything Under the Sun and More” discussion panel on Sept. 13, which will talk about Spain’s competitive financial and tax incentives, production locations and facilities.

Five Spanish prodcos will each present two projects in development during the coproduction forum.

Señor y Señora will present Pablo Hernando’s A Whale and Ion de Sosa’s Balearic; Jaibo Films will bring Carlos Gómez Salamanca’s Disposable and Maria Trenor’s Rock Bottom; El Viaje Producciones has José Alayón Devora’s La Luche and Théo Court’s Tres Noche Negras (Three Dark Nights); TV ON has Gabi Ochoa’s Nena (Babe) and Marc Ortiz’s L’Aguait (The Lookout); and Pecado Films will present Alessandro Pugno’s Human/Animal and Alexis Morante’s Bienvenidos.

Conde says these production companies were chosen by ICAA, ICEX, and TIFF after meeting the following requirements: international experience in film production; films on streaming platforms or in theatres over the past four years; in the process of developing projects that already have 20% of initial funding; and coproduction agreements with other European countries for their other projects.

“We wanted to show that we have universal stories, we have a wide variety of genres we are able to do, and that we have professional production companies that are very easy to work with as well as competitive tax incentives,” says Tito Rodríguez, ICAA’s director of marketing.

According to the Spain Film Commission website, international copros can apply for tax incentives for eligible expenses incurred in a Spanish territory while filming, including creative and technical labour costs and suppliers. Spain offers a deduction cap of €10 million (about C$13 million) for each production, with an incentive of 30% for the first million and a 25% for the rest.

“There are different tax incentives for the different regions in Spain. If you go to the Canary Islands, it is fairly competitive with a tax rebate incentive of 50% for the first million euros and 45% for the excess, while in Navarra, it’s 35% in tax credit,” says Rodríguez.

Conde says Spain is utilizing its coproduction treaty with Canada to increase their production slate, as well as to understand and learn more about the Canadian and U.S. film markets, adding that coproductions “are the future,” thanks to their ability to tap into various funding avenues.

Images of Pablo Conde (left) and Tito Rodríguez (right) courtesy of ICAA/ICEX