Spain Film Commission, LinkedIn Unveil Plans for a Joint Film & TV Talent Network

John Hopewell
Updated ·3 min read

Just three months after the Spanish government approved some of the biggest big international shoot incentives in Europe, the Spain Film Commission and LinkedIn have created a strategic alliance to create a Spain Film & TV Talent Network, an online community for an audiovisual sector.

In an initial phase, LinkedIn will encourage and aid SFC members to create profiles for the network, Angel Saenz de Cenzano, general manager for LinkedIn in Spain and Portugal, said at a presentation in Madrid. It will also back the creation of content which can drive network conversation, he added, citing the case of Ryan Reynolds, who uses LinkedIn to promote his businesses such as Mint Mobile and Maximum Effort and to drive conversation, such as on storytelling.

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SFC will invite to join the network both its own members – grouped across an extraordinary total of 42 commissions and offices around Spain – as well as members of Spanish line producers assn. Profilm, and ALIA, Spain’s umbrella production body. It will also reach out to Spain’s regions. “Wherever there is a regional public broadcaster, there is some sort of industry,” noted SFC president Carlos Rosado.  

Unveiled March 30 in Madrid, and in early development, the Spain Film & TV Talent Network is launching as the demand for qualified talent in the country looks set to hit historic levels.

Already, 2023 will see the release of 70 new Spanish scripted series and 27 returning seasons of hits such as “Elite” “Rapa” “30 Coins” and “Veneno.” 64% are commissioned by streaming platforms, according to figures presented at Series Mania’s Coming Next from Spain showcase.

Such is the hike in production levels that Spanish film producers have to tie down key talent a year or a year-and-a-half in advance.

Spain already attracts multiple big shoots such as “House of the Dragon” and “Vampire Academy.” Introduced Jan. 1, muscular new tax breaks for international and domestic titles raising caps on relief to €10 million ($11 million) per single TV episode in mainland Spain and to €18 million ($19.8 million) in the Canary Islands.

The rate of deduction in the Basque Country’s Bizkaia can now reach up to 70% of spend, promising a record year for production in the province, Agustín Atxa, co-ordinator at Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission, told Variety at March’s Málaga Film Festival’s Spanish Screenings.

At peak times, the sector can hit apparent full employment, Rosado said at the Madrid SFC-LinkedIn presentation. The new network marks a part push-back against this run on talent.

“We go to many markets and discover Spanish professionals all over the world,” Rosado observed. They ned to know about job opportunities in their native land.

“One of the most fundamental solutions for sectors is offer-demand,” observed Luis Cueto, an advisor at Spain’s Ministry of Economics Affairs and Digital Transformation: “‘I have a project but I don’t have people,’ balancing out ‘Could somebody tell me where there are job offers because I’m not getting work?’”

For me, one of my passions and challenges, given its difficulties, was to gain a sense of the industry in all its breadth and know if your skills can be used in other sectors or countries,” added analyst and academic Elena Neira. “A network connecting people can play a fundamental role here.” 

For a century, Hollywood’s industry supremacy has been based not on its dominance of distribution, which is a consequence, but rather its status as the world’s biggest film-TV talent hub with a highly efficient knowledge economy. The LinkedIn- Spanish Film Commission network, by such terms of competition, is an obvious step in the right direction.

LinkedIn-Spain Film Commission Presentation
LinkedIn-Spain Film Commission Presentation

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