The Minister of Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue, and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, and the Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, have chaired the meeting of the Audiovisual and Digital Content Cluster of Andalusia (LAND) at the framework of the Malaga Film Festival, where the increase in incentives from the Andalusian Government to the film sector has been announced up to six million euros, the largest amount allocated to audiovisual creation, promotion, and production since the inception of these grants in 2002. These grants are complemented by support for the video game sector, in which Andalusia is a leader, with 600,000 euros in incentives for microenterprises, startups, and freelancers working in this industry in collaboration with the Digital Content Hub in Malaga.
Antonio Sanz has announced that the Andalusian Digital Agency (ADA) is working on defining and implementing «a one-stop-shop for audiovisual and digital services in Andalusia, expected to open by the end of 2025, providing the sector with a single place to handle all procedures for obtaining filming permits, grants, or information.»
Patricia del Pozo, on the other hand, emphasized that «the budgetary effort, resulting from dialogue with the sector and already announced by President Juanma Moreno, will not only increase the number of projects benefiting but also guarantee funding for their implementation.» «We want Andalusian productions to succeed, and to do so under optimal conditions, with the appropriate resources to enhance their quality and national and international projection,» explained the Minister of Culture.
With this commitment, the Andalusian Government reinforces support for new filmmakers, the industrial fabric, documentaries, short films, and audiovisual project development, while working on specific actions aimed at screenwriters and another at exhibition venues, conceived as essential spaces for the dissemination of Andalusian audiovisual content, ensuring their sustainability and facilitating the public’s access to diverse and quality programming.
Additionally, the Minister of Culture highlighted that, along with the investment commitment, significant improvements have been made in the management of grants, advancing the grant application schedule and ensuring their final resolution before March 31. «We position Andalusia as the only autonomous community in Spain that will resolve its grants in the first quarter of the year, allowing the Andalusian audiovisual sector to gain an advantage in accessing other state funding sources,» Del Pozo pointed out.
The effort to strengthen the Andalusian audiovisual industry has also focused on its international projection, with strategic actions in the main international markets and festivals, where thirty Andalusian production companies and enterprises participated in the ‘Guadalajara Film Market’ of the Guadalajara Film Festival, the ‘Industry Club’ of the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Seville European Film Festival, and the ‘European Film Market’ of the Berlinale. This program is supported by an 85% community contribution through the FEDER Program 2021-2027.
In this context, the I Forum for the Internationalization of Andalusian Audiovisuals (FIAA) kicks off at MAFIZ, the industry area of the Malaga Film Festival, aimed at positioning professionals and companies in the sector in international markets and establishing direct connections between Andalusian audiovisual actors and key figures in the fields of distribution, programming, co-production, and exhibition. Thus, a program has been designed that includes various showcases of Andalusian companies, meetings with industry professionals, and networking sessions.
The Andalusian Government, through the Ministry of Culture and Sports, will also have a promotional stand that will serve as a meeting point for Andalusian companies and has also organized an event for fifty professionals to promote professional exchange. In the same vein, forty Andalusian companies have been accredited to participate in various promotion and dissemination activities in countries in Ibero-America.
52 companies in the LAND Cluster
Antonio Sanz highlighted that 17 companies joined LAND in 2024, and during this year, 13 more entities, «all authentic national and international references in the sector, coming together with the conviction that public-private collaboration and the generation of synergies between public institutions, companies, and knowledge centers are essential for sector growth.»
In just over a year, a total of 52 companies have joined the LAND audiovisual cluster. «Companies that see how the Andalusian government continues to work to address the sector’s main demands in terms of administrative simplification and bureaucracy elimination,» emphasized the minister.
In this regard, thanks to the Andalusia Simplify Plan (AS Plan), the work authorization process for minors under 16 in TV series and movies has been normalized and streamlined through a single and specific application form. Similarly, efforts continue with the competent authorities to expedite filming authorizations in coastal areas to the maximum and to homogenize and simplify the filming request in buildings classified as Historical Heritage.
Reflecting on the work carried out by LAND last year, the Minister of the Presidency highlighted the integration of the Andalusian cluster into the Spanish Network of Audiovisual Clusters (REDCAU), which already included Madrid, Valencia, Galicia, Catalonia, Basque Country, Navarre, Canary Islands, and Aragon.
He also recalled the synergy established among several LAND partners to produce the ‘Estela’ short film, a 100% Andalusian project that won the Carmen Award from the Andalusian Film Academy for Best Animated Short Film in the 2025 awards.
In terms of training, Antonio Sanz emphasized that the Andalusian government is focused on creating new opportunities and possibilities, such as the SINGER project in Seville, the largest investment in the history of the Andalusian government in the audiovisual sector (four million euros), or the digital entrepreneurship center focused on video games and digital content ‘El Banco’ in Jaén, integrated into the ‘Mission’ program, which has received almost 1.8 million euros, in addition to the technological node in collaboration with the School of Industrial Organization (EOI) focused on video games and digital content, also in the Jaén capital.
In parallel, LAND and the Andalusian Film Commission have reached an agreement with the aim of working together to serve promoters of audiovisual and digital projects in Andalusia, which will also help identify high-impact projects in terms of investment and job creation, which would be assigned to the Project Acceleration Unit (UAP).
To this end, last January, the Junta modified the UAP’s competencies to incorporate the audiovisual sector and thus boost this industry, facilitating project management and providing the necessary speed for them to succeed.
Regarding the projects initiated this year, Sanz highlighted that LAND «will continue to organize sector forums and promote agreements and collaborations with key institutions,» citing the example of the agreement reached with the Ministry of Education to promote dual vocational training in collaboration with sector companies.
LAND’s primary goal in 2025 is also to become an Innovation Cluster in Andalusia, to take advantage of the benefits and opportunities that come with accessing public funding and collaborative project financing around the cluster’s innovation with its partners.
Additionally, the regulatory framework for the creation of the LAND Awards is being prepared to promote Andalusian audiovisual production and incentivize creativity and innovation. Thus, the process of creating a seal (LAND) that certifies that companies providing audiovisual and digital content services meet the excellence requirements of the Andalusian Administration has begun.
The Minister of the Presidency concluded by emphasizing that «we continue to work for the audiovisual and digital content sector to generate future opportunities that are reflected in the GDP of our land and in employment.»