The Government mobilizes 24 million euros to support the production of audiovisual content in Spain

The Council of Ministers today approved a Royal Decree approving the granting of a grant of four million euros to the mutual guarantee company CREA SGRwhich is dedicated to facilitating access to finance for SMEs in the audiovisual, creative and entertainment sector by granting guarantees to viable projects.

These resources financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation will increase the funding of the Technical Provisions Fund of CREA SGR, strengthening its solvency and favouring the increase in the number and amount of guarantees that it grants to the audiovisual sector. In the period 2020-2022, CREA SGR It has granted guarantees amounting to 404 million euros, the audiovisual projects being the ones that have taken over this funding; 87% of the guarantees granted came from this industry.

Among the productions that have the participation of CREA SGR Among others, the latest Santiago Segura film, ‘Summer Holidays’, or the winner of the Goya 2023 Awards ‘As Bestas’ by Rodrigo Sorogoyen stand out. In the field of television series, they have participated in titles such as Montecristo, Doctor García’s Patients or Tefia Nights. The work of the society also reaches theatrical productions such as ‘Los Santos Inocentes’ or ‘Ay Carmela’, and musicals such as Primavera Sound Barcelona or Reggeton Beach Festiva.

With the aid approved today, it is estimated that CREA SGR could formalize guarantees for an amount of around 120 million euros, which will allow to mobilize an investment of more than 170 million euros and produce audiovisual content.

This grant, aimed especially at SMEs in the audiovisual sector who are usually the most difficult to find funding, leverages the Spain Audiovisual Fund included in the Addendum to the Recovery Plan that is currently being negotiated in Brussels and has a budget of 1,712 million euros.

Program ICO-CREATE SGR

Also with the aim of promoting audiovisual production, the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and CREA SGR They have agreed to launch a public-private partnership programme that will mobilise EUR 20 million for projects and companies in the audiovisual, cultural and entertainment sector.

The program is implemented through inpidual credits granted by ICO To the producers to provide them with economic resources during the production period, coinciding with the greatest investment effort of the work or financing the business plan that facilitates the growth of specialized companies in the audiovisual sector.

With this new program, the ICO It will be able to finance up to a maximum of 2.5 million euros per operation and up to 3 million euros per client or economic group, according to the conditions of the 2023 financial year. The operations will be requested by the partners of CREA SGR, counting on its solidarity guarantee and with the reinvigoration by CERSA, the Spanish Reinvigoration Company attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Plan to boost the Spanish audiovisual sector

The strategic importance of the audiovisual sector is recognized within the strategy “Digital Spain 2026” approved by the Government, which includes as one of its axes the Plan to Boost the Audiovisual Sector “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe”.

This Plan has among its objectives to turn Spain into a leading country in audiovisual production in the digital era, a pole of attraction of international investment and talent, and with a reinforced industry-services ecosystem to export and compete in international markets.

Digital transformation, the emergence of new business models and new technologies have changed the way audiovisual content is produced. Its global character, its ability to generate employment and its potential for modernization thanks to digitalization, make it a strategic industry.

The Plan "Spain Audiovisual Hub" plans to mobilize estimated public resources amounting to 1,603 million euros, over the period 2021-2025, and its goal is to increase by 30% the audiovisual production carried out in Spain at the end of the period.

In addition, the Government has recently approved the Espacio Audio Program, framed in the second phase of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, to enhance, internationalize and allow better financing of the Spanish audio sector, which covers the field of music, podcasts, audiobooks and other audio-creative industries.

The Audio Space also includes access to financing on favourable terms for companies in the sector through loans managed by the ICO.

To help boost the funding of the audiovisual sector, ICO It has established as one of its priorities included in the Strategy 2022 – 2027 for the coming years the channeling of funds towards digitalization and innovation, with special emphasis on the audiovisual sector.