Film Madrid has arranged a familiarisation trip together with the Madrid Film Office, as part of its participation in the III edition of Shooting Locations Marketplace.
Film Madrid, in charge of promoting shoots in the Region of Madrid, and the Madrid Film Office, have arranged a familiarisation trip with producers and location managers in the U.S. audiovisual industry to promote Madrid as a shooting location. Over four days, a delegation of location managers and producers from the USA, United Kingdom and Canada have been able to get acquainted first-hand with some of the most notable sites in the city and region.
These participant location managers and producers included professionals with long-term experience in the production of famous international films for companies like Universal, Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount or Warner Bros. The international delegation, consisting of James Lin, current SVP Physical Production for Universal Pictures, the producers Jennifer Lyne (Cásate conmigo) and Amanda Verhagen (Jurassic World: Dominion), the experienced location managers David McKinney (Top Gun: Maverick) and Matthew Chamberlin (Modern Family), and the location managers Miranda Carnessale (Barbie) and Melissa Downing, were satisfied with this visit which, in most cases, was their first to the Region of Madrid. In the words of James Lin, Madrid offers a wide range of perspectives in a 1-hour car trip, with its infrastructures and long city avenues, as well as beautiful and picturesque villages, as a backdrop for a great story. David McKinney highlighted the many different towns and buildings in the region, where any film-maker may shoot.
This direct action is part of the effort of these two public offices (Community and City Hall) to draw shoots to the area, covering various local sites and displaying the singularity and multi-faceted nature of Madrid’s landscapes. Today’s contemporary Madrid was presented through infrastructures such as the Atocha Train Station, Calle 30’s tunnels and Metro Madrid (covering its entire range, from Chamartín Train Station, the Chamberí Museum station, to the company’s modern offices). The visit included a choice of architectural and historic heritage sites, such as the Railway Museum, Fernán Núñez Palace or El Paular Monastery. Along with representatives of both governments, participants visited unique facilities such as the Olympic Water Centre, the former military base of Alcalá de Henares and natural sites in Sierra de Guadarrama, to include Bosque Finlandés. The region has become a huge audiovisual production centre in the last few years, as evidenced by the creation of locations such as Madrid Content City, the studios that Secuoya Content Group is leasing to the U.S. platform Netflix in the town of Tres Cantos, which were also included in the visit.
This fam trip has also shown the Region’s potential for tourism with Hotel VP Design Plaza España’s participation and the restaurants that hosted the delegation in the various cities around Madrid, Rascafría or Tres Cantos. This government-company venture was reflected with a contribution to the fam trip made by the Regional Ministry of Transport, the companies Calle 30 and Tragsa, and the Town Councils of Chinchón and Alcalá de Henares with its Alcalá Film Office.
Shooting Locations Marketplace
The Madrid fam trip for international location managers was carried out further to Film Madrid’s participation in Shooting Locations Marketplace, the shooting locations fair held in Valladolid between 17-18 October. Organised by Feria de Valladolid and the Spain Film Commission, the III edition of the event has increased the national and international participation of locations, producers, location managers and enterprises involved in audiovisual production, with 69 professionals from 15 countries. The event seeks to promote an encounter amongst shooting agents, for which various work scenarios were set up. This edition implemented a more than 950-meeting agenda, arranged according to interests shared by locations and location managers, round tables and conferences on matters such as sustainable shooting, tax rebates, the impact of the recent screenwriters’ strike or the use of artificial intelligence in location sites.
Film Madrid was present in Valladolid for the third consecutive year, to promote the competitive advantages of the city and region of Madrid, as audiovisual shooting scenarios. In a joint venture with the Madrid Film Office, 22 meetings were arranged with international location managers and producers, mainly from the U.S., U.K., Canada and Spain, in order to locate potential projects to be launched in Madrid and to enhance some of the most outstanding locations in the city and region.
Shooting Locations Marketplace offers an innovating and dynamic format that seeks to attract location managers, allowing them to directly connect to prominent location professionals. The coordinator for Film Madrid, Xiomara García, has highlighted the importance of these meetings to generate trust amongst international producers and product managers, to establish quality relations, and to initiate conversations with a view to future projects, particularly given that the vast majority are U.S. and U.K. professionals (both countries lead the Western audiovisual industry). Consequently, Film Madrid has met up with location managers in Valladolid, ranging from freelance professionals engaged in various international projects to prominent representatives of leading sector associations, such as AFCI and Location Managers Guild International, who include Lori Balton, Mika Saito, David McKinney, Miranda Carnessale or the Spanish national Tate Aráez.
Participation in Shooting Locations Marketplace, as well as the location manager fam trip, are part of Film Madrid’s line of work to draw shooting and audiovisual production to the region, by promoting Madrid as a location and audiovisual production centre. The Region of Madrid has consolidated its position over the last few years as one of Europe’s leading content production centres, as a shooting reference, following an increase in activity that has eventually hosted more than 950 productions in 2022, to include 89 feature films and 79 series.
