Teresa Azcona, a driving force behind the build of the Spain Film Commission’s emergence as one of the key institutional players on Southern Europe’s locations scene, has been named general manager of the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster.
While Barcelona has a thriving new generation of auteurist movie directors and producers and a building animation scene, Madrid has reaped the largest benefit of Spain’s building, decade-long TV boom. Spain’s Mediaset, Atresmedia, Movistar Plus+, The Mediapro Studio, Secuoya Group and Netflix’s European Production Hub are all located in a golden triangle stretching from northern Madrid to satellite town Tres Cantos, a 25-minute drive north of the Spanish capital.
According to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, (INE), cited by the Cluster, Madrid represents 32.1% of Spanish audiovisual companies, but 75.9% of its annual revenues of €7.3 billion ($7.8 billion). Those stats are for 2020. Both Madrid and Spain’s regions have seen further expansion since then.
After a period of dramatic growth, a country needs to put into place an infrastructure, enabling it to sustain and deepen expansion. That looks like one role of the Cluster, launched March 2023 and presided by Secuoya Group president Raul Berdones, whose principal role is to develop an ecosystem which encourages entrepreneurial growth, innovation and international collaboration, the Cluster said in a statement.
Just what way Azcona takes that remains to be seen.
“I am delighted to become the general manager of the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster, an initiative which constitutes one of the drivers of development not only for Madrid but the rest of Spain,” Azcona said. “I’m excited by its vision of being a key entity capable of generating synergies and between the sector’s different players, driving employment, local talent and international reach. The board of directors has carried out great work in these months. Bringing my experience, I will focus on contributing to the strategic plans, as well as creating value to the Cluster’s partners and the sector,” she added.
The longtime partner and CEO of a risk capital fund, Azcona also served as director of pubcaster Aragón TV.
Source Agencies
