Junta announces action plan to help to turn Andalucía into the 'audiovisual capital' of southern Europe

The Junta region government has announced a raft of new measures to help turn Andalucía into the "audiovisual capital of Southern Europe".

It's a sector that's already caught of the eye of regional authorities after generating 141 million euros and growing by 20% both in turnover and employment. Last year Malaga played host to 257 filming shoots, triple the previous year. Minister of presidency Antonio Sanz announced three new measures to support the sector at the opening of the congress 4K HDR conference in Malaga, which brought together technology companies and audiovisual content creators to discuss the latest advances in ultra high definition.

Among the measures is an"audiovisual one-stop shop". It will aim to make it easier for directors and filming agencies to hire minors under the age of 16, record in coastal areas and at sites with historical cultural heritage, Sanz announced.

The Junta will also launch "an action plan" to promote the video game industry and the Andalusian Audiovisual Innovation Awards. The regional government believes this investment will give wings to an industry that has a competitive edge in Andalucía than other areas of southern Europe, and the world. "We have natural advantages such as being the region with more hours of sunshine, and therefore of recording, almost an hour away is the snow, the desert, the pastures, the coast and a cultural heritage unmatched in the world," Sanz said.

"If we add to that other competitive advantages apart from the natural ones, such as financial investment, the one-stop shop at the service of the audiovisual industry and a very powerful training plan, in addition to cooperation between Andalusian companies through Land, the new Audiovisual Cluster of Andalusia, Andalucía becomes the place with more competitive advantages for the audiovisual industry," he added.

4K HDR conference

The ninth 4K HDR conference highlighted key advances in technology and brought together influential companies in the sector. Organiser of the event, Ricardo Medina, CEO of Medina Media Events said the event was an "exchange of ideas and knowledge about the state of the art of 4K" - a technology that offers maximum quality to the viewer and with which the world's main producers are already using.