Secuoya Studios President, and Ex-Ambassador, on Spain’s Progress Toward Becoming the “Hollywood of Europe”

“What is the appeal of the Ibero-American market for the USA: being a growing market, lower costs, collaborating with local talents or financing opportunities? Are there opportunities for co-production between the USA and Ibero-American territories?” Those were some of the questions addressed during a Thursday panel at Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid, Spain. Plus, Spain’s progress toward becoming “the Hollywood of Europe.”

The participants were Georgina Gonzalez, vp, global scripted series at Universal International Studios, Jacobo Aparicio, director of international content at Anonymous Content, and James Costos, president of Secuoya Studios in L.A., who is a former HBO executive and former U.S. Ambassador to Spain.

Asked about Spain’s goal to become “the Hollywood of Europe,” expressed a few years ago by prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Costos said he sees himself as “a conduit between Hollywood and Spain,” among other things. “It really did plan to flag in the center and created a lot of attention,” he said about the outlined ambition. “And the government created really an all-in-government approach to make Spain that destination.”

The good news was that Spain has “a lot of natural beauty and locations and weather,” he highlighted. “People really want to come shoot here.” However, “the fiscal incentives really had to be changed,” Costos explained. “It’s an economic driver, it’s a job creator, and not only for Spain but for the United States, for us, companies who are looking to invest in Spain. It helps them to expand their business. So that approach really took off.” The government has also worked on reducing bureaucracy and paperwork and speeding up the issuance of shooting permits.

At Secuoya, “we spend a lot of time talking about Spain first as a destination,” Costos also shared. “We want to attract as much business as possible to Spain.” He highlighted that the studio offers itself as a place with great infrastructure and various business lines, from films and premium scripted series to unscripted, and ongoing series.

“I always like to quote President Kennedy at this point, when we talk about a rising tide lifts all boats,” Costos concluded. “So we want to attract as much business as we possibly can, whether it comes to Sequoia or our competitors, we want that business to land here. And over the course of the last four years, it has continued to build. And as we sit here today at Iberseries’ fourth installment, and we have U.S. day today directed towards U.S. companies, I think that’s a testament to how far it’s come.”

Touting the vast talent and skills in the country, he said: “Spain is really a goldmine for people to develop localized stories.” He noted though that pre-existing relationships Hollywood people have with people in other parts of the world sometimes lead folks to take “shortcuts,” even if they recognize Spain’s richness in terms of skills, locations, and more.

Gonzalez summarized NBCU’s interest in Spain this way: “It’s essential for us to create content that touches on Spain from the very beginning,” adding that, “we are better suited to service the global projects” given the company’s assets and resources. She mentioned, for example, that the company has The Day of the Jackal coming up with Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, and Money Heist star Úrsula Corberó.

“It all starts with a great story,” whether it comes through film festivals, TV events, video games, fan fiction, or other platforms, she also highlighted.

Arguing that it is expensive and difficult to “engineer” global hits from Spain by trying to throw in “everything but the kitchen sink, Costos mentioned how Money Heist succeeded by being rooted in Spain and organically finding a worldwide audience. Explained the Secuoya executive: “It resonated because it had themes that resonated outside of Spain,” while audiences also enjoyed “a culture that is different from theirs.”