Madrid’s animation sector is booming in the last years
Films produced in Madrid such as Tad, the Lost Explorer (Lightbox Animation Studios, 2012, 2017), Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (The Glow Animation Studio, 2018) and the multi-awarded Klaus (The Spa Studios, 2019) have carved out an international reputation for Spanish animation, with 70% of the sector’s turnover coming from outside Spain.
Tax rebate for international productions in Spain have recently been increased to 30% for the first €1 million of local spend and 25% thereafter, with a cap of €10 million and a minimum expense of €200.000 for animation and vfx projects. With its highly qualified proffesionals and good pricing, this improvement sets the sector as one of the most competitive in the world.
If you study the development of the audiovisual industry in Spain in recent decades, it can be seen how the animation sector has not stopped growing and taking center stage. Products such as Klaus, Tad, the Lost Explorer or Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles have shown how Spanish animation has carved out an international prestige and reputation far above what would be expected from the weight and volume of our audiovisual industry, since with only 4% of the total audiovisual companies generates 20% of the employment in the sector, employing around 8.000 professionals (of which 35% is female employment). Sector focused on export with 70% of its billing coming from abroad, not only they have had an uninterrupted growth during the last decade creating quality, stable and young employment, but it has also known how to be a true talent pool, with Spanish professionals among the most recognized in the world and being protagonists in most of the blockbusters.
And within the thriving and prosperous sector of Spanish animation, we must highlight how the Community of Madrid has gathered together the majority of the most representative and successful companies in this industry. Thus, signatures of the prestige of The Spa Studios, which has participated in titles such as Despicable me, or the most recent and multi-awarded Klaus, Zinkia (creator of the popular Pocoyo), Ilion who has participated in the realization of the blockbuster Wonderpark or Lightbox Animation Studios (creator of the successful Tad, the Lost Explorer saga) together with the talent of the artists and the excellent training centers have positioned the Community of Madrid as one of the main European epicenters regarding the animation sector.
But apart from their demonstrated industrial and creative strength, we should stand out how in recent months one of the great strengths of these companies has been exposed, such as their ability to adapt, an important added value at this moment, since for example, the new employment situation based on working from home has not been a major drawback for an innovative and eminently digital industry, and it can be said that its production and performance have not suffered any decrease either in quantity or, of course, in the quality of the result. Thus the production of the long-awaited latest Tad, the Lost Explorer by Lightbox, different productions of Zinkia or several of the orders from the United States for the Ilion company have not suffered any delay, even some products have been made entirely in this period such as Juntos contra el coronavirus and the children’s series of muppets Agus & Lui: retos en casa, both works by Paramotion Films for the popular children’s channel Clan.
Because there is no doubt that Spanish companies, and particularly those based in the Community of Madrid, not only offer to foreign investors and producers a very high (and repeatedly demonstrated) technical training for their professionals and really adjusted economic costs, but also a very special link for the realization of projects to export to the different Spanish speaking countries and regions, a vast and important market with significant growth.
In addition, it should also be noted that apart from their intrinsic production, these companies make up an indispensable industry for a sector that is going to have more and more importance in this new situation that may produce a change of concept in educational creation, such as that of interactive and digital content. All this means that the Madrid animation companies can be considered as one of the sectors with the greatest future within the audiovisual creation industry in Europe.
Thanks to Diboos, Spanish Federation of Animation Production Associations
