Malaga: Presentation of the “Baseline Report Assessing Best Practice Study” as part of the Euroscreen Project
At the Euroscreen Conference held in Malaga (Spain) from the 6th – 8th November, the pilot committee for the “Euroscreen – European Screen Destinations” project presented their group study results to an audience of over 200 stakeholders from all over Europe.
Euroscreen, promoted by INTERREG IVC and financed with European funding, is a project aimed at combining the policies and practices of cinetourism while taking advantage of the audio-visual industry, a proven catalyst in tourist development.
In 2012, the Apulia Film Commission, applied for and gained European partnership in the Euroscreen project and is the sole Italian member of the study group. The partnership consists of nine organisers from eight European countries (Italy, Malta, Poland, the UK, Rumania, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland) headed by Film London.
During the 8th November session at Caja Blanca (Malaga), moderated by Adrian Wootton, president of Film London and the British Film Commission, the Apulian model was presented as an example of best practices to follow as part of the discussion panel on the contribution of the audio-visual industry to the development of local economy, the increase of tourist flow and the promotion of the local area.
According to Antonella Gaeta, president of the Apulia Film Commission, film commissions are now able to measure the impact of investment generated by local audio-visual production. “In areas where there is large-scale tourist flow it is extremely difficult to isolate the influence of film or TV production on the choice of destination. The European project which we are part of aims to study the precise indicators which will help regions identify areas in which to take action and determine strategies and policies through the definition of five best practices. The results of the initial study have just been published in the article Baseline Report Assessing Best Practice”.
The report deals with strategies, incentives and location placement using five best practices in order to establish a system which links film commissions and the audio-visual industry with that of tourism. In establishing a location for cinetourism, its role in the entire audiovisual production cycle is essential. This aspect was also discussed at the EUCFN European Film Commission Network conference held in Malaga on 7th November. A presentation on Apulia was made, demonstrating the increasing number of visitors to the area (also as a result of cinetourism), the growing number of funded film projects and the subsequent impact on the area (in terms of production weeks spent in Apulia, skilled worker employment, etc.).
After the local seminars organised by the Apulia Film Commission as part of last April’s European Film Festival (with the participation of local actors), Euroscreen returns to Apulia for a forthcoming publicity event where the study will be presented. It will also be available on the website www.apuliafilmcommission.it.
Conference speakers included the following: Sandie Dawe – CEO, Visit Britain, UK; Johannes Koeck – Head of Cine Tirol Film Commission, Austria; Piluca Querol – Head of Andalucía Film Commission, Spain; Carlos Rosado – CEO, Spain Film Commission, Spain; Pablo Prezzi– President and Creative Executive Director, Bungalow 25, Spain; Rocío Verdes– Co-ordinator, Malaga Film Office, Spain; Michelangelo Messina – Art Director, Ischia Film Festival, Italy; Denis Pedregosa – CEO, Kanzaman Films, Spain, Representative of Costa del Sol Tourism Board, Spain; Maria Månsson and Lena Eskilsson – University of Lund, Sweden.
