The Regional Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz; the Regional Minister of Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España; and the Regional Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Arturo Bernal, reaffirmed this morning in Malaga the Junta's commitment to the Andalusian Audiovisual and Digital Content Cluster (LAND) in a meeting with members of this cluster in which the Junta announced that in 2024 it will allocate more than 4.5 million euros in aid for the production and production of feature films, support for new creators, short films, documentaries, festivals, and the internationalisation of the audiovisual world.
 
Antonio Sanz defended the cluster as 'the largest public-private collaboration project in the audiovisual and digital content industry in this country'. In fact, the cluster's mission is to develop business projects that will make Andalusia a benchmark in the audiovisual and digital content industry at a national and international level. ‘Andalusia is on the way to becoming the audiovisual capital of Europe, it is Europe's natural film set, and we want it to be the best film set in Europe,' said Antonio Sanz.
 
Carolina España stated that ‘LAND represents a source of employment and wealth, as well as a boost of development and international projection for our country, since this sector has 1100 companies in Andalusia with a turnover of more than 350 million euros. The Regional Minister of Economy announced that measures and actions to promote the internationalisation of the audiovisual industry will continue to be promoted by Andalucía TRADE. ‘We are the best place for investment, for the consolidation of this great production called Andalusia, which is a success with everyone who knows it,’ she said.

The Minister Arturo Bernal pointed out that with the creation of the cluster ‘the aim is to generate industry in audiovisual production and filmmaking’. Bernal reaffirmed, within the framework of the Malaga Festival, the support for the six festivals held in Andalusia (Malaga Festival, Huelva Ibero-American Festival, Seville European Film Festival, Almeria International Film Festival, South International Series Festival of Cadiz and Western Film Festival of Almeria) focused not only on the incentive for promotion or production, but also on internationalisation.
 
The directors and members of the LAND cluster, assembled last October, took stock of the actions carried out in the last few months at the meeting held at the Malaga Videogame Museum. During the meeting, LAND has taken its companies to ten international festivals and fairs, such as FOCUS in London, NAPTE Global in Miami, Content Americas also in Miami, the Berlinale (the Berlin film festival), the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid, the South International Series Festival in Cadiz, Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires, Shooting in Spain-Focus in London and the European Film Market in Berlin. All of them high-level meetings of the audiovisual industry.
 
In addition, the next call for grants for micro-enterprises, small businesses and freelancers has been launched to promote the video game industry in Andalusia with a budget of 600,000 euros. LAND's synergy between various partners has also helped to produce the biggest success of a Christmas campaign on Canal Sur Televisión. The three animated short films of the campaign ‘Our Christmas 2023’ achieved a great digital impact on social platforms and was even reflected in national media, reaching more than four million views and hundreds of thousands of interactions.
 
Antonio Sanz also emphasised the one-stop shop project for the audiovisual industry to access filming permits, aid, information, etc. and the administrative simplification measures being worked on within the Andalucía Simplifica Plan, such as speeding up work authorisations for minors under the age of 16; speeding up authorisations for filming in coastal areas as much as possible; and standardising and simplifying applications for filming in buildings classified as Historical Heritage.
 
The LAND cluster also focuses its work in the field of training with the aim of achieving new options and possibilities considering the needs of the industry. In addition, it carries out a continuous analysis of global trends in Desayunos LAND, whose next meetings will be in April, on 'Digital Content: Convergence of Gaming and eSports', and in May, on 'Artificial Intelligence and Audiovisual Content'.
 
The three councillors reaffirmed the Andalusian government's commitment to achieving a nationally and internationally recognised Andalusian audiovisual and digital content industry, a key element for the transmission of Andalusian culture and identity, as well as for the economic development of the region.
 
19 cluster’s companies
 
The Minister of the Presidency announced that there are more companies that want to join LAND, which is already made up of 10 companies: ADA, Andalucía Film Commission, Fresco Film Services, Giants Gaming E Sports, Grupo Secuoya, Kaiju Group, Movistar+, Proamagna, RTVA, Rokyn Animation, Sandetel, 16 Escalones Producciones, La Agencia Andaluza de Instituciones Culturales, La Claqueta PC, ODDERS LAB, Sevilla City Office, Womack Integrated Marketing, Laboratorio de Creación Artística SHORLIN (made up of Merlín and Antonio Banderas' Teatro Soho Televisión) and Grupo ADM.