Conecta 2023: The event will have a new edition in Toledo for 2024

The seventh edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment was inaugurated last night during a magical evening at the Cigarral de Santa María Vineyard and counted with the presence of Patricia Franco, Regional Minister of Economy, Business and Employment, of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Javier Yraola, Project Director at ICEX-Invest in Spain and the Director of the event Géraldine Gonard. They all offered welcoming words to the institutional representatives, participants, and press gathered to enjoy the inaugural evening and the impressive sunset over Toledo while tasting local specialties.

Patricia Franco announced the night when she confirmed that the next edition of the event would once again be held in Castilla-La Mancha, "next year, we will have the pleasure of welcoming you again, as Toledo will once again host the 8th edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment ". Géraldine Gonard expressed her gratitude to Castilla-La Mancha for its strong support, to ICEX for joining this year with such a comprehensive and convincing program, and finally to the participating professionals, since "this will be the largest edition of those held to date - we have a record number of participants, close to a thousand."

Twenty-two panels will form part of this year's program and review the current situation and the future of fiction and audiovisual entertainment. Special attention will be paid to the strength of Spanish incentives by the Spain Film Commission and filming in Castilla-La Mancha. There will also be time to review the current creative trend of merging concepts and formats and the new audio series market without neglecting the new audiences, with an eye on the Z generation. The large international distribution companies will discuss their new role as necessary producers, while local and regional, niche, and generalist streamers, also known as Warrior Platforms, will discuss their strategies in the fight for market share, which today translates into subscriber numbers. Rounding out the panel segment are those dedicated to Mexico and Poland, which, as focus countries, have an excellent representation of TV channels and production companies. Both territories are leaders in their regions, and, for the first time, representatives from both nationalities will be able to sit together to discuss and share their strategies for maintaining their leadership, as well as the needs and opportunities that concepts such as international co-production pose for their producers.

Another nine keynotes from consulting firms specializing in audiovisuals and the heads of renowned events will serve to review, in-depth and in detail, the trends and data of a market in permanent transition. While Ampere Analysis offers an overview of global television trends, Serial Killer will present the essential content produced in Central Europe. Serializados will show a clear trend toward alliances. The consultancy BB Media will analyze in detail what is happening in Latin America. Beta Series will focus in the first session on local strategies and then, in another session, will offer its vision on series production and winning content. The Film Agency will show the importance of marketing and Think Data in audiovisual companies, and NEM will show what is coming from the CEE territory. Closing the round of specialized consultancies, Dataxis will offer a presentation that aims to help understand how global content platforms think and work.

Five workshops that respond to the constant training and development needs of professionals in the industry. They will review the keys to the script from film to television; provide the tools to produce with any budget; deal with the problems and conflicts of the IP and promotion, and show the potential of virtual technology to reduce production costs. Eurimages will also offer a workshop to present its new grants program for producing TV scripted series.

FIRST SPAIN CONTENT SHOWCASE
Dedicated to the Spanish content, the event will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 28th, and Thursday 29th, having the essential Spanish distributors of the moment. This activity collaborates with ICEX and is financed by European Union recovery funds. The Showcase will begin on 28 June with the presentation of some of the most important content, both scripted and entertainment, in a session entitled 'Top Spanish Fiction & Entertainment,' moderated by Gloria Saló, Director of Production and Content Consultancy at GECA (Spain) and featuring Beatriz Campos, SVP Global Sales and Production Finance at Studiocanal (UK); Rebeca Fernández, Sales Director for Europe at Atresmedia (Spain) and Gonzalo Sagardía, Founder and CEO at Onza Distribution (Spain).

On 29 June, two sessions will be held in which Spanish distributors will present themselves to the international buyers who have traveled to Toledo to meet the distributors and content. The Spanish companies and executives taking part in this edition's Showcase are Claudia Nario Bagó, International Sales Executive at Filmax (Spain;) Rebeca Fernández, European Sales Director at Atresmedia (Spain); Béatrice Nouh, Head of Sales at Onza Distribution (Spain); María Valenzuela, General Manager at Movistar Plus+ Internacional (Spain); Marta Ezpeleta, General Director of Distribution, Co-productions, Acquisitions and International Offices, and Javier Esteban Loring, Head of Commercial Strategy and Sales USA, Canada and UK, both from The Mediapro Studio (Spain); Silvia Cotino, Deputy Director of Sales and Business Development, and Rocío Cachero, International Sales, both from Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group (Spain).