José Velasco
José Velasco, president and founder of iZen, will be receiving the Conecta Fiction & Entertainment 2022 Honorary Award in recognition of his extensive and multifaceted professional career in which he has always been committed to the transformative power of great storytelling. The awards gala will be held on 23 June at the Palacio de Congresos de Toledo El Greco, (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) venue of the event on 21 to 24 June 2022.
Velasco, is one of the best known producers in Spain having both founded and run Globomedia in 1989 and Zeppelin TV (Endemol Group) in 1993. He has produced some of Spain’s most iconic series both scripted and non-scripted including launching the Spanish version of "Big Brother" ("Gran Hermano") and the first reality show in streaming for Netflix ("Insiders"). Jose Velasco is also the creator and executive producer of "El Cid", an Amazon Prime Video original series and one of the most ambitious original productions to date in Europe.
Jóse Velasco, president of iZen and producer, "I am grateful for this award, which I consider a recognition for the people and professionals who have been by my side helping me to entertain viewers, while I have had the privilege of enjoying the funniest job in the world".
Géraldine Gonard, director of Conecta FIction & Entertainment, "It is an honor to inaugurate the first edition of this award with José Velasco, his professional career, full of challenges and successes and his personal charisma have been, and are, an indisputable reference in the Spanish television industry".
FOCUS COUNTRY: SPAIN
“In Conversations with" Some of the most relevant professional tandems of the moment will serve to learn about the current situation and dynamics of the Spanish market. Will take part of the activity, Mercedes Gamero, General Manager of Beta Fiction Spain; Ramón Campos, Executive Producer and co-founder at Bambú Producciones; Laura Abril, Director of VIS for EMEA and SVP (Spain); Pedro Uriol, Producer at Morena Films; Alvaro Diaz, Entertainment Director, Netflix Spain; Jose Velasco, President of iZen; Christian Liarte, Director Originals Europe of Rakuten; Luis Calvo, Content Director of You First Sports.
On the first day, the Spanish Panorama will offer 2 sessions in which industry and institutions will present the plan to boost the Spanish audiovisual industry "Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe" and also "Intellectual Property Protection". Also on the first day will be the Keynote "International Production Made in Spain" by Gloria Saló, Production and Content Consultant, Geca, who will talk about the numerous Spanish titles that can be seen worldwide, either in their original version or as local adaptations, while analyzing current trends in the international market. One of these trends will be the subject of another panel "IP, from book to series" by Scenic Rights. Moderated by Sydney Borjas, CEO of Scenic Rights, with Amaia Muruzabal, Global Content Director of Dopamine, Laura Abril. Director of VIS for EMEA and SVP (Spain), Sonia Martínez, Editorial Director of Series at Buendía Estudios and the writer María Dueñas, author of the bestsellers "El Tiempo entre Costuras" and "Sira".