The business of content doesn’t happen in a vacuum, Inside Content’s Géraldine Gonard and independent producer Alexander Keil stress in the latest episode of ScreenMDM Talks as we preview the tenth edition of the well-regarded CONECTA event, which is bringing executives from across the ecosystem to sunny Mallorca to discuss scripted and entertainment trends and chart a new path for international collaboration.
Convening at the end of this month, CONECTA Magaluf-Mallorca marks its tenth birthday in a drastically different landscape than what existed when Gonard launched it as Inside Content’s flagship event. As the streaming wars began and ended, CONECTA has evolved to ensure it is meeting the needs of its delegates. Today, post-peak TV, commissioners are risk-averse and producers and rights owners are trepidatious about rapidly changing consumer behavior, but one thing remains true, Gonard said: “We need a lot of partners” to get projects off the ground.
For Keil, an established German producer, CONECTA serves many needs, well beyond the opportunity to network with like-minded creatives. “CONECTA is a wonderful reason every year to basically double-check my German market strategy and look outside our turf to see what’s happening.”
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And what is happening is a raft of new collaboration models, with co-productions as just one small piece of the pie, Gonard explains. “There are so many business models, so many ways to produce—with a brand, with a platform, with a channel, with a public fund.”
As “international exchange” becomes the defining theme of the global content business, CONECTA, across its schedule of panels and networking opportunities, is focused on helping delegates connect and chart a new path forward to get shows made.
And as has long been the case, European producers are eagerly tapping into soft money resources from across the region, including on CONECTA’s home turf. From lush locations to an experienced talent pool and generous tax incentives, Spain has become a hub of international collaboration activity. “It’s probably one of the most attractive countries in the world to shoot in,” Gonard notes, and one of the most competitive, with a strong local broadcasting ecosystem as well as all the major SVOD platforms.
“The biggest challenge for our local industries right now and for our partners that are not global American streaming platforms is how to survive against their marketing power,” Keil said. “It’s about how to find your audience. For me, the fascination with CONECTA is the creative exchange with producers from Spain and lovely writers, directors and creators. My job is to find German audiences and a German financier, obviously, but then I can also add somebody who can add a Spanish partner or a Latin partner. If you haven’t experienced CONECTA vibes yet, I think going to Mallorca and celebrating the 10th anniversary of a grown-up festival that’s been spreading magic for the last 10 years, I would strongly recommend it.”
