2023-12-13 23:23:17
The most watched movie all year on Netflix – not counting those spoken in English – is Spanish. Is called Nowhere, stars Anna Castillo and in total has accumulated 82 million views worldwide. An unmitigated success that places it as the third most successful international production in the history of the platform. It is not the only Spanish success of the company. Money Heist, Elite, The Hole, Bajozero…all of them were absolute hits in all the countries of the world, even turning their actors into stars.
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Spanish production is of interest throughout the world, and the data makes it clear. It is of interest, above all, to the platforms. A report from the European Audiovisual Observatory places Spain as the country that produced the most fiction titles for them in 2022. Exactly 39, the same as the United Kingdom, and above France and Italy, third and fourth with 28 and 26 titles respectively in it ranking prepared by the European organization. At the total level of titles, that is, including those created by private and public television, Spain drops to fourth position with 85. It is surpassed by France, with 197; Great Britain, with 217; and Germany, which sweeps with 336.
This change is due to the fact that public production in Spain is once again suffering. Of the total Spanish fiction production, 46% corresponds to platform titles; 30% to private television stations and 23% to public investments. Just the opposite of what happens in Europe, where 56% are from public channels; 29% private and the rest, 15% to platforms. A conclusion from the report Audiovisual fiction production in Europe 2022 which coincides with those that already appeared in another study by the European Audiovisual Observatory published by elDiario.es.
This highlighted the case of Spain, ensuring that “it is comparatively the main beneficiary of platform investments,” but also highlighting “a comparatively low level of investment by public chains” that “is offset, to a certain extent, with investments higher than the average of global platforms in the country.”
The report shows that of the 39 platform productions that were made in Spain in 2022, 21 belonged to Netflix, undoubtedly the company that produced the most titles last year. Seven belonged to Amazon, another seven to Atresplayer, two to Warner (HBO) and one to Disney Plus. Netflix’s dominance in Spain continues to be overwhelming and its production level is far from that of its competitors in volume and number of fictions.
The same thing happens throughout Europe. The great “increase in investment” has been seen on the platforms, which released 228 original titles last year compared to 127 in 2021, a figure that was affected by the consequences of the pandemic. Half of those 228 titles are from Netflix (50%) and another 17% are from Amazon, the two largest production companies currently. Between them, they have two thirds of the production of all existing platforms on the continent.
The Observatory has not only analyzed the number of platform productions, but also offers a more general look at how and what is produced in Europe, as well as the evolution from 2015 to 2022, a progression that has remained almost constant, and that in the last year he experienced a remarkable event. The number of European fiction titles produced increased by 12%, from 1,378 to 1,541; However, “the volume of hours and the number of episodes stagnated compared to 2021.”
That’s because the size and format of productions has also changed. While a decade ago it was common to watch series seasons of more than 24 episodes and one hour long, the usual thing now is that they are 13 or less; and around 40 minutes. 52% of the fiction produced between 2015 and 2022 has this format, which corresponds to 23% of the total hours. In percentage terms, they are followed by movies and TV movies, which add up to 30% of the content produced, but which in number of hours only corresponds to 4%. Series with more than 13 episodes are now less common, at 18%.
The report attributes this change in forms of production (seasons with fewer episodes, and shorter episodes) “as a way of facing the crisis,” and the rise in “production costs and inflation.” The only format that is not growing is series with more than 52 episodes, which normally corresponds to soap operas. The one that increases the most is that of series with 13 episodes or less. Series of that size have become the indicator of a country’s productive muscle. As the study indicates, the “five largest markets also lead the production of series of 13 episodes or less.” Spain remains in fourth place in both the total number of titles produced in 2022 and the number of short series.
The differences between each country are also noticeable in the audiovisual products they produce. For example, Portugal, Hungary, Poland and Greece opt for soap operas and series with many episodes, while Germany, France and Italy “place more emphasis than the European average on films.” In this field, Spain remains in a middle ground, but marked by platforms, a fundamental actor in the country’s production.
Data that has also been reflected in the bets of the previous coalition Government, which opted for the creation of the so-called ‘audiovisual hub’ to turn Spain into the great European set and attract international filming. An initiative that was reinforced thanks to the European Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Funds. Their support for the platforms was also clearly expressed in the controversial Audiovisual Law, which maintained the definition of independent production requested by them and the private networks instead of that defended by the independent production sector.
This predominance of platforms in Spanish production also has detractors such as the filmmaker Jonás Trueba, who in an interview in elDiario.es warned of the risk that the dominant voice in the original production of a country would be a platform, and expressed his concern. by the Audiovisual Law. “There are many people in our industry who are happy because they have work, because suddenly everyone is making series or movies on these platforms. And on the one hand you are happy that people have their jobs, but then there has to be a critical spirit regarding who is paying for our films. If that also means that they eat the whole cake and make it disappear, I’m not talking about the movie theaters, but in this case directly the independent filmmakers, because they want to put us all at their service, deciding what they want to do.” , said the director.
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