Replicate the successful model of the Marfà music creation center, but applied to the audiovisual and digital world, with special attention to the growing video game industry. This is the main objective of a new space that aspires to become “a center of reference for the entire territory of digital and audiovisual creation, exhibition and dissemination”, as pointed out yesterday at noon, in a press conference, the mayor of Girona, Marta Madrenas, who also recalled that this project is the result of a project promoted with money injected by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).
The Modern The Audiovisual and Digital Center wants to become, over time, a pulse of attraction, promoting the creation of new companies and the specialized professionalization of these areas to avoid the drain of talent and the lack of opportunities in these sectors in the territory. For this reason, a promotion program will be carried out in the audiovisual and digital sectors which will be linked both with the creative and business sector and with the specialized training facilities in Girona and its surroundings. The facilities have a set, an annex room and a studio dedicated to image post-production. In addition, having the Truffaut cinema in the same building brings great added value, as Madrenas wanted to highlight.
For his part, the vice-mayor Quim Ayats wanted to emphasize that with the entry into operation of this new equipment, “a new chapter of a very ambitious project” begins, referring to the long process of transformation that the old Modern Cinema, municipal property since 2001, 21 years ago, and still with a lot to build. “This is a bet that makes more sense than ever. The audiovisual and digital sector will be increasingly key,” he added. Enabling public access to the new digital structures, strengthening the city’s cultural fabric and promoting sustainable economic development are, according to Ayats, the three main axes on which the new center must pivot.
“This initiative has great potential and a creative and artistic digital talent of international reference. The launch of GameGi and the El Modern project is evidence that the educational and professional communities linked to video games and digital culture in Girona enjoy a good state of health” emphasized the general director of Innovation and Digital Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Marisol López.
The Deputy for European Programs of the Girona Provincial Council, Montse Mindan, also highlighted the importance that the new equipment can have in boosting cultural and economic activity for the territory. “The project must become a tool for coordination and promotion of the arts, in order to promote the cultural and creative industries as a backbone of economic specialization,” he said.
The launch of the Audiovisual and Digital Centre, which already has a large group of companies and creators who will develop their projects there, brings the closure of the first phase of the Modern reform. Madrenas acknowledged that over the four years that have passed since the beginning of the building’s reform, the Government team has had to “redo” the project “with new approaches”. The second phase, that of the old room A, which has the roof demolished, plans to provide the city with more spaces for the creation of performing arts, with an immersive perspective. However, the mayoress refused to set a date for the start of work on this second phase.