San Sebastián follows closely Angouleme becoming a city of animation

San Sebastián's commitment to moving towards a new economic model is based on the promotion of key emerging sectors with a future such as the audiovisual industry. Fomento de San Sebastián is the entity in charge of the economic development of the Gipuzkoa capital and, therefore, one of its challenges is to convert the audiovisual strategy, called PIA (Audiovisual Innovation Pole) into a true engine of the local economy.

For years, Fomento de San Sebastián has been working on the audiovisual strategy in permanent contact with the business community. One of the lines of work has been the implementation of business missions in order to support the internationalization of companies and to get to know leading cities in audiovisual matters.

The French Angouleme is a clear example. Converted into a “City of Animation”, its experience is of great interest for a town like San Sebastián and its surroundings, which will soon have a large PIA building on which the entire audiovisual strategy will pivot. This building is under construction and from the end of 2010 it will become the pole of attraction for the audiovisual industry of San Sebastián and its surroundings, since, in addition to offering premises for rent for companies, it will have the most advanced technology and the necessary tools to promote synergies between them and the sector in general.

Para conocer la experiencia de la ciudad francesa, Fomento de San Sebastián ha organizado recientemente una misión empresarial en la que empresas vascas del sector de la producción, la formación, los videojuegos y la distribución se han desplazado hasta allí para visitar la Escuela de Animación, el Polo de la Imagen, la Escuela Nacional de Medios y Juegos Interactivos así como varias empresas de la industria de la animación.

Un interesante programa de visitas que permitió a empresas como Dibulitoon, Ikso Estudio, Somuga, Silverspace 3D, Torsión Animación, Baleuko, ETB y Euve, descubrir las similitudes y diferencias con respecto a la ciudad francesa que, en definitiva, permitirán impulsar un modelo que beneficie al sector, su importancia en la economía de la ciudad y desarrolle la estrategia audiovisual PIA de Fomento de San Sebastián.