90% of film productions are pirated

Crea Cultura, Atresmedia's initiative in defence of intellectual property, organises a debate on piracy in cinema and how to protect a threatened cultural industry.

Atresmedia, in collaboration with Bertelsmann and through Crea Cultura, its initiative to value intellectual property, organized this Thursday in Madrid its VIII Forum entitled Piracy in cinema: how to protect a threatened cultural industry.

The debate, moderated by the journalist Vicente Vallés, was attended by the producer Sandra Hermida, the actor and also producer Antonio Resines, and the general director of Zeta Audiovisual and president of the State Film Association, Paco Ramos.

Vicente Vallés began the debate by asking the speakers how the problem of piracy is affecting their work. "The expectation of reduced income can lead to a decrease in quality. If the entrepreneur, who is a producer, and those who finance them have the perception that the income will be lower... we can lose business ambition and quality," says Paco Ramos.

Resines agrees with this idea: "If you know that the product is susceptible to theft, you think a lot about investing in it. With the data we have, if we invest a million, we may not recover it. The percentage is brutal. The income from films mostly comes from screenings in theaters. As long as piracy is not controlled, we will never know how much money is not received."

For her part, Sandra Hermida emphasises education: "We have to give value to culture and understand that it is the idiosyncrasy of a people. There is no awareness of crime. Parents do it too."

"90% of what is produced is pirated." With this alarming fact, Antonio Resines continued his speech by stating that he does not understand why the State does not take measures: "It is very serious. They are letting all Spaniards steal, with impunity. Not only the authors. They should not be interested. No one is capable of publicly saying that those who do so are thieves or accomplices, including consumers."

How to stop piracy?

"In the US, if you download you get the FBI logo and the next time they cut off your connection. In Germany, they cut off the connection to the grid directly. There is no computer or mobile phone. It's unfortunate, but you only stop doing things when you get fined. Through education it will be achieved within several generations, now we have to fine people, as with the helmet of the motorcycle," says Resines. In addition, the Spanish actor and producer continued to convey his concern that the State will do nothing: "You talk about this with Montoro and he tells you that you are right but he does nothing. Also the PSOE".

Along the same lines, Hermida affirms that "no measures are created to avoid it because it would be very unpopular". "No measures are taken because we are all voters. Culture has to be a matter of State. This is bad for everyone. No one can say no. We are defending the culture of this country. It is Spain's heritage and must be defended," Resines resumes.

Mexico and Spain are the countries where piracy is the most. "In Spain we are experts in saying: Why me? Why will I have to pay? If they are not going to catch me...", shares Ramos. In this sense, Hermida believes that the danger is not committing the crime but "getting caught".

On the role of operators

Paco Ramos pointed out that the operators sold "200 megabytes to users" which, in his opinion, allowed the illegal consumption of content. "They are being pirated," added Resines while affirming that "all the series in this country are pirated. The operators will have to bow to the mandate of the State, which is the one who must act."

Vicente Vallés continued the debate by asking what type of films are the ones that suffer the most from the consequences of piracy. All the speakers agree that the more commercial the films, the more they suffer.

"Piracy is selective. The least commercial films are the least pirated," says Hermida, while stressing that "piracy affects independent production or producers. The rest of the economic resources have been used to make the film", in an attempt to warn about the damage caused by consuming content illegally.

Paco Ramos adds that "deep down we make films by craft and conviction. If the time we dedicate to films were dedicated to another business, we would earn more money. And the producers are promoters of the films, they are fundamental." In addition, the president of the State Film Association assures that "when the State gives a subsidy it is because it recovers it".

Consumption in theaters and digital platforms

For Sandra Hermida: "It costs less to be on Netflix than to go see a movie. The piracy of series has decreased with these platforms, due to the comfortable and legal access on your Smart TV." However, Paco Ramos warns that "the problem is that people stop going to the cinemas" because, as Hermida continues, "people think they have the same access from home".

"It would be wonderful to know the box office in theaters if this piracy did not occur. The entrance of cinema has been shown by active and passive that it is not expensive, it is the lowest in Europe," says Resines.

Ramos wanted to highlight the growing audiovisual consumption in Spain: "We all want to continue making films because Spaniards want to consume films. Every year consumption grows. And in the TV grids the national product is also growing. Almost everything is produced in-house. Why don't we start doing more and better?" Likewise, the director of Zeta Audiovisual has launched a proposal: "When a film clicks after two weeks in theaters, it should be able to be released online before the established 16 weeks."

What would production be like without piracy?

For Paco Ramos "there would be business joy", while Resines says he is sure that "more investment would be made". "It goes hand in hand with quality," adds Sandra Hermida, "if our cinema were more profitable, the financial scenario would be better."

Ramos asks the government: "Do we want a country that has bars and tourists or that makes movies and series? Outside Spain, in addition to two or three chefs or an athlete, the characters with the greatest international projection belong to the film industry".

The role of televisions

"Television channels have seen that cinema is a good business, that it gives them prestige... Today they are convinced producers," says Ramos.

The panelists agree in differentiating the situation between private and public television stations since television channels such as Antena 3 are more focused on the promotion of films. "If you take the annual averages of the films and compare those of Antena 3 or Telecinco with those of TVE at the box office, these are lower. The promotional campaigns are smaller," says Hermida.

Ramos concluded by focusing on the commitment that TVE should have in search of a film production with a vocation for public service.