498 million euros: the economic impact of advertising cinema in Spain

The Association of Advertising Film Producers (APCP) has published its 6th 'Study on the economic impact of advertising film production', a report executed by SCOPEN and sponsored by Madrid Film Office which estimates the impact of this type of production in Spain at 498 million euros.

The study, which aims dimension the socioeconomic impact of advertising film productions in Spain, has had the participation of a sample of 48 advertising film production companies, interviewed between the months of July and October 2024. 50% of them are incorporated and have headquarters in Madrid. On average, the production companies were established more than 13 years ago and carry out a average of 35 annual productions, although some reach more than 150. On average, they had 67.5 days of filming in the last financial year, with an average budget of 163,000 euros per production and an average annual gross billing per production company of more than six million euros.

The turnover volume of advertising film production companies in Spain in 2023 is located at 693 million euros. It is about the highest number since this study began in 2015, with an increase of 32% in the last two years. The average billing per production company, which had been maintaining a certain stability since 2017, has increased considerably in the last two years, to exceed 6.3 million euros in the last year, with an increase of 45% compared to the previous edition.

The origin of billing continues to be higher in the case of spanish clients (51%, with 353 million euros), although the Foreign clients have increased their billing volume by 64%, exceeding 339 million euros (49% of the total), almost equating its volume with that of national origin. Europe represents 66% of international turnover, followed by North America (15%) and Latin America (13%). Of the different media to which investment in advertising cinema is allocated, the main one is digital, with 43% (almost 300 million euros), followed by television. The food sector is the activity that receives the most investment (19%), followed by beauty and hygiene (12.5%), automotive (9.5%) and transportation, travel and tourism (7.5%).

Personnel costs, which reach 298 million euros, accounted for 43% of total billing in 2023 and most of the money allocated was made 'on behalf of others' (76%). In Madrid, personnel costs amount to 130 million euros. For its part, the number of jobs created in 2023 is 147.386 (62,639 in Madrid), of which 42% correspond to women. Most of the jobs created were 'employed' (82%).

Regarding the variation in billing, the production companies declare that, during the first quarter of 2024, their billing has increased by 8% compared to the same period in 2023, although without variations in the number of productions carried out. In total, the investment generated by Advertising Film Production in Spain is 498 million euros.

Madrid, state engine of advertising cinema

The study of the APCP presents a specific analysis of Madrid, which highlights how the region of Spain what more days of these shoots concentrated (42% of the total) followed by Catalonia, with 35%. Both bring together the 78% of filming days that are carried out in Spain, whether for Spanish or foreign clients.

41% of the production companies that carry out projects in Madrid encounter more facilities to carry out production projects than in other European cities, and only 2% consider that producing in Madrid has fewer facilities. The study also analyzes the difficulties that production companies encounter when working in Madrid compared to other places and the main drawbacks mentioned are the permit processing (46%) and the traffic in the downtown area (33%).

Among the ideas that production companies propose to improve the sector and attract more filming to Madrid, the main ones are to improve production time. permit processing (50%) and the ease of obtaining minor permits (37%). On the other hand, having tax incentives continues to be considered a good way to attract foreign productions to develop in Spain, and this is mentioned by the vast majority (96% in 2022 and 94% in 2024).

After the presentation of the Study on the economic impact of advertising film production, Bakery House (Madrid) hosted the round table “Current situation of advertising audiovisual production in Madrid”, a discussion moderated by Raul Torquemada, director of Madrid Film Office, focused on making a general assessment of the situation, the opportunities and possibilities for improvement of Madrid as a center for advertising film production. The interveners were Jesus Alamo, vice president of APCP; Alvaro De la Vega, Deputy Director General Legal Regime and Authorizations Government Area. MA. and Mobility of the Madrid City Council; Rosa Santos, Production Director; Nuria Santiago, locator and founder of Zafarrancho Locations, and Alexander Paino from ALIA Industry.