Spanish TV to spend 36 millions supporting local films

Spain’s RTVE is standing by Spanish cinema, earmarking about Euros36 million ($49 million) for broadcast rights to Spanish movies this year.

Recent pickups include Jaume Balaguero‘s thriller “Flatmate,” Daniel Sanchez Arevalo‘s comedy “Primos” and live-action adventure pic “Capitan Trueno.”

This year’s RTVE Spanish pic outlay is broadly level with last year. It comes as other established nets in Spain — Telecinco and Antena 3 — are downsizing Spanish pic investment, making RTVE, with Italy’s RAI, the biggest broadcast network investor in national cinema in Southern Europe this year.

Having nixed advertising, RTVE will run down its international rights acquisitions and sales operation, Gustavo Ferrada, RTVE head of cinema, told Daily Variety.

Despite restricting its pickups — pre-buys made at script stage — to just Spanish broadcast rights, RTVE will pay broadly similar coin per pic, Ferrada added.

The pubcaster’s $50 million warchest is also good news for international cinema: 14 of RTVE’s 31 pickups last year were international co-productions.

Among recent buys, largely co-prods with Latin America, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inirritu’s “Biutiful,” 2009 Berlin Golden Bear winner “The Milk of Sorrow” and Academy Award recipient “The Secret in their Eyes.”

Pubcaster will continue looking for auteur pics with larger audience appeal, Ferrada said. It will also acquire mainstream Spanish pics, classic art pics, young directors’ movies, and films made in Catalan, Basque and Galician, he said.

More info: variety.com