Madrid's Iberseries goes big on business with 220 buyers and AI premiere
Madrid's Iberseries & Platino Industria is putting deal-making first in its sixth edition.
The event is pivoting toward more B2B activities, meaning business-to-business meetings and markets rather than public screenings, according to co-director Samuel Castro. Organisers expect to surpass last year's 2,500 accreditations, or registered industry attendees, as reported by Variety. Castro handles series. Juan Alia, the other co-director, focuses on cinema.
The buying power is large. About 220 buyers, meaning executives who acquire shows for broadcasters and platforms, are expected, alongside 50 film commissioners, the local officials who attract shoots to their regions. Top-tier buyers include Amazon MGM Studios/Prime Video, Netflix, AMC Networks, Atresmedia, Banijay Entertainment, Canal+, Disney, Globo, Mediaset, Movistar Plus+ and ZDF Studios. First-time attendees include BBC, Arte, Apple TV+, Telefe Argentina and Colombia's Caracol TV.
Pitching gets more room this year. The programme adds more pitch sessions, short presentations where creators sell projects to potential partners, led by the new Euro-Atlantic Series Co-Pro Pitch. That programme is aimed mainly at European television projects seeking to move forward in development.
Writers are central to the shift. Iberseries & Platino Industria signed agreements this year with the SGAE Foundation and DAMA, two Spanish organisations that manage authors' rights. Together they are programming meetings between screenwriters and producers. Fourteen screenwriters from Recreas, DAMA's project incubator, will present projects after selection from nearly 300 submissions.
Artificial intelligence has its own slot. The event will host a new AI Workshop for creators led by Concepción Diaz, Google's Head of AI Trainings EMEA. It will also host the world premiere of "Pelagius," described as Spain's first feature made with generative AI, according to Variety. The film is a 97-minute historical epic produced by Tiki Group, Elefantec Global and Recrea Films, and directed and produced by Miguel Asensio Llamas.
What makes this stand out for viewers is the plumbing. Deals, pitches and writer meetings rarely make headlines. They decide which stories get funded, shot and finished.
