Iberseries & Platino Industria is running a two-day workshop organized by the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster (MAC), and the format is compressed into just twelve minutes total. Eight companies will present case studies on how AI is transforming their operations, with each getting roughly one and a half minutes to make their pitch. The time limit is strict, and the organizers acknowledge the challenge.
The cluster is an economic interest group with close to 100 Madrid-based companies. The workshop runs Sept. 29–30 in the Spanish capital. The theme is Innovation ‘Case Studies in the Audiovisual Industry: New Business Models, AI and Emerging Technologies.’ Teresa Azcona, managing director of the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster, framed the session as a broader look at innovation beyond AI.
She said “While AI is a common thread running through the projects, the session takes a broader view of innovation, covering new business models, emerging technologies and evolving production and creative workflows,”.
According to Azcona, the case studies demonstrate how innovation is changing the industry and creating fresh chances throughout the value chain.
The Case Studies
A broad selection of audiovisual operations is included in the workshop, and each presentation is set to address its own distinct part of that range.
- PLIA: Applying PLIA Technology to Script Breakdown, Pre-Production Planning and Production Tracking on “Playback”
- TBS (Telefónica Broadcast Services): Tech Brand Stories — From the Physical Studio to the Virtual Production Environment: Virtual Production, AR, Motion Graphics and AI
- Hark Media – Go Global: When AI Learns to Move Us — Hybrid Dubbing for Global Distribution
- Xpost Studios – Secuoya Content Group: Innovation in VFX and Post-Production Workflows
- Story Pitcher: Connecting Audiovisual Creators and Producers Through a Digital Platform
- Mercedes Santalla: From Talent to Market — Strategy and Business for Creative and Technology Projects
- Scoutters – Scout & Film: A Digital Platform for Location Scouting and Production
Each presentation runs for approximately 12 minutes, with the entire session lasting from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on Sept. 29.
The Order of Presentations
The workshop runs from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on Sept. 29, with eight case studies presented over the two-hour window. Each company receives approximately 12 minutes.
| Time | Presentation |
|---|---|
| 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m. | Eight case studies |
The Case Study Details
The PLIA platform uses artificial intelligence to manage film and audiovisual productions, and it has built a production-management system that gathers data from the creative and production process into one place. The company plans to demonstrate its software using the feature film “Playback,” showing how it handles script breakdown, pre-production planning and production tracking. The platform combines scripts, notes, budgets, location photography and production breakdowns, aiming to make information management run more smoothly throughout the production workflow.
Jose Velasco, CEO of PLIA, will present the case study.
The Telefónica Group’s creative production company and audiovisual agency, TBS – Tech Brand Stories (formerly Telefónica Broadcast Services), employs a staff of more than 450 professionals who work on major sporting and live events, along with non-fiction, entertainment, documentary and current-affairs programming. This case study will look at how virtual production, augmented reality, motion graphics and AI converge, and how they are being brought together within today’s production settings.
The TBS case study presentation will be given by Alberto Gonzalo, who serves as Graphics Supervisor, and Luis Miguel Boedo, who holds the role of Technical Coordinator.
Go Global works with the entertainment industry, offering translation, subtitling, dubbing and voice-over services to streaming platforms and production companies. The company will examine the growing importance of AI in dubbing and consider how a combination of technology and human skill might help bring content to audiences across international markets.
The presentation will be delivered by Paula Ferrari, who holds the roles of Founder and CEO at Go Global.
Xpost Studios operates from Madrid Content City as part of Secuoya Content Group, and its base is in Madrid. The company runs facilities for editing, color grading, sound post-production, VFX and digital workflows. The session at hand centers on the use of new technologies in VFX and post-production workflows, looking at how innovation is altering content processing and delivery.
Marcos Requena, Post-Production Manager, will present the Xpost Studios case study.
A digital platform built by Story Pitcher brings together screenwriters, directors and other audiovisual creators with production companies and content platforms. The design pairs AI-driven matching with legal-protection tools, meant to build stronger ties between creative talent and the people who decide what gets made.
Frank Belyeu, CEO of Story Pitcher, will present the case study.
A talent manager and creative strategist named Mercedes Santalla handles projects and people who work where creative practice meets technology. During her session, she will look at the business and strategic matters tied to moving creative and technology-led projects from development into the market. She will also explore how talent, technology and business are changing their connection with one another.
Mercedes Santalla will present her own case study.
The Spanish firm Scout & Film created Scoutters, a digital location-search and management platform. Drawing on its background managing locations for film and advertising productions, the platform links location scouts, agencies, production companies and film commissions with sites that match their production needs.
The Debate Over Authorship
Samuel Castro, who serves as co-Director of Iberseries & Platino Industria, offered a sharp counter-argument about AI’s limitations while the gathering was still underway.
“The ability to create stories should always be based on a fully human, author-driven concept and development. AI should be used as a tool, not as an end in itself,” he said.
The author’s position, as stated by Castro, holds that the creative heart of storytelling stays with the human writer. He makes no case against AI itself. His argument targets the replacement of the author by AI instead.
What This Tells Us About the Industry
The Madrid Audiovisual Cluster is working on two goals simultaneously. First, it is demonstrating how AI is used throughout the industry, from script breakdown through VFX to location scouting. Second, it is publicly arguing that AI is a tool meant to assist, not replace, human judgment.
The central conflict is this: companies are promoting AI tools throughout the production process, while the co-Director of the conference has publicly stated his opposition to the notion that AI can supplant human imagination.
Twelve minutes per company is all they get to lay out how AI is remaking their work processes, with eight firms taking part. Afterward, one person steps forward to argue the case against letting AI take over human storytelling.
It is a strange format.
The Bottom Line
Two hours hold eight case studies from the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster, each company granted twelve minutes. That is a great deal of information to take in fast.
Twelve minutes is a short amount of time, and the organizers have made it their goal to show innovation across the entire audiovisual value chain while at the same time making clear that AI does not mark the end of human creativity. The two aims work against each other, and finding the right balance between them will be the real test.
On Sept. 29, the workshop spans from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m.
The real test is whether the companies can meet the deadline. A dozen minutes is a brief span to walk through a complicated production process. That is a demanding task, and it is precisely the sort of demand that characterizes the present moment in audiovisual production.
The cluster in Madrid is placing its wager on the firms themselves to make it happen.
Source material: “Madrid Audiovisual Cluster Dives Deeper into New Business Models, AI and Emerging Technologies at Iberseries & Platino Industria,” Variety.
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