Ten new feature film projects with majority Spanish production at the development stage will be presented at an innovative new investment conference bringing together international investors, producers, agents and executives with Spanish producers, to take place in the framework of the San Sebastian Festival on September 19 and 20. (See below for full list of projects). It is part of 'Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech', one of the axes of 'Spanish Screenings XXL: an international market for Spanish audiovisual production’

The new Creative Investors’ Conference, organised in collaboration with CAA Media Finance, will welcome dozens of top international experts including Bobby Allen, VP of Content for MUBI; Karin Chien, partner and Executive Vice President of Louverture Films;  Rose Garnett, Head of Film, and Piers Wenger, Head of TV, of A24 Europe; Kiska Higgs, Focus Features President of Production and Acquisitions; David Flynn, Head of Global Drama at WIIP; Trevor Groth, 30West Executive Vice President; Phil Hunt, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Head Gear Films; Vincent Maraval, Wild Bunch International Co-Founder and Co-Head; Teresa Moneo, Director, International Original Film at Netflix; Susan Newman Baudais, Executive Director of Eurimages; Dawn Olmstead, CEO of Anonymous Content; Danny Perkins, Founder of Elysian Film Group; Tom Quinn, Neon CEO; Vania Schlogel, Atwater Capital Managing Partner; John Sloss, co-founder and principal of Cinetic Media; Christine Vachon, co-founder and producer, Killer Films; Patrick Wachsberger, Picture Perfect Entertainment Chairman; Diana Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Kinetic Energy Entertainment; Rob Williams. Vice President Distribution & Acquisitions at Participant Media, and producers including Carlo Cresto-Dina, Mike Goodridge and Gabrielle Tana.

CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland, Benjamin Kramer and Sarah Schweitzman will attend the conference and also moderate sessions, alongside conference co-curator and San Sebastian Festival consultant Wendy Mitchell.

The conference – which will be open only to San Sebastian’s industry badgeholders -- will include keynote talks, in-depth case studies of top Spanish productions; panel discussions about current trends in the industry such as financing and co-production trends; technology innovations for storytellers; and opportunities created by the rise of the platforms. A private event will invite students from leading Spanish film schools to meet the influential representatives of the international industry.

The 10 features being pitched – all Spanish productions or co-productions, are helmed by top directors including Swel Noury Cazorla (Azahar Baby, Two Flavours Productions); Baltasar Kormákur (Baleazaleak / Whalemen, At the Ends of the Earth, Euskadi Movie AIE); Asier Altuna (Karmele, Txintxua Films); Lluís Danés (La Monstrua / Monsters, Castelao Pictures); Pablo Hernando Esquisabel (Una ballena / A Whale, Señor y Señora) and Gerardo Herrero (Raqa / Raqqa, Tornasol Films) are the directors fronting the projects.

Joining these fictional projects are the animated feature films Evolution (The Thinklab Media), by Julio Soto Gurpide; El secreto de los Reyes Magos / The Secret of the Magi (Arcadia Motion Pictures), by Javier Dampierre and Nacho Sánchez, and Rock Bottom (Alba Sotorra, s.l.) by María Trenor. The latter two will be second films, while the fiction Oh Nora (Ikiru Films), by the actress and screenwriter Aina Clotet, will be her first film.

The earlier works of most of these filmmakers have enjoyed widespread international presence: Asier Altuna has been selected for different sections of the San Sebastian Festival; Gerardo Herrero has participated as a director at the Berlin and San Sebastian festivals, amongst many others, and also won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 as a producer with El secreto de sus ojos / The Secret in Their Eyes (Official Selection, 2008); Baltasar Kormákur works in his native Iceland as well as globally and with major US studios, and has participated twice in the San Sebastian Festival’s Official Selection; and Swel Noury has presented his previous two features in the Panorama section of Berlin Festival, as did María Trenor, who won the Teddy Award for Best Short Film at the Berlinale with ¿Con qué la lavaré?