Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival will host the second edition of its Zinemaldia Startup Challenge this year. Dedicated to entrepreneurs and new or emerging startups proposing novel technologies meant to impact the audiovisual industry, it will be held online Sept. 25 and include presentations from each of the five finalists and a soon to be announced masterclass.
With five finalists, this year’s pitching pool is smaller than the nine it hosted last year, but not for lack of interest. While 32 companies submitted projects for consideration in 2019, this year saw that number jump to 40. Automation is the name of the game this time round, with several of the finalists promising to speed up and remove tedious, labor intensive parts of production and distribution.
Coming from Spain, the U.K., Norway and Germany, the five finalists will compete for a $12,000 cash prize and free access for a year to an incubation space within the Basque Country Technology Park Network with possible access to development financing of nearly $600,000.
From the U.K., PromoMii uses artificial intelligence to mitigate time spent on activities involved in video editing such as logging, transcribing and analyzing, by automating those processes. Also from the U.K., FilmChain uses blockchain software to support creators, financiers, sales agents and distributors by automating money flow through the value chain and improving rights tracking. The service can collect, distribute and analyze revenues for content from all corners of the audiovisual industry.
Norway’s Compliance Management Solution for the Film and TV Industry is a web-based platform through which video editors can upload their footage to be automatically checked against regulations, while also automating certain steps in the process. Meanwhile, Germany’s La Quinta Pared (The Fifth Wall) allows audiences to control the actions of their content’s protagonist using their mobile devices.
A digital marketing platform, Cinesmart is this year’s lone Spanish finalist. The software uses advergaming — interactive, ad-fueled entertainment downloaded directly to personal devices — to collect big data for exhibitors and events.
This year’s section is once again presented with support from the Basque government through its Department of Economic Development and Infrastructure, and the Creative Europe Media program through the European Film Forum.