She was the favorite of the nominations and her name is the one that came out of the ‘envelope’. Malaga will host the 34th edition of the Goya Awards after the meeting this morning of the board of directors of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, in which the main point on the table was to choose the venue for the next Spanish cinema awards. Finally, the entity, whose executive body is chaired by the filmmaker Mariano Barroso and made up of 31 professionals from the audiovisual industry, has just confirmed that it has given the green light to holding the gala at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace on next month of January.
Gathered from 10:30 a.m., the members of the Film Academy had on the table a contract of two million euros (plus VAT) to finance the ceremony, which has finally tipped the balance for Malaga, which will have to face the adaptation of the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace to host the ceremony. The film entity and the City Council will present the terms of the agreement tomorrow afternoon in Malaga.
The main financial contribution of the next gala will correspond to the Malaga City Council, which has led the negotiation with the entity that awards the Goya and which has been especially intense in the last two weeks. Last Wednesday, the Local Government Board met on an extraordinary basis to approve a modification of credits from the 2018 budget – extended in the current year of 2019 – to allocate 1,391,500 euros (with VAT) to cover the expenses of the selection of Malaga as the venue for the Spanish film awards, a decision that was adopted today.
The breakdown of the municipal investment is divided between 605,000 euros as a fee to the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, while 786,500 euros will be allocated to the expenses generated by the adaptation of the Martín Carpena as an auditorium, technical elements and cocktail, services, communication and travel of the guests, among others.
The City Council will provide 57% of the financing of the awards ceremony, although the local administration is not alone in this adventure since, from the first moment, it received the support of the Andalusian Government (which already collaborated in the last edition held in Seville) and the Provincial Council. Furthermore, the Goya gala in Malaga already has its first private sponsor, the Unicaja entity, which together with other collaborators and public institutions will cover the total bill of 2.4 million that the gala will cost with VAT included. According to a report from the Seville City Council, the last Academy Awards ceremony generated an impact of five million euros.
More budget
Compared to the previous edition held in Seville (with an investment of 1.75 million plus VAT), the organization in the capital of the Costa del Sol will have a higher cost, since, according to a report from the director of the Malaga Festival Cinema in Spanish, Juan Antonio Vigar, who has led the negotiation with the Academy, the television production that El Terrat will once again be in charge of (with Andreu Buenafuente and Silva Abril as presenters) demands for 2020 “better musical numbers”, at the same time that the audience success of the last gala (26.2% screen share) requires “greater technical and human requirements” on the part of TVE. To the cost must be added the transfer and accommodation in Malaga of some 1,500 academics, in addition to the construction of a stage and the adaptation of the sports palace for the gala.
To explain the terms of the agreement, the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, and the vice president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, Rafael Portela, will appear tomorrow, Tuesday, in Malaga. A presentation in which they will be accompanied by representatives of the main sponsors, such as the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Junta de Andalucía, Patricia del Pozo; the president of the Malaga Provincial Council, Francisco Salado; and the president of Unicaja Banco, Manuel Azuaga.