Los especiales de GPS Audiovisual - Productores Audiovisuales - T2 - E59 - Antonio Pita (Prisma Cine)

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Audiovisual producers, meetings with the protagonists? Second season of podcast, in what
audiovisual? The changes of the industry, the new platforms, the challenges that
come from audiovisual producers, encounters withthe protagonists? Antonio, what it meant

(00:30):
for you to create a producer inthe early 1990s and in a province that
was out of focus of production.All right, here we go. To
me the truth was like a naturalevolution. When I studied, I studied

(00:53):
cinema at the National University of Cordoba. When I got to when we finished
third year, it was a fourthyear technique for the bachelor' s degree.
I didn' t have the teachingcurriculum yet. Let' s just
say he had one class, whichwas animation. And the truth is I
' m talking about a thousand ninehundred ninety or so few computers the animation

(01:22):
still made top motion guys trimming littlepapers and when I saw what that was
I said man, it' sa time to get to work. Then
I started to do little jobs,to be practical for my classmates in college,
for other courses that went further back. Then it was like an evolution

(01:47):
to join a producer who was aprism of a colleague, a colleague of
the National University who would just havea big producer in Cordoba. I don
' t think Lucas or It cameup with another alternative but if we make
a producer, that is, it' s the next step. Although I

(02:07):
wasn' t a prism partner inthe beginning, he associates me more late.
He was a very close friend.I' m still very close to
Lucas pawn the founder and it wasnatural. It' s good, okay,
now, there' s no moreto study. Now let us work
on why we should say that thereis no vocation as a producer. No,

(02:31):
why do you joke that way aboutthe role of producer. Well,
it was something, it was anevolution. It' s the same evolution.
I was an editor, i eoriginally, I was an editor and
I was an editor until the yeartwo thousand two. Until January of the

(02:52):
two thousand and two beautiful moment todecide to change the rumblar in which the
founder of prism, Lucas, hadgone with the patriada of making an office
in the United States. And,obviously, management has to be, it

(03:15):
has to be local. So,when it was said very innocently man,
who can grab it, I saidthere you were and nothing. As I
was always an editor, the clientsknew me. We always did a lot
of advertising, advertising production, sothe customers knew me. He was already

(03:37):
friends with them. It was likevery natural I mean, well. Okay,
now, you' re managing andas a manager, you have to
be a producer. Obviously, noneof this is in my head, not
for me it was I' mstill an editor and now I' m
running a company, because I'm going to do it very well.
Until the day he opened the exelI said aha this like that and then

(04:00):
you start to grab the little taste. It' s something new. It
' s good, you' reno longer locked up editing all day and
all your life, all the daysof your life, but you' re
nothing putting together something a little biggerthan yourself. Yes, now, well,
this task as an advertising producer,as an advertising filmmaker, was the

(04:28):
instance prior to the feature films,I knew it was going to be part
of your evolution. Let' ssee, I think that in the beginning
yes, that is always to uswe would come and study cinema then no
matter how much advertising it is,because today it is quite different, It
has been for a long time avery comfortable place, to which, obviously,

(04:50):
we are not super grateful, becauseit gave us a very important teaching
and gymnastics, besides putting food onour table and on that of all the
people who work with us. Butit was always like something that was ever
going to happen. And I alwayscount on the two thousand eight a credit

(05:12):
card hired us to make short films. They were very fashionable in those short
films Tony Scott made, it's Iñarritu, etcetera, which were short
films advertising. Imitating that, thiscard hires us to make four shorts with
actors and actresses, with Pablo Echarri, with Fabio Posca, Luis Luz,

(05:36):
that is, we had in thecase And the truth that there it is
that we dropped all the record ofche, but we studied cinema does not
look how nice this clear and good. That' s where we start with
a little more effort and impetuous tosay, okay, everything we' ve
learned by doing this, let's turn it to making movies, to

(05:59):
making movies. Let us learn todo so because the truth is two quite
different worlds. The immediacy of advertisingagainst patience and the timing of a feature
film are very different and, obviously, without wanting to underestimate advertising. The
feeling of stepping on a set ofa feature film is very different than the

(06:27):
feeling of stepping on a being ofa petial you pizás, that is,
of advertising. If you look howcute this is here, maybe it'
ll be done. It' sa feature film and it' s a
pride that' s very difficult towrite for someone, it' s very
hard to understand for someone who's not a producer of a movie,
that is, it' s sucha big machine. It' s such

(06:48):
an effort that it takes you toget to the first day of filming that,
when you see it, you understandwhy you studied film. Of course
you can' t believe it.Not getting that way exactly is something really
very magical that is worth it.All the effort you wanted to get there

(07:08):
and everyone who' s missing nowwhat a producer should have for you.
You ask me at the level ofa producer company or a producer house.
The producing house home produces today notmuch, that is, being ordered today
is really if one gets very cold, no, that is if one is

(07:32):
very cold, everything is a matterof being ordered, of being ordered afterwards.
Yeah, well, if you don' t want to go to the
movies, but more to the movies, it' s very difficult. But
that is no longer a requirement fora production house. That' s a

(07:54):
requirement to devote yourself to the cinemawhat you think later, if you want
to dedicate yourself to it. Thisand that you' re putting up a
production house, well it' sbeing ordered basically and open. Yeah,
it' s very much like anycompany, or a messy company, it

(08:16):
doesn' t work, a companythat isn' t able to empathize with
your society, you don' tget to anything. So I think that
if you' re ordered in yournumbers, in your accounts, in your
projects, it' s like verybroad, what it takes to then keep

(08:41):
you alive, to keep a productionhouse alive. But I think by taking
things more or less neatly and havingan ambition and a love of cinema that
makes you look for better projects,interacting with more people. In our case,

(09:03):
we always had the luck of ourselves, we were lucky enough to be
born doing co- productions at thecinematic level. The first thing we did,
which wasn' t advertising content,was a series we did in co
- production. Then we were borndoing co- productions and we were born

(09:26):
wanting to have friends and friends.So it' s like our natural state
these terp productions. Yeah, well, it' s a stamp, I
' d say, not a prism, it' s already a feature.
Practically now what is the most challengingaspect of a producer' s work and,
at the same time, the mostrewarding. Well, different things.

(09:50):
They' re not two different things. No. I think some go hand
in hand depends on how you seeit. I believe that today, the
most challenging thing is not to losethe courage to carry out a project.

(10:13):
Today, that is as multiplied bythe situation we all know. I believe
that at all times, the mostconscious is that it is not to lose
interest in a project and not tolet go of hand to a project that,
in turn, is also the mostrewarding when that project finally of light.

(10:33):
There are projects that are more difficult, they take much longer, they
take many years of development, theyget the funds, funding, etcetera.
There are projects that happen faster,but I think I' m challenging it
by telling you very much if youwant to on a conceptual level, because

(10:54):
one could tell you what deafi anteis to get the funds, get the
partners. But I think that allthat ends up being contained by this concept
of not letting go of his handif you, that is, is to
choose a project well. Many timesyou make the mistake of saying yes to

(11:15):
a thousand projects because you liked theperson who brought it to you, because
you saw a potential but you arenot really able to follow that project.
So I think the most challenging thingis to choose projects well. Being very
responsible for the projects you choose andthen not letting go of your good hand

(11:35):
and that, by the way,you' re commenting. So what profile
or, what genre of film youprivilege the truth that we really like to
produce. Then I' d tellyou that nowadays, any movie we see

(11:56):
that we can responsibly accompany, we' re super open. We' ve
made dramas, we' ve madecomedies, we' ve made thrillers,
we' re developing one of terror, for example. It' s a
genre I like a lot and wehaven' t done anything about it.

(12:18):
We' re still with two genderprojects out there trying to pull them off.
But I really think any project iscute, because we like to produce.
We receive anyone we have a Dratmarckof ok prism makes genre or prisms
and comedies. Possibly it was amistake, but for now remember that we

(12:41):
spent so much time advertising that whenwe opened up to the movies it was
ok I want more, I want, I want another. Then nothing gives
us the same thing as long asthe projects are good or at least in
our subjective point of view and wesee a chance to carry them out well.

(13:05):
I was just going to ask youwhat that intuition has. It'
s smell. It is risk tochoose this project and try not to evoke
in the mistake one is always wrong. That' s from the human being.

(13:30):
I think there' s a littleintuition, a little bit of paper
- based stuff. There are noprojects that come to you and say look.
This is a project that is almostfully funded. We need a producer
who' ll give you the lastlittle poof. There are all these partners,
who are very big partners, thenready. This is, as it

(13:50):
is said in English, a logbrainer. I mean, this is yes
or yes. We' re alreadyin because what they need is a production
muscle inside or a last partner thatgets them the last fund and we get
it out. Such projects are notmuch to think about and are usually projects
that already come very, very,very well developed, very strong. The

(14:16):
ones that one grasps from the beginningand good there is intuition desire that so
much one empathized with the person whocame to propose it this one that does
it to him because in the caseof human resources, to say I have
a co production. I met myco- producer, I met San Sebastián

(14:37):
and it was like love at firstsight, that is, we liked each
other at the beginning. He toldme the movie. I said,"
Look" The truth is that sixtypercent of the film happens in Interiors.
You never thought about being in Argentinaand it was like something that if there
hadn' t been the pandemic ina year and a half, we were

(15:01):
rolling. At least in a yearor a year and a half we were
rolling it then a little bit ofeverything. I mean, there' s
a lot of falling in love withthe story, with the person who comes
to tell you that story. Butthere' s also a lot of hard
data I was telling you about.There are movies coming say look. The
film is funded. I need someoneto organize it that doesn' t tell

(15:26):
you a production service, but Ido need to give you the last straw.
You saw him do me, getme the last ten percent of funds
he needs and then arrange the shootand give it back to me. It
returns the filming involved. The bowis obviously clever human. That' s
what we' re going forward.Perhaps the simplest in quotation marks is perhaps

(15:50):
the simplest. Let' s sayit takes a yes away from you is
perhaps the simplest thing, that is, it eliminates everything ends a lot of
time terra, a lot of developmenttime, because they already had their own
development time before reaching you, butthey are just as cute as the others.
You want them the same way.Now, as you were commenting a

(16:15):
moment ago, a feature of premiumcinemas, co- production not with products
like human resources or Basque, howyou work to expand markets. Well,
there' s not much science there. We go to markets you go to

(16:37):
markets, or we were lucky enoughfor many years to attend markets. We
started going to markets, which I' d say since the two thousand and
fourteen that we started going more toTV markets. Then we started going to
the movie market. There we sawthat that was more of what we felt.

(17:02):
I felt much more comfortable. Goingto San Sebastian, for example.
Well, well, I could tellyou going range, but come on.
San Sebastian is a very nice market. They are small markets where they are

(17:22):
not mipcom for example, my entirefences are gigantic. There' s 20
zero people out there going around.It' s all hysterical. On the
other hand, San Sebastián or theAmerican Fel Markets are film markets, in
the two cinemas they are Malaga,they are smaller markets where producers and directors
or directors go with their project wantingto seek partners. Then it' s

(17:45):
much easier when you move in aplace where everyone wants what you want.
Everyone wants to find a partner orpartner that is the difference they have with
the giant markets where everyone is goingto knock the door to the platforms.
So there' s a line inthree kilometers of people knocking on the platform

(18:07):
door, there' s the filmplatforms, but there' s also what
we' re particularly interested in alot of people looking for partners. Then
nothing. I asked for meetings,you get them, and there are always
two three four people with whom,as in any relationship let' s call

(18:33):
it catch- up, you feelgood, empathize, you like those who
like your project or have projects thatyou like. And from there you start
an exchange, which, well,in some cases, as was the case
with the Basque human resources, areconcrete and in other cases, because not

(18:57):
so much there to enter into conversationin talks exactly, but basically the strategy
is that and then, well,you already start, that is, then
things open up and it is nolonger just the markets, that is,
once you already co- produced,I don' t know once we already

(19:18):
co- produced the Basque. Well, you' re starting to have friends
in Spain. Then we made anotherco- production with Spain, which is
the blue star that still premieres usin Argentina. But it was already released
in Spain, which went very well. And that one didn' t come
out of the market, it cameout that the co- producers already knew

(19:41):
us. So they say man,I have a production that is going to
be made inside, I don't agree, but santeo the estuary interests
you, it' s like youhave a brand and they start to know
you and then the relationships go onmany sides. Now why they point to

(20:02):
the co- productions and I wouldtell you why not, that is for
us really is the only way,that is, maybe because we were born
very small in Cordoba, in aplace that is not good Aires, which
does not mean that it is bad, not at all or is beautiful.

(20:22):
It has many advantages, just thatyou' re not in it is not
all the reach of the hand,not that it all takes a little more
effort at the level of getting funds, at the level of i e going
to link is nothing. That's seven hundred kilometers to get this one.
So for us it' s reallythe only way, that' s

(20:47):
with you we were born with thatwith a friend who told us that there
' s a series contest in theInca. I have a no. You
want us to do it together.Oh, let' s do it and
I don' t think we shouldhave done it. Some are the documentary
series our five production. Everything else, both series and feature films, were

(21:10):
always co- produced by someone.Actually, it is so good for me
to make a co- production thatI can imagine no other way now co
- productions, because generally you thinkand especially people who are not in the

(21:30):
business of film production, it isgenerally thought that co- production is exclusively
for the purpose of producing a content, but there are other possibilities, such
as other exhibition markets, of circulatingthose contents by having external partners. It

(21:56):
is that it opens the life signatureof production due. For me it is
the only possible way to make acontent. It' s the richest form,
is it? Markets are opening up, that is, it is not
just with partners who provide funds.The important thing is to get partners who

(22:18):
bring ideas that will improve my content, that they will say, that they
will challenge what is already there.This and in addition, they will get
markets and get funds from this andmake life much easier. This was worth
it for when Argentina was more powerfulat the level of funds and production.

(22:40):
Today is worth a lot more thanever. Of course, 100% is
worth today, of course it's not worth exactly 100%. Today
Argentina, hopefully, can aspire toa minority co- production. This and
that, adding the inca plus regionalfunds, more own risk, etcetera.

(23:02):
A reproduction is more fundamental than ever. But I repeat to you, for
me, beyond something that is important, of course, that it is the
funds and markets to which the filmopens. There is a question that really
enriches history. I mean, it' s like saying, why, why
live in couples. You can livealone or alone, and well, because

(23:26):
it' s much nicer to liveas a couple. Of course, now,
the future of cinema is to generateplatform- specific products, keep betting
on theaters, both. I thinkboth, I mean, there' s

(23:48):
and back. The world is sobig. There are countries and countries,
there are countries where the rooms arestill a big business. Mexico has a
fleet in halls much larger than Argentina, beyond the fact that, naturally,
there are more people in Mexico thanin Argentina. It' s obvious,
but at the percentage level. Mexico, for example, is a country where

(24:11):
theater is important. I think thereare countries where the rooms are very important.
No way, India, the Philippines, etcetera. The Asian countries in
rooms are very important, and thereare countries where you already know that you
go more to the platform. Andwithin what is the platforms, I think

(24:33):
all the contents are valid. Imean, that' s a little what
we said before. The beautiful thingis to produce, to tell a story.
Then one may like one type ofstory more and another may like another
type of story more. I thinkit' s a combination. I think
it would be a mistake for humanityto say just keep what the algorithm says

(24:57):
you have to count as it wouldalso be a mistake the other extreme say
I' m not going to listento what you' re asking for algorithm.
You have to balance a little bit, but I think in the future,
probably that is, I, Isee the halls many years of life.

(25:18):
It' s still like I tellyou, in many countries, going
to the movies is still a departure, Friday night' s departure Saturday night.
Then one may or may not likethat exit to become more and more
chairs, which are made almost bedsand which have other beers on their feet.

(25:41):
But, well, that' sthe evolution of the halls. When
one was small, the halls weregigantic and you passed two films or three
in continuous a plan to go atnoon and go out in the wonderful night,
so you saw on screen today theplan is much more passer- by

(26:06):
if you want, but it isstill a way out. Che Let'
s go to the movies, it' s still an outing of friends,
couple, etcetera. And I don' t see that that' s going
to change in the future. Close. Well, I hope so. I
wish, I wish, I hopeat least I don' t know about

(26:32):
ten more years of living rooms.Only I know it carries the light on
what we' re going to evolveeverything on the same platform permanently. At
this very moment, platforms are alsolooking for a way forward. Not sure.
What happens is that, that is, if we see it in cinemas

(26:55):
after so many years, we arestill not interrupted by the film in order
to be able to advertise on platformsthere are already systems where you are interrupted
by the film to get into advertising. Then the platform is getting more and
more on TV Yes, unless youpay the premium, etcetera, etcetera.
Where good will look more and morelike cinema. But it seems to me

(27:17):
that there came a time when technologywas very close to you, that is,
technology tended that you didn' thave to go to the experience of
the room, because you could havean 80- inch television in a very
good sound system and that ended upsaying good for what I go to the
cinema. If I have it inmy house. And yet, look at

(27:41):
the thing that today, many yearsafter those technological leaps began, we'
re clear again, because it's at your house. It' s
going to continue to be a TVand see that yes, the same platforms
are already starting to interrupt the filmto put advertising on you. Yes,

(28:03):
monetization doesn' t exactly give youwhat tools you find today, in two
thousand twenty- four to produce cinemain Argentina. Well, that' s
a question with an uncertain answer.Today, just today, it is a

(28:23):
question with uncertain answers. The nextday, what happens is that well,
within the context. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the
day after a new organizational chart isannounced at the Institute, the same day
where the promotion management was passed,availability is a little hard to see is

(28:47):
going to remain the same regardless it' s going to be the same thing?
They simply change the media, thatis, one to make a film
here, in Spain, in Mexicoor in the United States. The film
nurtures a lot of wills, bothpublic and private, to make reality.

(29:12):
So I think what tools we havein Argentina at the national level. It
' s about to be seen,because there' s all these changes that
are happening in high school so far. In principle, at the time it
would remain, but no one knowsexactly how, what it consists of,

(29:34):
what it would consist of as itwould be. There are clues you might
like more or less. And ontop of that, what is very positive
about seeing the glass half full isthat very powerful regional funds have started to
emerge in the provinces. You thinkthat, for example, Jujuy has open

(29:59):
today is a cashui date that givesyou more money than the Inca. When
you think about it, it's very absurd. Last year Mendoza and
they are one but two calls whereI gave you more money than incar.
The municipality of Córdoba, the province, the city of Córdoba healed a very

(30:23):
powerful cashui date that was also inthe same parameters in Salta. I think
he' s about to get somethingout, too. Santa Fe is working
on something. Cordoba. Surely thisyear he will be provincialized by last year
' s municipal experience. So yousee the emergence of states that understand the

(30:52):
importance of the audiovisual industry, theimpact of the audiovisual industry on economies and
decide to help the promotion without inventinggunpowder by copying systems that work around the
world, as is the case withBates, that is, that is proven
to work, so that' slike something you say looks at right at

(31:15):
the moment when the Institute started flakingto demate it in some way that isn
' t from today. Nor wouldit be very hypocritical and very lying to
say that today, that is,this takes a while, but these funds
began to appear. So, iftomorrow' s day is more or less

(31:37):
balanced and we have to see whatUruguay is like, for example, as
it is in Spain, where youhave it. The example of Spain is
quite good. You have national funds. You have national funds through public television,
you have regional funds, you havea system of tax credit that works,

(32:01):
that suits companies that bet on cinema. I think it' s a
pretty virtuous system and if we managedto get the thing going. I'
m not telling you exactly with anibdito tax like a shuit, because I
think that' s a discussion thatneeds to be given, but maybe this

(32:21):
isn' t exactly the space andthe moment. But I believe that if
we fail to lead to a mixof regional funds plus a national state that
also supports like almost every country inthe world, we will have a way
out. Today, honestly, it' s hard. Today my answer would

(32:45):
be Julia. It' s verydifficult. How I think you can arm
a production or production more than everby accepting that Argentina is going to be
a minority and mixing whatever regional fundsare, with national funds through the Institute

(33:07):
and with risk funds that you canprovide from the same producer or investors.
So it' s also something thatin Argentina we' re not used to,
that is if in other countries it' s true where everything works there

(33:29):
are so much more cultures, tosay che mira. I' ve got
a 20 percent Gap. Well let' s go with private investors for that
twenty percent gap. Now that's easy when you have a market or
an industry where the other eighty percentis. The pieces are within reach.

(33:52):
When I party in scope of thisa puzzle formed by platforms, by regional
stimuli, by national stimuli and byothers your producers, then I believe that
today, more than ever, toproduce Argentina you have to start looking for
many co- producers, that is, you have to start thinking I no

(34:15):
longer have a single co- producer, but in or with how many countries
I can co- produce this film. This is good to expect the national
state to understand that the audiovisual industryis a powerful industry that deserves to be
encouraged. Sure, it generates value. Besides, I create other places.

(34:42):
Of course, it generates not onlycultural identity, but also an extremely important
economic value. Yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, well,
it' s worth it being amovie in Argentina. Of course not,
I mean, it' s hard. Today we are going through a very
difficult stage. I would answer bytelling you what else we can do,

(35:12):
that is, when when you choseyour profession, what else can you do?
I chose to study film. I' m not that nobody forced me
to my parents or my context orsomeone forced me to study film. You
saw as I said, not well, I had to be a doctor,
because my dad was a doctor,my grandfather was a doctor and in the

(35:32):
family we are all doctors or soldiers. As far as I know, I
chose to study film, so whatelse could it be. That' s
what I know how to do,that' s what I like to do,
and honestly, that' s whatI believe in, that' s

(35:55):
always when I edited advertising, whenwe only did advertising, I keep eritating
advertising, and, I repeat,God is super grateful. I really like
to avoid editing advertising. When Iwas only an editor I always said that
I worked sometimes twenty days, twentyhours or twenty hours a day, seven
days a week to have that momentwhen with a commercial, when I finished

(36:23):
drinking it, a tear came out. That in a movie is multiplied by
a million times. That' swhat I was telling you. You pick
the first day and you say,that is, this is what I live
for and when the shooting ends thesame and when you see the first cut,

(36:46):
the same and when you see iton the screen it' s all
worth it. You go to asmall screen of a town or a screen
of San Sebastián or Canne, andyou say, no matter what happened,
this is worth it. What elsecan we do and why would we give

(37:12):
up that feeling? No yes,exactly Antonio pita. Thank you so much
for sharing your experiences with us.Not thank you very much, Julia.
See you later.