How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In times of crisis or instability, it is often thought that a more conservative and reactive approach is necessary. However, I believe that we must make a virtue out of necessity. These are precisely the moments when innovation and disruption can be used to offer radical solutions that will position your company as a reference point in the industry. From a legal and business standpoint (for me they are synonyms), we must pursue innovation and more assertive strategies when the market contracts. This allows us to capitalise on opportunities left by competitors who have not been able to navigate these challenging circumstances.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?

In the field of audiovisual content production through Secuoya Studios, we have had the opportunity to expand our international content production activities, particularly in the USA and Latam. Our portfolio includes titles such as “Zorro”, “Montecristo”, “Los 39”, and others.

Additionally, Secuoya Studios has produced a number of fiction series filmed in Spain, including “Terra Alta”, and a number of feature films, including “Cuanto me queda”, “Héroes de barrio”, “Todos lo hacen”, “Hasta que la boda nos separe”, “Invasión” and “Mamá o papá”. Regarding this matter, the legal and business affairs department is responsible for the project from start to finish, providing legal and business expertise from the earliest stages of the project through to completion. This represents a novel approach within the context of in-house legal departments.

On the other hand, the Madrid Content City project has been fully developed and is now a consolidated entity. It includes platforms such as Netflix, where titles such as La Casa de Papel, Élite, and La Sociedad de la Nieve have been filmed in its twelve sets, along with other post-production and content editing facilities. In addition, I have overseen the shareholding and financial structuring operations for the business group, as well as the financial structures required to fund audiovisual projects. This has involved participating in complex tax lease structures and extra-community financing. These types of operations are pioneering in the audiovisual sector, positioning us at the forefront of our industry in terms of financial and corporate structures. In addition, I have overseen the exit of the private equity fund Alantra from Secuoya Content Group ‘s share capital. This involved a complex repurchase operation by the current partners, with the financial structure consisting of the issuance of bonds in the UK market. All aspects were supervised by the CNMV, as Secuoya is a listed company.

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?

In my view, a General Counsel should not only be involved in ESG policymaking, but should also be responsible for providing specific, high-level resources to this business area. I would like to emphasise the concept of the “business area” because I believe that ESG policies should not only focus on their pure impact, but that it also must be understood within the organisation that these policies have an important return in terms of business, financial and access to credit.

I have had the opportunity to lead, together with the Secuoya Studios team through the Secuoya Foundation, the positioning of the Group at the vanguard of the ecological transition by promoting its Protocol for Sustainable Shooting (PSS), a guide documented in our “Green Book”, available to the entire industry with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint of audiovisual production. It is a tool for producers and technical teams that facilitates the implementation of sustainable practices and the allocation of green budgets. Based on international frameworks such as Green Production Guide, Greenfilm and Albert, the protocol uses a scoring system to evaluate the compliance of each production and grant a label that certifies its environmental commitment. These practices have reduced the carbon footprint of our productions by 30% and have had a positive impact on local economies, proving to be a reference in the transition to a more sustainable and environmentally committed future.