Between September 18 and 20, 2023, the first meeting of the Management Committee of the International Confederation of Audiovisual Authors (Comité de Administración de la Confederación Internacional de Autores Audiovisuales)(AVACI) was held in Madrid, Spain, hosted by the renowned Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores)(SGAE).
The event was held in the iconic Palacio Longoria, which hosts one of SGAE´s offices and is considered a historical heritage of the Spanish capital. The representatives appointed during the last AVACI annual Congress in Río de Janeiro, Brazil attended this meeting, where the election of the new authorities took place.
The AVACI Management Committee was made up of authorities from Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, including the President of AVACI, Klemen Dvornik (President of AIPA, screenwriter and film director in Slovenia); the 1st AVACI Vice President, Yoon Jung Lee (Director from South Korea); the 2nd AVACI Vice President, Miguel Ángel Diani (film screenwriter and President of ARGENTORES in Argentina); AVACI General Secretary, Horacio Maldonado (Director and Screenwriter, General Secretary of DAC in Argentina); AVACI Institutional Coordinator, Laza Razanajatovo (Director and screenwriter, President of APASER); Anja Unger (Director and Film Screenwriter in France, member of LA SCAM); the President of AVACI Legal and Technical Committee, Gregor Stibernik (AIPA Executive Director in Slovenia); Dominik Skoczek (Executive Director in ZAPA in Poland and a member of AVACI Legal and Technical Committee); Hervé Rony (SCAM General Director in France) and Doctor Adriana Saldarriaga (Representing DASC in Colombia and a member of AVACI Legal and Technical Committee).
During the AVACI members reception, SGAE President Antonio Onetti stated: “We are proud to welcome colleagues from all the international associations’’. On the other hand, we confirm and express our interest and absolute commitment to work with audiovisual associations from around the world. We are here to collaborate with all of you’’.
SGAE was an excellent host as regards the attention and technical support given during the meeting. There was also real-time translation and online simultaneous interpreting in three languages.
It is important to highlight that AVACI voted in its new bylaws - during the last Congress held in Brazil - that the authorities were made up of both authors and technicians and CEOs from the most important audiovisual collective management associations.
In fact, there are two well-known management systems in these Collective Management Companies: the first one is mostly found in Latin American countries, Korea, India and Africa, where the main authorities are audiovisual authors, screenwriters or directors.
While the other trend is very strong in European societies, where the main management positions, mostly technical, are filled by CEOs or General Managers.
For this reason, the new AVACI bylaws state that both technical positions and authors should share the same debate space to resolve the basic issues faced by audiovisual collective management associations today and to consider which actions need to be taken for the future of the digital environment.
The work environment was good and both General Directors and Authors were able to share these two days of work proposals, budget revisions and the future actions of the confederation.
This work will continue in the upcoming meetings, including the next AVACI General Assembly to be held in May 2024, which venue has not been confirmed yet.
Photos: Luis Camacho