How nurturing rising talent has helped Tono Folguera to become one of Spain’s leading producers

Spanish producer Tono Folguera, the founder of Barcelona-based twin companies Lastor Media and Vilaüt Films, is a champion of new talent. He has played a key part in the careers of a new generation of Catalan filmmakers including Carlos Marqués-Marcet from his debut 10,000km to the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Platform winner They Will Be Dust, and Carla Simón, co-producing her 2022 Berlinale Golden Bear winner Alcarràs.

Folguera is the recipient of this year’s Screen International Catalan Producer of the Year Award, which will be presented at the opening night of the BCN Film Fest in Barcelona today (April 24).

Lastor Media and Vilaüt Films, which Folguera runs with business partner Ariadna Dot, makes one to three features a year. Vilaüt Films focuses on more mainstream projects while Lastor Media nurtures new talent and international co-productions.

Among the companies’ festival successes are Clara Roquet’s 2021 Cannes Critics’ Week entry Libertad,  Elena Martín’s 2023 Directors’ Fortnight Europa Cinemas Best European Film Prize winner Creatura, and Mounia Akl’s debut Costa Brava, Lebanon which screened at the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra in 2021.

Folguera also backed Mikel Gurrea’s first feature Cork, which premiered in competition at San Sebastian in 2022, and is will produce his second, Sants, this year. 

The producer began his career in documentary filmmaking and is now shepherding through post-production Forastera directed by first-timer Lucía Aleñar, the action mountain-rescue film Balandrau, directed by Fernando Trullols, the companies’ first TV drama series 33 Days directed by Anaïs Pareto for Atresplayer, and the documentary Jaleos directed by Isaki Lacuesta. 

The BCN Film Fest (April 24- May 2) includes world premieres of Cuatro Paredes by Ibon Cormenzana and Les Irresponsables by Laura Mañà which closes the festival. The festival is to give an honorary award to Ralph Fiennes and will screen The Return.

What are your priorities as a producer?

Operating as a small company, with just four employees [across the two companies], is a deliberate choice. It allows us to take creative risks. We have been able to work with small budgets, often round the €1m. But times are changing and making films with lower budgets in Spain is now more complicated. There is a lot of work and finding crews is more challenging. The average budget for an indie feature in the country is now up to €1.8m. The films we make now are around €2m but we also tackle more mainstream bigger budget films like we did for Marcel Barrena’s Mediterraneo (2021) or recently with Balandrau, which were both around €4m. 

Is this the impact of the streamer boom on  indie productions?

Streamers certainly mean crews are busier and salaries are increasing. But it’s our job to find a way and we certainly welcome that the industry is getting stronger. One way of coping with that is finding new talent.

You work regularly with the international co-producers. What do you believe you bring as the Spanish partner?

The biggest asset of Lastor Media and Vilaüt Films is our portfolio. Our filmography proves how reliable we are with the financing sources we access in Catalonia and in Spain. We always co-produce. We offer the same things we look for in our partners, clarity and stability in financing and access to public or private funding. We can clearly bring that from Spain.

Four year’s ago funding became available in Spain through both the Catalan and Spanish film bodies for minority co-productions and that has made things easier. It’s much more attractive for international partners to know they can count on us for their projects too. For example, Switzerland’s Alina Film boarded They Will Be Dust and now we are minority co-producers on Alina’s Les Indes, a road movie set in the 17th  century about a painting being moved from Madrid to Versailles.

Catalan cinema is enjoying a strong international presence. How do you believe it can grow further?

We have had a well-established industry in Catalonia for years, with a strong presence on the international circuit. The financial muscle was initially a bit precarious; budgets were small and we had to rely mostly on talent as the driving force. Four years ago, there was a substantial change in the public support for the industry led by the Catalan government, with much more investment. That, combined with a wider support from the Spanish government, has allowed us to be more ambitious from a producing point of view.