San Sebastian is set to play host to the filming of the new Woody Allen movie, produced by THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO with Gravier Productions. Filming is slated to last until August 20th. The film is a rom-com based around an American couple who attend the long-running Film Festival in the Basque city. The city and and the typical places used in the festival are set to be the back-drop for the plot of the film as well as scenes shot in the surrounding coutryside and the city’s beach.

With the provisional title “Rifkin’s festival” (the main character’s surname), the launch of filming was presented at the Kursaal and saw Jaume Roures, founding partner at MEDIAPRO, Woody Allen and the actors Elena Anaya (“Wonder Woman”, “La cordillera”, “La piel que habito”, “Lucía y el sexo”), Wally Shawn (“Radio Days”, “Shadows and fog”, “Manhattan”), Gina Gershon (“Killer Joe”, “Lazos ardientes”, “El Dilema”, “Cara a Cara”) and Sergi López all present (“A perfect day”, “La propera pell”, “El laberinto del fauno”, “Harry, un amigo que os quiere”). The cast also features Louis Garrel (“Mal genio”, “Les chansons d’amour”, “Soñadores” and “Un hombre fiel”, a film he also directed) and Christoph Waltz (“Django unchained”, “Malditos bastardos” -both Oscar-winning films -, “Un dios salvaje” o “Spectre”). 

“I’d like to present my vision of San Sebastian to the world”, highlighted Allen in the press conference and he praised the work of the actors he’s worked with: “I am the product of great actors and actresses with which I’ve worked, and I’m fortunate to the get the credit for their work”.

The film-maker also underlined his desire to continue making films: “I’ve focused on my work and that occupies my mind, it doesn’t matter what has happened with my wife, my kids or in politics.”.“I’ll probably keel over in the middle of shooting a scene”, he added.

This is the fourth THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO project with the prestigious north-American film-maker and script-writer following on from MEDIAPRO’s production of “Midnight in Paris”, “A tall dark stranger” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, films which have won two Oscar®, among other prestigious awards.

This new exhibition which opened its doors on July 11th after more than 7 months of work, is the result of a significant upgrade carried out by MEDIAPRO who was responsible for the design and production of the project.

Over 3,500 m2, the Universe Room offers close to 200 experiences, the majority interactive, where the visitor can not only see how the world works but in addition explore at the same time. The room is divided into 3 different spaces: Kósmos, which explains the laws of the universe; Evolution, which reveals how the very first organisms appeared on our planet and charts their evolution to today and lastly, Fronteras. This last section explores the complexity of the human mind and experiments with some of the new materials created by humans.

The current Universe room is structured around a design by Isern Serra and the set-up of large themes which function as visitor attraction points. An impressive audiovisual display submerges the visitor into an exciting expansion of the universe. In Evolution visitors get to see how a bio-reactor is producing algae which can be eaten. In the Fronteras section a large dome allows visitors to step inside the human brain and compare it to other animals.

In the middle of the room, a 2.5m interactive ball makes visitors reflect on the consequences of human activity on the planet. In that space using maps made by the NOAA and NASA agencies, visitors can see how islands of waste form in the oceans and how temperatures have increased around the world in the last century as well as seeing the chem-trails left by aeroplanes.

MEDIAPRO has worked together with the teams at CosmoCaixa for the last four years as well as leading figures from around the world to create the content, produce the modules, the audiovisual pieces, the multimedia content as well as all the equipment needed to get it up and running. Close to 200 people have worked on the project including scientists, electricians, glaziers, model-makers, illustrators, graphic designers, industrial engineers and typographists.

Since its opening, 15 years ago, CosmoCaixa has become the leading science museum in Spain and one of the best in Euorpe, It has seen 11.7 million visitors and in 2018 it beat its own visitor record with more than a million visitors. In order to respond to new challenges the upgrade of the permanent exhibition room has been undertaken to keep pace with the changes in the modern world.

OneSoccer, the 24/7 digital platform devoted to delivering world-class dedicated Canadian soccer coverage and content, has broadened its portfolio by acquiring the rights in Canada to the Chinese Super League and the Chinese FA Cup tournament through to the end of 2020. OneSoccer has also further broadened its international portfolio with a package of rights in Canada to Mexico’s LigaMX, consistently regarded as one of the best leagues in the Americas and among the top-10 in the world.

OneSoccer will show the top two matches each round, giving fans the chance to follow their favourite teams and a host of international stars, including Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande), Oscar and Hulk (Shanghai SIPG) and Marek Hamsik (Dalian Yifang). Guangzhou Evergrande is the most successful team in the league, with seven CSL titles, two Cups and two AFC Champions Leagues and it is currently in second spot in the league after 15 match-days. The current leader is last year’s champion, Beijing Sinobo Guoan. Rafael Benitez, who became manager of Dalian Yifang last month, will lead the team in its hunt for a first-ever CSL title in eight seasons in the top tier.

OneSoccer will also air live coverage of the Chinese Cup tournament, starting with the quarter-final round on the 23rd and 24th of this month, and progressing to the semi-finals in August and the two-legged final in November and December. Shandong Luneng Taishan, currently fourth in the CSL standings, shares the honours with Beijing Guoan for most Chinese Cup titles at five apiece, but, drawn together at the quarter-final stage, only one will go through for a chance at the 2019 title.

Rights to the LigaMX in Canada

Mexico’s Liga MX will debut on OneSoccer on July 20th, the opening week of the 2019 Apertura tournament, and will continue through the season with two top fixtures each round, covering the home games of league giant Club América, the most successful team in Mexico with a record league 13 and six cup titles, as well as the home games of Cruz Azul, FC Juárez, Necaxa, Pumas UNAM, Tigres UANL and Toluca.

Mexico’s LigaMX has long been a breeding ground of homegrown talent, including the legendary Hugo Sánchez, who honed his skills with Pumas before heading to a brilliant career in Spain’s LaLiga. Watch out for the current crop of local stars, including Antonio Briseño, recently returned from Portugal’s Primeira Liga to sign for Chivas, Mexico’s Gold Cup standout Rodolfo Pizarro (CF Monterrey) and playmaker Giovani Dos Santos, who has made the move from LA Galaxy to Club América. Foreign stars include Argentina international Maximiliano Meza (CF Monterrey) and veteran striker André-Pierre Gignac of France, who became the joint highest-ever goal scorer for Tigres UANL when he scored the winner in the 2019 Clausura title in the playoffs (Liguilla) last May. And of course, Canadian interest will be piqued by Toronto-born Lucas Cavallini, who plays up front for Puebla FC.

MEDIAPRO set up the live coverage channel as well as VoD content for the new home of football in Canada. Its streaming service was launched at the end of April with a wide variety of subscription options. OneSoccer is available through the OneSoccer.ca website and the OneSoccer app, available through Apple Store and Google Play. OneSoccer also has an extensive digital presence on social media. From next month, OneSoccer will boost its weekly grid with additional original content, including daily news programs, mid-week magazine shows, interviews, features and other formats.

GOL’s commitment to women’s football has once again seen huge support from viewers, which over the course of the Women’s World Cup, saw the channel enjoy its best ever June in terms of audience with a 1.2% share.

The most important women’s national team tournament was watched on GOL by an accumulated audience of 12 million viewers with an average of 280,000 spectators per match.

The matches featuring the Spanish team were the most watched of the tournament on GOL, with the game against the USA, with 1,320,000 viewers and a 12.8% share, becoming the most watched broadcast on the channel so far this season with audience peaks of up to 1.8 million viewers.

The debut of the Spanish team saw 859,000 people (8.6%) tuned in, 675,000 viewers (7.47%) watched the game against Germany with the China game, which saw the team qualify for the knock-out stages for the first time in its history, being watched by 714.000 viewers (a 7.83% share).

The final which saw the USA crowned champion was the fifth most watched game of the World Cup on GOL, with 489,000 viewers and a 4.6% share.

GOL was the benchmark tournament channel with more than 150 hours of programming devoted entirely to the event and in particular the progress of the Spanish team. “El Golazo de GOL”, with Manolo Lama and Jesús Gallego, posted their best ever audience figures in June with an average of 150,000 viewers and a 1.5% share.

As part of the special programming, GOL put together a select group of professionals who provided expert analysis for the games at the World Cup. Iván Fanlo, Albert Moreno, and the first two women to provide commentary on a World Cup in Spain, Danae Boronat and Sara Giménez, along with analysis from Natalia Arroyo, the Catalan coach and regular contributor on the channel. Inma Rodríguez was GOL’s special envoy in France, where she brought viewers all the latest tournament and team news, interviews and press conferences.

In addition, ex- internationals and players from the Liga Iberdrola such as Ruth García (Levante UD), Sonia Bermúdez (Levante UD), Ainhoa Tirapu (Athletic Club), Laura Del Río (Madrid CFF), Ana Romero Willy (Real Betis) and coaches such as Gonzalo Arconada (Real Sociedad) and Maria Pry (Levante UD), were part of the commentary team for the matches shown on GOL.

The coverage saw huge support from the viewers and the channel’s commitment to women’s football has proven a big success with record audiences and a tremendous following on GOL’s official social media accounts: #MundialFemeninoEnGol was a Trending Topic in Spain on four occasions over the course of the tournament and World Cup content on the official GOL YouTube channel (youtube.com/goltelevision) clocked up more than 800,000 views.

LaLiga and MEDIAPRO have recently presented some of their new technologies at the RISE event, Asia’s biggest innovation fair, which took place in Hong Kong. Virtual reality, VAR, REPLAY 360 and Mediacoach were just some of the projects showcased at the interactive event.

The end-of-season report on the first year of the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and tools normally not as attractive for the visitors were also very popular this year among Asian fans and media. VAR uses audiovisual technology to help referees avoid clear errors in goal-related incidents, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.

LaLiga and MEDIAPRO, as the official producer of the Competition, together with EVS showed how the Xeebra tool for multi-angle reviews offers LaLiga referees the abuility to make accurate decisions on the field of play with the super-imposing of graphics to help the decision-making process.

Other tools showcased are designed to help improve the performance of teams and players. Mediacoach is the suite of advanced tools and match analysis service developed jointly with MEDIAPRO, which is used by coaching staff to provide in-depth analysis of matches, both before and after the games.

Mediacoach is also used to improve the audiovisual broadcast. This year the technology includes smart detection of the position of the ball. The movement of which is used to know precisely where and in real time where the action is taking place, as well as microphones around the ground being automatically activated to increase the realism of the sound and bringing the action close to the fans. In addition, it also includes for the very first time a set of services and specific solutions for referees.

The MEDIAPRO R+D teams, together with LaLiga, are also experimenting with Virtual Reality (VR). During this edition of the Innovation Showcase LaLiga presented attendees via Samsung Gear match highlights from the 2018-19 season in 3D stereoscopic technology).

Five 360º cameras allow viewers to see from the comfort of their own living room what they would experience in the stadium. Fans arriving, the changing romos, the stadium, player arrivals, walking out onto the pitch, etc. a unique viewer experience.

LaLiga has been a pioneer in the use of Replay360, the replay technology which features 3D recreations of any game play and offering viewers around the world a unique perspective from any possible angle.

“Messi10 Challenge LaLiga – Summer Edition” is a combination of footballing skill and audiovisual resources and the latest cutting-edge technology which sets out to connect fans with the Argentine star via a series of exciting challenges with the idea of being Messi for a day.  “Messi10 Challenge LaLiga” is an experience designed and produced by PopArt Music, a leading entertainment company in Latin America and whose set-up was carried out by Mediapro Exhibitions. Together with LaLiga, Leo Messi is set to inspire a future generation of players.

The show and the interactive experience will make their world premiere on October 10th at the Parc del Fòrum, with a "Summer edition" already making its debut in the F.C. Barcelona Miniestadi.

“Messi10 Challenge LaLiga” is made up of 4 marquees and 6 different experiences set up inside the F.C. Barcelona Miniestadi Stadium. A 9-metre LED video scoreboard, LED curtains, 10 different audiovisual shows with a spectacular light-show provide a backdrop to the Challenge. In addition, an RFID technology system which connects the bracelets worn by the participants, allowing points to be accumulated in each of the activities with the chance of winning exclusive prizes.

“Messi10 Challenge LaLiga” has been designed as a city-stop experience as part of the world tour of “Messi10 by Cirque du Soleil”.