Good Films Studios Spain is making a long-term bet on Alicante’s Ciudad de la Luz, backed by a €19.8 million ($23 million) investment and a plan to produce 20 international feature films over the next 10 years.
Led by producer Miriam Segal, the state-backed company wants to do more than bring individual productions to Spain. Its broader goal is to establish a permanent filmmaking operation in Alicante, develop local crews and filmmakers, and keep more production activity in the region.
Fast Facts
- Company: Good Films Studios Spain (GFSS)
- Investment: €19.8 million, about $23 million
- Planned output: 20 international feature films
- Time frame: 10 years
- State investor: Spanish state fund SETT
- SETT equity stake: 46%
- Private partners: Orogen Media and Milka Films
- Base: Ciudad de la Luz, Alicante
- Current studio occupancy: About 90%
- GFSS first production: People of the Book
- Target production budget: Roughly $17.4 million-$29 million for its commercial independent films
From a film location to a production base
The strategy is already visible at Ciudad de la Luz, where remnants of People of the Book remain inside the complex.
A boat used during the production is still sitting in a workshop after being used to recreate a refugee journey across the Mediterranean. The film shot a sequence at the studio’s large outdoor water tank, including a scene in which the overloaded vessel capsizes.
The production also worked with migrant associations in Alicante to recruit background performers. Some had personal experience with journeys similar to those portrayed in the film, giving the sequence an added emotional weight for the filmmakers.
For Segal, that production represents an early example of what GFSS is trying to build: a company that is rooted in Spain rather than one that simply arrives for a single shoot and leaves.
Why the 10-year plan matters
Ciudad de la Luz has already hosted major international productions, but the region’s film economy has traditionally faced the same problem as many production hubs: large projects arrive, employ local crews for a period and then move elsewhere.
GFSS is attempting to break that cycle by maintaining a pipeline of films.
The company plans to produce 20 international features across a decade, allowing it to rehire crews, build relationships with suppliers and create training opportunities that can continue from one production to the next.
Segal estimates that the operation will need around three years to reach full cruising speed.
The investment comes from Spanish state fund SETT, which holds 46% of GFSS, together with private partner Orogen Media and Segal’s Milka Films.
The structure reflects a wider ambition in Spain’s audiovisual sector: moving beyond attracting foreign productions through locations, infrastructure and tax incentives and toward building companies that can develop, finance and retain ownership of projects from Spain.
A financing advantage for independent films
Segal, who has more than three decades of experience working across the U.K., Los Angeles and Europe, says independent producers face an increasingly difficult problem when trying to assemble casts.
Actors with international commercial value are often committed to studio films and streaming series for long periods, making it harder for independent projects to secure recognizable talent.
GFSS’s committed financing changes that equation.
For the first time in her independent producing career, Segal says she can offer actors pay-or-play deals—contracts that give productions greater certainty that performers will be available and paid according to the agreement.
That can be particularly important when trying to finance independently produced theatrical films.
Segal is targeting the commercial independent market, with budgets broadly ranging from $17.4 million to $29 million. But she says GFSS will not simply spend heavily on famous actors to make projects easier to sell.
Instead, the company wants the cast, budget and commercial prospects to remain proportionate.
Orogen brings the commercial scrutiny
Orogen Media is providing private capital alongside the state investment, but its role goes beyond financing.
The company brings experience in film sales and distribution and is involved in areas including casting and assessing a project’s commercial viability.
Segal describes that contribution as a form of “business scrutiny,” complementing SETT’s longer-term objective of creating a sustainable production company in Spain.
That balance is central to the GFSS model: state-backed capital provides stability, while private-sector expertise is intended to keep individual projects commercially viable.
Building a local film workforce
The company is also treating training as part of its production model rather than as a separate initiative.
GFSS’s development team is largely made up of people under 30, while younger writers are receiving early-career commissions.
On productions, junior workers are hired and paid rather than treated as unpaid interns. They are placed across departments with the expectation that repeated productions will allow them to gain experience and move into more senior positions.
That continuity is important for a region where one major film alone cannot create a sustainable industry.
GFSS says about 85% of the crew on People of the Book was Spanish, and Segal described the team as the best crew she has worked with internationally.
Ciudad de la Luz is already filling up
The strategy is unfolding as Ciudad de la Luz itself experiences a busy period.
The 197.7-acre complex currently has production trucks across the site, while Disney’s live-action Tangled occupies a substantial portion of the facilities.
According to Ciudad de la Luz director Carmen Alfonso, Disney’s production and GFSS together account for roughly 90% of the studio’s current occupancy.
The facility includes six soundstages totaling about 118,400 square feet, nearly 30 acres of backlot space and around 120,600 square feet of workshops and storage.
Its most distinctive feature is a large outdoor water tank measuring approximately 328 by 262 feet, equipped with a natural horizon, wave generators and a 394-foot green screen.
The studios are expected to remain heavily booked through the end of 2026 and into early 2027.
The studio has a long history
Ciudad de la Luz is not starting from scratch.
During its first operating period, from 2005 to 2012, the complex hosted productions including Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro, Asterix at the Olympic Games and J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible.
After reopening in 2022, it became home to productions such as Netflix’s Under Paris, Venom: The Last Dance, Alberto Rodríguez’s Los Tigres and Alejandro Amenábar’s The Captive.
GFSS’s proposition is different because it intends to remain at the site rather than use it only when a particular project requires its facilities.
A bigger post-production ambition
Segal also sees an opportunity to expand the operation beyond shooting.
Final post-production on People of the Book will take place in London for two or three months. In the longer term, she wants more of that work to happen in Alicante.
That could give Ciudad de la Luz a more complete ecosystem for independent filmmakers, reducing the need to move projects elsewhere after principal photography.
For now, however, no specific investment in new post-production facilities at the complex has been approved.
Alfonso said future decisions will be considered as part of the Valencian government’s forthcoming audiovisual strategic plan.
More films are already moving forward
GFSS’s pipeline is beginning to extend beyond People of the Book.
American Paradise, Duchess of Malfi and The Seventh Most Important Thing are moving through early production stages.
Segal has also commissioned another six projects, including a Spanish-language true story set in Madrid and another Spanish story that is intended to be filmed in English.
The company is also building its own international sales operation.
Veteran sales executive Glenn Ackermann has joined as head of sales. Bleiberg Entertainment is handling worldwide sales for People of the Book, while later GFSS productions are expected to be sold directly through the company’s own operation.
The challenge is making the model last
The central test for Good Films Studios Spain will not be whether it can make one successful film at Ciudad de la Luz.
It will be whether the 10-year pipeline can create the repeated production activity needed to support crews, writers, suppliers and other businesses around Alicante.
Mamen Tortosa, GFSS’s head of production, has worked on international projects including The Night House and Dr. Death Season 2. She argues that a single production cannot create a genuine production community; repeated credits are needed for people and companies to develop.
That is why GFSS’s permanent presence could matter beyond its own films.
Alfonso similarly sees the company’s long-term commitment as potentially beneficial to the studio and the surrounding economy. A decade-long production pipeline could provide greater stability, encourage further investment and make the complex more attractive to other filmmakers.
Spain wants more than visiting productions
The larger question behind GFSS is whether Spain can evolve from being a highly attractive filming destination into a place where international independent productions are also developed and owned.
Segal has been explicit that she does not want GFSS to become a service-production company.
Her ambition is to create films from Spain while using local infrastructure and talent to build an industry that remains after individual productions finish.
That means the investment is about more than 20 films.
It is a bet that a steady pipeline, paid training, local crews, private financing and a permanent base can turn Ciudad de la Luz into something more durable than a collection of successful shoots.
For Segal, Alicante is an industry still waiting to be built—and Good Films Studios Spain is betting on being there long enough to build it.
FAQs
What is Good Films Studios Spain?
Good Films Studios Spain is a production company led by producer Miriam Segal and backed by Spanish state fund SETT, Orogen Media and Segal’s Milka Films.
How much is being invested in Good Films Studios Spain?
The company has a €19.8 million investment, worth about $23 million, from SETT and its private partners.
How many films will GFSS produce?
Good Films Studios Spain plans to produce 20 international feature films over 10 years.
Where is Good Films Studios Spain based?
GFSS is based at Ciudad de la Luz, a major film studio complex in Alicante, Spain.
What is the company’s first production?
People of the Book is Good Films Studios Spain’s first production at Ciudad de la Luz.
What makes the GFSS model different?
Instead of operating as a service producer that works on individual projects, GFSS aims to maintain a long-term film pipeline, develop local talent and retain more production activity in Spain.
