- Talking to… Edurne Domínguez from Dos35.
- What will the opening ceremony for the Madrid Films by Women Festival look like?
- Talking to… Edurne Domínguez from Dos35.
As you must already know, this is a section dedicated to the great female professionals within the association in order to learn more about their professional careers and their different points of view.
Dos35 is one of the latest production companies to become a member of the APCP, and this week we had the pleasure of talking to Edurne Domínguez, the CEO & Production Manager of the company.
During this week’s interview, Edurne told us all about her beginnings in the industry, and how it led to the founding of Dos35 from the very beginning. “We are three partners that met at film school, where each of us studied a different degree (in my case it was Film Directing, and Film and Television Scriptwriting), and after getting our degree we started working together on different personal projects. The culmination was a medium-length film called ‘Norma’, which was shown at various film festivals, both nationally and internationally. When the distribution ended we considered our next professional step, and the result was Dos35”.
In 2015, at the age of 24, they created their own jobs within the sector by building Dos35, allowing her to alternate with the positions of Producer and Head of Production now.
But how did Dos35 come to be? “We didn’t start with big campaigns, of course. The truth is, at the beginning it was a way of subsisting, of being able to earn money doing something you had studied for and that you loved. The desire to move up the ladder came when we started working with digital for some Lee Films campaigns. That’s when we said “hey, we’re good at this, and it’s time to get serious if we really want to do this”. And since then, without thinking of competing with anyone, we have been building our first portfolio of clients, leaving behind the small corporate videos we made at the beginning and giving way to more creative and demanding videos”.
When asked about the projects that have influenced her the most, Norma mentions her first one. “It was quite a long job, from script writing to final editing, but very rewarding. A team of almost twenty highly talented people came together to create from scratch something with care and lots of love. I think anyone who sees the result will agree that it was incredible to make a film like this with almost no budget. David Rodríguez and I wrote the script, he directed it and Vasily Nazarov took charge of the cinematography. During the filming, you get a glimpse of what it will look like, but when you visualise the final editing, when everything that has come out of your handwriting takes shape, and such a beautiful one at that, it’s an experience that marks you, it’s unforgettable”.
When working in this industry you never stop learning, and Edurne mentioned that is what has happened to her from her first project to her last project. “I really like my job because it is dynamic and every day is different. You shoot in different places every time, you get to constantly meet new people; you are always learning because each project is unique, so you are marked by all of them”.
She also highlights two projects in particular:
– ‘Unite’ for Unicef’s 2018 Unite for an Unicef campaign. This being the first 360 campaign they produced in its entirety.
– Hospitales Humanos’. “This is a project that we have been producing for the Grow agency for a year now, and it has led us to record thousands of health professionals in hospitals all over Spain. The testimonies of the health professionals are impressive and, precisely, Hospitales Humanos tries to highlight the work they do every day, despite the terrible shape of the Public Healthcare System”.
As we mentioned at the beginning, Dos35 has been one of the last production companies to join the association, and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to ask one of its founders about the APCP.
“We’ve known about the APCP since we set up Dos35, but it always seemed too serious compared to our first jobs. So, for us it has been important to finally belong to an association that includes many of the big advertising production companies because, it somewhat means that all our hard work has paid off, that we can feel proud of how our small production company without much of a view on the advertising horizon has become one more.
In addition, putting sense and order in this sector makes the work easier, and the APCP has helped to pave the way for all of us, Solving doubts, making us feel protected within our union, and being able to provide you with tools when you need them is certainly useful”.
Regarding new projects, she explained that they have regular clients and that we will be able to see the results of new campaigns very soon. “We have just wrapped up one with Unicef that will soon be broadcasted on television. Also, we have shot a new campaign that is now in post-production with Cabify, but we have already started the pre-production of a new one because we never stop”.
On how the sector is evolving and what challenges it is facing, Edurne gave us a really interesting opinion, and that is that all evolution goes hand in hand with social changes. “I understand that the evolution and challenges of the advertising industry are the same as those of any other type of business. Companies (or production companies) evolve along with social changes. Fortunately, we are now in a time where issues such as environmental care or the fight against climate change and the role of women in the workplace are the order of the day. We have to be firm and resolute on these issues, and not leave them behind or aside, as may have happened in previous generations. Everyone has to set an example inside and outside their “home”. But I suppose the advertising industry always has the risk, or challenge, of different and increasingly varied media. You have to know how to adapt to the needs of the user: how or what type of advertising they consume, in what formats, for how long, etc. And I’m afraid that the more ways you want to cover, the smaller the budgets will be, and that has a big influence on a good production and on the final result”.
To end the interview, we like our readers who are taking their first steps in the audiovisual industry receive motivation. That is why we ask our professionals what it takes to work in this sector and what they would say to young people who want to be part of it.
Our guest this week is very clear: “Patience and passion. It’s a sector that can be very stressful and, unfortunately, the work-life balance is often nonexistent. But if you don’t like it or are not willing to put in the time it takes, it’s better to dedicate yourself to something else, because this is a ‘peculiar’ job”.
“At the beginning it seems difficult, but in the end everyone can have their place in the audiovisual industry. Again, patience and passion is the best advice I can give, because I’ve also experienced leaving my studies and not knowing how to get a handle on the situation. In fact, it’s something that I talk about a lot in some of the talks we’ve given in audiovisual centres, where we talk about our experience, and in the end the students are very grateful for it, motivating them to keep going and to not give up”.
Interview by Alba Polo.
2. What will the opening ceremony for the Madrid Films by Women Festival look like?
Once again, the Madrid Films by Women Festival will be acknowledging the value and the work of the women in the cinematographic industry. For this same reason, during the opening ceremony that will be held this 25th of October one of these professionals will be awarded with an Award for their Professional Career.
During the ceremony, which will take place in the Palacio de la Prensa, Isabel Coixet will receive an award as recognition for her professional career as a director, as well as for her sensibility and her ethical compromise. The Festival considers her one of the main role models in the industry.
Furthermore, Coixet will also be joining the festival on the 26th of October as the host for ‘El Techo Amarillo’ (a new documentary) and will make a presentation together with Agnès Jaoui.
In addition, there will be a special programme for this 5th edition of the Festival, which will end on the 6th of November. Moreover, the Festival will introduce Parallel Sections, a space to enjoy different projects from many female directors.
As announced by the Festival, this exhibition will feature different genres and formats, from documentaries to fiction. It also stands out for its internationality, with films from all over the world. An example of this is the section “Silent Cinema Directed by Women: United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia”.
Some of the directors will be in Madrid to introduce their films, including Ana Katz and María de Medeiros. These will be interspersed with conferences, in which various topics about the industry will be discussed.
You can see the full programme here.
