Palma Pictures offers complete production services across Spain and Portugal. Since its inception in 1993, Palma Pictures has a broad history of collaborating with some of the world’s best filmmakers, photographers, and creatives. Based in idyllic Mallorca and with offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon, they provide comprehensive production services throughout mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Portugal.
From commercials, music videos, and photography, to film and TV productions for platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Studio and Warner Bros, Palma Pictures always maintains its essence by doing everything possible to ensure every aspect of the production is expertly taken care of. Their in-depth knowledge and innovative solutions to take their clients’ projects to the next level.
We interviewed Cat Isakson, Head of Production at Palma Pictures.
In this sector, innovation and creativity are key; how do you face the different challenges in advertising cinema?
Each assignment comes with its own challenges, but we have a lot of experience in finding solutions; we have a diverse team of experts who speak a variety of languages and are all creative in different ways. We use everyone’s knowledge and contribution to ensure that each assignment receives a fresh and innovative response.
Efficiency is always key, and because of our experience and understanding of production, we are great at working efficiently, whilst delivering the highest quality results. We make sure that every project and every aspect of the brief comes to life beautifully, yet efficiently.
We have observed your work for large digital platforms, such as Netflix, the production of reality shows and many others. What is your speciality when it comes to making film projects?
We’ve been supporting a variety of diverse projects and executing complex assignments for over 30 years, so we bring a lot of experience and insight to each assignment.
Our crew and staff are on the ground in all the regions where we shoot and have in-depth knowledge of the locations. The team speaks multiple languages and understands the requirements of different regions.
We pride ourselves on bringing fresh ideas and innovative solutions to every project, from new filming approaches, our latest technology and state-of-the-art equipment, to exciting locations, to ensure clients always get exceptional results.
Palma Pictures Showreel
Can you share with us a challenging moment of a project (national or international) that has left a lasting mark on Palma Pictures?
We had a project last year that really pushed our limits by testing our crews, filming practices, and our ability to innovate. The production company that brought us this project needed to completely trust us to make it work. It involved elements that are quite common to us: a large crew, several days of filming, filming on the water with a large fleet of boats, trips of equipment and talent from all over the world, working with the latest technology for cameras, lenses, digital, etc… however, it had a core premise that had never been done before and that was what presented the challenge.
Our process, ability to think outside the box, the professionals we chose, our methodology for the pre-production period for testing and trials, were all key to making this project a reality, as it was totally new to everyone! It was incredibly difficult and sometimes scary, but we managed to make it work. The director, the production company, the agency and the client were thrilled with the production and the final film. Needless to say, all of us at Palma Pictures are immensely proud of what we achieved, and that our clients rightly trusted that we could make the project a successful reality. This project has left a mark on everyone who participated, and I believe it will always elicit a proud smile when remembering it.
You consider yourselves a company that takes sustainability seriously and with a commitment to reducing the impact on the environment, in addition to being a member of SEDEX and maintaining the European certifications of EMAS and ISO 14001 since 2011. How do you reduce your environmental impact?
Our studio and offices are powered by clean energy from over 100 solar panels, and we’re constantly looking for ways to minimize waste and reduce our ecological footprint.
We’ve reduced over 120 0.5-liter single-use plastic bottles per recording day by using portable water coolers and allowing only reusable water containers on set.
We minimise the use of any printed materials and follow strict recycling procedures in the office, on set and in our catering areas. We have several portable sets of containers for organic waste, paper, plastic, which are used anywhere we work or film.
The costume and art department prioritizes renting rather than buying. At the end of the project, we donate clothing items and accessories that cannot be returned so that they can be reused.
We hold an annual day dedicated to the environment, in which all our staff go out to the local community to collaborate on an environmental project. In 2023, our staff visited the Ariant Flora and Fauna Conservation Centre. During this visit, our staff planted seeds of Balearic holm oaks to maintain the work of repopulating the mountains with local flora.
Palma Pictures devised and implemented an environmental impact study for each project. Each Head of Department is required to complete an impact form during and at the end of each project; This data is then used to study our environmental impact on an individual project and is also employed in our annual company environmental impact audit, helping us to continue to learn how we can improve further.
Considering the diversity of your projects, is there a genre or format that you plan to explore?
We love supporting a variety of genres and diverse commissions in film, television, commercials, and photography projects. We’re always open to new formats, and 2024 promises to be another year full of variety and innovation.
Love Island S10
What are the long-term goals and/or dreams for Palma Pictures in this ever-changing landscape?
We look forward to continuing to offer excellent bespoke services in productions of multiple formats and genres, in various locations and regions.
We enjoy the variety of requirements we receive from our clients based around the world and showing them the amazing filming opportunities in Spain and Portugal.
Cat Isakson
Head of Production TVC & Photo
T +34 665 021 662
And cat@palmapictures.es
www.palmapictures.es
Interview by Carla Lara
