The recent edition of the Goya Awards has reignited a profound debate in the industry. The presence of influencers like Laura Escanes or Dulceida, invited by sponsors, has divided opinions. Figures like Carmen Maura see it as an intrusion into a sacred space for professionals, while other voices defend their role as digital amplifiers. This conflict, also visible at the Málaga Festival, transcends the anecdote and questions the boundaries of contemporary visual narrative and who has the right to tell it.
From 3D Previsualization to Digital Unboxing: Layers of a New Promotion 🎬
Historically, the industry has controlled its narrative through tools like the storyboard, animatic, or 3D previsualization, creating a preliminary and controlled version of the final product. Influencers represent an analogous but external layer: a social previsualization of the event. Their coverage on social media generates a meta-narrative, a red carpet unboxing that reaches massive audiences instantly. This amplifies visibility but cedes part of the narrative control. The technical question is whether this new layer of dissemination, alien to traditional cinema codes, enriches or distorts the central message of the event.
Event Purity or Necessary Adaptation? ⚖️
The core of the debate is the definition of purity. For some, a cinematic event must be a closed circle that celebrates art in its most professional state. For others, that purity is an anachronism in a media ecosystem dominated by digital attention. Adaptation does not necessarily mean a loss of essence, but the acceptance that audiovisual narrative is now also built in streams, stories, and tweets. The challenge is to integrate these new voices without the media noise overshadowing the merit of the work.
Does the legitimization of influencers at the Goya Awards represent a necessary adaptation of cinematic narrative to new digital languages or a trivialization of cinema's traditional artistic values? 🎭
(P.S.: Previz in cinema is like the storyboard, but with more possibilities for the director to change their mind.)