The balance of this first approach has been "very positive", as pointed out by the spokesperson, Ana Sánchez: "Firstly, because we have known the cooperative movement first hand and at the same time, we could share and exchange experiences. We believe that the cooperative movement needs to be more interconnected." The series will be initially available on the Internet, though m30m hope to find another way of broadcasting in the future, such as on public television. The production company has expressed their desire to find other European audiovisual companies, who are also cooperatives, and with whom they can approach the project in collaboration.
For the time being, the series has no institutional financial support. M30m is looking for potential project promoters in the counties where they are broadcasting and also on an international level. In fact, the episodes filmed in Chile are being financed with cooperative resources and with the help of the International Centre for Social and Cooperative Economy (CIESCOOP) at the University of Santiago in Chile and the Andalusian Foundation School of Social Economy.
Increasing visibility
The objectives of this documentary are, on the one hand the visibility of the cooperative movement in the world; to get to know the countries and regions worldwide through the companies and cooperative organisations, and display the values and the cooperative principles in practice. At the same time, the cooperative sector wants to start a world meeting forum and promotion of the cooperative identity. "Many members of cooperatives are aware that there is a challenge in explaining what we do, in order to show what we are and how we do it. Perhaps we engage ourselves more in action than words, but we must learn to speak out for the world to know us and recognise us", says Ana Sanchez.The cooperative idea is a phenomenon present in most countries and it has survived and it has grown, even though their conditions were not always favourable. "We believe that sharing experiences in each country will allow us to strengthen the cooperative movement”, Ana Sanchez says. “It is an inclusive and supportive way of doing business, which responds to peoples’ needs. Although the cooperative also has something unique in each region and that is where we are convinced that sharing the experiences of individual countries will allow us to strengthen the cooperative movement".
Cooperative spreading
The m30m cooperative, which has been based in Andalusia for nine years, has an aim to make cooperatives and social economy more popular. It is not the first time m30m have done this type of audiovisual work; in 2003 it began making nine documentary episodes called "The Andalusian Social Economy" promoted by CEPES Andalucía in 2009 they began the production of another series for the same entity called "Undertaking from the Social Economy”. "In 2008 we started to consider the importance of going beyond the sphere of our region and we began designing a self-produced series that allows us to broadcast and learn about the cooperative movement throughout the world. We wanted to experiences new things and to report them", says Ana Sanchez.
